Traveling Solo - First trip to London
 

I've looked around for some information about traveling solo to London. My first trip to Europe. For some reason I'm a bit anxious. Not for any reason but that I'll be alone on my first trip.

I thought I might try a tour, but reading around it seems like maybe going solo would be OK. I'm open to advice either way on that.

I'm a single, late thirties, male looking for a tour for similar people. If I decide on a tour. Finding this has been time consuming as I haven't found many tours specifically for people like me.

With a tour or on my own, I like museums, plays, food, wine, music(especially jazz), might even try to catch a rugby or soccer game. A couple nights for pub crawls are a must. I'm planning on 7-10 days, possibly in April or May of 2005. Unless the weather would be better another time. I don't want to do too much touristy stuff. I want to get to know the London locals know.

Ultimately, I'm planning to return for a longer trip including Paris and Rome, but wanted to take an easy trip the first time just to get my feet wet and get my bearings. That's why I thought about a tour, but now I'm not as convinced.

I'm curious about what people feel about going it alone. If a tour is a good idea, what are good tour companies for this kind of thing. If I go solo I'm confident I'll find things to do, but will even take recommendations there.

If you need more information please ask. I'm in Denver if that makes a difference.

Thanks!

I think you can do fine planning the events you want to visit ahead of time, and also hooking up with tours that last a few hours or so.

You can buy a Time Out magazine when you go to London and see all the plays that are on. Or you can see most of them at the http://www.londontown.com site.

You can go on pub walks with London Walks: http://london.walks.com
I have never tried those, but I have enjoyed several of their historical walks. Those might satisfy your need for tours.

Time Out also lists music, pubs, etc.

If you were on a tour, you'd have your days planned out in detail. If you aren't taking a tour, you might as well do the same. Then you will be sure of getting to the spots that are most important to you.

Rick Steves has London tours that last a week. However, English-speaking people really have almost no problems in London, so I think you really do not need a tour. But if you like what he has to offer, you could consider that.

Bit of a contradiction here. You're thinking of taking a tour, but don't want to do too much touristy stuff !

Don't bother with an organised tour. Get a decent guidebook instead.

Hi
IMO the reasons to take an organized tour are
You or your companion want/need to rely on the convenience and help of having your luggage and transportation handled

You're having trouble making decisions, or you haven't time to plan, and you're willing to accept the tour decisions
and arrangements

You're concerned about feeling lonely being on your own

I've traveled to Europe both solo and with companions. The downside of being solo is occasionally feeling a bit lonely or wanting to share an experience. The other side of that coin is deciding each day unilaterally what you want to do, how much time to spend in each place, and

oops, didn't mean to push Post


...finding other ways to strike up conversations, meet people, or just enjoying the solitude.

I"m not your age or gender, but assuming you have stamina and a feeling of independence, plan your own trip. For a first trip to Europe from the US, London is an easy choice. Not too much of a language barrier, for one thing.

The suggestions above are all good, and Time out (even on line) is a great resource. For theatre,
www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk is a great place to browse.

I have a long file on London; if you'd like to see it, email me at
[email protected]

Doing london solo is great. No one to please but yourself. I suggest a mixture of some sights and museums and markets, parks and strolling. Any guide book can give you the the sights that are important.
Other places to see: Portobello market at Nottinghill on Saturday morning, Speakers Corner at Hyde Park on Sunday morning, Oxford Street for London shopping, eat lunch in a Pub (I like Chando's Opera room across from the Portrait Gallery).
Also, take a couple of the London Walks tours, they are great`fun.

I'd recommend against booking a tour for your entire trip, but you could easily put together a few day tours that will provide you with some company and contacts. Some of these have been suggested already, but include: a) London Walks; b) the Hop-on, Hop-Off bus for your first day in London (allows you to see the main sights and get oriented, plus it also serves as a form of transportation to get you around town); and c) if you like to walk in the countryside, Time Out London magazine gives details each week for how to meet up with walkers on a train going to a particular walking destination in the nearby countryside on a Saturday or Sunday. If you stay in a hostel (at least for a few days), this might be a good way to meet people. You might spend a few nights in a hostel and a few nights in a nice hotel (which you'll be able to afford if you spend a few nights in a hostel). It's very easy to walk into a pub alone and relatively easy to get into conversations with people. You might try to find out when a nearby pub is having a "quiz night", and join in (a good way to meet people).

