London trip report
 

This forum and you guys in particular were very helpful when i was putting together plans for a big (albeit busy) trip to Europe this past March. It looked like this: London>Belgium>Paris>Lisbon>Madrid.

If you don't remember me, i'm the disposable boxers guy. haha Yea...that guy. Anyway I'm working on a very detailed tripreport for each country we visited, mostly for family and friends. it's a fun way to relive the trip but it's time consuming. What i decided to do was to split things up into countries. As i complete each country there will be link between it and the others. London was the first stop:

www.londontripreport.blogspot.com

what a great trip report tailsock! I'll be looking forward to the rest. I enjoyed your humorous narrative.
London is one of my favourites, sounds like you guys enjoyed it too. I thought your night shots were especially good.

As to the lack of dogs, how funny! Last time in London I stayed in Chelsea, in Sloane Square and there were dogs everywhere. The English typically love dogs, maybe even better than people. LOL.

If you haven't found out by now, that "container with coffee and grounds at the bottom" as you referred to it is called a French press or cafetiere.

Brilliant!

Thanks for sharing--good reports like this help both the person who has been there (oh, memories!) and the future traveler.

Great report and wonderful pictures!

Lee Ann

thanks guys. if i told you how many photos i took over there you'd think i was crazy :-P

my wife sure did

Nice report and I liked the angles and the perspective of the photos. I particularly liked one of the faux Sphinx and the London Eye.

GREAT photos and wonderful report :) You're so energetic and enthusiastic! I like that you and your wife didn't have to be together every minute.

Wild to be propositioned in that way :O

I was happy to read that you didn't see m/any ball caps. I live in the Southeast and get sick of seeing so many! ;)

Can't wait to read about the other cities you visited.

"Since the discounts worked in conjunction with paper tickets from national rail stations, the Oysters we purchased wouldn't work. Any inexpensive paper ticket would do even though we wouldn't be riding the train. We got a couple for Waterloo to Clapham Junction and back for around £4. The coupons themselves were far more valuable than the cheap train fares we'd never use."

You could have bought paper travelcards (tube,bus and DLR) from a train station, they are also valid for the 2 for 1's.

Yes, hooameye i considered that. i was originally going to do that but i wanted our Oysters to calculate the lowest rate of travel for us each day.

thanks for the encouragement people... working on Belgium now

Great report! FYI, we don't wear ballcaps because we don't play baseball! That particular fashion statement is a mostly US phenomenon.

And there's plenty of dogs, we are known as a nation of dog lovers. But the part of London you stayed in (Marble Arch) is not really a residential area, and workers don't tend to take their dogs to work with them LOL.

You have far more energy on holiday than I do.

"we don't wear ballcaps because we don't play baseball! That particular fashion statement is a mostly US phenomenon."

It's also considered chavvy.
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=chav

"We were both surprised at how easy it was to order beer without being carded."

Not sure I understand that one.

alcohol in the United States requires a photo ID. minimum age is 21.. if a bartender asks to see your ID, you've just been carded

Great trip report. Thank you for sharing. I loved the photos you posted.

Looking forward to your other reports - esp. Paris.

TR

Tailsock, great report - you and your wife really "did" London. Agree that the British Museum is overwhelming!

Great report. I envy you your energy.

Great blog, especially since we are planning a trip the end of June for 9 days to London/Paris. A couple of questions, where did you purchase the 2 for 1 discount tickets? And I don't understand the oyster tickets you spoke about. We are staying close to the Marble Arch also, from your blog it seems that is at least one mile from the "sights" and only walkable on fresh feet?

Here you go:
https://oyster.tfl.gov.uk/oyster/entry.do

A bit more info from a great post on TA:
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Travel-....1.Offers.html

Nhgirl3G: in answer to your questions-

1. the 2for1 discounts you print on your computer ahead of time. go here for complete details: http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/
you need a valid national rail ticket or paper travelcard to work in conjunction with this. (the only place anyone asked us to see proof of this was the Tower of London) We bought a couple of cheap train tickets from Charing Cross. Note that both parties need a train ticket that is valid on the day that you plan on using the 2for1. Example: if you want to use a 2for1 for the London Eye on June 20th your train ticket or travelcard must reflect this or be good on that day. Paper travelcards are widely believed to be the best solution for this since they cover you for anywhere from 1 to 7 days.

2. The Oyster is an alternative to paper travel cards. It's a reloadable plastic card that you put a balance on. works on bus and tube. There's a 5 pound deposit however that you can get back. They are popular because you are automatically charged the lowest rate depending on the day's journeys.

3. Marble Arch area is convenient for exploring Oxford street as it's right there. As far as walking distance from attractions, i wouldn't really recommend it. If you had a tourist map of London Marble Arch would be west of most everything with the exception of Hyde Park. zoom in on this screenshot for example:
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/phot...eat=directlink

if anything was within a 15 minute walk i'd say it'd be Piccadilly Circus. Hyde Park is also just out front but it's HUGE.. much bigger than it appeared on a map. tip: bus 436 will quickly get you from Marble Arch to Hyde Park corner

the reason i mentioned Hyde Park corner was that in addition to the Wellington Arch and other monuments there, Buckingham Palace is an easy half mile walk away