London neighborhood suggestions
Apr 25th, 2014, 03:50 PM
#62
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Thank to all who kindly made suggestions for neighborhoods in London. I read them all and many were very helpful! Unfortunately, that will be the last time I post anything on here as many people just use it to correct people and interject negativity wherever possible... Which is incredibly ANNOYING when you are just trying to get some ideas for travel.. My god people .. Find something else to do!!!!
Apr 25th, 2014, 04:24 PM
#63
I'm sorry you feel that way, and hope that you will reconsider. Any negativity had nothing to do with you. I see that you are new poster. It is not unusual for a thread to take off in a discussion not intended by the originator. That is is a feature of the internet, not a bug.
Apr 26th, 2014, 02:23 PM
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This is so funny. All started by janisj and her pedantic "the Cotswolds" jibe>
No that a bad rap - your over reaction to her self-described 'nit-picking' launched it then folks like me and tgourmet got carried away - many to blame.
That said the OP got her info she asked for in the upper part of the thread and if this silly bantering had not gone on the thread would have disappeared into Fodor's black hole anyway - so I think OP should be happy with the sage advice she/he did get and not throw the baby out with the bath water. Some of us Fodorgarchs get carried away sometimes and I regret I was one.
Anyway most posts do not end up like this - come back and ask questions and you'll find most do not. And what the heck you got great info from many in the first part of the thread.
Oh well let us Fodorgarchs live and learn.... to be kinder and gentler - I'll try!
No that a bad rap - your over reaction to her self-described 'nit-picking' launched it then folks like me and tgourmet got carried away - many to blame.
That said the OP got her info she asked for in the upper part of the thread and if this silly bantering had not gone on the thread would have disappeared into Fodor's black hole anyway - so I think OP should be happy with the sage advice she/he did get and not throw the baby out with the bath water. Some of us Fodorgarchs get carried away sometimes and I regret I was one.
Anyway most posts do not end up like this - come back and ask questions and you'll find most do not. And what the heck you got great info from many in the first part of the thread.
Oh well let us Fodorgarchs live and learn.... to be kinder and gentler - I'll try!
Apr 26th, 2014, 11:54 PM
#66
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Last words from me to complete the advice on the original question.
Have a look at the area to the East of the City for a great location in a neighbourhood that is burgeoning with exciting hotels and restaurants, has proximity to the City and to most of C London "attractions" and is within budget of $300 to $400.
The area is called Hoxton/Shorerditch and is characterised by lively places frequented by younger people and has a good mix of leisure and business and has it's own social history ranging from Jewish immigration to a more modern influx of people from Asia and Eastern Europe. It is an eclectic cosmopolitan place and has the feel of a "town community" whereas it is just a 15 minute walk to the heart of the financial district and history of the City of London
I would spend 5/6 nights in London if you have not been before and 3 in the Cotswolds. All of the Cotswolds towns are very pretty. Some are tiny villages and some are larger towns with places of interest and decent pubs and restaurants. The Cotswolds is the epitome of "pretty" and "Englishness" with many villages and towns in a rural setting to the west of London. My favourite places are Moreton in Marsh, Northleach, Bourton on the Water, Winchcombe and Stow on the Wold. Broadway is very popular too as are Painswick and Woodstock. All get very busy in the summer so get to them after an early breakfast, get parked before 0900 if you can and just stroll around. On a sunny day there are few more relaxing places I know. The churches are wonderful as are the little streets of cottages with their flower gardens. Tea in a little teashop at about four in the afternoon is a loverly relaxing thing to do after a few hours walking
If you have a car then leave London on the M40 outside of rush hour and take the M40 and A40 out west to your destination. From C London out to Oxford is 1 hour 30 mins, to somewhere like Bourton on the Water is nearer 2 hours. Your route depends on your final destination of course. The Cotswolds stretch for quite a large area and have many places to visit and stay so choose your route carefully to avoid "getting lost in the middle of nowhere". Sat navs are good but even the most experienced driver (i.e yours truly) has ended up down a farm track and been advised to "make a u turn"
Travelling from Heathrow in to C London depends on your time of day and luggage size and your health or the level of stress you can put up with. Outside of commuter rush hours the tube is very good from all Heathrow terminals. It takes an hour to C London but there are stairs as well as long escalators and large pieces of luggage can be cumbersome in the corridors between lines and difficult to manoeuvre on the tube train when it is busy
A car from Heathrow to C London can take less than 45 minutes on a Sunday morning at 0800 but will take up to 1 hour 45 minutes at say 1600 on a Wednesday or even 2 hours on a wet Friday at 1700
All London airports have good overground rail connections. the infamous HEX (Heathrow Express) is fast but not cheap and great for "west central" London destinations such as Paddington, Notting Hill and Bayswater. I always use the tube for Heathrow. I have lived in London for 50 of my 60 years and the tube rarely lets you down and is relatively reasonably priced. Put £20 on an oyster card to get you around for a few days - it is cheaper and easier than "conventional" tube tickets and can be used on London buses which are frequent and useful in C London if you want to see London from the street. Sitting at the front, upstairs on a London bus is something all Londoners did as children and it is a fab way of seeing London
The other airports (Gatwick, Stansted and Luton) all have direct overground links into C London but none have tube as they are beyond the bounds of the tube network. Gatwick to Victoria, Stansted to Liverpool Street and Luton to Kings X/St Pancras all have reasonably priced, frequent trains to their C London destinations and all are fairly easy to access from their respective terminals
I hope you enjoy your trip to our fabulous land as much as I always enjoy the US.
