I’ve read somewhere that if you’ve seen London,
and you’ve seen France,
that you get to look at someone’s underpants.
Oh come on! You all thought it!
New and Improved
Enright3
I love London. It is one of my favorite cities to visit. If you have even teh tiniest bit of interest in the theater (or the theatre) you must see some plays while you are there. Broadway caliber productions at half (or less) the cost. The RSC often stages performances in the park that are even more inexpensive and a simply lovely way to spend an evening. (March may be too early in the year for this.) I second (sixth?) earlier suggestions of the British Museum (I also second the recommendation of the Mesopotamian collections.) If you enjoy spicy food, do yourself a favor and seek out both Chinese and Indian restaurants while you are there. If you enjoy food, do yourself a favor and avoid standard London pub fare.
The best lack all conviction
The worst are full of passionate intensity.
*
London is a massive, massive place and so it is wise to be selective. the princely sum of two pounds buys a copy of Time Out, which is a very good, if not quite comprehensive, guide to what goes on around town. Comes out on tuesdays. Alternatively each morning a free paper called Metro is distributed on the underground. This has a listings section as well, but be quick, in some stations every copy has gone by 8AM.
If you want to see a show and money is tight, head to the south side of Leicester square about 5PM. There is a little booth there that offers last minute tickets for the big london shows.
Many london clubs offer free entry on week nights, again see listings guide.
At the moment St. James Park will be a riot of flowers, and it provides excellent views to buckingham palace, Downing St. and the Mall (the road leading to buck house)
If you like nature, Kew Gardens has some magnificent glasshouses and several plant species that are the only examples in “captivity”, but is not really central
If you like Indian food, Brick Lane in the east end does fantastically good, very cheap curries.
Although i haven’t tried it myself, i am told the “london eye” is well worth a ride. This is a huge (440 foot tall) ferris wheel on the south bank of the Thames opposite the Houses of Parliament. On a clear day the view extends to Windsor Castle, i am told.
DO NOT be tempted by the millenium dome. It is a massive tent filled with tacky stuff and corporate logos. Tony Blair is lying when he says it is marvellous.
Harrods in Knightsbridge is worth a visit if opulence is your thing. Even if you don’t buy anything, the decor is marvellous. Just down the road is the Natural History Museum, which besides being an extremely good museum is also housed in one of London’s most beautiful buildings.
I would disagree heartily with the assertion that Notting Hill is worth a look. It’s only my opinion, but the place was chintzy and snobby and cliquey enough before that bloody awful film was released and is now even worse. If you liked the film though, you might well feel differently about Notting Hill. The exception is the last weekend in august when the (mainly carribean) locals organise a carnival, and about 2 million londoners descend to party and put out that love vibe. Traditionally this is when london coppers practice “community policing” by dancing with locals and politicians attempt to look funky and in touch by turning up in backwards baseball caps or Tams. Yeuch.
I would echo the caveats above regarding Mme. Tussauds - but the Planetarium which is attached is great
hope this helps.
Well of course the best thing to see in London is ME, but since you won’t be doing that, I do back up the British Museum and Greenwich suggestions, if you do a boat tour to Greenwich you get to hear all the info on the way down and have a leisurely look at the Thames and the many attractions along the river bank.
If you like markets, Camden is quite a favourite among us. The walking tours are great at about £5 each, best is the quite scary Jack the Ripper tour done at night.
Try to avoid Oxford street if you actually want to do anything, but if you have to see it then you have to see it.
We live about 10 min away from there on Edgeware Road which has a fairly large Muslim community, great restaurants around and no too many people, but still fairly central.
Just watch yourself it is easy to spend a lot of money before even realising.
Have a great time.
No, I’m not having a bad day, I’m just not a London Person. Not sure why; I enjoy British literature, admire the pre-Raphaelite brotherhood and the sculpture of Epstein, and am constantly throwing Elgar and Delius and Vaughn Williams and Tippett on the box.
But okay, I’ll play nice now. London is GREAT for graves. I recommend Highgate Cemetery and Westminster Abbey, where Poet’s Corner is a gas and you can enjoy the tombs of the many Honorable British Explorers who sailed off with a testimonial from Queen Victoria in one hand and a cup of tea in the other and promptly froze their asses off at one or another of the poles…
Snickering at the dismal fates of the Franklin and/or Scott Expeditions while standing anywhere near their memorials is NOT recommended. Neither should you do a pantomime performace of Captain Titus Oates limping out into the blizzard. The locals revere their noble losers.
Uke
"Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life."
Damn! Many of my recommendations have already been given; however, as one who loves London and loves giving unwanted advice, here goes:
Read up before you go. One of the best pocket-sized references is the “New Penguin Guide to London,” by F.R. Banks, which must be in its 14th edition by now. Lots of interesting history bites, maps, hotel and restaurants, etc., all done district by district. This is the one to take with you in your raincoat pocket. Use the net, too: I found it helped a lot to make up a list of things that I wanted to see or do (with indoor alternatives in case of rain!): I didn’t get through more than about 60%, but that just leaves some for next trip!
some websites:
http://www.londontransport.co.uk/ (tube & bus info)
http://members.aol.com/sfhsliz/pubs.htm (pubs of London!)
http://www.uktravel.com/london.html (general tourist info)
www.london-se1.co.uk/attractions/ and http://www.enterprise.net/schools/chantry/museums.html (museums: my faves are The Clink, Imperial War Museum http://www.iwm.org.uk/ , Shakespeare’s Globe, Apsley House Wellington Museum and the National Gallery)
http://www.museum-london.org.uk/ DON’T miss the Museum of London, it’s incredible!
http://www.vam.ac.uk/ The Victoria & Albert is magnificent, don’t miss
http://www.cabaret.co.uk/ fun in Covent Garden: mechanical toys old and new
http://www.national-army-museum.ac.uk/ the story of the British soldier, 1400-present day. Check out the skeleton of Napoleon’s horse!
