My London wish list
 

I thought I'd post what I plan to do next week in the event anyone else reading has a trip planned soon too - there are a number of ongoing events/exhibits that look quite interesting. And thank you to YK for her wonderful thread on the Tudors (and the many contributors) for some of the ideas.

In no specific order, here is what I hope to see and do, time permitting of course:

1. TimeOut shows there is a Somerset House Craft Fair. It's not far from my hotel so I might check it out, and pop into the Courtauld while I am there.
http://www.timeout.com/london/museum...don-craft-fair

2. There is a really good Indian restaurant in Kensington I'd like to try called Zaika, I'm going to see if my friends are up for it. I'd also like to try out one of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants as I saw a recent TimeOut write-up on one in Camden. Food is usually lower on the priority list so we'll see how this goes.
http://www.zaika-restaurant.co.uk/restaurant.html

3. This V&A exhibit looks so interesting! It's been about 8 years since I last visited the V&A, too.
http://www.vam.ac.uk/microsites/maharaja/

4. The Getty Images Gallery is a place I haven't visited yet. I saw a review in TimeOut recently, although I believe the subject exhibit will be gone before I arrive. http://www.gettyimagesgallery.com/

5. Kenwood House. This has been on the to-see list for a while. I hope to make it there, although with only 3 days this might be tough as it's probably close to an hour door to door from central London unless I take a cab from Golders Green station. The irony of this is that I used to stay at a B&B on Hampstead Heath, several times as a matter of fact, and never took advantage of it when it was in the neighborhood.
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/s...show/nav.12783


6. If I do visit Kenwood House, I might go back to Highgate and actually try to get into the West side this time.
http://www.highgate-cemetery.org/

7. The British Library has an exhibit on Henry VIII I'd like to see.
http://www.bl.uk/henry

8. The Tower of London likewise has an exhibit on H8.
http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/

9. I recently found out the BFI 43rd film fest is ongoing when I arrive and I'd like to try to catch a movie. TBD.
http://www.bfi.org.uk/lff/

10. London Walks - have to do at least one and if I can shoehorn in more, great!
I had done the Inns of Court walk many years ago, but as I'm staying in the area I may do it again. It's at 2 PM on my jetlag day so we'll see how it goes. I hope to get into my hotel (Chancery Court Marriott) on noon when I arrive. The others which look interesting are Spies and Spycatchers London, the Famous Square Mile, and the Westminster Abbey tour on Monday morning. Note that is one per day, which probably means this is just a wish list.
http://www.walks.com/Homepage/Friday...m/default.aspx
http://www.walks.com/Homepage/Saturd...m/default.aspx
http://www.walks.com/Homepage/Sunday...m/default.aspx
http://www.walks.com/Homepage/Monday...m/default.aspx

11. Hampton Court Palace is on the list, but it would mean dropping a lot from the above.

12. Temple Gardens/Church is a must-see. I'll be right there, for starters.
http://www.timeout.com/london/around...ardens#details
http://www.templechurch.com/

I'm afraid the BL Henry VIII show is finished. I'd check the Tower one too

Thanks Flanner, I was afraid of that. I'll look into it, I may go anyway. It's been years since I've been to either.

flygirl - If you do get to Hampton Court see if they are selling punnets of grapes off The Great Vine. They are in the gift shop. The grapevine was planted in 1768 and in the 19th century produced up to 910kgs (2,000lbs) of delicious black grapes.

I cannot remember if I saw them in the shop during September or Oct.

Thanks flygirl for all the amazing information. I will be in London in Nov but oddly my employer expects me to actually work. Go figure. I am flying in a day early so I have the weekend to explore.

flygirl,

I am looking forward to your photos. Have fun.

I don't have anything to offer on your itinerary. The best pub grub I found was the steak salad at the Brewmaster near Piccadilly Circus.

The British Library is on my list for early November because of these two small exhibits:
Points of View: Capturing the 19th century in photographs, Oct 30 onwards, and
In a Bloomsbury Square: T.S. Eliot the Publisher, to Dec 14

I did a whole bunch of London Walks back in May. The area I 'discovered' and quite liked was Hampstead. I did the Hampstead Tour and the Hampstead Pub Tour.

tod, how interesting, if I do make it there I will check it out.

AGM, have a great time.

spaarne, I hope to be a little quicker with photos this time around!

ron, if I get to the BL I'll report back.

Michel, I enjoyed Hampstead too. I wish I had more than 3 days, but a long weekend is better than nothing.

My daughter and I took the tube to Hampstead. We asked for an extension fare for the Zone 1-2 tickets we had and were told that it is on the border and we didn't need one.

