Cindy

My daughter and I are planning to take her senior trip to London and any interesting surrounding area. We have one week in early June. What do you recommend for flying (Concord?), hotels(not stuffy), and where would your teenager want to see again?<BR>Thanks!<BR>

k

Start with a search on this board for &quot;London&quot;. These are such broad questions that it is hard to help you. So many people here have gone to London, you should have no problem finding all kinds of info already on this board. <BR><BR>It seems the search function is down right now, but try a little later.<BR><BR>Um...the Concord? Are you kidding? Do you have any idea what that costs? I seriously doubt anyone on this board would recommend that, but stranger things have happened, I guess.

MJ

I took my teenage daughter horseback riding through Hyde Park. From shopping, dining and theater, this was the highlight of London.

lm

Right now BA is offering roundtrip fares on the Concorde for $12,752.07 per person.

k

Thanks, Im, for the laugh!

lm

I wasn't joking. $12,752.07 is a current roundtrip fare for travel in late February with a Saturday night stayover. Now to find a hotel in a safe area close to everything for under $100 per night.....

k

Oh, I believe you, Im. I just mean that it shows how ridiculous it was for someone to ask if we would recommend traveling like that. Made me laugh.

Grasshopper

But on the return trip, presuming you're flying to NYC, you get home an hour before you leave! If it were the last hour of your life it would be worth $12,000!

not sure

At first I though Cindy was just a little lazy asking such a broad question. But the Concorde comment makes me think she is a troll. Anyone who can afford the Concorde would not be asking for advice on Fodors. Either that or she is so out of it she doesn't know what the Concorde is.

ed

Some people don't know how much it costs. There was an offer to fly on Concorde a few months ago by buying about $2500 (or so) worth of magazines. I don't remember the specifics, but I think it was a hotel frequent stay program where one could convert to miles.<BR><BR>I think Delta has a frequent flyer AF Concorde award for 190,000 miles. High, but not impossible.

Ira

Hi Cindy,<BR> Definitely take the Concord to London. You will save about 5 hours flying each way, the service is excellent and you will not be all tired out from flying.<BR><BR> Stay at Brown's Hotel. very pleasant but not stuffy. Tea there is a must, and as a guest you will get a better table.<BR><BR> If you only have one week, I don't think that you will ave time to do much more than see London. Make sure you have at least one dinner at Gordon Ramsay. It is *the* place.<BR><BR> If possible, you can do a combo Concord out and the QE2 back for less than RT on the Concord. That will add about 5 days to your trip, but coming back by boat is really much better.<BR>

Karl

If you like to be snobbish, fly to London on Concorde but fly back on Lufthansa Dusseldorf to Newark. The plane is specially fitted with only 48 seats. Coach passengers are forbidden on this flight.<BR><BR>48 seats compares to almost 400 on a 747 and over 500 on a 747 on a Japan Airlines domestic shuttle

xxx

Yes, of course take the Concorde. Try to see if you can get a room at Buckingham Palace also.

give her a break

You people ought to work out your hostilities in your real lives...if you have anything resembling a life.<BR><BR>

uhoh

My late mother and stepfather took their last major trip together on the Concorde/Queen Elizabeth &quot;package&quot; to London. They really loved it, although the QE wasn't as comfy as other cruise ships they'd been on...the whole trip was a huge success. When my husband and I did a week in London and week in Paris this past Spring (ff miles woohoo)<BR>we stayed at the Sloane Square Moat House Hotel. It was terrific - not at all stuffy and wonderfully located. Check the Moat House website for specials. We paid 75GBP per night. Amazing for that location. This place isn't &quot;posh&quot; but it was clean, comfortable, and the breakfast room(included)could get you just about anything you wanted. Bring a passport sized photo of yourselves and get a week pass for the Tube/buses. It is so easy to get around - even when something happens and &quot;your&quot; line is not running, it is easy to find out an alternate route. Hyde Park is wonderful on a bright sunny day. Shop at Fortnum &amp; Mason's for gifts - have tea overlooking the busy foods floor. Arrange to see a play at the reconstructed Globe Theater -- or at the very least do a tour. Get tickets for a candlelight concert at St Martin in the Fields. You will love London.

Not as mean as you

How can you all be so Nasty? Seems to me you'd have to practice it alot to do it so well... I've recommended Fodor's to many people and their feedback to me is that he responses were so &quot;spiteful&quot; that they gave up.. Tsk Tsk.... are you really travelers or do you just like to vent here in order to save from having to spend on anger management? Give her a break. It is possible you know that she can afford it and isn't familiar with a typical &quot;fodor's&quot; trip. Also possible that she isn't aware of what it costs. In either case, where is the rule written that we must all do research and homework before we DARE even post here? Give me a break.....

sam

Gee - I thought poor Cindy was just being amusing. Guess I gave her the benefit of the doubt without even realizing I was doing it.

Katie

There is an article in this past Sundays NY Times magazine about flying to London on the Concorde. It made me want to fly it even more, although paying $12000-for an airplane ticket is not a part of my reality! But if I win that lottery ticket that we have been dreaming about...not only will I fly the Concorde, but I will bring all my friends with me.<BR>Imagine, there isn't enough time on the flight to watch a movie <BR>The meals are served on real china and linens. The &quot;silverware&quot; is plastic because of the security restrictions. The wines are good ones.<BR>The lounge at the airport is only for the COncorde, none of those lowly First Class allowed. sounds just lovely...sigh.

Cindy

To all of you who wrote kind words, thank you. To all of you who decided to be ugly...don't worry about it.<BR>But I don't believe I'll be trying this venue again. I've always used Fodors for travel research. But now I can tell that alot of it is just mean gossip. Too bad. I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't try to ruin somebody else's day.

Missy

Dear Cindy,<BR>I took you seriously and am sorry you felt people were being salty. My dream would be to take the Concorde, but alas my pocketbook doesn't allow that dream to come true. However you arrive, you and your daughter will have the trip of a lifetime together. As a London afficionada I would suggest you make time to see the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London (go early in the day so the lines aren't too long), also take time to enjoy the complete Tower experience. Take a guided tour of the Thames River which will help you get your bearings. Take some of the numerous walking tours of town, any concierge can set them up for you. It's lots of fun to take the double-decker step-on and step-off bus tours, you'll see and hear lots and it will amplify what you heard on the river tour. See the fantastic food courts at Harrod's. Watch the changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. Do teatime at The Savoy, and for a diametrically opposed experience also enjoy some 'pub grub' in any of the numerous pubs. The Plowman's lunch is always delicous. Watch &quot;Notting Hill&quot; before you go to London, and some other movies to get you in the mood. Definitely bring some guidebooks - when I was your daughter's age I loved the &quot;Get There&quot; series which has a youthful slant on things. Take the tube, and see St. Pauls, and shop in snazzy boutiques, and dash in to see museum displays. Whatever you do you'll have a super time doing it because you'll be discovering London as a family, and you'll make memories to last a lifetime.