historytraveler

Regarding evening concerts in London, St. Martin-in-the-Fields offers wonderful candlelight concerts and they're not too pricey. You should be able to get tickets for about 14 GBPs.They do have even cheaper seats but without a view of the performers. The only problem might be your level of fatigue after a days touring. You can sometimes buy tickets the day of the concert.

ron

The other, and in my opinion better, place for inexpensive evening concerts is St James Piccadilly. This is their April list, to give you an idea, http://www.st-james-piccadilly.org/EveningConcerts.html

janisj

I don't find London classical concerts at all expensive. The LSO at the Barbican, The Royal Philharmonic at the Festival Hall, anything at the Wigmore Hall, St Martin's in the Field, and countless other venues . . .

BigRuss

<i>tennis seems like an important cultural thing to experience</i>

Three things: (1) tennis is by no means England or the UK's national sport -- that title goes to soccer (football), with rugby and cricket following; (2) tennis is not uniquely English by any means, although Wimbledon certainly is; (3) it's not like the English have a storied history of success at their own tournament -- the last female champion from the UK won 34 years ago; the UK has never had a male champion in the Open Era (1968-present), nor even a runner-up (last winner: 1936; last runner-up: 1938); it's so bad that there have been four GERMAN champions of Wimbledon in the Open Era!

At this point, relating tennis to the English might be picking a national Cross of St. George-shaped scab. The English are so desperate for a homegrown champion, they've adopted a SCOT as their new favorite son (he describes himself as "Scottish, but also British" -- in other words, Scottish but the English have more money for sponsorships). Seriously, this is a bigger national blight than suffering a draw against the US in the World Cup and 44 years of futilely chasing after the Jules Rimet Trophy!

Or not.

;-)

kelsey22

"Regarding evening concerts in London, St. Martin-in-the-Fields offers wonderful candlelight concerts and they're not too pricey"

I have been reading your posts and the responses with interest! I am a middle aged teacher - but am travelling to the UK with much the same itinerary. Big, big fan of Bronte and Austen too.

I have a few points to make on the London trip as I did this last April (I am going back to the UK as much trip was cut because of the volcano...long story). In any case, I travelled alone in London and found it to be quite safe. I went out in the evenings alone and if there are two of you, you shouldn't have problems.

As for the point above - if you love classical music you will enjoy St. Martin- in-the-Field...I saw a midday concert. There is a little cafe downstairs which I ate at in between the museum and the concert.

I would highly recommend the hop on hop off bus. It helped me get my bearings and the guides were entertaining.

There is lots to see at the Tower of London. I would say a couple of hours minimum.

London is amazing but there is so much to see and take in.

Thanks for posting - I am enjoying all the responses. BTW - I will be going to Bath, Haworth and Oxford (Bleinheim) so I am getting tons of great advice through your postings. Have a great trip. You will love it.

carolyn

Unless you are really interested in botanical gardens, you might consider switching Kew for Regent's Park in London and see Queen Mary's rose garden. Since you are going in June, it should be breathtaking. You can look at it on Google--as well as Kew--just to get an idea. I personally was not thrilled by Kew, but it's flowers I want to see in gardens.

janisj

Kelsey22: "<i>I am a middle aged teacher</i>"

No offense intended

dutyfree

Personally I would throw in a theatre night with an inexpensive theatre dinner beforehand? They usually have dinners in Covent Garden or Leiceister(sp?)Square which are very close that are 3/4 courses for 11-15 pounds which is a really great deal!

My kids are 26 and 28 and their faves have been:

-Priscilla,Queen of the Desert-really fun and we enjoyed it more than the movie!
-Jersey Boys
-The Lion King
-Warhorse is supposedly to be wondeful and Steven Spielberg is making a movie of it but hard to get tickets.

A fun place for shopping,fun pubs and restaurants is Covent Garden-you and your sister would love it no matter if it is the afternoon or evening.

kelsey22

janisj: No offense taken..Notice I left out frumpy...all good!

JAustenFan

Thanks for the concert ideas! You're making me want to do it again. We sort of discussed the theater as well, only, the plays we'd like to see would be something like Phantom of the Opera, or Les Miserables. When I looked at prices they were...well, pricey. dutyfree...the only one I recognized out of your list was Lion King.
Ultimately though, I kind of want to have earlier nights than later nights so we can have energy in the mornings to see everything else. We really overdid it in Paris, and I am hoping to scale back some in London...probably won't though.
carolyn--thanks for the idea of seeing another garden in London, I kind of forgot that was an option. My sister and I really haven't been exposed to much garden type settings, so I don't even know what we'd like or have a preference on. Versailles was somewhat disappointing (at least garden wise...palace wise it was really amazing!) due to the fact we went in March and nothing had bloomed yet, and the fountains weren't running either.
Ultimately, I enjoy having "WOW!" experiences though.
kelsey22--glad these discussions are helping someone else as well! I agree, regardless of how everything works out, we're going to have a great time. As I like to remind my sister, "It's a chance of a lifetime"
BigRuss-- I enjoyed your comments! True, I definitely think more of rugby and cricket when I think of England. However, I know very little about them, and I at least understand tennis to some extent...it's just about the only sport I remotely tolerate.
As for the tour/double decker/hop on hop off bus ideas, well, umm, we really aren't that excited about the idea. We did it briefly in Paris, my sister has done it a little in Barcelona, and we haven't been that impressed with them. Maybe London's better though, but I almost feel like they take too much time away from other things.
Thanks for the Bath idea as well...we were planning on doing a lot of walking there...I'm hoping our time there to be a much more relaxed pace after London.
Thanks again for all the help!

