I am just back from 10 days in London and thought I would share a few things. I had teenage girls with me so we purchased pay as you go phones (cost 5 GBP or $7.50 per phone) and added 10GBP in time (20P per minute). That equated to about 1 hour of talk time. That was plenty for us to keep tabs on the girls and to make reservations and we still had some minutes left over. If needed, you can simply add more time to the phone. Decent phone (Noikia) and I can use it again on future trips.

We did a Priceline Bid and booked at the Copthorne Tara for $90 per room VAT included per night(I had 3 rooms total). With Priceline you don't see the hotel in advance so once you purchase you are "stuck". Hotel reviews on Trip Advisor had me very nervous, but the hotel was fine - about on a par with a Holiday Inn, but somewhat drab and tired furnishings. Didn't bother me and I was very happy with everything. Location (Kennsington High Street) was great, staff was great and so was the bar. We took the Tube to and from Heathrow with no problems.

Oyster card was a great purchase (7 day) and made riding the Tube and buses a snap. I prefer the bus in daylight - you can see things, and take the Tube at night. I had a zone one and 2 Oyster and used it get a slightly reduced price for the train to Hampton Court - in other words just an extended ticket for the ride. Very convenient and relatively cheap.

We were in London for the New Years day Parade and had a great time - my teenage son marched in it and that provided the excuse for the rest of us to go. It was very cold the entire time, but dry and clear. Also, the dollar is still doing well (averaged about $1.48 exchange rate) and the residents seemed happy to see Americans. With the weakness of the Pound, London was awash with Italians, French and other eastern European tourists.

We managed to eat well (went to Fifteen, Wagamama's and everything in between) and thoroughly enjoyed our stay. 10 days is just not enough. Finally, we flew on United from the west coast, economy for about $750pp.

Gee, you got good deals on everything all the way around! What all did you see & do while there besides the parade & Hampton Court?

Yes I did get pretty good deals all around - and I attribute most of this success to reading this forum. This was not our first time to London so I did not do the museum thing this time. Instead my wife and I concentrated on visiting the palaces. At this time of year there is not much daylight, so it gets dark by 4pm. We went to Hampton Court Palace. Also we took the train to Windsor Palace on NY eve. This was my first time there and i was very impressed and highly recommend it as a day trip to anyone. The village is quite nice as well (Eaton is across the river). All in all a great day out. Another palace we visited was Kennsington Palace. Right in town, this palace is noted for having some of Dianna's gowns on display and we were interested in the story of the debutantes. The last formal presentation of debutantes to the Queen occured in 1958. There were films and other information on the practice - made for a good visit and then of course you see various parts of the palace...royal reception rooms and the like. We also visited the Tower of London and that is as expected - crowded but beautiful and well worth the effort. We also took the bus out to see the palace of Kew - but, alas, it is closed in the winter. No problem, we visited the greenhouses (Kew Gardens) and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. The park is beautiful and in the frosty cold it was even more fun to go into the green houses and look at all the various plants and flowers. I was never particularly interested in botany before, but I have become a convert. I think I will make a point of visiting the gardens in England on my next trip there as i have read many here have done before me.

While it is not listed as a great option, we purchased a membership in the Historic Royal Palaces (59GBP for two people) and it is good for a year. It gets you into all the palaces mentioned (except Windsor) and the Tower. We definately saved money with that even though we only used it for 3 admissions(compared to general admission). For those who might consider this option, i wanr you that while it does include admission to the Kew Palace, it does not get you into the grounds. You have to pay another entry fee to get into Kew Gardens.

As an aside, I would say that I would love to stay out near the Kew Gardens area. Richmond is a lovely district and the Tube runs out there, lost of lovely pubs and well to do homes. Not sure what hotels might be out that way, but definately on list for possible B&B or apartment rental.

Finally, in addition to the palace tours and so on, we had lots of fun eating - going to restaurants, pubs and bars, etc. We had fun going to the Ice Bar in the downtown area. It is not the cheapest thing to do, fbut for a fee you can go into the Absolut Ice Bar and have a drink in a sub zero environment. They slip an insulated poncho over your head and drinks are served in ice glasses. You can also buy a second round but after a short time they chase you our for the next wave. Lots of fun and one of 4 or 5 ice bars in the world. New to me at any rate and we were supposed to eat there afterwards, but they had a problem that day and shut down the restaurant. (Bar stayed open - reservations needed).

