what a great trip report tailsock! I'll be looking forward to the rest. I enjoyed your humorous narrative.
London is one of my favourites, sounds like you guys enjoyed it too. I thought your night shots were especially good.

As to the lack of dogs, how funny! Last time in London I stayed in Chelsea, in Sloane Square and there were dogs everywhere. The English typically love dogs, maybe even better than people. LOL.

If you haven't found out by now, that "container with coffee and grounds at the bottom" as you referred to it is called a French press or cafetiere.

Brilliant!

Thanks for sharing--good reports like this help both the person who has been there (oh, memories!) and the future traveler.

Great report and wonderful pictures!

Lee Ann

thanks guys. if i told you how many photos i took over there you'd think i was crazy

my wife sure did

Nice report and I liked the angles and the perspective of the photos. I particularly liked one of the faux Sphinx and the London Eye.

GREAT photos and wonderful report You're so energetic and enthusiastic! I like that you and your wife didn't have to be together every minute.

Wild to be propositioned in that way

I was happy to read that you didn't see m/any ball caps. I live in the Southeast and get sick of seeing so many!

Can't wait to read about the other cities you visited.

"Since the discounts worked in conjunction with paper tickets from national rail stations, the Oysters we purchased wouldn't work. Any inexpensive paper ticket would do even though we wouldn't be riding the train. We got a couple for Waterloo to Clapham Junction and back for around £4. The coupons themselves were far more valuable than the cheap train fares we'd never use."

You could have bought paper travelcards (tube,bus and DLR) from a train station, they are also valid for the 2 for 1's.

Yes, hooameye i considered that. i was originally going to do that but i wanted our Oysters to calculate the lowest rate of travel for us each day.

thanks for the encouragement people... working on Belgium now

Great report! FYI, we don't wear ballcaps because we don't play baseball! That particular fashion statement is a mostly US phenomenon.

And there's plenty of dogs, we are known as a nation of dog lovers. But the part of London you stayed in (Marble Arch) is not really a residential area, and workers don't tend to take their dogs to work with them LOL.

You have far more energy on holiday than I do.

"we don't wear ballcaps because we don't play baseball! That particular fashion statement is a mostly US phenomenon."

It's also considered chavvy.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=chav

"We were both surprised at how easy it was to order beer without being carded."

Not sure I understand that one.

alcohol in the United States requires a photo ID. minimum age is 21.. if a bartender asks to see your ID, you've just been carded

Great trip report. Thank you for sharing. I loved the photos you posted.

Looking forward to your other reports - esp. Paris.

TR

Tailsock, great report - you and your wife really "did" London. Agree that the British Museum is overwhelming!

Great report. I envy you your energy.

Great blog, especially since we are planning a trip the end of June for 9 days to London/Paris. A couple of questions, where did you purchase the 2 for 1 discount tickets? And I don't understand the oyster tickets you spoke about. We are staying close to the Marble Arch also, from your blog it seems that is at least one mile from the "sights" and only walkable on fresh feet?

Here you go:
https://oyster.tfl.gov.uk/oyster/entry.do

A bit more info from a great post on TA:
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Travel-g186338-c133479/London:United-Kingdom:Paper.And.Oyster.Travelcards.2.4.1.Offers.html

Nhgirl3G: in answer to your questions-

1. the 2for1 discounts you print on your computer ahead of time. go here for complete details: http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/
you need a valid national rail ticket or paper travelcard to work in conjunction with this. (the only place anyone asked us to see proof of this was the Tower of London) We bought a couple of cheap train tickets from Charing Cross. Note that both parties need a train ticket that is valid on the day that you plan on using the 2for1. Example: if you want to use a 2for1 for the London Eye on June 20th your train ticket or travelcard must reflect this or be good on that day. Paper travelcards are widely believed to be the best solution for this since they cover you for anywhere from 1 to 7 days.

2. The Oyster is an alternative to paper travel cards. It's a reloadable plastic card that you put a balance on. works on bus and tube. There's a 5 pound deposit however that you can get back. They are popular because you are automatically charged the lowest rate depending on the day's journeys.

3. Marble Arch area is convenient for exploring Oxford street as it's right there. As far as walking distance from attractions, i wouldn't really recommend it. If you had a tourist map of London Marble Arch would be west of most everything with the exception of Hyde Park. zoom in on this screenshot for example:
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/9yfDLbl1xp8qi4j9V2fw-B0xmg26LiSYKYJVwpcMkvI?feat=directlink

if anything was within a 15 minute walk i'd say it'd be Piccadilly Circus. Hyde Park is also just out front but it's HUGE.. much bigger than it appeared on a map. tip: bus 436 will quickly get you from Marble Arch to Hyde Park corner

the reason i mentioned Hyde Park corner was that in addition to the Wellington Arch and other monuments there, Buckingham Palace is an easy half mile walk away

Great report!! Love your enthusiasm!! So glad you enjoyed London, we certainly love living here!

