Regents Park, Queen Marys Rose Garden & a canal boat ride?
 

DH and I have 7 days in London, arriving May 21. Everything is booked and I have a workable itinerary that I have put together from numerous posts here. This is our second visit so we are taking things slowly. I want to make this a special day, we love walking and nature, well just generally wandering around so I thought this might be a pleasant way to finish our stay.

Our final day before we head to Paris is a Friday - my plan at present is to start at Regents Park, walk up the Broadwalk then head to the rose garden. A stop at the tea pavilion for lunch maybe depending on the time. I thought then a canal ride and/or walk along the tow path. I have a newspaper article that I have had for years - it describes the canal ride and a walk back to Maida Vale. I always thought that one day we would do this!

Can anyone improve on my plan or give any suggestions or do I throw it out the window and start again?

Hi, it's a great idea and we did variations of this walk a few times when we lived in London. One suggestion is to catch the tube to Warwick Avenue, then walk to Little Venice where you'll find the canal and lots of canal boats.

You can catch a canal boat or walk along the path towards Regents Park and once there you can spend time enjoying the park. From there make your way down Marylebone High Street, at the bottom end of the park, which is full of nice small shops and restaurants. There is a small market on some days, in a little square near the top end of the road.

The Wallace Collection is almost at the end of this street (you have to veer off slightly) and is a great small museum with free entry. From there you are 5 mins walk to Oxford Street where you can get a bus or tube anywhere - maybe your hotel as by then you will be as tired as we were!

Of course you can do bits of this trip and include Camden Market which is on the canal as well. We did a guided walk through Little Venice once which was interesting, with London Walks, www.walks.com

Have fun,
Kay

Hi Kay,
Thanks so much, that sounds good. Boat ride first then make our way down until we run out of steam! Maybe we can find a nice place for dinner or have a picnic in the park late afternoon. That's my idea of heaven - I'm easy to please!

Thank you again Kay, I enjoy reading your posts too.

There are three boat operators:
www.londonwaterbus.com
www.jasons.co.uk
www.walkersquay.com
You can walk along the canal towpath, but where the canal goes through a tunnel, there is no path and you have to follow the streets above ground (it's signposted).

Great, thanks for the links Geoff. I will see if I can find a map to download to make planning easier, I like to be able to visualise where I am going.

Thank you Maudie, what a lovely thing to say!

If you are looking for a meal, there are lots of places on Marylebone High Street and the continuation down towards Oxford Street, which is James Street. Also look down the side streets as you go where there are more restaurants. There are restaurants tucked away in St Christophers Place, behind Oxford Street.

There is a lovely looking restaurant inside the Wallace Collection, it's like an outdoor courtyard but covered with a glass roof. We haven't eaten there but have walked through, while checking out the museum.

Have a great day. We no longer live in London and it's times like this that I remember what a great time we had there exploring.

Kay

Hi again Kay,

Your most welcome!
I believe you are in Australia now - is this correct? I'm from Perth.

Thank you for the restaurant recco's, I shall copy and paste into my notes. I did check out the Wallace Collection website after you mentioned it - I hadn't even thought of going there but it will be a good add in on the day if we get time.

Our last visit was in 2007 and sadly for only 4 days so we are looking forward to plenty of exploring time.

Thanks again for your help, its much appreciated.
Maudie

Hi Maudie, I didn't realise you are Australian too. We live in Melbourne (back home again). If you are short on time, the Wallace Collection would be good to have a quick look at the famous painting of the Laughing Cavalier and a few Canalettos (my favourites) then use the loo. All for free.

We lived in the UK for 4.5 years, 2.5 years of that in London so if you want specific info on anything I'd love to help. I know you've been there before though so would be familiar with things.

Take care
Kay

Just one very quick comment . . A lot depends on what sort of spring they have in the UK. I've been to the Rose Garden many times and sometimes even in mid June there are barely any buds and nothing is in flower -- and other times there is full bloom in mid/late May. Before you decide on hitting the Rose garden -- make note of what is in bloom in your other wanderings around London. If you don't see any roses -- there won't be any in Regents Park either.

