mychelle

Hi guys i am new here and need advice from people who live and/or been to London. My husband and I are planning to visit Lindon this May with our 1 yr old son. We will arrive in UK for my husband's work and then head to London after a week for some tour. I hope you can suggest travel tips, clothes to wear, etc. in London any advice will be most welcomed.

Budget: $2000
Length of stay: 3-5 days
Priority Places to see/visit: london eye, royal observatory, big ben, tower of london st paul's cathedral, sea life london aquarium, freud museum, thames river, stonehenge, bath and windsor castle

Questions:
Ive been checking some websites sellling deals for hotels, tours, food etc -are these deals reliable? Do you know website where i can find deals on hotel in central london, tours and food?please let me know.


Thank you in andvance

jamikins

For hotels many people here use www.londontown.com with success.

I'll pop back later and try to add some more, just running off to a meeting...

mychelle

Thanks jamikins

BetsyVa

We're going there too in June. I found some interesting deals on this website
http://www.travelxcitement.com/find_...on_satell.html

It could help!

janisj

I'd be a bit leery (maybe more than a bit) of the site Betsy links - It is a brand new enterprise and has absolutely no info about who they are and who they are affiliated w/. (I've never heard of them - but that doesn't mean a lot one way or the other - but there is almost NO mention of them anywhere)

Check Londontown.com and laterooms.com. . .

You have way too many sites for 3 days -- so if you can manage 5 it would be better.

The only tour you'd need would be Stonehenge/Bath -- and that will be expensive.

janisj

Meant to add . . .You can get into several of your sites (St Pauls, the Tower, Aquarium, Eye) for 1/2 price w/ vouchers from http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/

It means getting paper travel cards from a train station but we can explain the details more as your plans firm up and you know where you are staying - your transport options could be a whole thread by themselves

ElendilPickle

Does your budget include flights or is it just for your time in London? What would you like to spend per night for your room? You might want to look at hostels - www.yha.org.uk has family rooms at some of their London hostels for a reasonable price, and some of them include breakfast in their room rate.

We either bought picnic food - bread, cheese, fruit, drinks - or picked up sandwiches from somewhere like Sainsbury's for lunches.

Tours - it's fairly easy to get around London on your own. You might want to check London Walks www.walks.com for guided walking tours.

Clothes - bring at least one warm layer and something waterproof. You could get a mix of sun and drizzle or rain.

If you're interested, you can click my screen name and find my UK trip report.

Lee Ann

janisj

I was assuming the budget doesn't include airfare since you mention you'd have already arrived in the UK for your husband's work.

If it does need to include airfare - $2000 is <i>extremely</i> low.

KidsToLondon

Bath and Stonehenge are not that close to London...means at least a day trip to see them. And Bath is a small city, with multiple interesting sights. While both are well worth visiting, with only 3-5 days, you might want to focus a bit closer to London.

Windsor, for example, is 35-45 minutes from central London via train. The town makes for a nice day trip to see the castle, walk along the Thames, stroll over to Eton.

If the Royal Observatory is on your list of "must sees", then Greenwich makes another nice day trip. Take the boat to get there (or the Docklands Light Railway), see the Observatory, Nautical Museum, Park, etc. Also, the restored clipper ship Cutty Sark is just about to reopen.

Unless you have never been to a modern aquarium, I'd leave that off--it's a nice one, but there's nothing particularly "London" about it. Want to add something that IS London? Think Tower of London or Westminster Abbey.

You might try Premier Inns as a possibility for a place to stay; there are several in central London. But be prepared for some price shock in all aspects of the trip. Fortunately, you are ahead of the major tourist season by a little bit.

Have fun!

mychelle

Thank you so much for all your response. I'm looking for some accomodation right now and i am torn between choosing a place to stay near famous landmarks (westminester area, maybe) and a place near airport (hearhrow airport) but far from london city. I hope you don't mind me asking many questions. Thank you again

texasbookworm

The only reason to stay near LHR is to be in that area before a next day flight. It is about an hour Tube ride from the airport into any place in the city you'd want to visit. Don't let what looks like a "deal" in terms of price fool you--staying far from the city will add loads of time and some transport cost every day, so it probably won't be a deal in the end.

With limited time and a 1-year-old, I'd echo KidstoLondon and advise you not to try any day trips. Windsor and Greenwich are easier to get to, say half-day trips each. Each could probably be a whole day--although I'm not speaking from experience concerning Windsor--but with limited days, you could probably see each in a half a day and have time for other things.

Have you looked at a good map yet of London? It's hard to fathom without having been there, but it really is very huge and the "major" sites (e.g., the Tower, St. Paul's, Westminster area) are far apart from each other. Public transport is accessible and easy to figure out, but it does take a good bit of time getting around the city. And having a 1-year-old might slow you down a tad (but not as much as if you had a toddler!) But if you plan a bit ahead of time--as you are doing--and remember to stay a bit flexible (as if I have to say that to a mom of a baby!), you will be able to happily see several things.

jamikins

NO!!! - please DO NOT book a hotel near the airport - that makes no sense!! Heathrow is a good 1 - 1.5 hour commute each way! If you meant London City it is in an industrial area and will take about 30 mins to get into Bank station plus travel time to what you want to see! Plus it will add alot to your travel costs as these airports are in zone 6 and 3. You will only need transit passes for zone 1-2 so you will be adding tonnes of expense and time wasted if you do this!

Definitely find a hotel within zone 1-2 of the travel zones (basically inside the circle line tube).

This website will help you with transit - www.tfl.gov.uk

Once you have decided on your hotel we can discuss the difference between Oyster cards and paper travelcards, but dont worry about that for now. The ticket prices are the same.

mychelle

I can't thank you all enough for all the advice. I'll look into hotels in westminister area and hopefully find a good deal on hotels.

jamikins

Other areas that are good to expand your search are:

Bloomsbury, Covent Garden, South Kensington, Waterloo

jamikins

Since your budget is quite low you may want to look at www.eurocheapo.com for some ideas as well as Premier Inns

tarquin

Or Travelodges.

PatriciaOne

We found Victoria Plaza Hotel across from Victoria Station reasonable (used Priceline) and convenient to all types of transportation and tour buses plus the station offered a variety of inexpensive restaurants esp. for breakfast, take-a-ways, and a supermarket. Might need that with baby's unexpected needs.
I'd do the Hop-On-Off tours and then branch out to other areas. Also layer your clothing. Invest in a windbreaker.