Hi tailsock,

Loved reading your London journal! Thanks for taking us along on your trip this way.

If you mentioned it, sorry for not noticing, but what kind of camera did you use?

Thanks.

Really loved your photos, especially the night ones.
What focal distance and time exposure did you use for the sphinx and London eye shot, (if it's recorded on the image) ? I really loved that shot.

Looking forward to more.

thanks guys.. it's a lot of fun and i'm glad u enjoy reading

scotlib: i used two cameras. a sony cybershot HX5V for close range, wide angles, and food. My Nikon D3100 was my primary and used for everything else

Mathieu: here are the settings i used
F stop: f/4
exposure: 5 sec.
ISO speed: ISO-100
focal length: 55mm
exposure mode: manual

Thanks for the info so quickly, we have a map and followed your route this morning and think it is doable. Would the all day trolley, get and off at will be better than the underground stairs? Can't wait for the Paris review....we leave at the end of June...(hint).

Thanks very much Tailsock.
I too am a budding amateur photographer trying to conquer the perfect low lighting shots, with a focus on food pics. I appreciate it.

I look forward to more of your report and pictures, and commend you on all of it.

M.

>>Would the all day trolley, get and off at will be better than the underground stairs? <<

The HOHO buses are an expensive way of getting a commentary on what you're passing. If you just want to get from A to B, use the ordinary buses with your Oystercard. There's a map here that shows the bus routes that pass the main attractions:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/gettingaround/15101.aspx

Almost all bus shelters will have a diagram showing where the buses from that stop go.

Just another kudos for your trip report, but especially for your photos. They are fantastic, and I'm going to have to hang out in a few of your spots to try and capture my own nighttime shots of London in a few weeks.

Thanks for your report. I enjoyed it and your pictures--especially the night shots. Your mention of runny egg whites reminds of the time many.many years ago when I was a chaperone on a high school field trip and the kids called the eggs served at breakfast "slippery eggs". Slippery eggs was definitely not a compliment.

As someone who works for the airlines and lays over alot in London(along with having a son living there) I thought that your report was beautifully done and well written. It was a great travel blog for seasoned travelers and newbies-BRILLIANT!

tailsock: Your report made me decide to brave the transport system. You really seem to have gotten around a lot! How much did you put on your Oyster card to start??

great report, I too didn't know what carded meant so thanks Hooameye

Nhgirl3G: Dont let me scare you into avoiding the underground. Understand that i was bouncing all over the place the first couple of days so my battle scars taking the tube were self inflicted. If you concentrate on a particular area where some attractions are clustered together (Westminster or Tower Hill for example) then you'll be fine. I still preferred the tube to the red bus. Also understand that we never rode on a tourist bus so i don't have any experience with them


eastenderusvi: i think we started with £10 upon arrival at Heathrow. Each day we would top off as needed... we just didnt want too much of a balance that required a check refund as opposed to cash

The London transport system is soooooo easy,convenient and cheap-both the tube and buses. Go for it!

I'm puzzled about your "no dogs" comment.

Whenever my Bosses take me into London, there's lots of other dogs for me to growl at. This might be because the rotten mean sods leave me in the car while shopping or eating in the centre, then take me out around parks, or round their friends' houses in the nicer inner London villages, like Barnsbury or South Kensington.

I assume other humans are just as horrid to their dogs: central London streets are awash with edible rubbish, and for us walking along them is like a food-guzzling human let loose in a Las Vegas buffet. So humans, being the sadistic creeps they all are, don't like us being there: they've got some hokey excuse about stopping us getting fat - but they just like inflicting misery on us. None of my London friends are ever taken round the centre either: all my Bosses' chums live within 100 yards or so of a decent park (just like most Londoners), so their dogs are taken on a lead to a park, and then let loose for a walk. Usually hundreds of us. Mind you a lot of their chums' dogs really live in the country like me. But it's not THAT rare to find dogs on the Tube

My male Boss tells me it's different in Manhattan, where all the dogs are rat-sized, to squeeze into their apartments. You see the poor wee darlings being walked along the streets around nightfall. But since there's so much more park in London, that's where humans do all their walking. I imagine your brief exposure to the parks was while all the humans were out at work, and their dogs were left at home.

that could have well been the case. i love dogs and suprised that we didn't come across any

The Boss also reminds me that a very large proportion of people living near Marble Arch are Muslims (it's where many Middle Easterners rent flats when they want decent weather). Though Gabriel didn't have much to say about us in the dictation Muslims believe he made Mohammed write down as the Koran, there's a lot of anti-dog bigotry in the hadith: the things Mohammed is supposed to have said. The things Muslims say about me when I'm near them on a train - if I were Muslim and a human said that about me, he'd be prosecuted. Typical human hypocrisy.