Another day was spent out in Salisbury. We Visited the catherdral (they also have one of 4 original copies of the Magna Carta) and then went to one of the best pub experinces I have had over there. We ate at the New Pub or something like that - I forget the exact name, but it is the oldest pub in the town of Salisbury. Looks small from the outside but is huge inside - great food, good atmosphere and wonderful people.

Sorry for my typos. I thought I had corrected them but the posted version was not the corrected version. I must have done something wrong.

Can you say more about the phone? Seems like a great deal! Where did you buy it and was it possibly to make long-distance calls too?

<i>While it is not listed as a great option, we purchased a membership in the Historic Royal Palaces (59GBP for two people) and it is good for a year</i>

I agree. I did this 2 years ago when with my niece &amp; saved some money as well &amp; recommended it in my trip report. You'll get mailings throughout the year &amp; some of the events they planned &amp; notified you of in the mailings sure made me wish I could go. You get a 10% discount in the gift shops at the palaces as well. I like picking up little gifts in those.

&pound;5-&pound;10 phone can be bought just about anywhere. Go to any High St and find a Carphonewarehouse (or any other mobile phone shop) and you're sure to find a very cheap phone, provided you top up at least &pound;10 (with a card) or &pound;20 cash. One advantage of going to Carphonewarehouse (independent phone dealers) is that when asked, they can supply you with an unlocked phone, subject to stock and provider. With an unlocked phone, you can get a pay-as-you-go SIM card in another country and don't have to pay roaming charges. Useful if you are visiting other countries beside UK.

I'm spending my current vacation in London and I have to tell you, it's unbelievable to say London is almost a bargain now what with the &pound; hovering around $1.45...

Best theatre tickets...&pound;60...last year $120..Broadway prices...now $84...got day tickets to Billy Elliot...&pound;25...$36 (cheapest price on Broadway is $40 for last row of balcony!)

As far as mobile phone, got a sim card from a firm called Talk Mobile....an incredible, and I mean incredible, 2p/minute to call the USA...freakin unbelievable.

And they're forcasting the pound to keep falling....

Like I said, wouldn't say London is cheap but it certainly is much more affordable for us Yanks as it used to be...

(And with the euro falling to $1.31 yesterday, Paris isn't all that bad either!)

I should note that single band cell phones were 5 pounds but phones you can use on the continent were tri and quad band and cost about 25 to 30 pounds at the carphonewharehouse last week. Calls to the US were 4p/min while local calls were 20p/min for the first 3 minutes per day than 15p/min. I also do not think London is cheap. It is just less expensive then it used to be a few months ago. Theatre in London has always been less than expensive than Broadway. Wicked was 60 pounds for stalls, Oliver was 60 pounds for stalls, Les Miz was 25 for stalls. Hamlet returns were 15 for Balcony. I also did not find Paris to be inexpensive during the first week of January. Costs in Paris have really gone up over the last 5 years.

There is no single band phone on sale in UK. All phones are at least dual band, 900 and 1800MHz, even the cheapest, the same as in continental Europe. So any phone you buy in UK can be used throughout Europe, and if it's unlocked, will accept any SIM card there.

Another comment on the phones. As others have said, there are a plethora of shops selling phones and almost all of them have a pay as you go plan. We went into a &quot;Phone for you&quot; store (about a half block west of the High Street Tube station). Our plan was called Orange - or something like that. It was easy, took maybe 15 minutes and provided the easy connection with the teenagers that put us at ease while there. Overall cost me about $45 for two phones and air time. (Yes, I still have time left over but it expires after 60 or 90 days, but no matter).

On another subject, I agree that London is not inexpensive - but the falling Pound is making it easier on us tourists. I see it has fallen another 5 cents or more since I was there - temps me to go back later this year...

Costs in London and Europe and ways to mitigate them is what makes this forum so pleasant. Some of the posters (regulars) have personality that shines through in their writing and sometimes they squabble among themselves. I find much of the posting very entertaining as well as educational. But most of all, this forum allows you to stretch a vacation from the 10 days you are there to the full 6 months of time you spend planning, researching and making what to do decisions on leading up to your trip. My thanks to all of you.