c150tech

I am planing my first trip to London. I will only have 5 full days there. Would like to know some of the best little places to eat as well as some lesser known museums. I am a pilot, are there any places for aviation folks? Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

vcl

You could spend your entire holiday visiting air museums.

Two of our favorites are the RAF Museum at Hendon, just outside central London and reachable by Tube and a long walk, and Duxford, just outside Cambridge, and reachable by train and shuttle. If you go to Duxford, make a point to ride the hop on/hop off bus out to Madingley, the cemetery where so many US World War II airmen are buried or memorialized.

tashak

Not exactly unknown, but not crowded with tourists either: Cabinet War Rooms. If you are interested in WWII history, fascinating. Since they are the actual shelter-rooms, very evocative.

polly229

For an unusual museum, try Sir John Sloan's Museum for an eclectic collection in his eccentric house, the interior of which he designed, combining 3 adjacent houses. Went a few years ago and were really glad we did; it was one of my husband's favorites along with the Brit. Museum and the V&A. Holborn Tube Stop for Sir John's - and it's reasonably close to the British Museum. Also the Museum of Childhood (part of the V & A) at Bethnal Green, which we finally got around to visiting last Dec., is fun (and convenient to the Bethnal Green tube station), though I'd certainly go to the British Museum and the V&A first. Not a museum but interesting is Highgate Cemetery. Check the Friends of Highgate website for times of the tours (you can go through the east one on your own but the west, which has some outstanding monuments, is open only on inexpensive tours); take the tube to Highgate and walk down the hill to the cemetary, then continue down the hill and return via the Archway tube station - unless you like mountain climbing. Highgate and Bethnal Green aren't on most maps, so if you plan to visit either, you could print stuff out on streetmap.co.uk.

The last few years I've been disappointed in food in London pubs - most seem to have glossy color menus with no pub name that I suspect were supplied by the food vendors who deliver the meals ready to go into the microwave. I'm sure there are some people who can tell you where to find a good pub for a meal in London, but I can't. Since my first trip in '71 - with a long lag until I made it back again in '98 - I've found the best moderately priced meals to be ethnic. In '71, when we were in grad school, Indian was the best and cheapest, but the last Indian meal I had there was pretty expensive. (Could it be that I was just down the street from Harrod's?) Last Dec. I "discovered" Chinatown just north of Leicester Sq. and wish I'd found it before. In '98 and '01 we ate a couple of times on Edgeware Rd. in what I'll call, since I don't know what it's really called, Little Lebanon. Last winter we were staying nearby and ate there several times. We didn't eat in a Maroush (there are several, a couple on Edgware) but we did eat in his Italian Signor Marco and found it quite good for a moderately-priced place. I thought, based on that, I'd try a Maroush next time. However, they get mixed reviews - some say they're great and others are disappointed. TAS, a Turkish restaurant on the south bank in The Cut, near Waterloo Station and not far from the Tate Modern, was very good. But generally I've found that I'm always somewhere far from restaurants I'd like to try when it's mealtime, so I just pop into whatever looks the best of what's nearby - and am generally not impressed. (Can't say I'm disappointed because I'm not usually expecting much.)

I'll put in a plug for the handiest book I've when in London, other than a pocket London like Fodor's. Daytrips London by Earl Steinbicker has a dozen day itineraries around London that give you things to do in a section of London. Even better, there are about 3 dozen day trips out of London - and handily, he gives the train station you leave from, so you don't have to spend time trying to find out. You can just go to the correct station, buy a cheap day return, and catch the next train. I've taken about 10 of these trips since I got the book in 2000 and found most of what I need to know - or start my research - in this book. Dover Castle (in Dover, of course) was a great day trip and includes a tour of the underground secret tunnels used in WWII. Didn't expect to care that much about it but plan to go back in the summer sometime, when it's open later.

Kayb95

The Imperial War Museum is also excellent - lots of aviation history there.

http://london.iwm.org.uk/

Robespierre

It's neither obscure nor aeronautical, but the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich houses some fascinating collections. While you're at 0°0'0", check out John Harrison's clocks at the observatory. It's easily worth a half-day.

Take the river tour downstream and the DLR back to town.

jsmith

If this is your first trip to London, you won't be able to exhaust all the well known venues never mind getting to some of the lesser known museums. I'd start my planning by checking "destinations" above. Fodor's has some excellent suggestions for 1, 3 5 day visits.

Like another poster I suggest you spend $15 and buy a copy of "Daytrips London" by Earl Steinbicker.
The ISBN is 0-8038-9367-1.

The following is from one of my prior postings.
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On my next trip to London I intend to visit the Brunel Engine House in Rotherhithe. Mark Brunel built the first underwater tunnel in the world - under the Thames obviously.

Mark and his son, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, are two of Britain's greatest engineers. Among other things they were responsible for SS Great Britain, Clifton suspension bridge, Great Western Railway, SS Great Eastern (carried the cable for first transatlantic telephone/telegraph) and, in the US, a canal between Lake Champlain and the Hudson.
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If you insist on looking for the obscure try this Fodor thread:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...en_name=jsmith

Robespierre recommends visiting Greenwich but you might want to check Greenwich this:

http://www.nmm.ac.uk/server/show/nav.005000

The Greenwich observatory is undergoing renovations and improvement and parts of it are closed until 2006.

sega61

The London Museum is really worth a trip. Another locale you might want to check out is the Tate if you are into modern art.

ChevyChasen

St Clement Danes (The Strand London) is the RAF Church full of crests and rolls of honour and commemorations to Battle of Britain.

sam913

I second the Imperial War Museum. We stayed right across the street at the Days Inn and glad we did not miss it.

My 14 year old son loved it.

Allocate a 1/2 day.

Sam

badgerface

take a walking tour - www.carryontours.com/walk.htm do some really cool ones, they dress up and tell you some secrets you'd never have known about otherwise

kamahinaohoku

If you happen to visit Westminster Abbey while in London, don't forget to visit the Royal Air Force Chapel at the end of the Lady Chapel. This chapel is dedicated to the men of the Royal Air Force (and others) who died in the Battle of Britain. Very moving.
See: http://www.westminster-abbey.org/