Today I booked tickets for my wife and daughter to have a week’s vacation in London - arriving Saturday, March 13th at Gatwick and leaving 1 week later, on the 20th.
My daughter, Sophia, is a BIG Doctor Who fan and would be interested in anything related to the Doctor. Information about stores (bookstores, specialty shops, etc), shooting locations, BBC offices, etc that are related to Doctor Who would be great.
(Actually, one thing I would like: Last October we submitted some photos of her to Doctor Who Adventures magazine, but are unable to get copies 'cause we live in the US. Since they’re going to London, if there’s a bookshop available where we could see “old” copies of this magazine and buy any that might have these photos in them, that would be wonderful!)
My wife, Laura, has her own agenda and will plan to visit the usual touristy highlights. However, a list of things she’s interested in include: doing High Tea, her (Laura’s) Welsh ancestry, Diana, and things Royal. If you know something (or have links to) about these things & London, she would be your BFF.
They do NOT plan on “eating their way through London” - they prefer to have momentos, not meals. Any advice on eating quickly and affordably will be nice (I know the hotel serves breakfast daily).
A good source of Doctor Who knick-knacks is the flagship Forbidden Planet in Shaftesbury Avenue.
There are a few London Doctor Who locations, despite most of it being filmed in Wales. There’s the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye and the Globe Theatre which are all tourist attractions in any case.
For High Tea, I’ve often heard that Browns Hotel is one of the best, and is less stuffy than the Ritz. You’d need to pre-book. Also, The Wolseley restaurant on Piccadilly does a great one. High Tea is not remotely cheap, I should warn you. Another, cheaper, option could be the Orangery restaurant at Kensington Palace.
As for the Welsh connection, there’s a welsh club in London - never been, but it have events and a bar: http://www.londonwelsh.org/
Cardiff (welsh capital) is an easy two hour train ride from London, so they could hit the welsh thing and the doctor who thing in one day trip. It’s not the most beautiful city though.
I strongly suggest they invest some time in research before they get here. There’s an awful lot of really ropey tourist traps they could fall into. Hardens (very reputable foodie guide) publishes a ‘Cheap Eats’ guide to London, as does, I think, TimeOut. Ethnic restaurants are always a good choice for cheap, if they like that kind of thing. As far as chains go, Wagamamma is a good cheap noodle chain, Pizza Express does very respectable and reasonable italian-style pizza, Ping Pong is a great dim sum chain, Pret a Manger is a good place to grab a sandwich for lunch.
Many restaurants do ‘pre-theatre meal deals’, particularly around Covent Garden, if they are happy to eat early. Check out deals on www.toptable.com
At all costs tell them to avoid anything that has ‘Steakhouse’, ‘Angus’ or ‘Scotch’ in the title - these truly awful chains prey on unsuspecting tourists who are craving a steak fix. No Londoner would ever be seen dead in one.
Wow, you’re looking for trouble! Cardiff has a lovely castle or two , a newly developed waterfront, the Welsh Assembly… not to mention the Dr Who Experience; all of which you can find out about here. Be fair: it’s not exactly minging, is it?
Also a visit to London is not complete without going to St. Paul’s Cathedral.
And for good cheap eats they should try: http://www.wahaca.co.uk/ Great mexican food in London near Trafalgar square. It has won several foodie awards.
I would be overjoyed if Laura flew from San Antonio, TX to London and tried out the Mexican food there - that sounds like the sort of thing I would do.
Laura and Sophie have travelled by themselves before, their biggest trip was a week in Williamsburg, VA (driven from our then-home in Tennessee). I’ve always told Laura that I like for her and Sophie to take occasional mother-daughter trips, and I’m thrilled for them that they’re going.
Waterloo Bridge would be better; you can get a proper touristy photo of the Houses of Parliament through the spokes of the Eye from there. From Westminster Bridge they’re in opposite directions.
That’s because most of it isn’t filmed here, and what is here is already tourist stuff. Also, Dr Who’s not really that massive a thing.
Train. It won’t be cheap, though. The further in advance you can book it the better.
Go to Cardiff… it’s super cheap (book in advance on Great Western) and they have a great Exhibit at the red dragon center right across from Mermaid’s quay and the Millennium Center. You can do it as a day trip and be back in London that night.
Also book a tour (they’re super cheap too) with the BBC in London… it was one of the most fun things we did… even brushed shoulders with John Barrowman.
For Dr Who stuff there’s also the Doctor Who Shopin East Ham. My friends visited it when the were in London this time last year and had a really good time.
Wahaca is lovely, although you can’t book ahead so they’ll have to queue if they’re there on a weekend. Brick Lane is really touristy and the touts are annoying, but I’ve had good meals there. Nicholson’s pubs to a reasonable standard of food and some of their Soho pubs are quite charming (the Three Greyhounds is my favourite, because it’s so tiny). Avoid Weatherspoons, so matter how cheap the meals may be.
I’ve been living in London for a couple of years now, and have had a lot of people come stay with me. My favourite cheap day out (weather permitting) is to go to one of the Kensington museums for an hour or two and then wander around Kensington/Chelsea, ogling the lovely houses and looking in that the members only parks. Favourite expensive thing is either the Tower or the Eye.