Much of your other touring happened where no-one lives.

hi tailsock,

thank you for the reply about the cameras

also, can you list the offline GPS app you used?

thx!

Agree with flannel pooch - we have two dogs but we live in zone 4 and would never take them into the city. Too much of a pain, we walk them where we live and there are tonnes of dogs here! Remember, zone 1 is pretty much a business area with not too much residential so people wouldnt bring their dogs in to work. The british are dog lovers!!

Amazing report - loved reading it and bookmarking for my soon-to-be-visiting London friends. Thanks!

scotlib: CityMaps2Go is the app you want. it was pretty good, even when the GPS didn't work the first day. (probably my iPhone's fault) i practiced alot with it when in the US and it didn't disappoint. I'll be doing a full review of it on here btw sometime soon.

tailsock...when you bought your tickets from waterloo to clapham junction did you buy a round trip ticket that would cover your entire stay in london (i.e. did you pick an outgoing leg on the first day of your london visit and then the return leg to coincide with your last day in london so that your ticket would be good for the entire time you were in london and thus be good each day for the 2 for 1 deals)? I thought the tickets had to be going to london to be valid...but I guess not. This would be much cheaper than buying a travelcard each day! When you say waterloo did you mean the waterloo station near the london eye? is the ticket waterloo to clapham junction the shortest ticket you could find? thanks for answering all of those questions. I couldn't find a way to private message you.

Bwage30 technically you are correct, they are supposed to be going to london...but it depends how closely the person checking looks. When I went to the tower they were ver diligent about checking that so it can be a gamble!

bwage30: i told the lady we wanted round trip tickets covering the days we were looking at. The first was Clapham Junction to London and vice versa for the 2nd. I assumed we'd receive two tickets but we got four. two for the trip in and two for the trip out.

information on the absolute cheapest tickets for this was next to impossible to find on the web. Everytime i'd try the search results would be from online agencies offering the BEST prices on train travel in Europe. It was really annoying. That said, i'm sure there are a few that might be a little cheaper. I too am in the same mindset to let Oyster handle the travel while the paper rail tickets handle our 2for1 discounts. It worked well for us

And yes, i meant waterloo station near the London Eye

That makes more sense tailsock - your tickets were to London and then back to Clapham Junction! That will definitely work!

For train tickets, use www.nationalrail.co.uk. AFAIK there is no price variation on commuter services like Clapham Junction to Waterloo, no need to spend too much time trying to game it; but the National Rail website will make that all clear.

Belgium trip report is up BTW

Tailsock, if you're going to post each country's instalment as a separate thread (instead of all of them on one thread as some posters do), it will be useful to readers if you posted a link to the new thread on your previous threads related to your trip, like this one.
Those in the know will know to otherwise click on your name to see all your threads and find what they want. Others may not know to do this.

Thanks and looking forward to reading about Belgium.

oh okay, good idea Mathieu

www.belgiumtripreport.blogspot.com

Great Pics and thx for the report London is next on my must visit list

I loved seeing my city from a tourist's point of view and I'm glad you enjoyed it so much.

Hello Everyone,
My family will be visiting London for only 4 days and I am trying not to overdo the many things to do in the city...we would like to take an excursion out of the city to take a break from the fast pace and see abit of the countryside..so here are some thoughts: (Stonehedge and Bath,) (Leeds Castle, Canterbury, Dover), (Warwick Castle) or (Stratford & Oxford). Would love to hear your thoughts and should we take a bus, rent a car or go with a tour group? Thanks for all your advice.

Hello Nhgirl3G,
You should start a new thread to ask for the info you require.
Besides it having nothing to do with Tailsock's thread about his trip report and having your information mixed in with his, more people are likely to see your questions if you start your own thread, thereby getting you more responses. Pick a pertinent title too and you'll increase your chances for success.