I did this trip solo & we are contemporaries...and I went in Mid-May 2 years ago. I relied on the hotel concierge staff, which was excellent. I don't blame you for being anxious- I am always a little afraid of inertia, and I don't like having dinner alone. Here's some things that made my trip more enjoyable:
1. I bought a hop on-hop off ticket- it's good for 24 hours from first use. So if you start in the afternoon, you can use it for 2 days, and the included Thames cruise makes a nice break from walking, and a different perspective of the city. Look for the color triangle sign in the buses front windshield that indicates a lives guide, much better than the recorded program.
2. Take a night bus ride. I ended up meeting a bunch of people, all traveling separately, and we all went out for a pub dinner after! You'll have daylight til almost 10, but it does get cool up in the open tier of the bus.
2. While you're exploring don't forget to stop! Pubs-you can meet locals & chat.
3. I signed up for a pub crawl, great fun, there's also an author's crawl, literate shmiterate- you're there to drink and laugh!
4. Get a ticket in advance for Tower of London, walk past the long lines to the group window. Find a group clustered around the Yeoman guides very good.
5. Tubes are reliable and easy, but still different, get a day pass for the zones you'll be in at least for the first day. If you make a mistake, just hop back on. But there are train personnel everywhere to answer questions, unlike my homeotwn NYC stations.
I highly recommend taking the tube to a market or antique shops and talk to the local vendors - you'll learn a lot and really enjoy the people, their humour and views. The pub crawls and day trips like to Bath/Stonehenge will keep you from being completely isolated.

The pubs do stop serving food after 8:30 or so I relied on the excellent Indian and Chinese restuarants for late dinners- prices are much higher than in the US. I visited the Tate Modern - you can walk across to St. Paul's, and the British Museum
I think this is a good choice- enjoy!

Yeah, I realize that going on a tour and avoiding touristy things is kind of a contradiction. I did a couple tours while in NYC last year and we went to places you'd about never find on your own. Stuff like that. But I agree.

I think I will try to go on my own without a tour. The one thing mentioned about feeling lonely is exactly why I haven't traveled as much this year as previous years and why I'm a bit anxious about this. Got divorced and lost both parents recently. Truly am on my own for the first time in my life.

So I was reading the Fodors 2005 London book and it mentions that April through September is the good time to go. So I think April or May is still good. I can get a non-stop flight out of Denver on BA so that will be good.

I guess now I need to start my plans. Is it too early for something in April or May? I would think you could lock in better prices this early.

Better for 7-10 days to stay in one hotel or move around? Where would be a good part of the city to stay to be reasonably close to everything? Money is very flexible, but I don't want to stay in a hostel nor a 5 star. 3 or 4 star is good with me.

Thanks to everyone! I'll be back with more questions I'm sure. Elaine I'll be dropping you an email shortly.

I agree with many above - don't do a full-on tour; you won't get to actually experience London and surely you don't want your every waking moment dictated? Think of those mornings-after when all you want to do is lie in bed and nurse the hangover after the night before spent in a pub getting to know people... Do you really want to jump out of bed and onto a coach to yet another gallery or museum??

Do your research, pick a good location to stay and play it by ear. I LOVE travelling alone - it gives me the freedom to have exactly the holiday I want to have.

Nina, thanks for some great information. I also want to apologize if it seemed my no hostel comment was in reference to your post. I started mine before I read yours. I have the money so I don't need to save by staying in hostels. If there is a good reason to do so besides saving money, it's not out of the question.

Your comment on the NYC subway made me smile. Had quite the adventure over New Years 2003 on the subway.

Tallulah, I don't want to get out of bed early every morning, no. I hadn't thought of that. I'm assuming there are coffee shops like here in the states where I could nurse a hangover, with coffee and people watching. I may need to learn to drink Guiness warm. Cold, it's addicting.

Thanks again everyone!!

Good for you! Terrific! The trip away may prove very restorative...

(I am one of those who like to travel by myself.)

