Going to see THE wedding!
Mar 23rd, 2011, 01:29 PM
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Going to see THE wedding!
My wife and I thought it would be a kick to take part in some of the
hub-bub surrounding the royal wedding.
We will arrive in London early Monday 4/24, and depart Sunday 5/1.
We would like some thoughts on the best places to see some of the events. If anyone knows of special events either free and open to the public or pay to go that suround the wedding celebration please let us know. We are also looking for some good places to eat, not too expensive. Some hints on cultural activities etc. would be helpful.
We are staying out a bit. We will be at the Skyline Sheraton at Heathrow. We will be commuting to town daily and probably staying most of the day. Suggestions??
hub-bub surrounding the royal wedding.
We will arrive in London early Monday 4/24, and depart Sunday 5/1.
We would like some thoughts on the best places to see some of the events. If anyone knows of special events either free and open to the public or pay to go that suround the wedding celebration please let us know. We are also looking for some good places to eat, not too expensive. Some hints on cultural activities etc. would be helpful.
We are staying out a bit. We will be at the Skyline Sheraton at Heathrow. We will be commuting to town daily and probably staying most of the day. Suggestions??
Mar 23rd, 2011, 02:29 PM
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"Question. Why are you staying at the airpot? Makes little sense to me."
Always a puzzle to me as well, think it must be an "American" thing by the amount of posters on travel forums who think it's OK to stay by the airport.
Always a puzzle to me as well, think it must be an "American" thing by the amount of posters on travel forums who think it's OK to stay by the airport.
Mar 23rd, 2011, 03:17 PM
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I would try to get to the "procession" route. That's one of the things that the British do very well.
(And perhaps some of you could quit "judging" LOL! Sounds to me like the OP knows how to travel and realizes the "downside" but he could be like me..someone who travels using "rewards" points. Having just booked a Starwood Reward for London.. Shearton Heathrow may be the best deal... It was for me for my one night.)
(And perhaps some of you could quit "judging" LOL! Sounds to me like the OP knows how to travel and realizes the "downside" but he could be like me..someone who travels using "rewards" points. Having just booked a Starwood Reward for London.. Shearton Heathrow may be the best deal... It was for me for my one night.)
Mar 23rd, 2011, 10:56 PM
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I'm afraid you're going to very severely disappointed.
Britain organises this kind of event superbly. We also have these amazing modern devices called TV cameras, which mean your TV at home will show exactly the same thing those Britons who've not gone off to the Med will be seeing on their TVs at home.
A small minority of Britons - about half a million to a million - will catch an infinitely tiny amount of what TV viewers will catch by standing on the processional route (probably armed with iPads for a decent view, though no-one knows whether there's enough bandwidth to feed them). The best views will be got by the thousand or so who've camped out for a couple of nights. Everyone else will hear a bit of polite British cheering and that's about it.
Otherwise: next to nothing. Events magazines are trying to pretend there's a lot going on: but that noise you hear is the bottom of a barrel being very unproductively scraped (http://www.timeout.com/london/featur...ents-in-london)
The same modern technology means there are next to no mass screenings planned in Britain (why bother if your home screen is just as good?). But British colonies in Florida, the Med, Tuscany and the Dordogne/Limousin will probably be running some. Outside central London, you MIGHT find a few street parties. Most residential central London squares are having private paties for residents and their friends in the gated park area in the middle.
If you've got British friends, get invited to their parties. Otherwise, simply accept that your choice is watching the wedding on the giant screen in the Sheraton bar, or wandering central London streets watching people trying to get a view of a carriage.
I'm honestly not trying to be a wet blanket. Big ceremonial stuff happens in London all the time, and is nothing like the big deal foreigners delude themselves into making it. Though London's built to handle it painlessly, the ONLY way to see it all is on TV.
Britain organises this kind of event superbly. We also have these amazing modern devices called TV cameras, which mean your TV at home will show exactly the same thing those Britons who've not gone off to the Med will be seeing on their TVs at home.
A small minority of Britons - about half a million to a million - will catch an infinitely tiny amount of what TV viewers will catch by standing on the processional route (probably armed with iPads for a decent view, though no-one knows whether there's enough bandwidth to feed them). The best views will be got by the thousand or so who've camped out for a couple of nights. Everyone else will hear a bit of polite British cheering and that's about it.