Like airplanes, Billy? Don’t miss the British and German WW2 aircraft at the RAF Battle of Britain Museum http://www.rafmuseum.org.uk/flat/hendon/
Food: don’t miss the best Indian restaurants in the world, some of the best are not expensive, but are the local type.
Here is London’s greatest food secret. I share this with fellow Dopers in the knowledge that they will keep it under their collective hats: The Chelsea Kitchen, King’s Road, Chelsea is a tiny family-run primarily Italian restauant, where great pasta lunches with home-made minestrone will run you about $9 American–and that is a HUGE bargain in London, where eating out is very pricey. There is a second location, called “The Stock Pot,” just 2 blocks north of Trafalgar Square.
Don’t miss the chance to take an early morning walk in Green Park, or St. James Park: London is justifiably proud of her green spaces.
Use the Tube and doubledecker buses as much as you can, but don’t be afraid to take a black London cab: they are always clean, reliable, and surprisingly cheap. The drivers are extremely knowledgeable, and I have always found them friendly.
You should see the Tower of London (parts built in the 11th Century!), and the Crown Jewels at least once, even if they are swarmed by tourists.
Don’t miss Maggs Books, in Berkeley Square for medaeval manuscripts, autographs of Dickens, George III, Napoleon, etc. You won’t be able to afford anything (I can’t!), but it’s worth it to breathe in the history and appreciate the wonderfully eccentric staff.
Don’t miss Harrod’s Food Hall, for it’s great Edwardian atmosphere (but don’t expect anything cheap!) Go into the currency exchange bourse in Harrod’s basement to see the incredible model of the building in sterling silver, won as a bet from a competitor about 1910 or so. Don’t wear shorts, or you may not be allowed in!
Have fun!
Launcher may train without warning.
If you go to Greenwich, try to go on a Sunday when they have 3 really cool outdoor markets. Oh, and take the boat ride; it’s not that expensive and the views are great.
I recommend an easy to read map called:
Mapeasy ( WWW.MapEasy.com)) It does not accept advertising and accepts advice only from real peeople who have been there.
They are about $5-6. Well worth it.
I just got back from London, where I learned the hard way that if you want to see the rooms that Queen Elizabeth and Jane Grey were kept in at the Tower of London, you have to get special passes, and get them EARLY.
No one’s mentioned the London Dungeon, so I will.
Granted, most people find it to be totally juvenile if not in horrible taste…
It is a wax museum devoted to the various means of torture, capital punishment, intense-random-cruelty, devised by man throughout these many centuries.
There is a little Jack the Ripper section as well as wax replicas depicting the Black Death, several well-known beheadings, death-by-rats-feeding-on-your-body, etc., etc., etc.
It is virtually right across the Thames from the Tower of London and they really play up this Haunted House theme AND since real torturing and the like actually took place there years ago, it kind of adds an interesting spice to the place.
Would I recommend it as a must-see?
Not really, but…
It’s worth a look after you’ve had your fill of Buckingham, Westminster Abbey, St. Paul’s and the like.
If you’re in Cheddar and you happen across a crazy old bitch who calls you a colonist… kick her ass for me would ya? Thanks, yer a sweetie!
For more explanation, visit the “Damn British” thread in the Pit.
Kisses!
}><(((^><^)))><{
Ophy
Well, just thought I’d let you guys know that I’m in London now and I’m having a great time.
I’m posting from the Canada House, it’s kinda like the Mebassy except there free intnert access and lots of cool guestbooks and whatnot. Sue and Wall and allt he others if you4r ever her4 I highly reccom3ed it. Gotta go bye.
"Elmo knows where you live! – Elmo, after Homer stiffed PBS for $10,000
If you need a graphic solution, http:\ alk.to\Piglet
Holy Crap, he’s been in London for two days and already he’s lost all his English 
Coldfire
Voted Poster Most Likely To Post Drunk
"You know how complex women are"
- Neil Peart, Rush (1993)
Or, you could just commit treason, or burn down a Royal Dockyard!
Launcher may train without warning.
COLDFIRE:
Sorry about the typo’s… my gourp was leaving and I had to type really fast in addition to the fact that I had to type standing up which, frankly, is really difficult.
Anyway, I’m home now. Had a blast in Londres.
Thanks for allt he suggests. I ended up seeing the meridian in Greenwich, taking a boat tour back down the Thames, seeing Evensong at St. Paul’s ( A must for any London visit… I’m not even pious) and then going to a club that night. then the next day I Tried to go see Westminster Abbey but managed to see the changing of the horse guard and then not getting into the abbey… a special service was going on.
We went to the British Museum instead. It was good too.
THen the next day, I saw te Abbey, wasn’t to thrilled (yes it gorgeous, amazing and all that,but St. Paul’s, Worcester and Coventry Cathedral were all better).
Anyway, thanks again for the suggestions, I wil certainly do this again next time I go anywhere.
"Elmo knows where you live! – Elmo, after Homer stiffed PBS for $10,000
If you need a graphic solution, http:\ alk.to\Piglet
Believe me, I was tempted. My husband tried to get people to sell me their pass for eleven pounds, but we got no takers. The fat assed Beefeater who was giving the tour wouldn’t budge an inch, either. Another one of them had told me that if all 25 of the people holding a pass for that time hadn’t shown up, the guard should let me take their place. I counted heads, came up with 19, but the jerk still wouldn’t let me go in.