GOING TO LONDON IN JUNE ----HOTEL?- Page 2

[Gothampc]

Posted: 3/1/07 at 11:19pm

Another cool thing you might want to do is the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London. It's a ceremony they hold every night between 9:30 and 10pm where they lock up the Tower of London. To get free tickets, write about two or three months in advance.

Send a request with the name of everyone in your party, three or four possible dates that you could attend, a self addressed envelope, include two International Reply Coupons (you can buy at the US Post Office).

Send the request to:
Ceremony of the Keys Office
Tower of London
LONDON, EC3N 4AB
Great Britain

http://hrp.org.uk/tower/planning_your_visit/ceremony_of_the_keys

Updated On: 3/1/07 at 11:19 PM

[theaterdude87]

Posted: 3/1/07 at 11:23pm

very popular thread. maybe if lizzya9 says to try the holiday inn it will get better.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 3/1/07 at 11:38pm

You also have to do Afternoon Tea. If you want to go fancy, reserve a table at Browns Hotel or the Tea Dance at the Waldorf Meridien on Saturday or Sunday. If you want moderate price, try the Patio Restaurant at Fortnum & Mason (Grocer to the Queen). While at Fortnum & Mason, you can buy tea, biscuits and all other types of food to bring home to your friends.

[musical_devotee]

Posted: 3/2/07 at 1:12am

I stayed twice at Thistle Trafalgar Square. It's a great location in the West End, the rooms are cosy and the breakfast is great. It's on a quiet location and all in all very recommendable.

[kec]

Posted: 3/2/07 at 2:17am

"PS: While you're there, take one of the London Walks tours. They are great. (The Jack the Ripper night tour with Donald Rumbelow is great).
http://www.walks.com/ "

I second this suggestion!!! The best way to see the little bits of London you might not see otherwise.

Edited to give you another suggestion: If you're going to be in London for awhile, you might want to consider ordering an Oyster Card for your visit. It's a travel card, good on the buses, Underground, Docklands Light Rail and trams around London. You can buy a card with a pre-set amount, and add funds as necessary. The card is available from VisitBritianDirect.com at the link below.


London Oyster Card Information Updated On: 3/2/07 at 02:17 AM

[bway123]

Posted: 3/2/07 at 2:00pm

3 WORDS The Strand Palace

[Weez]

Posted: 3/2/07 at 2:13pm

Oyster cards are AWESOME. I got one last September and I've been in love with it ever since. It's terribly useful to be able to top it up online before heading into the city. If you're planning on staying around the Leicester Square/Trafalgar Square area and not venturing any further afield (I do two/three day excursions to London pretty frequently and usually manage to keep myself occupied and happy between Waterloo and Oxford Circus), then you can walk everywhere really easily. But if you're going further, get an Oyster card. Even if you don't do that many journeys with it, you still get charged less than if you don't have one.

Is it terrifically patronising to be getting a kick out of people describing various London amenities and geographical snippets with US terms like subway, block, and convenience store?

Updated On: 3/2/07 at 02:13 PM

[NJgirl]

Posted: 3/2/07 at 2:57pm

I second (third?)the Jack the Ripper the walk with Donald Rumbelow. One of the most memorable things I did on our trip. I was a history major and had actually read part of his book on the Ripper for one of my history courses a few months before prior. To then do the walk with him was great and pretty cheap considering.

[kec]

Posted: 3/2/07 at 3:15pm

Lucky you to get Rumbelow. Last time I took the tour he was on holiday. But we had Shaun, who was great, and had a lovely baritone voice, which broke into song at one point!

BTW, the Jack the Ripper tour is best taken in the winter, when it's dark early. The walk just doesn't have the same "spookiness" factor when the sky is still light at 9:30 p.m.

Weez, good to hear your views on Oyster. I just ordered one, and am annoyed I didn't think of this sooner, as I've had many trips to London in the past.

[simon_wilkie]

Posted: 3/2/07 at 3:26pm

Any Thistle Hotel.

Search in google for the website. The Thistle Royal Horseguards is brilliant!

Simon

[jo]

Posted: 3/2/07 at 6:16pm

I've stayed at Thistle-Piccadilly many times ( and I am booked again for end-June to catch the English National Opera production of KISMET). It may not have the best amenities ( and Leicester Square can be noisy) but you can't beat it for location! The Hampshire is also located nearby but the rates are very expensive. Thistle is mid-range, considering London hotel rates (which are more expensive than New York theatre district hotels in general).
Updated On: 3/2/07 at 06:16 PM

[mpw607]

Posted: 3/3/07 at 5:26pm

As a Londoner I can say regarding the need for air conditioning in June: we should be so lucky! June is usually a temperate month and you are unlikely to really need air conditioning. This is not Italy.

[Piercemn]

Posted: 3/3/07 at 5:31pm

One thing you can avoid is the Changing of the Guard. I did it once because I was with a friend who wanted to see it. It's really a bore. There are too many people and it's a lot of pomp and circumstance over nothing.

We'd have been better off going shopping, which we did later. (A walk to Harrod's and Harvey Nichols' with a stop at 54 Eaton Square to pay homage to Vivien Leigh.)

