plafield

DH and I are planning to combine our trip to Paris with a few days in London next May. The first thing to work out is the timing. We're planning for 3 maybe 4 nights, taking the Eurostar from Paris early in the morning the first day and flying home the last day. Are there benefits or detriments to having the London days be over a weekend? Are things closed (in Paris many of the best restaurants are closed on Sundays) and/or is access to St Pauls and/or Westminster Abbey different on Sundays? Any thoughts as to weekend or not (and it would be Memorial Day weekend, not that that should matter in England ro does it?)

Then location. What do folks think about The Strand Palace Hotel. It' seems to be very centrally located and not obscenely priced. We'll only have 2 or at most 3 days. We know we want to see St Paul's Cathedral and Westminster Abbey, and have tea at the Ritz. We'll also want to see the iconic London things like Big Ben and probably Buckingham palace and maybe the Tower of London but don't feel the need for deep exploration or tours of of those things. If the weather is poor we'll see the National Galleries and if it's nice we'll want to wander and just soak in London. We're big walkers and quite fit. Am I correct that we can walk to most of the things we're interested in from the Strand? Other suggestions are welcomed as well.

janisj

>>Are there benefits or detriments to having the London days be over a weekend? <<

Not really -- all tourist attractions and almost all restaurants are open on weekends. Only a few pubs in the business area of the City (the 'square mile') will be dark on saturdays/sundays

>>not that that should matter in England ro does it?<<

It is Memorial Day in the US -- but it is the same time as the May Bank Holiday in the UK. It is a huge 3 day weekend -- so the effect on visitors is the tourist attractions will be more crowded because more locals are in the mix. But parts of London will actually be quieter because lots of folks go away for the holiday.

The Strand Palace could not be more central.

>> Am I correct that we can walk to most of the things we're interested in from the Strand? <<

You can walk to a lot of things -- Covent Garden, Trafalgar Sq, the river, Westminster -- but London is truly enormous. Much much larger than Paris so you will be taking public transport to get to other areas.

Dukey1

I often stay in the Strand area and you can easily walk to the National Gallery, the theatres and restaurants in Covent Garden, etc., from that hotel. You might want to at least consider using public transport with an Oyster card to get around. We have found that area good for bus connections as well as Tube use (several fairly nearby stations).

I am not going to comment about whether or not "the best" of anything is open or closed because that is a totally subjective determination as to what exactly IS "the best."

stokebailey

Strand Palace is right there near what I consider ground zero. I like taking the London bus, and several lines converge at Trafalgar Sq just down the block, but Westminster and Buckingham Palace are healthy pleasant walks from the Strand. Ditto the Ritz & St Paul's, and the Tower is certainly do able. You can take the Thames Clipper back upstream to Charing Cross for a change of scenery.

I guess if you had heart set on a particular restaurant could check website for hours, but there's far more to do on weekends than you can ever dip your toe into. Go for it.

janisj

Walking from the Strand Palace to the Tower for instance would take about .75 to 1 hour. The #15 bus does that route as well -- but because of congestion maybe only 15 or 20 minutes faster. The tube would be quicker.

annettetx

Both Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's are open for worship only on Sundays.

On one trip, we attended a service at Westminster Abbey and then walked out very slowly. Worshiping in those historic holy places is a great experience, but if you want to really see and explore the building, you need to go on a day other than Sunday.

Enjoy!

annhig

JJ mentions the no 15 bus so here's my plug for the no 11 which goes from Victoria to London Bridge and passes most of what you'd want to see on the way - Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament, the Mall, Leicester Square, the Strand, Fleet street, St Paul's....

no need for a HOHO bus in London, just a bus map and an oyster card.

tuscanlifeedit

We just returned and used the tfl.co.uk website constantly for bus routes and tube connections. I couldn't really walk so that website saved us.

Dukey1

I agree about the bus services as much as I like the Tube. A few visits ago when were were staying in the Amba Charing Cross hotel we simply got on the TFL website, looked up the various bus routes and then went outside and hopped on #9 to the end of the line. Great way to sightsee; got on and off a few times too and walked.

plafield

Thanks everyone. Sounds like the Strand will be a good choice for us. We love to walk but will, for sure, explore both the bus and tube to check out other parts of London. Now just to decide if we want to plan the whole trip a week earlier to avoid the bank holiday weekend.