Otherwise: next to nothing. Events magazines are trying to pretend there's a lot going on: but that noise you hear is the bottom of a barrel being very unproductively scraped (http://www.timeout.com/london/featur...ents-in-london)
The same modern technology means there are next to no mass screenings planned in Britain (why bother if your home screen is just as good?). But British colonies in Florida, the Med, Tuscany and the Dordogne/Limousin will probably be running some. Outside central London, you MIGHT find a few street parties. Most residential central London squares are having private paties for residents and their friends in the gated park area in the middle.
If you've got British friends, get invited to their parties. Otherwise, simply accept that your choice is watching the wedding on the giant screen in the Sheraton bar, or wandering central London streets watching people trying to get a view of a carriage.
I'm honestly not trying to be a wet blanket. Big ceremonial stuff happens in London all the time, and is nothing like the big deal foreigners delude themselves into making it. Though London's built to handle it painlessly, the ONLY way to see it all is on TV.
Mar 24th, 2011, 03:56 AM
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Come to think of it, where I live has a fairly active collective social life - our Eurovision parties are legendary, at least on the Isle of Dogs - but no-one has yet mentioned doing anything for the wedding. We've got the London Marathon to get through first.
And in trying to answer someone else's questions on this, I've had no end of trouble trying to track down a simple statement of the official timetable and layout of activities for the day - which may be significant in itself.
And in trying to answer someone else's questions on this, I've had no end of trouble trying to track down a simple statement of the official timetable and layout of activities for the day - which may be significant in itself.
Mar 24th, 2011, 04:06 AM
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Hey, come to Lincolnshire. Our village is having a street party with refreshments and commemorative mugs - if you are under 12 years old (pitched about right, don't you think?)
Seriously, I would check what London hotels and shops (Harrod's perhaps) are doing to celebrate. Couldn't you ask your hotel what's on?
Seriously, I would check what London hotels and shops (Harrod's perhaps) are doing to celebrate. Couldn't you ask your hotel what's on?
Mar 24th, 2011, 05:01 AM
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I'm honestly not trying to be a wet blanket. Big ceremonial stuff happens in London all the time, and is nothing like the big deal foreigners delude themselves into making it.>
Wll you are being a wet blanket.
the big deal foreigners make it - what about the crapola that the royals bring in big American tourist bucks - this is a big deal promoted by Royal Family lovers like flanner in the past and is a fallacy as most Americans could give a rat's rear about this - oh I guess it is on par with Lindsay Lohan watching and Charlie Sheen, etc. - a farce that is heavily marketed by the British Tourist Authorities in the deluded belief IMO that the Royal Doltocracy actually brings in tourists and their dollars - a fallacy promoted by comments like flanner's and IMO just not true.
Is the OP only going to London because of the royal nuptials - or would they have gone anyway, perhaps at some other time - obviously the latter is true.
And be sure to buy those coffee cups with visages of the happy royal couple on them - sure to be collector's items that in a few years second-hand shops will be selling for a few pense.
Much ado about nothing IMO.
Wll you are being a wet blanket.
the big deal foreigners make it - what about the crapola that the royals bring in big American tourist bucks - this is a big deal promoted by Royal Family lovers like flanner in the past and is a fallacy as most Americans could give a rat's rear about this - oh I guess it is on par with Lindsay Lohan watching and Charlie Sheen, etc. - a farce that is heavily marketed by the British Tourist Authorities in the deluded belief IMO that the Royal Doltocracy actually brings in tourists and their dollars - a fallacy promoted by comments like flanner's and IMO just not true.
Is the OP only going to London because of the royal nuptials - or would they have gone anyway, perhaps at some other time - obviously the latter is true.
And be sure to buy those coffee cups with visages of the happy royal couple on them - sure to be collector's items that in a few years second-hand shops will be selling for a few pense.
Much ado about nothing IMO.
Mar 25th, 2011, 01:01 AM
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He is, but only just! Pal likes to bear bait the Brits, but in the main I've learnt to ignore him. However, on this occasion I find myself agreeing with him! I couldn't give a rodent's rear either.
Mar 25th, 2011, 01:30 AM
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for some strange reason I am also agreeing with Mr P.
I will be spending the day as far away from TV and radio coverage as I can,I am hoping the weather is decent enough that I can go out into the hills for a nice walk.
I will be spending the day as far away from TV and radio coverage as I can,I am hoping the weather is decent enough that I can go out into the hills for a nice walk.