Hi janis, thanks, you make a good point. But I shall keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best. Last time we spent a lovely day in Kew Gardens but unfortunately all I saw were rose buds that day - not one single flower was out. I did see some beautiful peonies which we don't get here so that was a bonus.

Hello again Kay, ah yes a loo stop with some art thrown in, excellent suggestion!

Thanks for your kind offer, I think what I have put together is a good start but I'll run it by you just in case you can offer me any pearls of wisdom. DH & I are simple travellers, like a picnic in a park rather than an up market restaurant, we don't want to be rushing around but just enjoy wandering and seeing what we come across.

Arrive Sat arvo - staying at the Morgan in Bloomsbury, general walk around the area to get our bearings, maybe pop into the British Museum - find something to eat and hit the pillow.

Sun - West end wandering, Italian Fountain Garden at Hyde Park (our daughter loved it there and told me I had to go, want to get my photo taken in the same spot - its a mother/daughter thing!). Hatchards bookshop, maybe a nice Indian meal for dinner (any recco's?)

Mon - Hampton Court Palace (using 2-4-1) hopefully taking a river boat back some of the way depending on the tides.

Tues - Tower of London, watch Tower Bridge lift, walk along the Southbank - want to see Parliament House and Big Ben by night - then have Ceremony of the Keys tickets.

Wed - Maybe a visit to Oxford, weather dependant, if not ????

Thurs - St Pauls super tour - Borough Markets, Jubilee Gardens.

Fri - Regents Park - Canal etc

I have a page of "Things to do if we have time", Hampstead Heath walk, City of London walk oh and lots more time at the British Museum.

Sat - off to Paris for 4 days before returning and heading to York for 2 nights.

1 week in Ampleforth
3 nights in Keswick
4 nights in Betws-y-Coed
5 nights in Bisley (Cotswolds)
1 night in Bath then we head home and hope the drought has broken and my garden is alive.

See what you think, any suggestions for London or even Paris would be much appreciated.

We are having a horrible heat wave here, I think this is day 21 for temps over 30 (38 for the next week with minimums of 24-26), longing for rain and cooler weather.

Cheers
Maudie

Looks great!
Don't know what you have already seen, or what is on your "hope to get to" list but here're a couple suggestions:

Southwark Cathedral is lovely; you could go in after Borough Market, or at least sit in the cathedral's grounds which are adjacent while you eat what scrumptious stuff you buy

Oh, go to Oxford no matter the weather!!

British Library--near-ish the British Museum

Does the St. Paul's tour take you (or allow you to go) to the Golden Gallery? Worth the climb for the views (providing it's at least minimally nice day)

Your Friday is very open but that's good. We rode along the canal in 2008 from Warwick Ave area to Camden Lock and Market area, plus walked to Primrose Hill and Regents Park; if you want to read what worked for us, click on my name, go to my TR's on my profile page, (Oh to be in England one) and scroll down to Day 6.

Will look for your TR upon return, of course!

You'll need to check when the Bridge is scheduled to lift - not many bookings for May so far, but there may well be more nearer the time:

http://www.towerbridge.org.uk/TBE/EN/BridgeLiftTimes/

Hi Maudie,

I did hear that the west was having the second hottest summer on record, hope you get some rain soon, but sensible rain, not flooding rain! We've all seen enough of that lately.

I'm not sure if you know the Bloomsbury area but there is a restaurant and shopping area tucked away that I would never have found if someone hadn't told me about it. There is a large Waitrose and some nice places to eat. Giraffe is good for breakfast and we like Carluccio's for pasta and wine.

http://www.brunswick.co.uk/Shopping.aspx

Sorry, don't have any recommendations for Indian, we tried it a couple of times when we first arrived in the UK and didn't like it at all. We may have been unlucky.

If you have time, The Victoria and Albert Museum is my favourite London museum, if you like clothes they often have special exhibits like Dior or Grace Kelly etc.

