Just back from London
 

Spent last week in London, and I wanted to thank everyone for all the advice. It really came in handy, and made the trip more enjoyable. <BR> <BR>Some highlights: <BR>Flew Virgin Atlantic. Very nice, definitely the way to go. Jet lag not a problem. We took the no-jetlag pills and followed the advice (see previous jet-lag postings). <BR>Stayed at Plaza on Hyde Park. Nice hotel, great location. <BR>Got half-price theatre tickets at Leicester Square. Thanks to Fodorites, avoided the rip-off booths. Talked to some people who got taken there. <BR>Took a day trip with Astral tours. Nice small vans instead of the huge tour busses. The itinerary got changed due to Foot and mouth, but was still fun (Salisbury, Bath, Cotswalds, and a Stonehenge drive-by). <BR> <BR>Once again, Thanks, Fodorites!

What was the original itinerary for the day trip? In other words, what could you not do? When returning to the US, were you asked to disinfect your shoes or to walk over a disinfectant mat? How thoroughly was your luggage searched?

Originally our day trip was supposed to stop at Stonehenge and visit the stone circles at Avebury. Both are closed. <BR> <BR>We flew in and out of O'Hare, and there was virtually no sign of any problems, other than the flight crew making an announcement before we landed about coming from an infected country, and that we should report to the state department if we visited any farms, or were around farm animals. Other than that, customs was no different. No sniffing dogs, no disinfectant mats.

We're planning our trip to London in June. Can you elaborate on the non-jetlag pills and also on thehalf-price theatre tickets for us?

we're booked for a tour in July and our first stop is London, staying at the Plaza on Hyde Park. So, thanks Amanda for the upbeat on the hotel. It's good to know we'll be in a decent place.

K.Han - <BR>For info on the NoJetLag Pills see previous postings (do a search on jet lag). My sister had them, but you can order them from Magellans travel store. We also drank lots of water and passed on the liquor (even though it was free on our VA flight). Stayed up the day we got to London (no napping, and lots of outside time) and went to bed around 8. After that, we were adjusted to the new time zone. <BR>The ticket booth you want is in Leicester Square, and I mean literally in the park square. It's a separate structure, brick, I believe. You will see many other store fronts that say "Half Price ticket booth", but they aren't the real thing. When we went, there was a great selection of tickets. We saw Chicago. <BR>

I don't think the jet lag pills had anything to do with it. Like you, everytime I go, I drink lots of water on the plane, no alcohol or caffeine on the plane, stay up when I get into London, and go to bed around 9 p.m. That's a tried and true method of avoiding jet lag. <BR> <BR>BTW, liquor is free on all U.S.-London flights.

Since our travel times coincide (I arrived Plaza Hyde Park via Virgin Atlantic 3/9) was wondering what time you checked into the Hyde Park--we had to wait until 4:30 P.M.!! (2 hours past check-in time) I'd taken a trip the previous year but no problem.

Benava, <BR> <BR>We arrived the morning of March 11, dropped off our luggage, then checked back around 3:00 to check in. We then had to wait less than a half hour to get our room. How was yours? We were on the 7th floor. 2 twin beds, small but comfortable.