insidethefall

this is a re-post, forgot to put London in the title

With our trip less than a month away, I need some advice on my itinerary. We are two males (backpackers on an extreme budget)just under 30. I have studied in london and lived before and my friend has never been there. I obviously missed some important things and would like to fit all of this in. We are staying at a hostel somewhere near the British Museum. Feel free to add comments, especially inexpensive restaraunts to eat and maybe some of the best pubs (with food) around.



August
9 - thursday
Arrive London/work off jet lag
Hop on/hop off bus tour and/or Thames cruise, maybe a park?

10 - friday
British Museum/Trafalgar square/pub dinner? /Macbeth 8pm regents park

11 saturday
London
St Pauls Cathedral/football match 3 pm at Charlton /south bank pub crawl

12 sunday
London Eye/Cabinet war rooms+Churchill museum/Westminster Abbey – free organ recital 5:45/possible London walk

13 monday
tour begins (Haggis full monty tour 7 days)

19 - sunday
tour gets back aprox 5:30, maybe pub crawling at night

20 - monday
Merchant of Venice 7:30 at the globe (possibly) or Day trip to Warwick Castle (How long should this take, could I do the castle and get back to london to see the play?)

21 - tuesday
Tower/British library/possible London walk – hidden pubs of London town 7pm or ghosts of the old city 7:30

22 - wednesday
London – free day, take in Pubs, walk around (maybe) Hyde Park and Knightsbridge
Merchant of Venice at 7:30 (if not tuesday)

23 - thursday
Houses of Parliament
Westminster Abbey tour
Tate Britain
Another possible London walk

24 - flight leaves too early in the morning =(

audere_est_facere

ttt

laurie_ann

Here are some random thoughts. (I have been researching that week myself for a friend's visit to see me in London.)

If you are on tight budget consider a public bus (from near British Museum the 19 or 22 I think are good ones) or a do it yourself walking tour rather than hop on hop off (which are about 20 pounds, compared to public bus which is at most 2 pounds) Especially to fight jet lag I recommend walking rather than riding, pick three main sights perhaps including one of the great parks and draw your self a line to connect them all in some triangular fashion)

Don't forget to check museum websites for special exhibits and free tours times that you might want to schedule your visits for.

If you like theatre consider making the second one a more contemporary British play. National Theater has Shaw's St Joan for which a number of tickets are available for only 10 pounds. Check www.timeout.com for other theatre that might interest you.

Don't know more about pubs or dining in the area of the British museum, but if you haven't been to www.fancyapint.com, it lets you search for pubs by area and rates them with commentary, maps, etc.

Have fun planning your trip!

kaneda

Consider Leeds Castle which despite it's name is only a short train ride south of London. Warwick Castle is quite a run. The War Museum is only a little way south of the river (Thames). The Victoria and Albert Museum is in the Knightsbridge area. Greenwich isn't bad (a few stops on the train from Charing Cross) with it's Maritime Museum and Meridian Line (divides east and west). Pity about the fire on the Cutty Sark. The place is very busy on a Sunday with some markets.

You could take a train to Oxford or Cambridge.

historytraveler

Just a few comments as your itinerary seems well-planned and is logistically reasonable.

London as you know is a great walking city, but you will need public transportation at some point. I suggest an Oyster card. The British Museum frequently offers free lectures on various topics. Check these out as they are usually vey good.

The London Walks are a great idea and you may find you want to do more.

For cheap eats, besides pubs which usually offer decent to very good fare for a reaonable price, you can also get sandwiches etc. at Marks & Spencer's and Pret-A.Manager. For restaurant suggestions just do a search on this forum.

While near St. Paul's you might have time to visit the London Museum which IMO is one of London's best. As far as Warwick Castle is concerned, logistics may be your most difficult problem. I wouldn't bother with Leeds Castle as it is over-done and seems to primarily be a conference center.Beautiful setting and gardens but that's about it. Besides the ticket is expensive. There are much better places/castles to visit from London.

TimeOut would be a good source for things to do. Purchase a copy upon your arrival.

Have a brillant trip!

highflyer

Don't prebook the Eye. Check the weather first as a clear day is best. I like going at sunset so you get to see London light up.

I agree with the advice to walk on arrival to work off jet lag and to catch regular buses...get an Oyster card. Sit on the top deck at the front.

laurie_ann

How could I forget the Museum of London? It is excellent and I think often overlooked. I would note that the "second" half is currently closed for renovation (until 2009 maybe?) so you can see only the first "half" of London's history (up to maybe the great fire in 1600's), not that that first "half" isn't satifying and jam packed with good stuff. And yes location would would be close to St Pauls.

jent103

I second the Museum of London - I really enjoyed it. Your hostel sounds like it might be the one I just stayed in last month (Astor Museum Inn) - if so, it's fine and a great location.

Restaurants - definitely agree with Pret and Marks & Spencer. I like to pick up lunches and eat in the park, Trafalgar Square, etc. Close to the British Museum, the original Wagamama is on Streatham Street (there are other locations all over). Dionysus on the corner of Tottenham Court and Oxford is good - doners, gyros and the like. There's a dine-in side and a takeaway side. We ate at a burger place just south of Oxford on Charing Cross that was pretty good. When I was researching for our trip, I came across the Leon chain - we didn't get to go, but it looked interesting. Check out leonrestaurants.co.uk.