Your plans sound great, that's similar to the way we travel too. We like general exploring with a rough plan in mind but nothing set in stone - unless it's theatre tickets or similar. If you like guided walks, there are the wonderful ones in London www.walks.com and they have a link on the website for Paris Walks. We've done two, both run by English people and they were fascinating. One was in the Marais and one in Montmatre. They follow the same idea, no need to prebook, just turn up, pay and enjoy.

A trip to Oxford would be great and Cambridge, Windsor and Canterbury were also great day trips for us. If the weather is awful, spending time inside museums and galleries is always a good idea. The National Portrait Gallery is good. Waterstones on Piccadilly is a massive book store, good for browsing on rainy days.

Have fun
Kay

Hello texas, I printed your TR months ago, has been the basis of my planning so thanks very much. Now you know you have provided at least one Fodorite with some wonderful info!

Southwark Cathedral sounds like a nice place to sit and sample the goodies, great idea. Ok Oxford it is and thanks for reminding me about the British Library - forgot to add that into my notes. Yes the tour does the Dome well it does just about everything.

Thanks again for your ideas - I really appreciate it. Yes, I will get a TR done, maybe I can help someone else.

Thanks for the memory jog Patrick, I had forgotten to look up the schedule, so many things to think about. As you stated the 1st one in May is the day we leave sadly but you never know, we might strike it lucky.

G'day Kay, oh no not flooding that's for sure! But a bit for the dams would be super.

No don't know Bloomsbury at all, last time we had free accommodation in Ealing which we can't complain about but we spent a lot of time on the tube going in and out! Thanks for the link to the shopping area - I am sure that will come in handy. Carluccio's sounds like our sort of place.

Thanks for the idea of the London Walks, I am still trying to talk my stubborn DH into it. He HATES guided tours, preferring to wander at will - but I think sometimes it's worth to to hear some history and anecdotes. I have printed out a Marais walk that I found through googling so I will see how we (he) feels on the day.

We spent a lovely day at Windsor last time but your other ideas are worth exploring just in case. I have never heard of Waterstones so that goes on the list too.

Thank you so much Kay, I am sure we will have fun - how could we not!

Many thanks to all for your help - it makes planning so much easier to get great inside advice from "friends".

Cheers
Maudie

Maudie--I am so glad my TR has helped in any way! That is, of course, one of the reasons for posting our ramblings and insights, isn't it? I appreciate that feedback; it encourages future efforts. May the rest of your planning be smooth and the trip even more than you anticipate (in good ways!).

Thank you for your kind wishes, I hope you have happy travels too for whatever you have planned.

(Hope it's ok, Maudie, to have a little confab!) My next trip is actually back to England, BUT as an EFTour leader--there are 6 sweet high school students and 2 great adults and me! (and whoever they put us with to "fill up the bus" but this is the small contingency from the private school where I teach part time) And we are going to London, Bath, Stonehenge, Cheddar, Glastonbury, Oxford, and Brighton--10 days, 4 in London. It's pretty much the same trip I took with my daughter on an EFTour as a parent back in 2005. I found on this forum that EF might be looked down on, and traveling with my family I prefer not taking tours, but EF makes overseas travel in the ballpark of affordable for some of my students (still too much for most), so I'm excited for them. (Plus in November EF took me to Rome for 3.5 days for training as a tour leader--most of that which was touring. I'm working on my scrapbooking of those pics now). I'll be doing a TR on that one, too, when we return in June, although its nature will be different. Ok I've highjacked your thread for a personal response long enough; hope that's ok!

texas, more than happy to have a chat! First question is what does EFT stand for? Sounds like a great trip, who picks the places to visit?

That's amazing that they trained you to be a tour leader - might be whole new job waiting for you out there when you get sick of taking students. My DH is a maths teacher, many years ago in the late 70's we went to Penang with a bunch of school kids. There were about 8 adults and about 20 students, we had a wonderful time and still laugh about it today. The students were from a country town in Western Australia, so I can relate to what you are saying. It took a lot of fundraising and belt tightening by the parents to get the kids there. For some of them it was the first time in the city let alone getting on a plane and travelling overseas.

