London RFI

[Toonces]

My family (Wife, 13 & 11 yo daughters, & me) will be joining her sister's family (Sister, BIL, 19 & 21 yo nieces) on a visit to London the third week of March, 2023. The 21 yo niece will be spending a semester in London, and we're going to visit over spring break.

What to see? What to eat? Where to stay? We're looking for a room that will accommodate 4 people, and that seems to be an uncommon and expensive combination. Any area we stay in will have to be rather tame, as this is a family trip...we're probably not going to stay in a former red light district. I don't think we're getting a vehicle, so staying within a 10 minute (5 is better) walk to a tube stop is a must. My SIL has a list of potential hotels, but some of the prices are up to $570/night, and that is getting expensive for six nights.

Thanks in advance for your insights.

Toonces

[Lon]

I’ve been there twice. Senior trip in high school and my honeymoon (wife #1).

I’m a museum guy so any of the museums in London are great. I enjoyed the Imperial War Museum, the HMS Belfast and Churchills war rooms.

https://www.iwm.org.uk

Tower of London was cool.

Day trip to Windsor Castle was cool.

Don’t waste your time going to Stone Henge. Big rocks you get to walk around. Meh.

St Paul’s Cathedral was cool.

Westminster Abbey was cool.

Not sure if it’s possible any more or not, but for our senior trip we got to go up into Big Ben to see the working mechanism. Time was adjusted by add/subtracting pennies to the pendulum believe it or not.

Madame Tussaud’s was kinda cool.

Go see The Mousetrap, by Agatha Christie. https://www.agathachristie.com/theatre/the-mousetrap

Edit: I enjoyed the Changing of the Guard. Also went and watched the Horse Guards Parade.

During the summer they used to open up Buckingham Palace for tours while the Queen (RIP), was at Windsor Castle for the summer. Got to do that with wife #1. That was cool.

[AMC]

What @Lon said. Of the sights in London, Westminster Abbey was my favorite. Though we quite enjoyed buying tea and biscuits downstairs at Harrods and walking to the park for a picnic too.

As for food? They have a reputation for a reason. I had some decent fish&chips and Indian food....but otherwise nope. My best advice for visiting London is.....go to Edinburgh, Scotland instead.

[luckyman]

Agreed Edinburgh is wonderful!

My stepson was in London last week; here are his comments about his hotel:

I did like it and would recommend it. However, if I were going to just visit London, I may want to stay closer to Central London. My hotel was probably a 15 minute train ride away. Train was very close to the hotel but still might have been better to stay closer. My hotel was in Chiswick - Clayton Hotel Chiswick. I think it was around 220/night.
These are what my friend in London recommended:
Soho House Chiswick is good - Hilton Syon Park - Clayton Chiswick

Note the price was for one person.

[DrkBlue]

As noted, the Imperial War Museum anything. I did the London IWM sites and also took the train up to Duxford for their tanks+airplanes. I recall the War Cabinet Rooms were recently redone with a new entrance.
When I visited the main IWM in south London, the neighborhood was “transitional” - if you take the family, have a plan to be exiting the area ahead of the museum closing/sun down.

St. Paul’s Cathedral and all those stairs was my favorite place. Stop by and say hello to China Gordon while there.

Also, practice up on your stairs. The Tube stations and many other locations are stair-centric. Your calves will burn.

British Museum is worth a visit too. It is a most-of-the-day type of place.

Food is terrible. Anything authentically British is nearly inedible - terrible meat, warm OJ and beer, even their lettuce is terrible.
Fried Pub grub is fair to good, but I mostly survive on Indian foods and Greek places.

And for folks not aware, UK is getting pummeled economically. The Brits have a miserable, miserable winter shaping up with massive energy price hikes - with predictions of 10x more than last winter. The pound has fallen hard against the dollar 💵 too with the political upheaval. Trash collectors, railroad workers and now Ambulance Attendants are going out on strike intermittently as they had 10.1% inflation in September. Real winter of discontent brewing…

[okie john]

I was in London for a week pre-COVID. I was swamped with work the entire time but managed to slip away one morning at the last minute. I went to the British Museum to see the Elgin Marbles, but as I walked in the door, there sat the Rosetta Stone. And around the corner were astonishing Egyptian and Greek sculptures thousands of years old.

It's hard to go wrong with museums in London.


Okie John

[Joe in PNG]

A few years back, I had a 12 hour layover in London. So, I hopped the Tube from Heathrow to Westminster and wandered about a bit.

The odd thing is just how familiar the whole area was, even though I had never been there before.