I have done a couple of solo trips to Great Britain, generally only a day or two in London as my interest is taking the train allowing for meeting locals, seeing different locations and ever changing countryside. Think of one day trip out of London. You can purchase a "cheap day return" ticket on the morning of departure. If you are staying only in London check out a studio apartment for a week. Be sure to purchase a tube pass and get to know the system for ease of getting around.

Let me join the chorus. I have made two solo trips to London and had great times.

Day trips with London Walks are a great way to do some of your site seeing and not be alone. For something less touristy and not alone, try London Bicycle Tours: http://www.londonbicycle.com/

Do you have any hobbies? See if a London group devoted to the hobby is meeting while you are in the city.

My first trip to London coincided with the monthly meeting of the British Science Fiction Society. It was a lot of fun meeting British SF fans and authors over drinks at a pub.

And no, this isn't too early to be plannning for April & May.

Keith

msvb60: You are making a good choice going on your own. Besides lots more flexibility, it will probably come out less expensive in the long run.

if you are thinking of up to 10 days, what I would do is stay 6 or 7 days in London in one hotel.

Victoria, South Kensingtin, Covent Garden or Russell Square areas would be my first choices for staying solo all are convenient to all sorts of transport, have a wide range of accomodations and are near lots of attractions and most still have some residential/local flavor.

For the other 2 or 3 days I'd get out of town. Where you go could be just about anywhere depending on if you want some unwinding from the hustle-bustle of London (staying a couple of days in a countryside village would give you an entire different sense of the UK)

But with your interests/age I take the few days to visit Edinburgh or Glasgow -- Edinburgh would be my first choice.

Both are less than an hour's flight from London and easy connections back to LHR to fly home.

BUT - if you decide on spending the entire time in London that would certainly be good too. maybe take one or two day trips to somewhere like Oxford or Cambridge. And if your trip ends up only being 7 days - then skip going out of town -- London has sooooooo much to see/do/experience you don't want to cut your time there.

If you want a good jazz club besides the classic Ronnie Scott's, then try the 606 Club in Chelsea.

Thanks Janis!

I'll give some thought to getting out of the city. A small village for a couple days would be great.

I'm part Scottish, Irish, Welsh and English so everywhere would be of interest to me, but I don't want to spend my time travelling and trying to make connections. If I left the city it would still be somewhere close I think. Is the rail system good out of the city?

I still have plans of more travel in the future, even as soon as late 2005. My grand plan eventually, is in to London, train to Paris, train to Nice, car to Rome, home. 2006 maybe.

m_kingdom2, thanks for the jazz club advice. In answer to Keith's question about hobbies, jazz is one of them.

If they're playing in April/May how difficult is it to get into a rugby or soccer game? I could be a hooligan for a day! :-)

msvb- none taken. Actually, I was in a lovely hotel because I went on a UK tour, but skipped the tour's London events to go to Portobello Market and other things I wanted to explore.I spent the first 2 days in London on my own, then went to the English Countryside, Scotland and Wales with the tour and then added a few days on the end to spend more time in London, again on my own. It worked well for me. I booked online at a B & B in Kensington, and I could have done better, as it was tiny, but safe & clean, included full breakfast. This year, I used the Fodor's search here for hotels, with great results and value.

You don't need a tour to do London. It sounds like working on your own timetable will be a better tonic than having people to spend time with, but having to get up at an appointed time. This year in Paris I did a really good job of overcoming some of my own pitfalls by researching, listening to my own timeclock, and honouring my promise to STOP for a nice lunch & cafe people-watching. This was a big deal for me.

Try this test: get a few travel guides, start picking out what you want to do, and imagine yourself doing them, including dinners on your own. How do you feel? If you find yourself dreading making the arrangements, do a tour now, and return on your own later. If you feel excited and invigorated, do London with some side trips on your own. Planning gives you a framework, and the freedom to toss your schedule aside when something good comes up. Cheers, mate. :)

I've not been to London yet but am a big fan of traveling solo (Geneva, Venice, Paris, Amsterdam so far). I love the feeling of complete freedom and independence, being somewhere totally new and different.

You might look for some books at amazon.com or the public library for about traveling alone, either suggestions in guidebooks or non-fiction short story collections about people's travel experiences.

Once you are there I think doing some 1/2 day tours for an overview of the city & major tourist sites would be a plus without having to commit to a fully packaged trip.