Mar 25th, 2011, 05:08 AM
#17
To the OP, personally I say go for it. If you're interested in the royals and pomp and circumstance and have the hutzpah to make your way to somewhere to see it, I think it's great. If I were over there, I'd try as well. Set your DVR to see all the coverage later. My one travel regret was not going to see Diana's funeral. I was in Edinburgh the week of her death and was scheduled to fly home out of London the day before. I contemplated staying a couple days longer, and a lot of locals talked me out of it with arguments very much like those on this thread. To this day I wish I'd stayed.
Mar 25th, 2011, 07:19 AM
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"I say go for it."
No-one's saying don't.
We're just saying he's unlikely to find much of interest. If Time Out (which professionally specialises in chronicling London events), Patrick London and I (who both chronicle them as a hobby) can't find anything, we can be pretty sure the Heathrow Sheraton is going to recommend David Schwartz watches the events in the quiet calm of their cocktail bar, sampling their barman's special Middleton Cocktail.
As for suggesting he try Harrods....
No-one's saying don't.
We're just saying he's unlikely to find much of interest. If Time Out (which professionally specialises in chronicling London events), Patrick London and I (who both chronicle them as a hobby) can't find anything, we can be pretty sure the Heathrow Sheraton is going to recommend David Schwartz watches the events in the quiet calm of their cocktail bar, sampling their barman's special Middleton Cocktail.
As for suggesting he try Harrods....
Mar 25th, 2011, 07:31 AM
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I definitely want to hear your stories!
I was *so* on the fence about this. I'm going to be in Amsterdam that week, leaving on Thursday 28 for Paris. I flip flopped a bit before getting the plane tickets thinking "this is the perfect time to head to London - I will already be in Europe anyway, and am looking for somewhere to go that weekend".
In the end I decided it would probably be much like what flanner said. I'd be paying double for hotels (and not likely anything in the center) with a slim chance of seeing the processional. Or rather "slim chance of seeing much more than all the other 1000s of people lined up to see it".
My experience with the Tour de France (or for that matter New Year's Eve in Times Square) is that just moving about on the Day Of is *very* difficult - it isn't merely a matter of saying "well I am just gonna walk for miles no matter what" because there are going to be a lot of barricades set up for crowd control. There will be instances where you simply cannot cross streets, for example.
All that said, I'm still on the fence even though I am committed to Paris. I opted for a lovely 4 nights in Paris (and will likely see a lot of British refugees taking advantage of the long Bank Holiday!) but I bet I feel somewhat wistful on that day - even though I think I made the right choice. No no, I am not gonna take the Eurostar to London for a day trip on that day. No, I'm not.
Have a great time. Photos and stories please.
I was *so* on the fence about this. I'm going to be in Amsterdam that week, leaving on Thursday 28 for Paris. I flip flopped a bit before getting the plane tickets thinking "this is the perfect time to head to London - I will already be in Europe anyway, and am looking for somewhere to go that weekend".
In the end I decided it would probably be much like what flanner said. I'd be paying double for hotels (and not likely anything in the center) with a slim chance of seeing the processional. Or rather "slim chance of seeing much more than all the other 1000s of people lined up to see it".
My experience with the Tour de France (or for that matter New Year's Eve in Times Square) is that just moving about on the Day Of is *very* difficult - it isn't merely a matter of saying "well I am just gonna walk for miles no matter what" because there are going to be a lot of barricades set up for crowd control. There will be instances where you simply cannot cross streets, for example.
All that said, I'm still on the fence even though I am committed to Paris. I opted for a lovely 4 nights in Paris (and will likely see a lot of British refugees taking advantage of the long Bank Holiday!) but I bet I feel somewhat wistful on that day - even though I think I made the right choice. No no, I am not gonna take the Eurostar to London for a day trip on that day. No, I'm not.
Have a great time. Photos and stories please.
Mar 25th, 2011, 07:41 AM
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I was there for the wedding in 1981. I stayed at a hotel near Gatwick (I was at the end of a month of cycling) and thought I would go see the big fireworks show in London. I decided against it and was glad I did. When I turned on the TV around 2:00 AM, they were showing the people still trying to get home from the show that ended hours ago.
After watching the procession on TV, I went out. I have never seen a place so deserted - One newspaper vendor was the only one on the street. A train went by - not a single passenger.
It will be a mob - but enjoy it!
After watching the procession on TV, I went out. I have never seen a place so deserted - One newspaper vendor was the only one on the street. A train went by - not a single passenger.
It will be a mob - but enjoy it!
