Just back from a week in London and here is a short trip report covering things about London that aren’t omnipresent on Fodors:

Apartment Rental: We rented a one bedroom flat (EMP) in South Kensington from London Coach House Rentals (www.rentals.chslondon.com). Their greeter met us at the flat right on time and the apartment suited us (DH, 10 year old DD and me) perfectly. We would definitely rent through them again – and would stay at this flat again (despite the 48 stairs from the sidewalk to the front door!).

Travelcards/2 for 1 deals: We bought 7 day travelcards at Victoria Station to take advantage of the National Rail Days Out 2 for 1 deals. (www.daysoutguide.co.uk/2for1-london) In every case, the second adult entry ticket was free. DD, who is 10½ but looks older, had no trouble on the tube without a ticket (children under 11 ride free with a paying adult) but we did have to prove her age on one bus and got a “yeah, sure” smirk from another bus driver.

Best Day: London Eye, Borough Market, Design Museum (they just installed Designs of the Year 2013 – fantastic!)

Aside: We lived in Essex (northeast of London) for three years about 10 years ago and DD was born there. We rented a car from Hertz at Marble Arch and spent one day visiting old friends and driving by our old house and neighborhood. DD seemed bored with the reminiscing but did say that day was one of the top three of our trip! Renting the car at Marble Arch seemed like the only feasible option due to opening times of some of the Hertz offices on the weekends but I do wish I had looked more into taking a train out of London and then renting the car – driving back into South Kensington on a Saturday night is not for the faint hearted!