julies

We are thinking about London for a week and, since we've have never been there, are looking for some of you experts to steer us in the right direction for an initial search for a rental flat. While we'd go to see some of the typical tourist sights, we'd also like to stay in a location that is more of a neighborhood than just aimed at tourists. When we visit a city we don't want to spend all of our time just rushing from one major site to another. We really enjoy just walking around and soaking up the ambience of interesting areas that real people live in. We want a "nice", safe neighborhood that has some charm, but we don't need super upscale or luxury by any means, especially since we want to hold the cost down. Ideally we'd like an area that is interesting to walk around in, is close to good public transportation that we could use when we want to sightsee, and has some inexpensive ethnic restaurants, a bakery, a convenient grocery store etc. Can you give me some suggestions of areas that would meet our criteria? And, if there are others that we should steer clear of, I'd appreciate that info too. Thanks much.

jpie

Here is a page from trip advisor that does a good job of describing the neighborhoods pretty well. I think 4 of the most interesting neighborhoods I have stayed in with friends are Kensington, Notting Hill (both of theses areas would be considered well to do and nice), and Islington and the South Bank near Shad Thames are also both great-maybe a bit more diverse and lots of great little shops etc. especially off of the Islington high street area which is a central neighborhood north of the river. The area around Shad Thames (near Tower bridge on south bank) is a cool hip new area of converted warehouses mostly backed by Terrence Conran who founded the Conran store and Habitat, with restaurants shops etc. You can walk along the south bank there-nice scenic strolls and not too far from the Tate Modern. Also close to Borough Market. I loved that area-a lot of Bridget Jone's diary was shot there if you saw the film.

The City is mostly financial business places, so not that great to stay in. There are many more seasoned London experts out there that can tell you areas to avoid. But I think most of the rental flats you will find are likely to be in okay areas.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g1...hborhoods.html

WillTravel

Hampstead would be really good for most of that, but I'm not sure about the inexpensive ethnic restaurants. Maybe Golders Green, a little north of Hampstead, which does have some inexpensive places. I'm not sure about apartment availability.

Although I haven't looked much, I've never seen a decent apartment that was cheaper than Priceline for two people.

You might want to look at Vauxhall, a south of the river location which tends to be Portuguese and Brazilian, and is fairly convenient.

zeppole

I like Islington for what you've described you're looking for, very much a neighborhood where people live.

If you are drawn to the South Bank -- and I enjoy it a lot -- you might check out the London School of Economics for South bank rentals.

http://www.lsevacations.co.uk/residences/bankside.htm

Even if you don't stay in Marylebone, which gets pricey, I highly recommend that you enjoy a lunch in that neighborhood, browse the stores, check into the scene, or visit its Sunday morning farmer's market.

julies

Thanks! I knew that I'd get some good tips here. I'll do a little looking online now. But, if others have ideas, please add in your suggestions.

Willtravel--We just much prefer the idea of having an apartment to spread out in, and we know we save lots of money by not having to eat out all the time. In fact, often, when we are tired at the end of a long day, we'll get takeout and bring it back to the apartment. Our rule of thumb has become that if we are going to be in a place 3 or more nights, we opt for the apartment. Since we are not super, super picky and don't need deluxe we've often found extremely good rates for apartments.

flanneruk

Given your brief, the two best places are Islington (north of Pentonville Rd/City Rd, south of Highbury Corner, east of Caledonian Rd and south and west of the line formed by East Rd, New North Rd,Southgate Rd, the Balls Pnd Rd/St Paul's Rd, Highbury Grove, Baalbec Rd and Highbury Crescent back to Highbury Corner) and Camden Town (let someone else define the boundary between the nice bit and the frozen wasteland to the north that appropriates the name).

Hampstead and Golders Green are both beyond a six mile radius of the centre.

WillTravel

Hampstead and Golders Green didn't "feel" too far away, although admittedly the Northern Line was running properly whenever I tried. (Is the Northern Line still an issue?)

Jean

Can anyone comment on Maida Vale and Little Venice? It's been a few years, but we stayed in an apartment right off the canal and thought the area was pretty nice. A friend who lives in St. John's Wood found the apartment for us, so I'm not sure what the rental market is like.

mohun

We've stayed in flats in the safe and convenient neighborhoods of Nightsbridge (really, it's not easy to say where Knightsbridge morphs into South Kensington on the west) and Mayfair. Nightsbridge/South Kensington can safely be decribed as clearly tourist-oriented, particularly as you approach Harrod's on the east and the V&A Museum on the east; and Mayfair may be more fairly described as so upscale as to be not all that tourist-oriented (unless they happen to be fairly well-off tourists) [we got a flat at a very good price]. Howefer, finally getting to the point: we recommend finding a flat in a neighborhood where you would have fairly easy access to an underground station through which runs the Picadilly line, with Heathrow near its western terminus and St. Pancras and Kings Cross to the east and convenient to the Eurostar and Cambridge.