As for getting to know a place like locals do, here's my best advice. Carefully pick the neighborhood where you stay so there is alot to do within walking distance. Spend your time in cafes, pubs, and just wandering the streets (my absolute favorite activity). If you eat someplace you like, go back the next day. You'd be surprised how easy it is to become a "regular" in a neighborhood restaurant.

If you do opt for a tour, I would second the suggestion of Rick Steves. Or seek out a company that offers tours aimed for singles &/or your age group (avoid a Contiki experience with partying 20-somethings or a bus full of retirees... no offence meant to either group).

Cheers!

I'm one of those people who likes to try lots of new things. Enjoys excitement and adventure, but who wants to do it in some measure. Planned spontaneity as it were.

I'm pretty well convinced to go it alone. I don't want to avoid ALL things touristy, but if I only see 5 of the top 10 attractions in London, I'm not going to be too upset. I hate feeling rushed and like the idea of not making too concrete of plans and just seeing how it goes. I can pick a couple days to see museums and other top sites, maybe a walking tour or two and then spend the rest doing whatever. I can walk for days and after the NYC subway experience the Tube doesn't scare me.

Fortunately, I have a great public library system, so I've already gotten lots of guide books and I can get some of the Rick Steves' travel videos. Maybe I can make an initial itenerary and take Nina's advice about seeing how I feel about it and then adjusting it some. Then I can see what I really want to visit when I'm there.

Thanks again everyone! Very, very helpful and you've convinced me to give it a go alone.

Any further advice would be greatly appreciated.

Sounds like you'll be fine without any hand-holding. As an alternative to a hop-on/off bus tour, check out

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34535187

Unlimited bus transport is also included in the TfL Day Travelcards and (weekly) Travelcard Season Tickets.

April or May is fine. The daffies bloom around the end of March, presaging the (welcome) arrival of spring.

Stay in one hotel - everything in London is 20 minutes by Tube. By the way, there's a lot of interesting stuff within range of a day trip or two - look into the Days Out From London passes from BritRail.

At the VERY least, plan a full day to go downstream to Greenwich to see the good ship <i>Cutty Sark</i>, the National Maritime Museum, and the Observatory (where Greenwich Mean Time is manufactured). You can get there on the DLR or by river cruise. Just downstream is the Thames Barrier, which is nothing less than a spigot that shuts off the river off when the nasty ocean tidal surge comes upriver. The cruise is a good overview of a lot of history, in any case. You can also walk <u>under</u> the river to the Island Gardens DLR station.

msvg, I think it is a good reminder to some of us females that fellows can be anxious about traveling on their own also.

Reading your thread I agree with all the others. You will be fine traveling on your own. You have lots of varied interesting ideas as to what you enjoy.

IMHO you will be less lonely doing this trip independently that with a tour.
You seem very well mannered, outgoing, and already doing research for your trip.

Bet you get the travel bug really bad andon the way back across the pond you will be thinking &quot;hmmm, when shall I take my next trip to Europe&quot;.

Have fun planning this trip.

Thank you LoveItaly!

My mother would say it was good breeding, but only because she gets partial credit. :-)

I am now the proud possesor of 5 video tapes/DVDs on London and 10 travel guides. I love my library.

Robespierre, you bring up an interesting question. A couple years ago I was looking at traveling to Paris. Obviously I didn't make it. But one thing I learned was that it's often better to purchase rail tickets/passes in the US. Are there things like that, and currency exchange that would be better done before going? Things that you get a better deal on buying them IN the US?

If I were to leave the city for a long day or two trip, besides Greenwich where could I go? The only knowledge I currently have, not having read the guides yet, is the TV program &quot;As Time Goes By.&quot; They went to the country every weekend. Any idea where that was? It always seemed a peaceful change.

Thanks again everyone!

In As Time Goes By, their country house was somewhere in Hampshire, a pretty easy distance from London. Their village always appeared to me to be more rural than the few bits of Hampshire that I've seen.

Your imagination might be stimulated by a look at the Days Out From London map on the BritRail site. Oxford and Cambridge are within easy travel distance, places like Portsmouth and Salisbury (Stonehenge) are a little further, and even Bath and Stratford-on-Avon, although beyond Pass territory, are well within a day. Rail passes can only be bought in the US, but London Transport day passes (or the 7-day Season Pass) should be bought in London. Don't change any money until you get to the UK. With your ATM or debit card, you get the best rate with a small transaction fee.

