Hi all, I am going to London next week and am staying at the Swissotel, which according to my map is in the Holborn neighborhood/area (am I correct in this reading?). Wondering if you all had any ideas for cheap eats in the area, especially if they happen to be near the Swissotel. I've googled but not found anything particularly striking, at least from what I've seen. Of course we are not staying in Holborn much during our trip, will be in City of London near Tower of London one day, in Highate/Hampstead another day, and in Westminster on our 3rd day, but I figure we'll start the day out with breakfast there and possibly eat some dinners in the area at night. Is Holborn a walkable area? It seems kinda more like a business district (from what I can tell from Google street view); would it be feasible to walk around Holborn at night and just find a place to eat? Or should we just plan to stay in the more touristy parts of town until after dinner and then retreat back to the hotel once we're totally done for the day? I myself prefer a pre-dinner rest period and late dinner when vacationing, especially when the sun starts setting before 4:00!

Also, is really hoe-bun?

Dang, forgot to tag with UK: is it possible to tag after posting?

Yes, it's very walkable. Not far from the Inns of Court which you should pay a visit.

Fryer's Delight is a cheap place for excellent fish & chips. http://www.timeout.com/london/restau...iews/9396.html

Just about all of central London is quite walkable, so there's no problem there. Based on my impressions, the area around High Holborn is more "businessy" than "touristy," but you're not really staying around High Holborn (if my trusty Google Maps is correct). The Swissotel is down near the river near Temple station. Even if there's nothing extremely close to your hotel (I haven't spent enough time near Temple to know), you're very close to Covent Garden/Leicester Square/Soho, which all will have lots of places to eat. For breakfast, there are plenty of coffee shops all over town (lots of Starbucks, and Costa is a similar chain), but I can't help you more than that. In short, I wouldn't worry about it - you're just several minutes' walk from plenty of options.

And yes - it's much closer to "hoe-bun" than "whole-burn", though I do still tend to pronounce the R. I'll let the native Londoners decide if that's correct or not.

ha, I was going totally American and thinking "whole-born." Thanks to God for Google as always!

If this is the Swissotel on the Embankment, then it's not really in Holborn - it's on top of Temple tube station. You'll be between the lawyers and various businesses and academic institutions, but the neighbourhood isn't a desert. If you walk up to the Strand and bear a bit left (about 5 minutes), you're in Covent Garden and "Theatreland" with plenty of options for eating, of all varieties - have a look in Tavistock Street to begin with. (To get to Holborn, you'd need to go quite a bit further, and that is indeed much more of a daytime business district.)

I see no reason why you shouldn't go back to the hotel for a rest and then sally out for the evening, if that's how you like to organise your days.

You might also like to turn right on the Strand, past the Courts of Justice, and visit the Old Bank of England pub. I'm not sure if it does food of an evening, but it's worth a look.

You'll also find the buses useful as well as the tube:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...al_bus_map.pdf

You are close to Covent Garden - w/ absolutely TONS of restaurants/pubs in all price ranges. Just wait and decide what sort of food you want on the day and go for it. really - just tons of choices.

Plus pubs/wine bars/restaurants on and near the Strand/Charing Cross.

Near New Oxford and Holborn is E.A.T., a chain, a good place for lunch.

New Oxford and Holborn is a pretty long walk from the Swissotel (the hotel is not in Holborn but in Temple Place on the river)