I do scrapbooking too as well as patchwork quilting. I still like to get some favourite photo's printed off and stuck into my book along with all the goodies I have collected along the way. It makes the album so much more interesting to look at and brings back such great memories.

Our last holiday was in October, we visited our daughter who is working in Whistler BC - hadn't seen her for 2 years! We then went to SF for 4 days before catching a cruise from there to Sydney. It was one of those last minute bargain deals we couldn't say no to, but our plans to get to Italy this year had to go on the back burner - for now. So we decided to just stick to the UK with 4 days in Paris.

I will look forward to your TR of Rome - I will get there one day! Lovely chatting with you.

Maudie

Maudie

Tower Bridge openings: keep checking their website, I'd be surprised if they didn't get more bookings between now and May.

London Walks: You can always try one, and peel off from the group and go and do something else if your husband really can't cope with it (though it helps to have some polite excuse to give the guide) - once you've paid your fee, it's no skin off their nose if the group gets two smaller. But you might try selling him on one of their evening pub walks....

sidenote to Maudie again--EFTours is an American company that does mostly student tours, mostly high school age. A tour leader is just the adult, usually the teacher (might be a Girl Scout leader or other adult) who is responsible for the group of kids from the school (usually). With EFTours if your group is not big enough to fill up a tour bus, then your group is combined with other groups from all over the country to go on the particular itinerary. My experience was of good organization, knowledgeable local guides and tour director (person really in charge of whole bus-load), safe and comfortable if not upscale accomodations, great transportation options, sufficient generally food and some free time but plenty of scheduled tours. My training was just to be a better leader for my little group from here. But it was a blessing--the training trip was all but free!

Oh, my Rome TR is already posted here--http://www.fodors.com/community/europe/just-a-taste-of-rome.cfm

And yes keep checking Bridge lifts as they are added closer to your tour day.

Nice to chat with you!

Alecia

PatrickLondon, excellent idea about the pub walks, that might break him in gently.

I do hope there will be more bookings on the Bridge lifts, I think that would be a really cool thing to see.

Alecia, hello again.
EFTours sounds like a brilliant idea, I like the way they share the tour with others to make it affordable. I think even I could do a trip like that!
I will go read your report Rome now, bet its full of great info.

Best Wishes
Ros

>>I do hope there will be more bookings on the Bridge lifts, I think that would be a really cool thing to see.<<

Ahem.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJlW-0sMJN0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrWvs2rpZes

Patrick, thanks for the youtube links. If we happen to get lucky which is the best spot to view it from?

Depends which aspect you want to see.

You can stand on the approach roads (avoid the bit near the entrance to the Tower Bridge Exhibition, as that will likely be the most crowded area), if you want to get the impression of the power that must be lifting the roadways (but you'll be looking mostly at a wall of tarmac while the boat passes through).

If you want to get a full view of the raised roadways and the boat passing through, you can either go to the riverside walk in front of the Tower on the north side or outside City Hall on the south side. I think the angle of view allows you a slightly more complete broadside view from the north side.

Thank you so much for your help Patrick. Is the Tower Bridge exhibition with a visit? Hadn't really thought about it until you mentioned it above.

Yay - new bookings for the bridge lift on the day we arrive in London. Might just be able to keep our eyes open.

Hi Maudie, just a thought. There are lots of cafes and restaurants at Butlers Wharf, right on the Thames and there is a good view of Tower Bridge from there. You could have lunch or dinner sitting outside and watch the bridge go up, if the timing is right.

Kay

Hi there Kay, right, I shall google that and pin point it on my map. We were just saying that it would be a really nice start to our holiday, a light meal down along the Thames with the bonus of the bridge lifting (just for us !!). Timing is perfect for dinner.

Thanks for the suggestion, its a good one.

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