The best features of all the flats residence have been 1) a place to return--with washer and dryer--after a long day's touring, 2) the aforementioned opportunity for a takeout dinner and beer in flat at the end of the day at a greatly reduced cost and shoes-off atmosphere, and, for us, 3) a low-cost breakfast in-flat with real English orange marmalade, toast or scones, and The London Times to start off the day.

KayF

I'd throw Bloombsbury into the mix. It's central, lots of places to eat and shop, walking distance to some attractions and close to tube and bus.

You might find apartments around Paddington/Bayswater to be cheaper. It's an area that has lots of budget hotels and loads of travellers. We stayed there for a few weeks once and liked it, public transport is convenient and you can easily walk to Little Venice and Hyde Park, Kensington Palace etc. Lots of cheaper places to eat too.

Kay

KayF

Sorry, it's spelt Bloomsbury.

stokebailey

I love Hampstead, but when I stayed there with my mother she disliked having to take the tube to any touristy spots, and metioned that daily or so.

julies

Thanks again.

I've been looking online at various rentals. One that looks somewhat interesting in in Chelsea (which no one has mentioned) south of Kings Road and north of the river very close to Stamford Bridge the Chelsea soccer club. Does this area meet any of my criteria?

alihutch

Chelsea is a really expensive area

texasbookworm

We LOVED our BandB in Belgravia for the neighborhood feel. It wasn't exceptionally fancy but more than adequate. About 2 minutes from 2 pubs; 10 from a grocery store and wonderful bakery; 10 from Hyde Park; 10 from Harrods; less than 10 from two tube stops; quiet.
But you have asked about a flat, not a BandB, so I hadn't responded. If you really want a flat, to cook in and such, I don't have a suggestion. If you would consider a BandB, I could give you more info. (We couldn't cook or use much of the kitchen, but we ate takeaway in our rooms[there were actually 2 rooms plus bath] for dinner a lot, during our 2 weeks, and stored our lunch snacks, too, so we did save money on meals compared with staying in a hotel.) We rented through AtHomein London.

(This summer because we will be 3 people we couldn't stay in the Belgravia one but used the same agency to book one in the Bayswater area.)

janisj

"<i>south of Kings Road and north of the river very close to Stamford Bridge the Chelsea soccer club. Does this area meet any of my criteria?</i>"

If it is south of the Kings Road it would be either a bit of a hike or <u>quite</u> a hike to Fulham Broadway or Parsons Green tube stations (depending on its exact location). Maybe give us a link so we can help w/ the location.

But me personally, I'd prefer Bloomsbury or Islington, or several other areas. Pimlico and Belgravia are more residential than touristy but still very convenient to sites/transport.

Ackislander

In October we stayed in a friend's flat in St George's Square south of the river where Westminster Bridge Road, Lambeth Roadm Waterloo Road, and Blackfriars Road come together, just north of Elephant and Castle and around the corner from the Imperial War Museum.

An interesting and diverse area, with lots of students, the best thing was the incredible intersection of bus routes. You could get anywhere with very little difficulty and rarely more than one change.

We have also stayed in The Cut, where the Old Vic is located, in the immediate Waterloo area, very near the Jubilee line.

M&S and Sainsbury's both have minimarts in and near the station where you can buy the kind of frozen (and some fresh) entrees that make life easy after a long day on the tourist trail, and there are plenty of places to eat in the neighborhood. These are all accessible from St George's Square, described above.

zeppole

Ackslander,

Where did you stay in The Cut?

julies

Thanks to all of your for your helpful replies, and I'll keep on checking them out.

janisj--

Here's the link. If you scroll down, you'll see the map.

http://www.homeaway.com/vacation-rental/p406605

PatrickLondon

julies, my mother was the school secretary for the local primary school there for a good few years (a good few years ago, so my memories and impressions may be out of date - I was last round there about ten years ago).

"Real" people live there; it's safe enough, but a fairly ordinary collection of Victorian terrace housing, once very working class, now very gentrified and sought after.

There will be convenience stores, but for main supermarket shopping, you'd have to go up to the main road and take a bus either to Fulham Broadway and North End Road, or to World's End. You might find the bus/tube commute to tourist attractions a bit of a schlep, but that's how Londoners live.

It's possible that the new riverside developments in the area have attracted more restaurants and shops into the area than I remember; from memory, on King's Road by the junction with Lots Road is the Chutney Mary Indian restaurant, and there may well be others - try searching around on Yell.com