BTW, it's a "henge" not a "hedge".
http://www.stonehenge.co.uk/

Great fun, great pix!! Thank you!!!!
As someone who used to live in London, and loves returning, i enjoy so much reading first impressions!!

i'll never forget my first impression... it wasn't when we landed in Heathrow or even took our first tube ride..(subway stations and airports aren't terribly different from each other) it was getting off at marble arch station. I can't wait to go back but it'll probably be a few years

@Mathieu, you are so right, will start a new thread with my questions.....thanx

tailsocks,
What a great trip report! The pictures were awesome and the report entertaining!
Question for Sarah -- Did she get 2 tickets for Les Msierables in the stalls for 72 pounds EACH? Or were both tickets together 72 Pounds?
If the latter, HOW THE HECK DID SHE DO IT?
We will be in London May 30,31, and June 1 and would LOVE to see Les Miserables!

We are always looking for a great deal!

it was together... we didn't find it online, we showed up at the TKTS booth and found out about the discount there. stay away from other booths advertising half off shows or 50% off. TKTS is what you're looking for

nanibray...Les Miz is one of those shows that is often available at TKTS but not always; depends on how crowded the city is withtourists at the particular time, some times being easier than others. Hard to predict on availability.

You might want to look at broadwaybox.com and press the London button at the top whihc lists all discounts available in advance for all shows. Again some shows always have discount tickets, others sometimes, others never.

If you use TKTS, this warning has not been out there before. You get off at Leicester Square station of the Picadilly or Northern line. As you exit the station, you will see a pedestrian only street. Walk down that pedestrian only street and you will see several ticket brokers claiming to be official half price ticket agents. Ignore them. Keep walking till you get to Burger King which borders on what seems to be a little park (it's been under construction in preparation for the Olympics). At the rear of the park you will see a free standing structure with the letters tkts. Join the queue and you will see both an electronic sign with prices and caqrds in slots indicating which shows are available for that day. They take mc and visa but not amex. Should be something on the board you'll like!

tailsocks and xyz123,
This was just the answer I was looking for! If we are lucky, we plan to eat at the St. James Tavern when we see Les Miz. Your picture (at night) is quite impressive)
xyz123 - thanks for the tube info and also the broadwaybox.com web site. I will look and see what is available. We are in London only 3 nights so I hope we can see at least 2 shows and that on of them will be Les Miz!

Is Phantom ever offered at the TKTS office? Is there any time of day that is better to go to the TKTS booth?

Phantom shows up on TKTS quite a bit, generally not for weekends and also not always with a 50% discount; sometimes the discount is 25%. Usually you can get tickets at TKTS for the matinee which for Phantom, although I haven't checked it lately, is one of the few shows with a Tuesday matinee.

As far as timing, in theory the earlier you get there, the better. It opens at 1000 but sometimes some theatres are late in releasing their tickets so sometimes they sell out their allotment but other timers, some shows open up. Queues are longest around opening time!

Paris is now up

www.paristripreport.blogspot.com

F stop: f/4
exposure: 5 sec.
ISO speed: ISO-100
focal length: 55mm
exposure mode: manual

I was wondering about the photo referenced above.

Can I assume you didn't travel with a tripod?

Instead of 5 sec why didn't you up the ISO?
That camera should be pretty good at ISO800 or even ISO1600 to permit a reasonable shutter speed. You could always put it thru noise reduction if necessary.

no i did travel with a small tripod for the long exposure shots. the noise you get after 800 is too much for my tastes. even with the noise reduction i didn't like the results. i like the trails of light from passing cars. people that "walk into the shot" are gone with long exposures too

Myer i had to go back to see the actual picture that i gave the specs for. i lowered the sensitivity and upped exposure length to capture a blurred effect from the London Eye in the background. I only toted the tripod around when i would go back out without my wife. Every night shot you see when i was with her was done w/ a much higher shutter speed and ISO

Ok. Fine. With a tripod and the effect you wanted you did good.

I have a Canon T2i and the high ISO performance is excellent. Maybe it's my eyes but I only use noise reduction at ISO6400.

Last year I was in Banff with my wife. While she slept I went out very early and late and found some bears.

I didn't have a tripod. I couldn't use it even if I had one. Most shots were taken from the car window or in the doorway.

Hi Tailsock, I love your trip reports! I am heading to Paris and London in a few weeks and your reports + photos have totally inspired me!

I'm a newbie photographer and taking my first DSLR with me on the trip, so I am attempting to teach myself as much as possible in the next few weeks. Can you provide settings for the long exposure shots? Also, just wondering what kind of lens you were using? Thanks!

loved the london report -it was interesting to see from a tourist's point of view. You are right about piccadilly circus. I work in one of the offices above the regent street shops just by the station and go to piccadilly circus every day in morning and evening. It still always grabs my attention 6 years on!