We walked on the Heath, visited Kenwood House, drooled over the library, walked on out the other side and up to Spaniard's Inn for lunch, and then walked back to the tube stop. We had a great time.

I agree with Carolyn, it's a fast tube ride and Kenwood is just about across the street from the tube exit. Hampstead is also a nice town just to walk around. And the Spanish Inn is a good place for lunch.

There's also a good exhibition at Tate Britain, Turner and the Masters. We'll do that when it opens at 10 then take the boat across to SouthBank for a trip thru Borough Market and lunch. I never go to London without visiting Borough Market!

Well if you were there after Dec 9th, you could go see Keira Knightley at Comedy Theatre. OK, that would be my priority :)

Kevin Spacey at Old Vic. I went there last visit, nice little theatre. 2 minute walk from Waterloo station.

http://www.oldvictheatre.com/whatson.php

Carolyn and avalon, hmmm.... There is a Hampstead walk at 10 AM on Sunday. I could do that, have lunch, visit Kenwood and then Highgate on the west side if possible (hourly tours on Sunday...). hmmm... the only kicker is that the west side tours are small and first come first served.

Michel, I did see that Kevin Spacey was there.. this trip is far too short.

I'm afraid Kenwood House is NOT across the street from the tube exit. I was there 2 years ago and this is what I wrote:

<i>I returned to Euston station and took the Northern line further north to Golders Green station. From there I changed for Bus 210 to get to my next destination - Kenwood House.

The entire journey took almost an hour. There is a bus stop right in front of the entrance to Kenwood House. From the main entrance, it's another 5 minutes walk to the actual house. It is located in the woods and the surroundings is very nice.</i>

I also took the Hampstead Walk with London Walks a few years ago; it was very nice. If you're going to be in Hampstead, look into visiting 2 Willow Road. It is a modernist house: http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-2willowroad
Fenton House is in Hampstead too: http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-fentonhouse

Kenwood's at least a mile from any tube exit. The ONLY tube station "across the street" from any part of Hampstead Heath is Gospel Oak.

Golders Green or Artchway tube stations, then a 210 bus, is as yk says the only way of getting to Kenwood without a substantial mile or so walk (though there's a car park at Kenwood if you want to drive). That mile or so (in each direction) is a jolly rewarding one across the Heath, and you can start it (though with a fair amount of street walking) from Hampstead or Hampstead Heath tubes, as well as Gospel Oak.

Kenwood House. Oddly enough Tfl recommend going to Archway on the High Barnet section of the Northern Line and catching the 210 bus from there to Kenwood. 35-40 mins unless some hiccup with the buses. Bus stop is Compton Avenue if you take this option.

You will definitely see some real London in Archway but except for time I would suggest after your visit that you take the 210 bus onward to Hampstead. Get off at Jack Straws Castle and walk down the hill into Hampstead and take train back from Hampstead station. You can also intersect with the 268 bus back into Hampstead.

I "researched" this because I live a little further to the south and I was curious about the official view on this journey. It is one of the annoyances that there are no direct services, except for a school bus service twice a day at school times.

If you get to the V&A, there are two new galleries: the jewelry one, which I have visited and think is absolutely fabulous, and the ceramics one, which has been reorganised and sounds interesting.

Thank you everyone! This is wonderful information.

I'm more interested in conserving time than money on such a short trip, if it saves time I could take a cab to Kenwood and a cab back. No doubt the cab to there is easy to find - but would there be frequent cabs at Kenwood or is it a little more residential?

I've no doubt the mile walk is quite rewarding! I've stayed at a B&B right on the Heath several times and would walk the mile-ish to Golders Green station through the Heath and then through the residential area. Really beautiful. I'll see how it goes. If my arrival day is very nice, I might make the trek then and then do the below:

I checked out www.lates.org and looked up several museums with late hours. Many are on Fridays (hooray) and if I'm still awake there is a "wine, nibbles and talk" on the topic, "If Impressionism was Avant Garde, what was mainstream"? I've taken advantage of the various museum late-openings on other trips and it's great - you can have a lot of the museum to yourself. I love London.

http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/wh...6-october-2009

This application has helped me a lot when I was in London. Have a nice trip.

http://www.visitbritain.us/about-bri...ry/mobile.aspx

Any reviews on Zaika mentioned in the original post? I think that it was one of the first Indian restaurants in London to get a Michelin star. I think it still has it, but I wonder how it is these days. I have never been. Bet it's pricey.

Was thinking of trying Cafe Spice Namaste a few weeks ago because I was staying in the neighborhood, but the restaurant was closed when I could make it, so I didn't go. Seems to be high regarded before but maybe it's not so good these days.

I went to Masala Zone, which I think is a chain, and was pleasantly surprised.