Apologies if I upset anyone. There was no intention to so do
Have a look at the area to the East of the City for a great location in a neighbourhood that is burgeoning with exciting hotels and restaurants, has proximity to the City and to most of C London "attractions" and is within budget of $300 to $400.
The area is called Hoxton/Shorerditch and is characterised by lively places frequented by younger people and has a good mix of leisure and business and has it's own social history ranging from Jewish immigration to a more modern influx of people from Asia and Eastern Europe. It is an eclectic cosmopolitan place and has the feel of a "town community" whereas it is just a 15 minute walk to the heart of the financial district and history of the City of London
I would spend 5/6 nights in London if you have not been before and 3 in the Cotswolds. All of the Cotswolds towns are very pretty. Some are tiny villages and some are larger towns with places of interest and decent pubs and restaurants. The Cotswolds is the epitome of "pretty" and "Englishness" with many villages and towns in a rural setting to the west of London. My favourite places are Moreton in Marsh, Northleach, Bourton on the Water, Winchcombe and Stow on the Wold. Broadway is very popular too as are Painswick and Woodstock. All get very busy in the summer so get to them after an early breakfast, get parked before 0900 if you can and just stroll around. On a sunny day there are few more relaxing places I know. The churches are wonderful as are the little streets of cottages with their flower gardens. Tea in a little teashop at about four in the afternoon is a loverly relaxing thing to do after a few hours walking
If you have a car then leave London on the M40 outside of rush hour and take the M40 and A40 out west to your destination. From C London out to Oxford is 1 hour 30 mins, to somewhere like Bourton on the Water is nearer 2 hours. Your route depends on your final destination of course. The Cotswolds stretch for quite a large area and have many places to visit and stay so choose your route carefully to avoid "getting lost in the middle of nowhere". Sat navs are good but even the most experienced driver (i.e yours truly) has ended up down a farm track and been advised to "make a u turn"
Travelling from Heathrow in to C London depends on your time of day and luggage size and your health or the level of stress you can put up with. Outside of commuter rush hours the tube is very good from all Heathrow terminals. It takes an hour to C London but there are stairs as well as long escalators and large pieces of luggage can be cumbersome in the corridors between lines and difficult to manoeuvre on the tube train when it is busy
A car from Heathrow to C London can take less than 45 minutes on a Sunday morning at 0800 but will take up to 1 hour 45 minutes at say 1600 on a Wednesday or even 2 hours on a wet Friday at 1700
All London airports have good overground rail connections. the infamous HEX (Heathrow Express) is fast but not cheap and great for "west central" London destinations such as Paddington, Notting Hill and Bayswater. I always use the tube for Heathrow. I have lived in London for 50 of my 60 years and the tube rarely lets you down and is relatively reasonably priced. Put £20 on an oyster card to get you around for a few days - it is cheaper and easier than "conventional" tube tickets and can be used on London buses which are frequent and useful in C London if you want to see London from the street. Sitting at the front, upstairs on a London bus is something all Londoners did as children and it is a fab way of seeing London
The other airports (Gatwick, Stansted and Luton) all have direct overground links into C London but none have tube as they are beyond the bounds of the tube network. Gatwick to Victoria, Stansted to Liverpool Street and Luton to Kings X/St Pancras all have reasonably priced, frequent trains to their C London destinations and all are fairly easy to access from their respective terminals
I hope you enjoy your trip to our fabulous land as much as I always enjoy the US.
Apologies if I upset anyone. There was no intention to so do
Apr 27th, 2014, 01:16 AM
#67
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Sorry- a late comer to this thread.
