Yarg. I thought about visiting Kew, but 12 pounds? That’s like 24 dollars! I’m from the cheap part of the country - not the cheapest, but a pitcher of good beer costs about 6 pounds here…
Like someone said earlier. London is expensive. I used to eat around Islington and the zone 3 & 4 suburbs. There it was outstandingly good especially Indian and not very expensive. So prices are a bit regional. Kew, for example is in a very pricey part. But oh yes, London is expensive.
AAhhh but its so beautiful, and there is a ton of stuff to see and do.
I’ve been 4 or 5 times, and never considered it a waste of money - and never managed to quite see everything I wanted to in a day.
Also £12 is relatively cheap for an activity in London - sorry! A pint of beer will cost you about £3, and even a cheap lunch probably won’t come in under £8. There’s just no way round the fact London is hideously expensive.
You’ll have a great time - I did when I went to visit my brother there in March, thanks in no small part to the Londopers.
And now I will share with you my one and only London travel tip, but it’s a doozy (IMHO). Immediately east of the National Gallery/Trafalgar Square (at Charing Cross and King William IV Street, just up from St-Martin-in-the-Fields) is a swank-looking restaurant called International, which offers - I shit you not - £3 and £5 lunches. Really nice lunches, too - we’re not talking just a sandwich or a Cornish pasty here either. The Londopers were flabbergasted when I told them about it.
MerryMagdalen writes:
> So if it’s about 11 am there, and 3:30 here, you’re about 8 hours away during
> the summer.
It’s 8 hours away almost all the time. Eastern Time Zone U.S. and the U.K. are five hours apart, and both the U.S. and the U.K. go on daylight savings time during the summer. Sometimes there might be slight variations in the day that they go on daylight savings time, but nearly always Western Time Zone U.S. will always be 8 hours different from the U.K.
In general, many things in the London will be about 30% more expensive, even compared to a big city in the U.S.
> . . . I’ll find a market somewhere and stuff a loaf of bread and some peanut
> butter into the bag, for snacks.
Peanut butter is an American thing, and it may be difficult to find in the U.K.
Peanut butter is very common in the UK, and many varieties are available in all supermarkets and 99% of convenience stores. It’s not the same as in the US (much less sweet) but it’s certainly tasty and available. See the PB&J in Britain thread!
I haven’t had a problem finding it here. there aren’t as many varieties and it’s not a given in the first grocery shop you stop in, but it’s definitely available here.
The most popular brand isSunpat
I hate Sun Pat. Too dry. Tesco and Sainsbury’s own brands are my favourite, though Panda peanut butter from Ireland is the best you can get in these isles. Sadly they don’t sell it in the UK.
O.K., sorry, I was wrong about that.