From what I remember, everywhere in London is close to pubs!
Oh, and Motorgirl, you should be able to eat quite well for the equivelant of $25-$40 per person. I don’t think I ever spent more than about $7-$10 on a meal in England. I also had many meals that were much, much cheaper, but most of those involved day-old bread. Fine for a poor college student on a study tour, but for your honeymoon I’m sure you’ll be looking for something more upscale.
London has an excellent selection of restaurants, and plenty of ethnic cuisine. There’s a very nice little Greek restaurant near the British Museum, but I can’t remember the name. I’d consider it worth asking around for if you’re ever looking for a meal in that area, though.
C’mon, it gets hot out in England! Why, when I used to play cricket in Oxford, it got up to, like, 65 or 70 degrees Fahrenheit some days!
OK, actually there were some really warm days in Oxford and the southern counties. I remember a few summer days reaching 80 F in June and July. So there really are days in England when shorts would be a good idea, not that anyone really wore them…
Would you believe it, I just ate there yesterday, while visiting the British Museum, and I happened to grab their card on the way out. What a coincidence.
Konaki Greek Restaurant. 5 Coptic Street is the address. And it was really great.
A little travel tip for any-one visiting London, one that I’ve never seen before.
At some point in the day, you’ll want a rest stop. Go to the National Gallery, if you’re near the heart of town (Trafalgar Square), It’s free to get in, and downstairs there’s some beautifully clean, free and monitored toilets, and a very nice small cafeteria that does good reasonably priced food.
Oh, and if it’s your thing, there’s some pretty pictures up top too.
Don’t worry about wearing white tennis shoes! No one is going to point and laugh at you unless you look like Twoflower. Bear in mind that observations like “the natives tend to wear dark clothes” may have been made during the working week, when the natives are at work, or going to and from work.
That’s the one! Wow, that is a funny coincidence. I’ll have to add the name and address to my travel journal so I’ll be able to give it to others in the future.
Woah!
London is a monstrous sprawling cosmopolitan city, not some tiny backwater town where non-locals are front-page news!
Why wouldn’t we wear jeans? What is wrong with wearing a yellow coat? Shorts? uh-huh, if it’s hot (or if you’re just so macho you don’t care) White Trainers? I lost count!
People! These things are sold in the shops here, we don’t have to personally order then specially from America and wait for delivery by Yak!
Ok, I could understand these questions if they were about Royston-Vasey, but London???
And I can appreciate that if you’ve never been to -insert place name- before you’d naturally have some questions, but common, it’s not like you NEVER see pictures of London on the news!
I live in the sticks just north of London, but we get so many tourists in my little town that I can’t find a stick big enough to shake at them! I go “into London” all the time, there is the most varried dress code possibly imaginable.
God good, don’t be worried about looking like a tourist, you ARE a tourist, (Hell, even this born & bred London girlie can’t pass off being local in some places!). Enjoy it, wear what you are comfortable in and have a good time!
Jeans are fine. On my one trip there I didn’t pack too well and upon arrival I realized the only pants I had were the ones I was wearing and had been wearing for the past 20 some hours. So I went right out and bought a pair of jeans and some socks.
I’m not worried about being spotted as a tourist. Heck, regardless of what I’m wearing, you’re going to know the moment I open my mouth or take forever to decide which colorful bills are the right denomination for the debt I’ve just incurred.
I was worried about waltzing into a restaurant which, based on its price-range and decor, I’d be OK wearing jeans to if it were in Boston, and offending the locals by being a presumptuous American who thinks I can get away with casual attire in inappropriate places. Like the time I vainly tried to convince my business-travel-companions that shorts and a tshirt was not appropriate for Ruth’s Chris.
I doubted the reaction I’d get from wearing jeans to the wrong London restaurants would be akin to what I’d get wearing a bikini in Kuwait City, but I’d really rather not contribute unnecessarily to your opinion of Americans as uncultured boobs.
Ya know what I’m sayin’?
Now where’d I leave that Cheez-Whiz and ketchup sandwich…?
Hm, I hope that didn’t sound too defensive. Not my intention.
And as far as the white sneakers/trainers thing goes, one of the guys from our Bristol office wears the most godawful neon sneakers all the time. He’s got green ones, orange ones, pink ones, and he color coordinates his outfits based on them. Fun guy!
I’ll second what others have said about wearing dark clothing. When I spent a semester in the U.K., I bought my favorite clothes with me–mostly yellows, reds, and purples. Stuff that wouldn’t get you a second look in North Carolina. I stuck out like a colorfully bruised thumb the whole time I was there.
Nothin wrong with dark clothes - i quite like wearing my dark colour schemes!
I wouldn’t worry too muuch about appearing a tourist, ultimately you are and thats fine - its kind of flattering in a way that you are visiting our fair city.
Dress codes in restaurants are rare - all i’d say is that if you are visiting a properly “posh” place - the kind that you have to book rather than just turn up for, then you should think about wearing something toned down - i.e. not bright colours.
Oh yeah, and one final piece of advice. Please remember that whilst you may be on holiday - most people aren’t, so please don’t do stupid stuff like randomly stop in the middle of a narrow path, or walk really slowly in front of someone - it happens to me all the time in Covent Garden and its bloody annoying!
As much as I enjoy Neon Guy’s company (he really is fun) I hope to not be touring London with him.
This trip is something of a dream come true for me. I’ve been an Anglophile since I fell madly in love with Simon Le Bon in 1982. I’m not insanely anglophilic these days, so I won’t make a total ass of myself, but it feels like I’ve been waiting 20 years to visit London. I just want to get it right!
There isn’t a problem with bright colours - but most restaurants that consider themselves to be posh (as opposed to just being a nice restaurant that has good food, if you get the difference - most restaurants don’t have a dress code these days, but some think they should have. It doesn’t necessarily mean that the food or service will be any better, but usually means the price will be higher) will frown on trainers &/or jeans. Likewise, some nightclubs ban people in trainers - many of these places only know that trainers (sneakers) are white, and that jeans are blue, so you may well see black jeans & black trainers (with black socks, of course ;)) being worn to get round this - or just because the wearer likes black.
Tons of people wear trainers in London - and even in the mornings on the way to work, you will often see women in suits wearing trainers - they change to their smart, office shoes when they get to the office, but wear trainers for comfort on the journey in on the tube or bus.
Boscibo - I think the deal with the shorts was probably to not wear bermuda shorts because a loud hawaiian shirt with bermuda shorts (& probably an enormaous camera too) is pretty much the stereotypical image of an american tourist that most people in the UK have. Wearing ordinary looking shorts & a rugby top in Ireland in March would get you noted as either a local, or insane or both (several of the people at university in North Wales - which is also cold and wet FYI - used to wear shorts & rugby tops all year round, and it used to make the rest of us feel colder!).