ValCanada

I just returned from a very wet week in London. I absolutely LOVED St. Paul's - had tears in my eyes for most of the time and LOVED the almost-deathly stairs up to the very top. My other favourite was the V&A Museum (free with a donation). I didn't see the National so I can't compare. The Eye, if you like views, is nice but since I'm not much for views (especially ones full of cranes because of all the construction) I thought it was kind of a rip-off - the view from St. Paul's would have been enough for me (others will disagree) - I didn't pre-book but went early and hardly spent anytime in line. I thought the Hop-on/Hop-off bus was an even bigger rip-off as you can't really see anything from the bus (unless you were in the rain on the second level) - I saw and learned far more by using my own two feet, a guide book and, occasionally, public transit (with an Oyster Card). I didn't take any London Walks but I'd researched enough to know what I wanted to see and did my own sort of walks for free. I saw Othello at The Globe and even took the exhibit tour beforehand - I LOVED it and probably won't ever enjoy Shakespeare anywhere else! On the southbank, you should really take a look at Cut Street.

JoeTro

Seems like you are really getting a lot in, but not packing your days too much. Well done!

You have Trafalgar Square on your list, but are you including it for the National Gallery and/or Portrait Gallery? You may want to move the British Museum in with the British Library, and use the other day just for Trafalgar Square stuff.

There is a Brown's restaurant pretty close to Trafalgar that has a good fixed price menu pre-theatre (2 courses, 10 pounds, 4:30 - 6:30). I enjoyed it. I also, randomly, had a good meal at Ultimate Burger near the British Museum.

I enjoyed the London Eye - went with my parents, and they paid. It's fairly expensive, and we did the option where you get to board quickly. This is more expensive, so you may just want the normal option. You save 10% if you book on-line, but I'd recommend just doing it on the day, as you want to have good weather.

I have and love the Oyster card. It really saves on Tube fares.

My guess is that hop on/off bus will be a bit expensive, and you may just want to ride London buses on your own.

Not sure if you like classical music, but you will be there for Proms, and I think you can get tickets for about 4-5 pounds. I hope to go this or next month.

As for the Globe, you can get standing tickets for good value.

I'm glad you have the Tate Britain on your list; I really think it's undervalued. I also love the Cortauld.

insidethefall

I thank everyone for all their input and advice - a couple questions

How does an oyster card work? I've used one before but I'm not sure how you actually save money on bus/tube fares by using one - would it not be cheaper to buy a travelcard?

Can I still use the 2for1 with an oyster card?

historytraveler: you said my biggest problem with warwick would be logistics. can you elaborate on this a bit? do you think it's not reasonable to do a day trip to warwick from London? Do you think think the castle is more authentic rather than cheesy? (I love medieval history)

GFarr

If you can squeeze it in; the British Library Treasures Room is fantastic. Some increcdible manuscripts there. My fav. was the Beowulf manuscript. If you like literature you'd enjoy this. Oh it also has original music scores and bibles many hundreds of years old plus the Magna Carta

historytraveler

Regarding your questio about Warwick Castle, I just did a quick check on the www.nationalrail.co.uk and they list trains leaving Marylebone Station for Warwick. Check the website for a closer look, but I a have been wrong about the logistics. If you do go try to visit St. Mary's Church ( Church St.) and the Beauchamp Chapel.

The castle is worth visiting IMO. Yes there are some touristy aspects, but better done than many.There's a reason it's the visited castle in Great Britain. Other medieval'castle'options might include Dover Castle, Rochester Castle, Porchester Castle, and Bodium which is probably difficult to get to without a car. Kenilworth is not far from Warick and would also be worth visiting along with Warwick if time allows. You will have likely have to take a bus to get there.

I'm new at he Oyster Car so for detailed information just plug the topic it into the search forum at the top of the page. It's been the subject of a great deal of converation in the past few months. And, yes you can use 2for1.

jent103

Definitely second the search for Oyster information - it's covered a LOT - but basically, you get a card when you get to London, then load pay-as-you-go cash or a 7-day Travelcard on it. With PAYG cash, it charges you per bus or tube ride, but will never charge you more during one day than 50p less than a one-day Travelcard. (Single fares are also cheaper with Oyster.) You just touch in and out at Tube stations and buses. If you run out of cash, you can top up (add more) at a Tube station.

You may want to get 7-day Travelcards each time you're there - if you plan to use public transport a lot, that might work out to be cheaper than PAYG cash. If you get Travelcards, you don't have to pay the £3 deposit; if you do PAYG, you can get that deposit back if you turn in your Oyster before you leave. The Transport for London web site is www.tfl.gov.uk.

janisj

&quot;<i>How does an oyster card work? I've used one before but I'm not sure how you actually save money on bus/tube fares by using one - would it not be cheaper to buy a travelcard?</i>&quot;

It sounds like you think a travelcard is different than an Oyster card. The oyster is just a card that holds the &pound; value of whatever type of tickets/travelcards you choose to buy. Sort of like a department store gift card - you load an amount on it and use it up as you go. So if a 7-day travelcard is what you want - get it. But stored on an Oyster instead of a paper ticket.

Oysters will get you the cheapest per ride cost since there is a cap to how much is deducted each day.

As for Warwick - a fairly straightforward day trip from London. Parts of the castle are &quot;tarted up&quot; a bit - but its still VERY interesting. It is a magnificent site and the Edwardian &quot;country weekend&quot; in the old family quarters upstairs only adds to the experience. And as historytraveler says - be sure to also explore the town and especially St Mary's church/Beauchamp Chapel.