tttman

I have gotten emails at my blog from Fodors forum users about my trip to London. Here are some answers.

If you want to do a travel blog, Blogger like this is the best I found. There is an iPhone app that works just as good or better than your PC. I took along an HP netbook. The bad thing is, it's a PC. Blogger on a Mac has instant spellcheck, so if you see some typos, it wasn't my fault. Another great feature of Blogger is that once your page is published, you can click on photos and they get bigger.

Food in London: Get off cheap by going to Sainsbury, Tesco or even Costa. Their food is great and cheap. Their breads and cheeses are good and you can get great deals on beer, cider and wine. If you travel through Waterloo Station there is a grocery that sells probably 100 different sandwiches all prepared. They also have a multitude of salads and a cornucopia of other prepared foods. I had never seen anything like that before. Very impressive. Most pubs have food and you often see the exact same menu all over Britain, Edinburgh and Wales. Seems to either be a chain pub or they contract their food through Costa. I think the latter is more probable. The food is good and reasonably priced. Fish and chips are okay. We had fish and chips four times and they were not bad, but nothing to scream about.

In Edinburgh we had fish and chips as well as haggis at Fiddlers Arms and they were excellent. Price was right too. We also at at Deacon Brodies and one meal was way too expensive. Lucky we split that one. Edinburgh also has Costa, Tesco, etc. Go to Oink if you want a quick delicious sandwich and like pork. Probably a little more than I wanted to pay, but it was good food.

In Cardiff, they have the Arcade near the castle. They have lots of cheap food. You can get Faggots, peas and chips for about 2.80 if you are starving. 30 p for a Welsh cake and they are exceptional good. I at about a dozen and they fill you up. They also have laver bread if you want to try something very different. Cheese festival was great there as they had over 100 different beers and as many ciders for about 3 quid.

Ride the Tube. Get the paper ticket and you get the 2 for 1 offers. There are rail stations all over London. Yes I know you can't get them at LHR. Get one later that day or next day. The 7 day is a great deal and you don't have to pay for the Oyster Card. Just tell them you want a 7 day Tube pass and they will fix you up. People in London are very helpful; that's the hardest thing I had to get used to. They are also very polite and seem glad to do things for you. There is the endless debate about Oyster or paper ticket. You can't get the paper ticket at the Tube, but the extra little effort is worth it. If you go to the London Eye, get one at Waterloo. Usually people like to do the Eye first and the station is about a block to the south and you can see it from a mile away. The Oyster is just a debit card and if you are there for 3-7 days, you will save money with the paper ticket. It saved me about 50 pounds and that was well worth the 5 minute walk.

Tours. Don't do the London Original Bus Tour. Don't do any bus tour. If you want to see the city by bus get on one. There are all kinds of self guided bus tours available online. I paid for my Original London tour online. Went to the first kiosk on the street and they said I couldn't use it there I had to go to the next one. After walking an hour finally ran into the main office by luck. They also sell tickets for other attractions so I bought London Eye tickets. After a wild goose chase, they told me to cross the street catch the bus. There was an employee who was working this stop. He tried to sell me tickets to the Tower and I told him I would rather get my 2 for 1 deal with my paper ticket. He then stated I couldn't catch the bus there, I would have to walk up the street 2 minutes and catch it there because these would be full. 5 seconds later two busses pulled up almost empty.. We got on. Rode around in the cold for awhile and got off at the London Eye. Didn't notice until then, my London Eye tickets I purchased were for Tower of London. I was steamed at this point. After we bought tickets at the Eye and did our spin, went back to the London Original office and went ballistic. They gave me a refund for the Tower tickets and were nice.

However, I don't recommend this tour as it really is just a bus ride. You can get all that for free with your paper ticket which is the best bargain in London. It more than paid for itself. Go online and make your own bus tour. It's free.

London Eye is expensive but you can get some very impressive photos up there AND, again, you can go to Waterloo and pick up your paper ticket.

Day 2 you need to go to Westminster Abbey. Take the extra paid tour and go there as many times as you can. They have all kinds of events that can get you inside free. Almost every day they have Evensong usually at 5:00. Get in line early so you can sit in the choir section. Also they have organ recitals that absolutely rock. If you like music of any kind don't miss this. The organs boom and I don't care what you're into, this is fantastic. The grounds of the Abbey are extensive; see it all. There is as much art there as many museums have. Go there at least five times, you'll never get sick of it.

Don't go to a wax museum. Enough said.

Go to every castle you can. You will again see art if you like museums. I heard at Buckingham Palace, the royal collections have over 7000 paintings; so I started counting. In the seven or so castles I was in, I must have saw close to that. I only saw less than 1% of what these castles have to offer, so I would guess the royal collection would really be in the 10's of thousands. Regardless, you get to see a lot of paintings, sculptures, furniture etc. It is incredible, AND, it's in a more natural setting.

Museums take an incredible amount of time. Stick to your schedule get to all the places you planned to see. If you want an itinerary you can have mine. It was pretty good for 15 days.

Go to Edinburgh and spend three days there, it's great.

Go to cemeteries. They are amazing. Edinburgh has 4 of them very close to the Royal Mile.

Eat stuff you can't get at home. Haggis is very tasty and worth it. Steak and kidney pie is a little gamey for me. My wife didn't think so. They one I had was like a punch to the face. Taste and smell. Mushy peas are not bad, but I can say I could get used to them. Eat cockles, whelks, winks and every strange sea creature Britain has to offer.

Beer is good everywhere and you can drink more without all the fizz.