Did you know there are whirlwind tours of Paris in a day? Many, many options can be found in the brochure at

http://www.britrail.com/doc/Britrail...4_brochure.pdf

Hi
I have found the Steinbicker book &quot;Daytrips London&quot;, one of his series of Daytrip books, to be very helpful.
He offers transportation info, walking itineraries, and even small maps of each town center.

Before you book flights, make sure that you find out when the UK's &quot;Bank Holiday Weekends&quot; are scheduled for in May. (That's what they call long weekends in the UK. I think there are two scheduled for May - 2 May and 30 May this year.) You probably won't want to be in London on those weekends, because everyone in the UK will be travelling at the same time - and these are often weekends that unions pick for actual (or threatened) strike action. Hotels might be more expensive. You also probably won't want to be in London on May 1, unless you're really interested in getting caught up in an anti-globalization type protest march that sometimes gets violent (and, at a minimum, is likely to involve a lot of central London shops, restaurants and attractions closing up early). May 1 is a kind of &quot;Labour Day&quot; in Europe that doesn't serve as a holiday but has become a common day for left-leaning protests. It's actually a very interesting spectacle to watch - but probably not ideal date to schedule one's short holiday to London around (very bad grammar, I know but it's early in the morning).

Robespierre, thank you for more great information. I'll take a look around the BritRail site.

It's funny that you should mention a Paris day trip. I had been kicking around that very idea. I could leave early from London, have lunch and wander a bit in Paris and then be back for dinner. It could give me a taste of Paris for a later trip when I have more time.

&lt;rant&gt;I see the post that was eaten last night but only on the compose page. So if this looks like a duplicate it isn't really.&lt;/rant&gt;

Elaine, I'll look for the book you mention. Thanks!

Kate, I am leaning toward the middle to end of April. Maybe 19/20 - 29th. Thanks for the heads up though, I hadn't thought to check on things like holidays.

Oh, and I also forgot to mention a hotel recommendation. You can search under my name for posts regarding London hotels. But one in particular I might suggest (moderate budget) is the Holiday Inn - Oxford Circus. It's NorthWest of Oxford Circus (very central) - a good location for tube connections, walking to theatre, West End nightlife, Piccadilly Circus, Regent's Park, Hyde Park etc (it's less convenient for South Kensington museums etc). It's nothing fancy, but it's a decent hotel and reasonably priced (by London standards).

Just out of curiousity does anyone know what's near the Gare du Nord train station in Paris? It's apperently the EuroStar terminus in Paris. Could be wrong.

If for the fun of it I made a trip from London to Paris, to overnight, what would be close to the train station? Any good hotels, food, things to do? Something to do for one day?

Not sure I want to do it but thinking about it. Need to break out the French lessons.

Thanks!

Nothing, really - the area around Gare du Nord is busy and on the sort of seedy side. But from there you can get anywhere by metro or taxi.

Don't go on a tour. Travelling in London on your own is cake. Especially if you're a guy.

I went on several day-long excursions with the London Walks company to Bath, Canterbury, Leeds Castle, the Cotswolds and Oxford. I highly recommend this company. It is also a great way to meet fellow travellers (I met a few Kiwis who invited me to stay with them if I'm ever in NZ). Going with London Walks makes everything so easy for you as they take care of all the travel arrangements. It's also ideal if you're planning a short trip to London as you can make London your home base.

I think going to Paris for a couple of days sounds like a great idea, based on the other things you've said. Since this is your first European trip London is a good choice since it will feel less &quot;foreign&quot; but once you get comfortable and you see how easy it is to get around, then a short trip to Paris would be perfect. Since I don't think you've bought your plane tickets yet you could even look into an open jaw flight coming home from Paris. That would save you the half day or so of travel back to London, and switching hotels another time. On the other hand if you planed to return to London you could probably leave your suitcase at your hotel and just take a small backpack which would make your trip to Paris that much easier.