Also as soon as i saw you were off to the city on a sunday i thought "oh noooo" its very strange even the shops thee close on a saturday lunch time!

interesting about the dogs.....i had never really realised there were not many in central london.

sorry, when i say "the city" i mean the financial districts which us londoners refer to as "the city"

Sloane_428:

Since you didn't ask for the settings on a particular photo here they are for the last one of Marble Arch

F stop: f/13
exposure: 8 seconds
ISO speed: ISO-100 always
focal length: N/A
exposure mode: manual

i used Nikkor 55-85mm lens for the majority of my photos.

a few tips:
-practice practice practice at home. i CANNOT stress that enough. Take your camera and tripod to the grocery store parking lot if you have to. it WILL pay off, trust me. I also set up shop outside churches at night that had floodlights
turned on. If you live near a big city go downtown

-bring along an extra battery. never know when you'll need it

-if you don't have a remote use your camera's timer delay for long exposure shots. The simplest gesture such as releasing the camera's shutter release can cause the whole thing to blur

-auto mode is OK for most of the point and shoot duties but is useless on the London Eye at night. You'll want something with a quicker shutter speed and higher ISO. i frustrated myself for a few minutes before i adjusted

HG001London: I loved London and would go back in a heartbeat. My wife on the other hand didn't want to go at first and only agreed to appease me. I couldn't imagine this trip WITHOUT it!

thanks for reading

oh, thats lovely how much u liked it, how did your wife find it in the end?

i have to admit you were unlucky to end up in White City, i flet bad when i read that....its not exactly a key Lonely Planet recommendation-yet! but hey its all about the experience and riding those night buses is part of london!

i can't claim to be a monarchist but am currently watching our Queen's jubilee concert and it makes u realise that UK and London can be pretty patriotic!

Glad u had a great time, be sure to come back one day- there are so many places to explore. I am 29, born here and still find whole new villages i never knew about!

Tailsock:

I meant to specify the Marble Arch photo, so thank you for reading my mind on that one! The tips are super helpful. I'll be bringing my kits lens with me (all that I have!) so hearing that you used that on most shots is very encouraging.

I live in New York City so I definitely plan on toting my gear around and practicing as much as possible (fountains, parks, skyline, random night shots). I feel like I can set up scenarios here that will come in handy when traveling. Thanks again!

Just realized you said 55-85mm, so never mind what I said about the kit lens. I'll have a 18-55mm with me.

i'm sorry Sloane. i meant 18-55

Even better!

HG001London: Sorry, i didn't see your reply.. My wife had a good time but was simply exhausted by the fast pace and all the walking we would do. She absolutely loved Les Mis and the Tower Bridge... The Sunday Roast at Folly's was memorable to her as well

am glad she had a nice time despite the exhaustion. You'll have to come back for a few weeks a and check out all the london villages outside the centre....its so big, i am still discovering places after 29 years here!!

I'm exhausted just reading your (fantastic) report! You must have huge reserves of energy. This also makes me very nostalgic that I'll never again have my "first trip". Nothing can compare.

haha i kept waiting for my body to shut down the first few days but it never did....even when it got dark. In fact, despite the time change i experienced zero jetlag. that's right....ZERO. I don't understand it at all. Even my wife who did her own thing had zero crash upon arrival. Yes, i was super excited to be going but got very little sleep on the flight over. I woke up extra early 2 days before the trip and went to bed super early... drank water on the plane and simply rested (never could get comfortable though and ended up using my folding tray to prop up my pillow)

Did you have jet lag when you got home?

Nope. (We flew back to the US out of Madrid) I would simply wake up FULLY rested around 6 - 7AM though. I normally wake up around 8:30AM.

Great report...I'm slowly working my way through it.

I, too, loved the Churchill War Rooms - I feel it is one of those little-known gems in London.

SS

Grassshopper...

I find that I adjust very quickly going west to east, probably because I am normally a very early riser. I do not sleep much on the plane, but by the 2nd day, I'm in synch and feeling great.

Going east to west (Europe to Phildelphia or Philadelphia to California where we have family) is a nightmare for me. I just cannot stay up much past dinner time for nearly a week.

SS

Book marking to read after your Paris blog! Thanks, tailsock!

HI Tailsock, I'm back with another photo question...I hope you don't mind. I was wondering what your settings were on the night time shots in Piccadilly Circus? Thanks!