Back from London- Thanks to all who helped!
 

We are back from a busy but fun trip to London! Thanks so much to all that helped me plan this trip, especially Ben Haines and Janis and McLaurie.
We really liked our apartment near the Tower Bridge and St. Katherine's Marina. It was about a 10 min.walk to the tube or bus stop, but we didn't mind this at all.The marina and the Tower Bridge were beautiful at night. The apartment that we rented from Hamlet Apts. was very clean and spacious.

We really enjoyed the London Theatre. We saw Les Miserables and We Will Rock You.

My 17 year old son looks very much like Daniel Radcliffe of Harry Potter fame and he was approached 4 times by people and was asked if that's who he was! Groups of young teens stared and pointed at him when we went to the theatre. We thought this was pretty funny!

We also enjoyed the Tower of London and the Ceremony of the Keys. The British Library was very interesting as was the Museum of London.

We all loved our daytrip with London Walks to the Cotswolds and Oxford!

Our favorite restaurants were: Sarastro, Sherlock Holmes pub and the Mad Hatter Pub.

The Shakespeare walk that we took with London Walks was excellent. Thanks again for all your help and I would be happy to answer any questions. Laurie

We are leaving on Wednesday for London. I have a daughter who is almost 17 going with us. Did your son do anything on his own while in London? Concerts? If you don't mind my prying . . .what did you pay for the theatre tickets? (My fam loves Les Mis.)The only bargain priced tickets I could find online are not for anything we wuld want to see. Did you go to Shakespeare's Globe? What does the Shakespeare walk entail? Glad your trip went well.

fla2exile,
My son really did not want to go on his own in London. We were so busy here that he really did not have much time to be on his own.

We tried to get tickets to Le Mis at the half price booth at Leicester Square but they did not have any for sale on the day we wanted to go.
So, we went directly to the theatre and bought full price tickets which with the exchange rate cost $200.00 for all 4 of us. The seats were very good, about 10 rows back and center. The show was excellent!

We went on the Shakespeares walk and did walk by the Globe Theatre and the guide told us all about it and the history behind it. But, we did not go in. It may be fun to see a play there if your daughter likes Shakespeare. My son probably would have enjoyed this since he has been in several Shakespear plays, but my 14 year old daughter may have been a little bored.

Have a great time in London! Laurie

fla2exile,

Les Mis tickets have frequently been available at the 1/2 price TKTS booth at Leicester Square.

Also this website is a good resource for London theatre: www.theatreguidelondon.co.uk/

Thanks oxgirl. I will try that website.
Laurie: Is the Mad Hatter Pub and the Sherlock Holmes pub theme places or the real thing so to speak? I will also have a 13 year old daughter to keep happy. She is mostly interested in "discovering" English bands (and CD's)to bring home with her!

fla2exile,
The Sherlock Holmes pub is a theme place. There is a glassed in museum room upstairs which showcases a room from Sherlock Holmes time. It takes abour 5 min. to see and it is free.
The pub itself is decorated with Sherlock Holmes memorabilia. It was a very interesting pub with good food and kids were welcome at lunch.

The Mad Hatter was a pub we found by accident. It is right near the foot of the Blackfriars Bridge. I had chicken with a mushroom sauce with mashed potatoes and it was very good. It is not themed like Alice in Wonderland or anything. It is a part of an old hotel but I don't remember the name. The decor was very old and elegant and very British.
Laurie

Glad you had a good time :-)

I love wandering around St Katherine's Dock and over on the south bank. (I'll bet someone took a photo of the bridge at night with the dolphin/mermaid statue in front of the Tower Thistle in the foreground)

fla2exile,

For the 13 year old and music, check out the Virgin Megastore (Oxford Street).

Or the Virgin mega store at Picadilly circus - that one is in a GREAT location.

Thanks for Virgin Megastore advice. We have a huge one in Times Square (2hrs. from home) that I personally could spend hours in. Are the prices comparable in UK to US? Must be!? She is just going to miss seeing her favorite (US)group Good Charlotte in London by a few days.

No, CD prices are actually quite a bit higher in the UK. A frequent complaint by my UK friends. And it isn't just the 17.5% VAT -- the base prices are higher.

but you would have a larger selection of Euro misic to choose from . . .

For CD's at a reasonable price find a supermarket, sainsbury's, Tesco, Asda all have music depts not the huge range Virgin have however but general and charts stuff is available .
about 1/3 of the price of Virgin too.

Have fun

Muck (Wales UK)

Actually, if she really wants to check out the brit music scene... she can go online to amazon.co.uk :D (I know, its not the same as BEING there!)

was in london recently with three boys 20 19 and 15 the 20 and 19 year old loved the music stores that are on every corner and they claim the selection was better. They went to Leicester Square at night. If you want to know what is going on in London at night go buy a copy of the magazine Time Out it lists everything that hopping!!

Hey fla2exile,

We got our half price tickets on the web the day of the show from www.lastminute.com.

That way you know what you are doing in the evening and you get a good price.

Just a suggestion.

Have fun :)

Glad your trip went well. Do I gather from your post you changed your plan & didn't rent a car for the Cotswolds trip?

Weren't you also going to Paris & Venice? How did that part go?

Laurie,
It sounds like you may have rented the same apt. we did a few yrs back (or one just like it anyway, since we also rented from Hamlet Apts and had a great view of the marina and Tower Bridge). We loved the marina area but found the walk to the Tube/bus a little too far since I have a foot problem so we've rented "closer in" since then. I'm glad you enjoyed the trip, it's always nice to read about somone elses good times.

McLaurie, You have a good memory!
We arrived in Bath on a Saturday and my husband took a look at the weekend traffic and decided he did not want to drive. So.. we had an extra day to tour Bath and we did a tour of the Cotswolds with London Walks.

I would have liked to have had more time in the Cotswolds. It was so beautiful! Maybe next time.

Yes, We also went to Venice and Paris and we enjoyed both very much. I think Venice was my favorite but my son liked London the best.

I will try and do a trip report soon. I had to return to work the day after we returned home so I haven't had much time yet.
Thanks for asking!

Lori, yes this is the same apt. you rented. We really enjoyed the area and did not mind the 10 minute or so walk to the tube. I would rent here again if we ever get to come back.

If you are concerned about the VAT and CD prices- hit the Virgin store at the airport. The one at Gatwick had some great prices!

Hit the airport website for a list of the stores at the airport, as you are shopping around town you can forgo purchasing whilst in London and just grab things while you are at the airport.

Have a wonderful time!