If you have time, you might also take a train trip up to Cambridge, and if possible, take an easyjet flight up to Edinburgh, if for no other reason than to just walk down the Royal Mile from Edinburgh Castle to Holyrood House, with a stop at the Writer's Museum. Edinburgh is absolutely beautiful.

[MrBundles]

Posted: 3/3/07 at 6:18pm

oh how i love the piccadilly line

[allofmylife]

Posted: 3/3/07 at 7:38pm

And you MUST go to Cecil Court, a small street with two dozen antiquarian book stores, it's amazing. AND I always tell visitors to see The Cabinet War Rooms, the underground headquarters of Winston Churchill during World War Two. It was preserved like a time capsule and walking through it, you really expect to run into Robert Shaw and Richard Burton in uniform, planning a commando raid. It's in Westminster, near the Parlkiment Bldgs. Ask any Bobbie for directions.

[LondonSean]

Posted: 3/3/07 at 7:46pm

Just for the record London Restaurants are some of the best in the world; there are some awful tourist places just like in NYC or any big city.

Try The Wolseley on Piccadilly for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Have a superb fish meal at J Sheekey off St Martin' Lane (v showbiz), eat real Turkish in Dalston (East London) or Indian in Southall (West London), have a cheap but great pizza/pasta/burger at Cafe Mode on Endell St (or have excellent Fish and Chips with mushy peas at the Chip Shop nearby). Eat game and trad English food at the ancient Rules on Maden Lane, have a gay dining experience at Balans on Old Compton Street, or have a great Chinese at Yeung Cheng on Lisle St or a great modern Indian at Chwoki on Denman St. The list of excellent places to eat goes on and on! (even chains like Pizza Express and La Tasca are not bad)

P.S: If you're really rich try Gordon Ramsay's in Chelsea.
P.S.S: Buy a guidebook, like Time Out, for restaurant info.

[kec]

Posted: 3/4/07 at 9:19am

I love Pizza Express. They have great appetizers . Another Chinese place to try is YMings, on Greek Street, right across the street from the stage door of the Palace Theatre. Also, there is the Sherlock Holmes Pub on Northumberland Street, not too far from Trafalgar Square. Their dining room upstairs is pretty good, plus there is a replica of Holmes' study you can see.

BTW, depending on when you go in June, you might be able to catch some of the Queen's Official Birthday Celebration.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 3/4/07 at 10:01am

Make sure you send a virtual postcard to your friends and relatives.

It requires a bit of prep work before you leave (make sure your friends and relatives can view the image below). Here's how you do it.

Pick a time during daylight hours - example 3pm
Figure out what the time change is for your friends and relatives
Tell them to click on the link below at that time and day.
You stand in front of the webcam and wave to them and they can save the picture as a computer file.
The webcam below is outside Porters English Restaurant 17 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden


http://www.camvista.com/england/london/coventgarden.php

[pab]

Posted: 3/4/07 at 11:17am

I recently stayed in the Earls Court area in a very nice place. It's a good deal especially if you get the full English breakfast included. The tube is a block from the hotel.
K+K Hotel George

[jo]

Posted: 3/4/07 at 7:43pm

>>> And you MUST go to Cecil Court, a small street with two dozen antiquarian book stores, it's amazing. <<<

I still have much of the stuff I acquired "unwillingly" ( too tempting) in the past - some beautiful prints with an antique patina to them

Don't forget to go to some of the flea markets - there is a small one at Covent Garden and of course there is Portobello.

Also, if you are going towards end of June, that may coincide with the Wimbledon fortnight. Hotels may be a bit less available, or if they are, they could be at peak rates.

Re food -- Harrod's Food Hall is very well-known...but not too many people know that they serve a sumptuous buffet in their Georgian Restaurant on the top floor. The food and the ambiance are worth the price. If you are on Piccadilly Circus ( roundabout ), there is an excellent continental cuisine restaurant in the area called THE CRITERION ( owned by famous chef Marco Pierre White), which I seemed to have recognized in the latest Russell Crowe movie called A PERFECT YEAR. It's a nice place to celebrate being in London. Not too far away is Soho and the Chinese restaurants - usually but good food and very close to the the theatres ( some of which are actually close to or almost in Soho).

And don't forget to look right when crossing the street

[Mother's Younger Brother]

Posted: 3/5/07 at 11:32am

I second the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms...the most fascinating thing we did our whole week in London. The preservation and feel of authenticity is incredible.

[Craig]

Posted: 3/5/07 at 11:54am

Two words: Hummingbird Bakery

Located in Notting Hill on Portabello Road. YUM!


Also - if you've never been to London (I just made my first visit there last year) - I suggest trying out as many pubs versus the restaurants. There are so many good "find". Treat yourself to a traditional Sunday roast (delicious).. Try things like Jaffa Cakes (bought in most convenience stores); the different chocolates they have there; HobNobs (biscuits); Pasties (pronounced Pah-steez); bangers and mash or toad in the hole; an ice cream cone with a flake (also called a 99), etc

A decent chain restaurant in London that I enjoyed was Garfunkels.

Have fun!