London - Where to stay
 

Hi,

Flight will be arriving in London early evening in Stansted (Ryanair)on 7/13. I would like to book 2 nights in London. Could you please reccommend the best area to stay in to see the most in 2 days? Maybe a couple museums and good night life... Also, any help with the travel to and from Stansted would be awesome. Thank you so much for all of your help. I have booked some great places thanks to you!!!!

Natalie

Hi
The most popular areas (at least here) areas to stay in are South Kensington, Victoria, Bloomsbury, Covent Garden.

I think the following info is still current, but you can check it at the website
www.londoncityairport
The Stanstead Skytrain runs every half hour between the airport and Liverpool Street station. There is also a Jetlink 777 bus from Stanstead to Victoria Coach Station

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34430628

This thread has a lengthy post from the venerable Ben Haines on centrally located hotels in London.

I like Bloomsbury, myself.

Most guidebooks have good itinerary suggestions based on the number of days you have to spend, which you can tweak based on your interests:

http://www.fodors.com/miniguides/mgr...;feature=30003

http://www.frommers.com/destinations...055020017.html

My vote is for Covent Garden! Tons of things to do there, shopping, dining, theatre,and museums nearby.

I stayed at the Strand Palace. A 5 min walk to Covent Garden. ( The hotel is in a busy part of town, however I enjoyed it a lot- some people on thismessage board have hated it- but I dug it)

It's about 8 mins to Trafalgar Square, The portrait gallery, St. Martins in the Field Church (great cheap concerts and a fabulous gift shop)

Covent Garden all the way!!!! Got room for one more cus I am going back if it kills me!!:-)

Enjoy your trip!

PW

I almost forgot here is a great website

http://www.coventgardenlife.com/acco...ommodation.htm

Next time I go to london I'm staying in Convent Gardens, love it there. However I highly recommend The Regency in South Kensington. It's about 2 blocks from the museums, and down the street from Kensington Gardens. Also only a 2 min walk to South Kensington tube station.