Is St. Martin in the Fields open again? Is the Cutty Sark open again? They were both closed last summer.

nessa_L, I'm sorry I don't know London well enough to help you plan your sighseeing itinerary.

janisj, makes a good point about the TKTS booth at Leiscester Sq. It should be easy to find many top priced tickets discounted (usually by 50%), especially on weeknights. I have never had dificulty buying same day tickets to top shows at the TKTS booth. Make sure you go to the booth which is in the middle of Liecester Sq and not one of the ticket agents around the square. The TKTS booth only sells tickets for same day performances, and the agents sell discounted tickets for any show/performance that the agent has a contract for. Tickets will definately be cheaper at the TKTS booth. Most tickets I have bought form the TKTS booth have cost between GBP 22 to GBP 30.

I definately second noe847's suggestion for tea at Fortum and Mason, which is very close to Picadilly Circus. The meals here are definately worth a spulurge.

I LOVE London, but I find London to be very expensive to visit, which is why I haven't spend too long in the city. I ofen have a hard time finding accomodation in my price range. Could you please let me know where you'll be staying. I am hoping to visit London later this year, if the price is right.

Thanks.

Enjoy London.

Is St. Martin in the Fields open again? Is the Cutty Sark open again? They were both closed last summer.


St Martins - yes. Cutty Sark - no and not for many years.

Last word had the Cutty Sark incredibly being stolen and floated down the Thames, embarrasingly right out from underneath the Greenwich constabulary noses which are housed just blocks away

St Martins looks splendid now:
http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/archi...276247,00.html

Sorry, PalenQ, they couldn't even get the Curry Sark on a lorry, let alone get it to fall off. A chunk of it's just been taken off for scraping and cleaning elsewhere:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/..._feature.shtml

I think I've settled on the Lanesborough for afternoon tea. But I can't seem to find the price on their website (I'm assuming somewhere around 30-32 pounds...). Does anybody know exactly?
My only concern about going for afternoon tea is that since I'm traveling alone, I might get a little bored. Any comments or experiences to share for that?

Last I checked (about 8 months ago) afternoon tea in the Conservatory at the Lanesborough was £31 - or £39 for tea and champagne.

I can't help you about afternoon tea at the Lansebrough, but this occurred to me after I posted on this thread yesterday....

nessa_L, how do you plan on visiting Bath?

Are you taking a tour? If so, you can visit more than just Bath, many tour to Bath also stop in Stonehendge, some also stop in Salsibuty. I could be wrong but i think one of the tour companies offer Bath and Windsor Castle as a day trip.

More importantly, if you are not taking a tour i am assuming that you will be travelling by train to Bath. Make sure you buy your train tickets in advance, and take advantage of discounted prices.

Just though I'd mention this.

nessa_L, could you please let me know how you found your accodation in London. I am planning a trip to London in September 2007.

In 2007 ????

goingtobeijing -
I doubt I'll take a tour. Most of those companies are in Bath for barely a few hours and only visit the Roman Baths. I want to visit way more than that so I'll probably do it on my own. And yes, I will be paying in advance!
I know London Walks has a Bath Tour but only on certain Saturdays so that didn't fit my schedule so well.

For accommodation, I will be staying in hostels. Right now, I'm looking at the Meininger in South Kensington and the YHA St Pancras. I'm thinking of staying one week at both since it's more convenient to visit from there.

Last word had the Cutty Sark incredibly being stolen and floated down the Thames, embarrasingly right out from underneath the Greenwich constabulary noses which are housed just blocks away>>>

No one nicked it. Some sod set fire to it. We have no suspects. However we did find a few paint cans nearby.

We have no suspects.>

not surprising - seems the rule rather than the exception

no wonder folks in greater Eltham are clamoring for better police protection

I hope Boris cleans out the whole nest and gets some competency in the local constabulary - folks are fed up with the Doltocracy currently in charge of security that can't even prevent the theft of a bowling green in broad daylight.

man it's hard getting those grass stains off one's hands

I know this is a really vague question but I'll put it out there anyways:
How much time do you allow for the "big" museums? I know that especially the V&A, the British Museum and the National Gallery are huge could take days to explore. I don't want to see it all because I know I'll be going back. I'd rather get an overview and see a few specific sections. How does 3-4 hours for the biggest ones (V&A, BM, NG, Natural History and Tate Modern) and 2 hours for the smaller ones (that would be the National Portrait, the Tate Britain, Science Museum) sound? As I said before, I'm not the biggest medieval history fan. I like 19th century stuff a lot more. I just want to get some input on that topic (I know there is no good answer to that).

In my experience your estimates are really right on.

The YHA hostel at St Pancras is very nice, but the area around it is rather grim. It's on a busy, dirty road.

For the nineteenth century, the V&A British Collections - and quite a bit else - are a must. The National Portrait Gallery will fill you in on what all those historical characters looked like, at least, and Tate Britain and the Natural History Museum reflect much of 19th century tastes.

The BM and the National Gallery are much more wide-ranging in both time and geographical interest and their great strengths tend to be much older than the 19th century.

Tate Modern and the Science Museum are, well, more modern..

Only you know your exhaustion point when it comes to museums, but your estimates would be about the same as mine.

The Science Museum's actually quite strong on 19th century technology, though it's not the best displayed bit of the museum. I've not seen a collection as good outside the UK.

The more recent stuff there isn't as good as you get in many US equivalents.

Tate Britain is the best collection anywhere (well, anywhere outside New Haven) of the art Britons produced in the 19th century: the National Gallery is mostly the (by definition, non-British and mainly pre-19th century) art the British rich collected in the 19th century.

As Patrick says, the British Museum is a pretty good summary of the historical artefacts the British uncovered and collected in the 19th century: everything in it predates the 19th century by many hundreds, or thousands, of years. If you really aren't interested in earlier history, give it a miss.

Spend the time instead wandering round Albertopolis: the area round the V&A/Science Museum built either at Prince Albert's instigation or in his memory. Or visiting railway stations: anyone with an interest in the Victorians HAS to go inside St Pancras and get gobsmacked at the former Midland Hotel built over it.

And of course (how could I forget) the Albert Memorial (if it's not too cold and rainy):

http://tinyurl.com/5plu5z

The V & A is my favorite London museum - something for everyone in its really eclectic mind-boggling collections

here you can see copies of hundreds of famous classical and Renaissance statues

and a lot more than just stuffy art like in the National Gallery

The Tates i love too - the new one in the old power plant - modern and experimental art and the old Tate with always something to knock your socks off - some bizarre exhibit worthy of winning the Turner Prize.

The Tate to Tate boat on the Thames links the two riverside museums, which like most major museums in London are free.

I was in London first weekend this Feb and the city was as crowded with tourists and locals on a very fine weekend - sunny temps around 60 F - was French school holidays and tons of French families and school groups, along with the ubiquitous German school groups, filling up the West End, Covent Garden, the parks, etc.