Even though you would be arriving at Gare du Nord, you wouldn't want to stay there. Just hop on the metro (even better than London's tube!) and go somewhere nicer. Most people on this board (myself included) like the left bank. In a couple of days you could get a taste of Paris and know that you'd want to go back on your next trip.

msvb- something else we have in common, I love, love love my local library and rely on it heavily for language lessons and travel guides. If you go to Paris, why not stay over? Use the search here for hotels. But I think there will be plenty to see in London &amp; environs. I own an elementary french 6-cd program if you want it let me know.
I will echo robespierre and others, make one hotel your home base, most really are 20 minutes from the sites. You will be able to relax, get to know the staff &amp; rely on them for guidance.

I did not do a lot of the usual tourist fare. If you decide to go to Bath &amp; Stonehenge, do the full day( not half) as there will be highway traffic, but it is worth it. On my tour visit to Stratford upon Avon, I had the good fortune to meet a local on her way to services at the little cathedral where Shakespeare was baptised, and she showed me all around the grounds. That would make a nice day trip. I wish I'd taken the longer Thames trip.

Don't you love both the houses in As Time Goes By? If I had one, it would probably be more like the &quot;terrible flat&quot; in Truly, Madly, Deeply!

May I put in a good word for the &quot;touristy&quot; destinations in London---and everywhere else. The reason these places are considered &quot;touristy&quot; is because every visitor wants to see them, and every FIRST TIME visitor SHOULD see them. Don't NOT go to the Tower of London simply because everyone else there is a tourist! Don't forgo the British Museum because you're afraid you'll run into too many other Americans.

The big draws are also popular because they are interesting and fun. Repeat visitors to a city or town will want to see something different when they return; that's obvious. But, MSV60, I'll bet money that every person (not necessarily talking about people on this board, please understand,) who turns up his or her nose at the &quot;tourist&quot; destinations has gone to every one of them at least once!

And sometimes more than once. . . We met an American couple in Ostia in Italy who were so fascinated by the place that they were on their fourth visit. Yes, it's really a place for tourists. It's also wonderful!

If you don't like all the planning involved, don't be afraid to go on a tour your first time. Sometimes colleges offer more interesting tours/congenial groups than travel agencies. Unless you are very outgoing, or used to traveling by yourself, I would join a tour for at least part of the time. Just make sure that the group is interesting and well-informed. Who knows---you might meet a friend who will become the ideal traveling companion?

don't worry about what is right near gare du nord. paris is very easy to get around by metro (buy a card or a carnet of 10 tickets - discount). if you are light on your feet, you can actually WALK from gare du nord to many great areas in paris.

my favourite is the 11th arr. i work near there when in paris so maybe i'm biased - the area from bastille/marais/republic up to oberkamf. i am often alone here - dining, exploring, etc and i enjoy it greatly.

i don't recommend a day trip to paris from london (even though many people here may recommend it). take at least 1 or even better 2 nights. you will be in transit/waiting for at least 8 hours for the round trip...it is well worth it if you spend some time there but a waste for just one day IMO.

kswl- I so agree. Tower of London and many other sites are definitely worth a visit and attract tourists en masse precisely because they are so fascinating in history and structure. I was thinking more of wax museums, dungeon tours, ceramic factories, day bus rides that are drive-bys at speed, and other time-wasters that tours include, my opinion only, of course.

A big yes in general on the carnet of tickets, very handy and a good value, though perhaps not for an overnight trip.

kswl, thanks for your words. A bit of clarification on what I mean might be good. I'm not wanting to avoid places that tourists go, necessarily, I'm wanting to avoid places that are designed specifically for tourists.

When I was a young college student with little money, my wife and I went to the Black Hills, in S Dakota. Mount Rushmore and all that. Anyway, on of the places we saw that was heavily advertised was this &quot;story of the old west.&quot; We went and it was horrid. These little rooms in a dark dusty basement where the tour guide would flip a light switch and turn on a tape recorder so we could see mannequins dressed in period doing nothing. Then they'd flip off the tape recorder and light and we'd move down one room and do the same thing, for 45 minutes. It was way too touristy and not worth what we paid for it.

As Nina pointed out, that's what I want to avoid. I absolutely want to go to the Tower of London, Big Ben and all that. The old saying of &quot;tourist trap&quot; is what I want to avoid. If that makes sense.