London Advice
 

My sister & I will be spending 1 week in London at the end of March. Looking for any advice on hotels (under $200/night), restaurants, shopping, gardens, sites, etc. Also, advice on how to dress. Is it possible to get to and around the Cotswolds area without a car? Recommendations on what to visit there - we'll probably only spend 2 days & then go back to london. We're looking forward to your suggestions. <BR>tally-ho!

Alison: You posted this same message yesterday and got 3 responses from myself, Tony and Judy. Scroll down a bit on the messages! This board seems to have it's troubles from time to time and things seem to disappear, but I just double checked before responding with this.

Alison: I just double checked again after posting reply and they are both on the Europe message board(your original one is #30) but neither were on the UK message board! I had a problem posting the other day, so did my mom.

Fodors I fear that London is weak on gardens, and March is too early to see much. You'll find displays of bulbs in the parks, especially in the Inner Crcle of Regents Park, at the south western corner of Hyde Park, in the Embankment Gardens near Embankment underground station, and in the garden beside the tourist information office just south of St Paul's Cathedral. Otherwise, there are gardens open to the public in Bedforshire and Buckinghamshire in late March. The site for the National Gardens Scheme for England and Wales is http://www.ngs.org.uk/. It includes a Garden Finder: you narrow your search to "All counties", 16 March to 21 April 2001, key word "bulbs". Of course, you prefer gardens with regular opening hours to those that have to open for you specially. <BR> <BR>You can spend two days in the Cotswolds without a car. You take a train from Paddington to Moreton in Marsh, then a bus to Stow on the Wold. Based on bed and breakfast there, you can take one hour bus trips in all directions. <BR> <BR>For sights in London you need one of the many web sites. <BR>http://london.cjb.net <BR>http://nav.webring.org/cgi-bin/navcg...ondonring;list <BR>http://londonguide.cjb.net <BR>Advice from 1998: http://www.soon.org.uk/britain.htm <BR> <BR>For things to see in the Cotswolds you can use http://www.yahoo.co.uk, select "UK sites" and enter "Cotswolds travel" and Stow-on-the-Wold travel". <BR> <BR>You dress as you please, within the constraints of the weather. You'll see what weather to expect if you enter "London" in http://www.worldclimate.com/. <BR> <BR>I can't afford elegant restaurants, but eat well at eight pounds a meal upstairs in various pubs. I have notes on these on disc: shall copy them to you ? And in general, please write if I can help further. Welcome to England. <BR> <BR>Ben Haines, London <BR> <BR>

This may be a vague response, but in the flat we rent we found a brochure from a local city of London garden society. It was a well plotted out walking tour of "hidden gardens of London". We spent the better part of a Sunday following it through the city itself. Mostly is was little gardens hidden away in public spaces of some newer buildings or gardens behind old churches. The brochure included stories about their history, sometimes old, sometimes quite new. It was a delightful way to spend the day. I'm not sure where you would find this brochure, perhaps Ben can figure it out for us?

For a reasonably priced hotel in a great area (Knightsbridge) try the Basil Street Hotel.

Alison - <BR> <BR>I stayed in the Diplomat Hotel in the Belgravia area in London. It was a very nice, small hotel with an excellent staff and good breakfast. I think it was about $120/night for a single room. It is walking distance from Victoria Station, Buckingham Palace, Harrods, etc. <BR> <BR>Have a great time - dress for warmth (of which there will be little there). <BR>Martha <BR>

We spent 9 days in London last March. March may not be the best for gardens but we found it to be the perfect compromise for decent weather and minimal crowds. There are a number of hotels that are very conveniently located in near the Queensway tube (subway) station.