On our first afternoon we are planning on taking in the London Eye then going on the "jack the ripper walk". I am DYING for some good cod 'n chips, or good pub food (its the Geordie in me, hard to find in Canada . We will be there on October 23rd - will we need reservations for the London Eye? I'm anticipating being there around 4:00pm? Any idea how long it will take us to get from the South Kensington tube (staying at the Regency Hotel) to the London Eye and also London Eye to Tower Hill?
Thanks for your help as always!

A nice area which includes a Pub and is close to the Tower Hill Station is Katherine Dock - about 5- 10 min. walk towards the river.

For your journey times: Journeyplanner at www.tfl.gov.uk

Roughly I would allow 20-30 minutes for each of these journeys.

There is a collection of shops and restaurants, including a fish and chip place, in an underground centre just off Tower Hill, but St Katherine's Dock is much nicer to look at.

There's a Wetherspoons at Tower Hill, don't know if that's what your looking for or not?? I've been there many a time for lunch and it's OK. It's called the Liberty Bounds, nice view of the Tower and the bridge.

I am afraid I have no favourite pub near the Eye, but two years ago I quite liked the Anchor Tap, half way along the eastern side of Horselydown, just east of the Tower Bridge Road, which runs south from the Bridge. Marked in summer by fine hanging baskets of flowers. The landlord is American. Open twelve to nine Mondays to Saturdays: serves lunch upstairs.

Like Mr London, I would allow 20-30 minutes for each of the journeys.

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Sorry, just realised that you may not know what a Wetherspoons is. It's a pub chain with typical pub food. It's very reasonable for drinks and food.

http://www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk/food/foodmenu_front.php

Charley1965: Please don't be offended but personally I'd avoid Wetherspoons like the plague. They're horribly soulless, have no character and whilst they are cheap (and I can assure you, I'm all for cheap), they're kind of cheap for a reason....not a good one. Try and find a more 'personable' pub - I'm afraid that I don't know the area terribly well, others will be more helpful.

No I'm not offended at all, they can be dire places but you will find that in the City of London they are a little better, especially this particular one which is very popular with tourists. But, as you don't know that particular area I wouldn't expect you to know! There are lots of smaller pubs in the backstreets and lots of wine bars as it is a office area. They are all quite 'impersonable' to be honest.

I just go cold at the mention of Wetherspoons per se, I'm afraid!

I agree that wetherspoons is not a great recommendation to someone who is trying to have a memorable pub experience during a short trip to london.

However, they do have their place. First, they take their ale seriously and each pub usually will have a nice selection of fresh and good guest ales. Their lines are kept clean and the beer is always fresh (in my experience). They also support the small, independent breweries. Go into many nice looking, independent pubs in london and typically you will only get the standard beer selection (bombardier, tetley,etc).

In short, if you randomly pick a pub in london without knowing where to go (and perhaps as a visitor without a quick "sense" of how to recognise a good pub) then chances are you will be better off at wetherspoons. The food isn't that great but it is consistent and the service is usually good. I would rather spend £5 for a passable wetherspoons meal than £9-£12 for a disappointing meal at a tourist pub masquerading as a "real" pub.

That said, it is certainly worth the effort to try to find a good pub. In london, for every good one you might have 3 or 4 bad ones. Hampstead is a good place to go for pubs if you have time. A "real" pub is generally located in the countryside, not in the city.

You don't have to make res for the London Eye. It should be a short wait at worst or buy ticket and walk on at best.

For reviews and recommendations of pubs by location/tube stops try this site:

<b>www.fancyapint.com</b>

or this one

<b>www.pubs.com</b>

Thank you all so much for your help and suggestions.

I had no idea there was such a thing as journey planner - it is so great! We are hopeless at directions and the more details we have the happier we are.

Do you know if Paris and Rome have similar planning tools?

Just about every major city has something similar, NY, Chicago, LA, Madrid, Barcelona, Frankfurt, etc.etc.etc.

Paris - <b>http://www.citefutee.com/informer/anglais/index.php</b>

Rome - <b>http://www.atac.roma.it/index.asp?A=&amp;S=&amp;LNG=2</b>

Have a great trip!