We enjoyed a great stay in an apartment in Clerkenwell in December 2012. Close to Farringdon station so easy to get everywhere via the Tube; walking distance to St Pauls, good local Pubs; interesting area and walkable to other sights including Tate Modern, etc.
We enjoyed a great stay in an apartment in Clerkenwell in December 2012. Close to Farringdon station so easy to get everywhere via the Tube; walking distance to St Pauls, good local Pubs; interesting area and walkable to other sights including Tate Modern, etc.
Apr 27th, 2014, 01:49 AM
#68
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Clerkenwell has the same feel as Shoreditch/Hoxton - very nice area around Farringdon and Smithfield
As bendigo says - walk to St Pauls and Old Bailey. Interesting places nearby include Museum of London at Barbican (one stop or short walk from Farringdon). Shakespeare lived around here when he first moved to London (the street has gone but it is just to the east by a few metres of the Museum of London)
In fact Farringdon is a good call by bendigo as it has good North/South and East/West connections via it's tube station (Liverpool St to the east and Paddington/Baker St to the west and it also has an "overground" station that will take you via Kings X to St Albans and Luton Airport and to the south via City Thameslink, Croydon, Gatwick and on to Brighton if you fancy a day out at the seaside)
From Farringdon you can walk in 30 minutes to Covent Garden , avoiding busy Holborn by turning down Chancery Lane then walking through the beautiful Lincolns Inn Fields where many barristers, solicitors and lawyers generally have their "chambers". Walk through here, cross Southampton Row, down Gt Queen St (passing the Freemasons Arms where the Football Association laid down the rules of football/soccer in 1863) into and across Drury Lane (watch out for the muffin man) and into Covent Garden via Long Acre. CG is not my fave place but it has lots of shops, cafes and restaurants, the beautiful building that is the Royal National Opera House, street entertainers and is only 5 mins further on towards the river to Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery
Enjoy
As bendigo says - walk to St Pauls and Old Bailey. Interesting places nearby include Museum of London at Barbican (one stop or short walk from Farringdon). Shakespeare lived around here when he first moved to London (the street has gone but it is just to the east by a few metres of the Museum of London)
In fact Farringdon is a good call by bendigo as it has good North/South and East/West connections via it's tube station (Liverpool St to the east and Paddington/Baker St to the west and it also has an "overground" station that will take you via Kings X to St Albans and Luton Airport and to the south via City Thameslink, Croydon, Gatwick and on to Brighton if you fancy a day out at the seaside)
From Farringdon you can walk in 30 minutes to Covent Garden , avoiding busy Holborn by turning down Chancery Lane then walking through the beautiful Lincolns Inn Fields where many barristers, solicitors and lawyers generally have their "chambers". Walk through here, cross Southampton Row, down Gt Queen St (passing the Freemasons Arms where the Football Association laid down the rules of football/soccer in 1863) into and across Drury Lane (watch out for the muffin man) and into Covent Garden via Long Acre. CG is not my fave place but it has lots of shops, cafes and restaurants, the beautiful building that is the Royal National Opera House, street entertainers and is only 5 mins further on towards the river to Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery
Enjoy
Apr 27th, 2014, 02:56 AM
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And it would be remiss to walk through Lincoln's Inn Fields without visiting Sir John Soane's House Museum - surely one of the treasures of London - which we enjoyed immensely:
http://www.soane.org/
And for those with a slightly more medical or morbid interest, just across the way is the Royal college of Surgeons' Hunterian Museum - by repute also a remarkable place, although it was not on our "must see" list:
http://www.rcseng.ac.uk/museums/hunterian
http://www.soane.org/
And for those with a slightly more medical or morbid interest, just across the way is the Royal college of Surgeons' Hunterian Museum - by repute also a remarkable place, although it was not on our "must see" list:
http://www.rcseng.ac.uk/museums/hunterian
Apr 27th, 2014, 03:12 AM
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The other distraction in Chancery Lane is to venture into the London Silver Vaults - remarkable treasure and some spectacularly artistic pieces - all available for sale, starting from affordable small pieces of serving ware, milk jugs, etc, right up to pieces available for the equivalent of a King's Ransom (but lovely to look at!):
http://silvervaultslondon.com/
We stayed in this fabulous apartment through The London Agent and would go back in a heartbeat:
http://www.thelondonagent.com/super-...ndon-lets.html
http://silvervaultslondon.com/
We stayed in this fabulous apartment through The London Agent and would go back in a heartbeat:
http://www.thelondonagent.com/super-...ndon-lets.html