Gordon_R

Some good observations, but I'm confused by your reference to "Costa" as a food retailer or food supplier to pubs. The only Costa I know of in the UK is a national chain of coffee shops http://www.costa.co.uk/. Perhaps you're mixing this with something else?

tttman

I am assuming it is the same place because the logo is the same. They have signs that say proudly serving Costa. Now that may only be coffee, BUT, the menus are exactly the same in Edinburgh and London. Not sure exactly what is happening here. Just my observation.

Gordon_R

Yeah it means it's just the coffee. As for the pub menu being the same everywhere, you must have visited pubs belonging to one of the national pub chains such as Harvester or JD Wetherspoon.

nona1

There is a large pub chain that now serves Costa coffee, but just the coffee, not the food. As a pub chain though,the food will be the same in all their branches.

Not all pubs belong to this chain though! Pub food is often very similar, no matter where you go you generally find the same few dishes.

Uk2011

.....if you need help just ask. The blokes that sell train tickets go out of there way to get you the best possible deal and will ask you how long you are staying. You might have a hard time understanding them at first but don't hesitate. We all speak the same language.

My first Tube ride took me past Sloan Square. The recorded ladies voice called out the stop. I commented to my wife the recording was broken. I couldn't make out anything. A couple of days later I clearly heard it say "Lenz Grad." So did she. A couple of days later I heard it say "Slenz Grad." Over the next week I talked to folds from Enland, Scotland and Wales. The next time I flew through the same stop I clearly heard the English lady say, "Sloan Square." It gets easier. Talk to people.

Hooameye

"Eat cockles, whelks, winks and every strange sea creature Britain has to offer."

At the risk of being called a pedant, the "winks" you refer to are probably winkles, best "winkled" out of their shell with a pin.

Hooameye

If this is the logo you saw, it just refers to the coffee:

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/...Coffee-006.jpg

bellini

Can I ask about the 'paper ticket' that you refer to throughout? What is this exactly?

tttman

It is a one time, up to a week pass for the Tube. The difference is, you buy that at any rail station, not tube station. The rail stations are all over, so it's not like you have to go too much out of your way. WIth those tickets, you can get 2-4-1 deals all over on hotels, food, Tower of London, Hampton Court Palace, etc.

caroline_edinburgh

Re "all over Britain, Edinburgh and Wales" : at the risk of being called another pedant, both Edinburgh and Wales are part of Britain.

BeeBerry

"Fish and chips are okay. We had fish and chips four times and they were not bad, but nothing to scream about."

Were you eating fish and chips mostly in the chain pubs you mentioned? If so then they definitely wouldn't be that great. Fish and chips are usually 100 times better from a fish and chip shop where the chips aren't oven cooked mush. Urgh. The Wetherspoons pub chain is good for cheap food but you do get what you pay for there....

alya

BeeBerry

Too funny that was my first thought - Fish and Chips from a 'proper' chippie not a pub or a restaurant!

Cr@p now I need to go to Rhode Island to our 'local' chippie and have a fish butty

caroline_edinburgh

I'd disagree as far as Edinburgh is concerned - in 18 years I've *never* had good fish & chips from a chippie, independent pubs or the odd restaurant are much better here.

I was more struck by "We had fish and chips four times and they were not bad, but nothing to scream about" - so they weren't all that keen, but still had them 4 times ??

chartley

In my experience, the best fish and chips can usually be had at a specialist fish restaurant. Sometimes a takeaway shop will cook fish well, but often by the time you actually eat it the batter is soft rather than crisp.

The problem with specialist fish restaurants is that they usually have very tempting other offers available, and it seems a waste "just" to have fried fish and chips there. Perhaps it is different if you are a tourist to the country, and this is all part of the experience.

Mushy peas are an acquired taste, and are eaten because they are authentic, rather than liked.

We had very good fish and chips at a quayside pub in Brixham, where the fish was presumably just off the boat. We also had good fish at The Shed in the coastal village of Porthgain in Pembrokeshire (www.theshedporthgain.co.uk/) but that's a long way to go for a meal for most people.

The Loch Fyne chain (www.lochfyne.com/) is usually fairly reliable for other fish meals, so should be good for plain fish and chips. I can also recommend Fisher's (www.fishers-restaurant.com/) which has branches in Oxford and Bristol. Fishworks (www.fishworks.co.uk/) is now a much smaller chain than it used to be and has just three branches in London. It is always worth checking out the menus online.

tttman

Tried hard to find a good one and spent top dollar in Nottinghill. Finally found a descent one at Fiddlers Arms in Edinburgh. Bloke came out, got a pint to mix up the batter because they had none ready in the early afternoon.

http://pubspotting.blogspot.com/ my holiday spot

Uk2011

Nice blog. Just had this emailed to me. I agree. "I totally agree with you about fish&chips as do most Londoners - we can't understand the fuss - it was always a basic, cheap meal and not anything gourmet. It's not something we'd make a special journey to eat!"

The portions were always generous.

emily71

Another good restaurant in Cardiff with a cheaper lunch menu is Casanova, an Italian restaurant right in shadows of the stadium. £10 for a two course meal of authentic, fresh, real Italian fare.

http://www.casanovaonlinestore.com/

Mucky

Bought Lava bread in Cardiff Market just a few hours ago.

Breakfast tomorrow whilst we watch Wales play Ireland in the rugby world cup should be nice.

Not sure I will have any guinness though, a tad to early for me.


Not been to Casanova's, if it's cheap I'll take Mrs Muck there soon.

She loves a bargain.

Muck

RM67

Cassanova's is surely the worst possible name for an Italian restaurant.

It'll be all giant pepper grinders and fake Italian accents.

I bet you get your bum pinched on the way to the lavs, an' all......