Mimar

Good suggestion of Carolyn's. Kew isn't that mindblowing (spoiled to my mind by the noise of the planes taking off and landing at Heathrow), and I thought the roses in Queen Mary's garden were fabulous. (English roses seem more strongly scented than those in the US.) London's parks are really a feature of the city, especially in June. Visiting one or two of those (with maybe a picnic lunch) would be a more English experience than Wimbledon. And less time-consuming than Kew.

cynthia_booker

BTW, the Jewel Tower (close to Westminster) has no jewels. It is a beautiful old tower, empty, and lovely to visit, if you are having a leisurely stroll and happen by it. The sort of place where you can stand and look at the walls and ceilings and imagine what life was like, but not a place to see jewels or furniture or paintings or much of anything except old walls. I don't regret visiting at all but it was part of a relaxing afternoon when we had only a couple of places on our schedule.

historytraveler

I agree that the Jewel Tower makes for a pleasant stop, and it probably only takes about 15 minutes or so to walk through. Nice but certainly not one of the "must sees".

europeannovice

We took our first trip to London last year and I just wanted to add some more comments.

As everyone has said in this and your other post, you do have a lot planned each day and I don't think you are realizing how much time a venue can take. We also tried to pack in a lot, and we did, but we tried to allot ample time to enjoy the sites. We spent 5 hours at the Tower of London--there was so much to do there (Crown Jewels, Beefeater tour, White Tower for arms and armour, etc.--at a minimum you would want to see those).

Be aware as everyone has said, London is very spread out and the surrounding areas (i.e. Windsor, Hampton Court, Kew) all take ample time on the train/bus to get to/from London.

If you really want to see gardens and also make use of the London Pass, why not spend the day at Hampton Court Palace. The Palace is great and they have fabulous gardens. We got there at opening time. We wanted to make the most of the day so despite the advice we got here on the boards, we then headed off to Kew after Hampton Court. Kew was open late until 7:30 that day but the glasshouses were closed at 5:30. We left Hampton Court around 3 or so and took a bus right outside the gate to the Kew Retail Park. The bus took an hour and when we got off we were a bit lost and had to ask some locals for directions to Kew Gardens--it was a lovely 15 min to 20 min walk if I recall correctly from the bus. It was nice to be on the bus for an hour so we could rest our tired feet. Needless to say we arrived at Kew around 4:30 or close to 5:00 and got to see one glasshouse before closing time. The rest of the area was nicely laid out but FlannerUK was accurate when he said that Kew is a museum for plants or something to that affect. I guess we would have appreciated it more if we could see the rest of the buildings. It was also June and there was a lot of greenery outside but not a lot of flowering plants at the time. The rhododendron and azalea bushes had flowered earlier in the spring. They had a lovely rock garden. Next time I wouldn't want to rush but would leave ample time so we could actually enjoy the area more.

The day you visit the Tower of London you can take a city pass cruise which is docked right outside the Tower over to Parliament and from there you can walk to the Cabinet War Rooms. They are open until 6PM. Then you would have covered three things on the London pass that day.

Last year when we went they held the City of London festival which was a series of classical music and other musical productions held in various venues throughout the city for various prices--as low as 5 or 10 pounds or something like that if I recall correctly. We saw Hadyn's Creation at St Paul's Cathedral one evening. It was fabulous.

With your limited time you are trying to optimize the pass. However, don't overlook the world class free London museums. The British Museum demands a few hours, the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, the V&A, the Museum of London, Imperial War Museum--just to name a few are all great. All are really wonderful in their own way.

europeannovice

One more thing, go on the transport for London website and use their journey planner. I used it extensively to plan out travel times and routes to take from one site to the next. You can choose via tube or bus. I had a senior with us and we needed the bus so there was less stairs/escalators to worry about. It also provides walking directions and you can print out the maps.

DK travel was another good book to get. it shows sights by area to help you group things together.

JAustenFan

Thanks for all the suggestions!

idesofmarch

JAustenFan:
A couple of thoughts; first trip to London my friend and I took the Bus tour and it was great as it was a Sunday and not much traffic. Two trips ago we took it on a weekday and the bus had problems and we were stuck in traffic, I think on Regent Street, and we got off and walked. I considered this last summer with my daughter's trip to London for the first time, but decided not to.
We stayed in the Victoria area for 3 days our last trip, usually stay in Bloomsbury, and I was amazed at how much longer it took to get anywhere from this area. A long, congested walk, so many people, to the tube, I'm thinking the bus might have been better.
I would echo what everyone else is saying; don't spread yourself too thin, take time to enjoy and soak up the wonderful atmosphere that is London, take the verger tour of Westminster Abbey, always worth it, get to the Tower early; my biggest mistake last trip was not buying tickets online before; the lines were murder. Okay, once we got in and I love the new cafe.
It is important for you to do what you want to do, if its Handel do it; but do look at the maps and transport aids, always helpful. I really can't see Wimbledon though, Hampton Court would be my choice. When I smelled the roses there, I swore I was sniffing a perfume bottle!
I love Shakespeare; but the Globe has never appealed to me.
Thanks for the Queen Mary suggestion. One thing I always regret is not spending more time in the parks..This summer we will only be there (London) 3 days and will try to take a more leisurely pace.
Have a wonderful time, I envy you seeing this iconic city for the first time!

JAustenFan

Just wanted to say thanks again for all the advice given! I know I haven't said much in the last two months, just been busy. I leave tomorrow though!

cynthia_booker

Have a wonderful time. Even though I have been many times, I wish I were going again tomorrow.
BTW, we used to have a member who always referenced Jane Bloody Austen, but he had a great deal of knowledge and when he wasn't dissing the author gave GREAT information about London. Too bad he won't post here anymore.
When you get back, please remember to post a trip report, with links to your pictures if you feel comfortable doing that.