London anyone?

[Not Afraid]

After a especially bad day, my husband and I went out to dinner and started fantisizing about cashing in the 401K, selling the house and moving to Paris. Nice idea, but not very practical. But, just the THOUGHT of traveling put us both in a MUCH better mood.

The next day, Chris got an email from United displaying the latest e-fares. Round Trip to London for under $500? It was just too good to resist. It's been quite a while since we've done any major traveling and we've never been to London, so off we go in March.

We're both fairly seasoned travelers (Tokyo, Paris, Peru, most of the US, most of mainland Europe), but we've never been to England. While I'd like to take 3 weeks and travel about, we've only got 8 days to spare and all of it will be spend in London experiencing the city.

I've already got a pretty extensive list of places to see (heavy on the museum side, of course) but I don't want to miss the "real" London. Any suggestions for what to do, where to go, where to eat, where to shop (although with a dollor worth about $.50 I won't be doing much of that :rollyes, etc?

8 days, hip B&B in Belgravia (near Victoria Station) and 1/2 the money I usually travel with. This should be a fun challenge! Any help is appreciated.

[Olympicnut]

I'm so jealous, I love London!! Was there last May and glad I went then since the exchange rate is so much worse now That's such a drawback, otherwise I'd go back in a heartbeat!

If you can get to Bath go see the Roman Baths. Awesome. Canterbury is pretty awesome too (I took separate day trips on a tour bus to both).

Tower of London is my absolute favorite. I can spend all day there just wandering, and thinking about what it must have been like to be there in the 1200's.

See a play.

Wander around the crypts at Westminister Abbey.

Have fun!!!!

[Not Afraid]

Yeah, the devaluation of the dollar is going to put a damper on out traveling style, but with the flight being under $500 each and our hotel running about $200 (which was about how much I spent in Tokyo- but over twice the amount we spend in Paris - OUCH) it's still affordable. The only transportation costs will be airport transfers and a tube pass, so the rest if negotiable. Most museums in London are free, so that's another plus and I hope to hit the TKTS booth in Leischester Square to get show tickest. But, I'm sure it will add up to a shocking amount real fast.

[wolfy]

London is my favorite city.......so much to do, so much to see! Have a great time, but do what your heart says while there. We discovered things just wondering around the city. Wish you could spend more time there, we were there for about 10 days and can hardly wait to go back.

Something not to miss........Mousetrap is a play based on an Agatha Christy novel.....the best thing we did, and didn't even know it was there! Been around for upteen years, and the best darn mystery you can see.

[Lady_Ivory_Rocks]

Tower of London is my absolute favorite. I can spend all day there just wandering, and thinking about what it must have been like to be there in the 1200's.

If I were to go to London, that would probably be the site I would avoid. All of the awful events that occured there, just allow me to envision more than I want to.

[Not Afraid]

Something not to miss........Mousetrap is a play based on an Agatha Christy novel.....the best thing we did, and didn't even know it was there! Been around for upteen years, and the best darn mystery you can see.

Great tip! I'll look it up! I did a bit of research about what will be on stage at that time and I have a few temptations, but I want to see more than one play - and go see more than one band.

As my friend Jesse said, "London is a living city, take part in the life a Londoner lives". I'm so down for that!

[Mac Daddy]

OK...Insanely jealous here. I've been trying to get back to England since...um...the Jubilee in 1977.

Anyone want to watch my kids for a couple of weeks? FIVE HUNDRED BUCKS??

Speedway should still be out there somewhere. He'd be a fun person to meet, and could certainly steer you in the right direction. I can't remember what city he lives in, but he and Splash had a great time getting into trouble together last Summer.

[steamboatpete]

Round trip for $500 is a solid deal, but not extraordinary. We got similar airfares, non-stop from Los Angeles, on about 30-35 days planning for Easter week last year. Can't miss stuff: touristy things we loved included: Buckingham Palace changing of guards, the Tower of London, the Big Red Bus, the London Eye, Tower Bridge, the British Museum, Westminster Abbey, St, James's Palace. Other stuff we loved: local pubs (i.e., the Red Lion), a road trip to Stonehenge, hanging out in the parks, including Green Park, Berkeley Square, Virgin Records at Piccadilly Circus, shopping at Harrod's, the Thames River cruise and the original Hard Rock Cafe. Wandering around the West End yielded a lot of fun quirky moments. Road trips out of town were great, too, but time-consuming. A night and a full day and night in Northern England essentially cost us three days. But a day in Scarborough was well worth it. Other good road trips include Oxford and Stratford Upon Avon (Shakespeare's home town). If you don't wander out of town, public transportation is all you will need.

[Missviolet]

Don't forget to visit platform 9 3/4 in King's Cross Station!!

Seriously, it will make for awesome pictures!!

[Crazy Legs]

Congrats on trip

[IndianaJenn]

I'm so jealous, I love London!! Was there last May and glad I went then since the exchange rate is so much worse now That's such a drawback, otherwise I'd go back in a heartbeat!

If you can get to Bath go see the Roman Baths. Awesome. Canterbury is pretty awesome too (I took separate day trips on a tour bus to both).

Tower of London is my absolute favorite. I can spend all day there just wandering, and thinking about what it must have been like to be there in the 1200's.

See a play.

Wander around the crypts at Westminister Abbey.

Have fun!!!!

Matt - you just mentioned some of my favorite things!

The Tower is a must see. The Crown Jewels are there and so much history. I also loved Westminister Abbey. I spent hours there wandering around.

I also really enjoyed the outdoor marketplace on Portobello Road. If you've seen the movie Notting Hill, they show the marketplace. I think it's only on Saturdays but it's easy to reach via the Underground.

Also check out getting a visitor's pass for the Underground.

[Morrigoon]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Dungeon

[DLcub]

personally, i avoid london as much as possible.. can't stand that city... yeah, there are a few cool things to see but it's so crowded, the food sucks and yeah... i really dislike london. it's probably cheaper to fly to london than to paris but everything in england is so expensive compared to france, including hotels and metro passes so if you went to paris (which is MY favorite city) you'd probably spend the same ammount of money in the end. but some people seem to love the city so by all means.. i would choose paris over london any day, but that's me.

[Olympicnut]

If I were to go to London, that would probably be the site I would avoid. All of the awful events that occured there, just allow me to envision more than I want to.

True, but you don't know Not Afraid like I do

[Not Afraid]

Round trip for $500 is a solid deal, but not extraordinary. We got similar airfares, non-stop from Los Angeles, on about 30-35 days planning for Easter week last year.

Our airfare was actually $239, but when the taxes and other charges (which were more than the actual airfare) it came out to just under $500.