[YVK]

Just over one week there in London in late 2018. Somewhat of a special occasion so the hotel and some of restaurants were on expensive side.
This was one of the best trips we had and the secret to that was pre-planning. I did plan and bought tickets in advance for many, if not most, things we did. The Tower, the Abbey, guided tour of the Parliament, the London Opera, the Symphony, just about every museum, even Greenwich. Somehow we still had time just to walk around, have tea at Harrods, shop a little etc.
We didn't have a bad meal and in fact had great food - but, again, prior research and selection helped. Speaking of food, I find guided food tours that are now available in many European cities excellent. Ours in London was a nighttime food tour in Soho. We went back to two places on that tour later.
Getting familiar and comfortable with the Tube early on was a part of a success.

[mtnbkr]

Prior to covid, I was going to the UK twice a year. Even if my business wasn't in London, I normally spent a night there before flying back to the US.

Food: On my own, I mostly ate at pubs. Pub food, while not fancy, was good to me and more "authentic" than most restaurants (yes, I know most of the pubs are chains). However, my coworkers and I went to a gem of a BBQ restaurant in central London that I'd love to visit again. It was an honest-to-goodness NC-style BBQ joint, but with funny talking people (more so than in NC). It was actually pretty decent. Hardcore BBQ fanatics will probably nitpick, but normal folks will like it (being an NC native and a fan of eastern NC BBQ, I tried not to be critical).

Sights: Museums and historic sights like Westminster Abbey, Hyde Park, etc are obviously worth checking out. Also, I just enjoy walking around London and people-watching or marveling at the intersection of the very old and very new. I walked my legs off on every trip there. Around every corner was something new and interesting.

I haven't been to Stonehenge, but the locals say it's not worth it (was going to try and visit on my first trip there since I was not far away in Swindon).

Shopping: Covent Garden and Camden both have some neat shopping, but I found all sorts of neat shops all over by just walking around. Harrods is worth a stop just for the spectacle and to see people driving their supercars up and down the street (especially on a Friday night). If you enjoy cigars or pipes, James J Fox and Davidoff are worth a stop, both have stellar service.

Speaking of Harrods, JJF, and Davidoff...I found that even in those high-end establishments, the sales staff were extremely friendly and accommodating to an uncouth dirty 'merican without a hint of snobbishness.

Accommodations: Last time I stayed in London for more than a night, it was in Covent Garden (specific hotel forgotten), which was nice for access to the Tube and the local shops and restaurants, but will probably be a bit out of the way for you and hideously expensive next year. I've never stayed for more than one night, but I found Point A hotel on Praed St in Paddington to be clean, quiet, and convenient (walking distance from Paddington Station, which is good for getting to/from Heathrow via Heathrow Express). Be aware, if the weather is warm (prob won't be in March), most enclosed spaces will be stuffy. They don't use AC like we do here. Older Tube stations and the smaller trains won't have AC, nor will many businesses. However, even in the summer, it's only warm for a few hours. Mornings and evenings are cool and comfortable. Every hotel I stayed at had ample AC in the rooms.

If you only have a week, I don't think I'd try to get too far from London. There is a lot to see there and you don't want to lose much time traveling.
That said, one could get from London to Paris and back as a day trip via the Chunnel. I haven't done it, but did check into the logistics once. It would be a tight trip though. Glasgow would also be doable if you fly, but I don't know if you could get enough time there to really enjoy the city as a day trip. I spent a week there and still didn't see everything. Friday/Saturday nights in Glasgow are a riot.

Chris

[rayrevolver]

Stayed at the Park Plaza Hotel London Waterloo, 2 adults, 2 children. It was not hateful per night, maybe $300, a few years ago. Google maps says $214 right meow.

https://www.parkplazalondonwaterloo.com/

There was a tube station around the corner, Lambeth North. Directly across the street was a decent pub/restaurant called Hercules. Around the block, a more hole-in-the-wall pub called the Pineapple.

You are a quick walk to the Westminster bridge and Big Ben. Westminster Abbey is next, followed by Buckingham Palace further down the road. We walked 7 miles that first afternoon. Grosvenor Square/Mayfair is a further walk that the wife wanted to see. Its the setting for a lot of fancy novels and stories. Lots of nice hotels in this area as well.

We love Indian food and London has some of the best in the world. Tried Turkish food as well, pretty good. The Turkish coffee was nuts.

As others have mentioned, the museums are great. The Tower of London is impressive. It was a whirlwind trip for us, basically a layover after visiting elsewhere in Europe. We will be back to London at some point in the future.