victoriaobe1981

My husband and I will be traveling to London for our 5th anniversary from Feb 7th to the 16th. Does anyone have tips for us? We will be staying at the Royal Horseguards Hotel.

Transportation- London Pass, London Travel Card or Oyster Card? Which is better?

Day Trips- Paris, Stonehenge, Bath, Windsor Castle....any other suggestions?

Any must see sites or restaurants?

Thanks for any help.

janisj

Just a few random comments:

• Do NOT get a London Pass-total waste of££/$$

• Travel card is one sort of London transport fare-- which can be loaded ON an Oyester Card or in the form of apaper ticket. Get Oysters <u>unless</u> you want to use the Days Out 2for1 specials. If you do want the 2for1's - then you'll need paper travelcards bought at a <u>train station</u>

http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/

• As to what to see/do -everyone has their own "must" list. Start by clicking on 'Destinations' above and read up on London.

• Restaurants - there are thousands --what is your budget and what sort of foods do you like?

• If you are going to Paris - You might want to 'eat' one night at the Royal Horseguards and do a 2day/1night trip.

• Hampton Court Palace and Oxford are each wonderful day trips.

• The Royal Horseguards is a wonderful hotel in a great location.

victoriaobe1981

Our budget is flexible. We just want to enjoy our trip and gain the full experience. We have the typical attractions such as ( London Eye, Parliament , Big Ben, Harrods, West End, etc..) I didn't know if there was anything else we should consider doing.

Thank you for the input.

albionbythesea

Great advice already re travelcard/oyster. Re what else you should see - Royal Horseguards is a great location for some wonderful sights that are often missed by tourists who just do typical tour book highlights - some I strongly recommend in your immediate area are the Benjamin Franklin House wp.me/p2r6no-1v - note timed entry, Gordons Wine Bar (the oldest in London) www.gordonswinebar.com , and Banqueting Hall wp.me/p2r6no-4N - the only remaining portion of the Palace of Westminster. Also, very close are the Cabinet War Rooms cwr.iwm.org.uk - Churchill's underground bunkers , and a very short walk one of the best breakfast places in all of London - Wolseley's - www.thewolseley.com - housed inside an old car dealers showroom. I hope this gives you a few great local ideas close to your hotel.

janisj

"<i>I didn't know if there was anything else we should consider doing.</i>"

That is why I suggested you click on 'Destinations' - Big Ben is a 'must' but only a walk-by, and the other things you mention probably wouldn't be on most folks 'must list'. There are TONS of other sites things that could/would rate higher.

Places like: Tower of London, British Museum, V&A, St Paul's, Westminster Abbey, Cabinet War Rooms, National Gallery, Imperial War Museum, the Tates, theatre - and a hundred others.

victoriaobe1981

We are doing many of those and also going to see the ceremony of the keys. There is just so much to do and see. I've never been so i'm trying to make the most of it. I also would like to see a football if possible.

Thanks for all the help.

valtor

As day trips, I recommed Oxford and Blenheim Palace; another day trip can be to Cambridge.

scrb11

Looking to go for a week around the same time -- late January, early February. Supposedly February is the driest month?

Looking forward to ideas here.

Sassafrass

When we are in London, we go to the theatre and/or a concert nearly every day. The first day, we go the the box offices or cheap ticket places and buy for the rest of our visit.

There are tons of things to do in London. Besides galleries, theatre and churches, I enjoy markets and DH loved Greenwich as well as Oxford.

If there is something you are interested in, find any connections in London. I have a huge interest in Lord Nelson so spent a lot of time at his tomb in St Paul's. If you read Jane Austen, you might enjoy Bath. Of course, there is also the history, architecture and Roman Baths that make Bath famous.

Love Bath, but prefer it as an overnight.

As Janisj says, Paris is also better as an overnight.

If you want those places, it might be best to cut your stay in London to four or five nights and spend a night in Bath and at least two in Paris. Otherwise, I would not do them - just concentrate on London and short day trips. You won't go wrong either way.

Do take a really warm jacket/coat, gloves, scarf, etc.

farrermog

Check these for interesting lectures, walks, and other events, often free of charge -

http://www.ianvisits.co.uk/calendar/

http://www.london.ac.uk/432.html

http://royalsociety.org/events/?type...o=False&page=1

http://www.linnean.org/Meetings-and-Events/Events

annhig

victoria - the best tip I can give you is to try to group your sightseeing together - eg the Tower and St. Paul's, Westminster Abbey and the War Rooms, the V&A and Harrods, etc. etc.

it will take a bit of planning, but it'll save you oodles of time on the ground.

isabel

Check out neighborhoods - London has lots of them and you could spend an entire day in each, perhaps doing a 'sight' but also just wandering the neighborhood. And definitely as Ann said groups things geographically. For example for one day concentrate on the area around Hyde Park/Kennsington Gardens - walk through the parks, check out Kennsington High Street, then stop in Harrods and in the afternoon do the V&A for a few hours. Also at least go into the Museum of Natural History even if you just look at the beautiful main lobby/staircase.

Riding around on double decker buses (the regular ones, not the tourist ones) is great fun and transportation as well. But some lines take great routes past many of the main attractions, just look at a bus map (ask at a tube station for a tube and bus map).

I agree that both Paris and Bath are a lot of hours of travel for day trips and frustrating little time left to see places that 'deserve' more than a day. But there are many great day trips from London: Oxford, Cambridge, Warwick, Brighton, even Canterbury is not that far. I have done all of those as day trips from London and enjoyed them.

There are a ton of 'lesser' known museums in London, many free, that are great. Two of my favorites are the Hunterian Museum in
Lincoln’s Inn Fields (in the college of surgeons, all weird medical and anatomical specimens - google it for description) and the Museum of Childhood (not a children's museum designed for kids to play in, but a collection of toys and children's objects from the recent and distant past, anyone who was ever a child would enjoy it).

Here are my photos of London: www.pbase.com/annforcier/london

And of some places you could go on day trip (includes places too far for a day trip also, but does have photos of the places I mentioned that I have done as day trips from London) www.pbase.com/annforcier/england&page=all

jamikins

I always recommend www.walks.com for their walking tours and day trips

victoriaobe1981

Thank you guys for all the information. It's helping me plan our trip.

dorfan2

You might also want to check out the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London - you can now get the paperwork through the mail from the USPS.