Recently returned England - trip highlights
 

We spent ten days in England, returning Aug 29th... <BR> <BR>Trip highlights: <BR> <BR>Stayed at the LSE dormitory near Covent Garden - excellent deal, 11th floor room, clean, cheap (50 pounds) <BR> <BR>Tower of London-well worth the expense. <BR> <BR>Walking tour by London Walks - only did one, Greenwich, wanted to do another but forgot what tube stop it was leaving from! <BR> <BR>Shrewsbury - very friendly, beautiful. <BR> <BR>Wroxeter Roman Ruins - the ruins were interesting, but was truly marvelous was the small church down the road, built from stones from the ruins in the 15th century. Officially not a working church but still sancitified. Doors are open during the day, beautiful carved wood tombs, amazing <BR> <BR>Walking along the shore in Devon; and on Dartmoor <BR> <BR>Scariest: Driving on the tiny eight-foot roads! <BR> <BR>

<BR>Question about the London walking tour: How did the guide identify him/herself so you knew they were the real thing, and, are the tube exits numbered in plain sight so you know you're at the correct meeting place?

How about some details on the place you stayed. I love Covent Garden and the price is pretty good for London! Do they have a website?

London Walks - the guide identified herself by holding up high above her head some of the London Walk brochures. It was pretty informal - I was a little concerned because the Tower tube stop is kind of big, but it was pretty easy to find her, just outside of the entrance. <BR> <BR>Lodging - during the summer many of the London colleges offer their dorms up as lodging for travellers. We stayed at the High Holborn Residence of the London School of Economics - great location, corner of High Holborn and Drury Lane. It was a little like a flashback from college - twin beds, two study desks, etc. We paid a little more for an en suite (bathroom) in the room. Breakfast was provided - yoghurt, fruit, cereal, toast, etc. Extra bonus was the bulletin boards - we could tack up our maps, schedules, etc. above the desk;-) Here is the website: http://www.lse.ac.uk/vacations/

I have no sense of direction and had no trouble finding the London Walks person at a large complicated tube stop. <BR>Directions in the brochure are very explicit.

I took the Jack the Ripper London walk last year and had no trouble finding the guide on my own in the rain in the evening. Very enjoyable. Some people in the group had taken the Dickens tour earlier and said it was even better. <BR> <BR>They do leave on time and keep a steady walking pace--one woman (not in shape or proper shoes, no rain gear) complained to the guide that he should have waited when she and her companion were only 5 minutes late to the meeting point, causing them to run to catch up. She lagged behind the entire way and kept complaining but the guide didn't cut her any slack, explaining the brochure said to be on time and be prepared to walk.