opaldog

It's been quite some time since I have been on the forum, however I am now planning a trip for this Spring and would like some advice.

I purchased our tickets for a day trip to London from Paris. We have been before so it's just a trip to refresh our memories. Our aim for the day is to walk around, have some fish & chips, a cream tea, see some Harry Potter sites (for our granddaughters), maybe a quick stop at a museum, do a couple of stores and then head back on the 6:30 pm train to Paris. Oh, yes we arrive at 10:00 so it will be a very brief visit.

Where can we get a good lunch of fish & chips centrally located (or not). Also, where can we go for a nice cream tea with scones, clotted cream, and jam. We aren't really interested in the "high" tea, just something down to earth and traditional for a snack in the mid afternoon. We will probably look for something to eat for a late dinner/snack once back in Paris.

Any ideas for a quick, quick visit like the one we are planning? Thanks in advance.

PatrickLondon

You can just walk over the road from St Pancras to King's Cross to see "Platform 9¾", but be warned, if you want to be photographed with it, there's a queue with a barker/marshaller, and I have no idea how long it takes. Even if you don't, I doubt if there's much time for any other HP-related sights, since AFAIK they're all way out of London.

As for museums, not sure what would interest you and your grand-daughters. About 5 minutes' walk along the Euston Road is the British Library, with a free "Treasures" gallery, but that might be a bit dull for them. The Victoria and Albert at South Kensington (say, 20 minutes away on the Piccadilly Line) has a mix of all sorts of decorative arts, costume and so on, which may be more like it - and they have a reasonable cafeteria which should have a cream team option (as would most other museum and department store cafés).
www.bl.uk
www.vam.ac.uk

chartley

I have to say that a lunch of fish & chips followed by a clotted cream tea seems to be a recipe for indigestion at best. One or the other, I would have thought, and I like both.

Jhon_Carter

If you are planning a one day tour to Paris, then few things you can enjoy in very short time period.

1) Paris neighborhoods and quarters.
2) Eiffel Tower.
3) Places for worship, the Gothic splendor of Notre-Dame Cathedral.
4) Shopping in Paris.
5) Eating out- Try some Parisian treats.
6) Try a glass of champagne or cognac in bar.
7) Museums and art galleries.
8) Explore open spaces and parks.

Do enjoy your journey in Paris….

StCirq

He's taking a one-day trip to London, not Paris.

janisj

>>I have to say that a lunch of fish & chips followed by a clotted cream tea seems to be a recipe for indigestion at best. One or the other, I would have thought, and I like both.<<

Ditto that. If you have a full on fish & chips I doubt anyone will be up for a cream tea just a couple of hours later -- and you need to be back at St Pancras by about 5:30.

If it was me -- I'd do a full on afternoon tea and not lunch -- you can get perfectly decent fish & chips in the States.

The British Museum, V&A and Natural History Museums are all convenient to St Pancras by tube.

Tulips

Don't know the age of your grandchildren. They may enjoy visiting Kensington Palace and tea at the Orangerie there. Many museums do a nice tea as well. The V&A Cafe is very nice. There's an excellent exhibition on at the moment about the 60s, but your grandchildren are perhaps too young for that.

The Golden Hind on Marylebone Lane is well known for fish & chips, and always busy. And Marylebone High Street is a lovely street for some (window)shopping - go to Daunt Books.

Get some food to eat on the train; plenty of options at St Pancras. That 6.30 train gets into Paris at 9.30 pm with the time difference.

flanneruk

Though most of the well-known sites used for HP films are a long way from London, there are quite a few places within a 15 min walk or tube journey from King Cross/St P which had visually memorable walk-on cameos.

I think this link now gives the wrong location for Platform 9 3/4, but that's now easily found once you're inside Kings Cross. Otherwise:

http://www.hypable.com/give-yourself...our-of-london/

Who cares whether your grandchildren have the temerity to find the British Library Treasures gallery "dull"? It's good for them: the more they moan, the better for their moral fibre. Just make them do the culture before they're allowed to do the HP stuff.

And tell 'em: any more whining, and it's no F&C

PatrickLondon

I think "no jam and no clotted cream either" might have more effect....if you really want to play Mr Murdstone.

Pascal_Traveller

Do you arrive at Victoria Station? Or... I can suggest you to have a walk along the river and stops at the Tate Gallery. From there not far you can catch the Victoria line and have lunch at Brixton Village (it's one of my favorite place to eat in London). Then always by the Victoria Metro Line you can goto Piccadilly Circus and have a walk all around there...

janisj

>>Do you arrive at Victoria Station? <<

No they don't. They are obviously taking the Eurostar.

bvlenci

I used this guide to take my granddaughter on a Harry Potter walking tour the last time we were in London.

http://www.the-magician.co.uk/

It was too long to do all of it, so I shortened it a bit.

bvlenci

My granddaughter loved the costumes section of the V&A. They had some historical costumes you could try on. She also loved the parks we visited.

PalenQ

Remember you gain an hour on the clock going to UK and lose it back returning to France.

opaldog

Thanks for all of the replies. I will reconsider the food options. I am the one who wants the tea and my husband the fish and chips. I think we will go with the tea as I do most of the planning anyway.

janisj

>> I am the one who wants the tea and my husband the fish and chips. I think we will go with the tea as I do most of the planning anyway.<<

Go to the Wolseley. He can have lobster & Chips (I don't think they do fish & chips) and the rest of you can have a killer afternoon tea.

Or -- Go to the Marriott County Hall -- you have afternoon tea in the Library Lounge and he has fish & Chips at Gilrays

OR best option probably -- go to Browns in Covent Garden. They do F&C on the lunch/early evening menu and a really good afternoon tea.

Seamus

I'd stop first at the British Library - so very near arrival point - and see the Magna Carta and whatever else is on exhibit. Then move on to Sir John Soane's museum. www.soane.org
From there meander to Covent Garden / Leicester Square. Rock and Sole (47 Endell near Covent garden tube) gets good press but i think it's over rated. The Fish and Chipper at 47 Cranbourn in Leicester Square www.fishandchipper.co.uk is actually pretty darn good, though far from posh. Alternatively, head to Borough Market, graze the stalls then maybe stop by the Tate Modern or the Globe.

Hooameye

" We aren't really interested in the "high" tea,"

"High" tea isn't really what you think it is either:

http://www.learn-about-tea.com/high-tea.html

PatrickLondon

I think you're going to need some pretty strict prioritising, and even then may not fit in everything on the wishlist, even if you exhaust yourselves whizzing past lots of things.

PalenQ

If you get back to St Pancras with time to spare there are fish and chippie places across the road -not gourmet but what the average Brit eats- get some to go if in a hurry.