zidee

going to london for a week on vacation

so? what hot spots should i hit?
any advice for someone who's never been there before?

i'd love any tips...
thx

Shahreen

London Eye!

Starsky

Depends what you're looking for. If you a party lad, then Leicester Sq, Piccadilly Circus is your best bet. If however you wana relax and chill, then head for Hyde Park, stroll along the Serpentine, head for Marble Arch area passing speakers corner on the way and you'll have Oxford St right in front of you on the famous Park Lane area. Its beautiful this time of year. Or you can head towards Edgware Road just a few mins walk away and check out the Arab cafes and restaurants and smoke a few shishas and down a few keebabs. Very scenic too

If you have women with you, take them to Green St or Southall for the usual desi clothes shopping.

The Science and Natural History museum's in South Kensington are cool if you like that stuff. And they're free.

Theres loads more.

coolmunda

When i went two years ago I covered:

- Madamme Tussauds
- Leicester Square (day time)
- Piccadilly Circus (day time)
- Oxford Street
- London Eye
- Buckingham Palace
- 10 Downing Street
- Big Ben
- House of Parliment
- River Thames
- Green Street in Forest Gate (Desi) - Bengali/Pakistani
- Southall (Desi) - Punjabi
- Wembley (Desi) - Indian/Gujarati

It was wonderful and it was when britain had its hottest week that year.

I stayed at a BB on Romford Road next to Green st - so had access to desi food.

I wanna go again!

coolmunda

Because I was limited with time, i didnt manage to cover these places

- Hyde Park
- Edgware Road
- Harrods
- The Science and Natural History museums in South Kensington
- Millenium Dome

Whats special about Park Lane area?

Mehnaz

At night time, the entire area looks amazing. You should definitely walk around the Thames area when the lights are on zidee.

There's also Greenwich. I love this area. They have those white buildings there too ... I think it's a palace from back in the day. I don't know why, it's one of my favourite areas in London.

Coolmunda, I can't believe you stayed on Romford Road. I used to live in that area.

There is so much to see and do in London. One week really isn't enough.

If you are into castles, make sure you go to Tower Hill and Windsor Castle. You can also check out Princess Diana's old place and the Queen Mum's humble abode.

You can commute easily on the tube. Just buy a day pass and you'll be covered for trains and buses.

You should also check out Harrod's. The only thing I could afford in there was a sandwich, but I'm still glad I went.

coolmunda

Mehnaz Baji, The only reason I stayed there was because of close access to desi food and because it was reasonably cheap at the time, payed somat like £22.00 a night. I don't think i wanna stay there again coz it was quite a bit of a travel to get to central london from upton park (14-15 stops!) and it took about 45 mins to get there!

I wanna go down to london again this summer , can u suggest a better place to stay (reasonably cheap and close to central london)?

Mehnaz are you still in london?

coolmunda

I remember buying the train one which covered zones 1-4 and payed something like £7.00

Mehnaz

Yeah, it's not very convenient, but I would take the new Jubilee line from Stratford Station so I didn't mind as much. Plus, the buses from this area would seriously stink like curry ....

I don't live there anymore. I was there on holiday 1.5 years ago and was there for about a month. So maybe someone who actually lives there can answer your question.

zidee

thanks you guys
i plan to buy tixx for london eye in the morning on line
and plan to go to some of the touristy areas like buckingham palace, big ben etc etc

we are also planning to hopefully catch a show
i wanted to go to shakespeare's globe theatre but nothing's playing while i'm there
what is madame taussaud's???

and since i'm going there for the first time, i'm going to be staying at kensington close...
now i wish i had looked into B&B...oh well!

thanks for the advice regarding daily pass for public transportation, i'll look into that too
and does any1 know how far is desi-ville from the city...i just want to check out some clothes and jewelry

Mehnaz

I don't think it's very far ... probably about 30 - 45 minutes by train from where you'll be staying. Again, people actually living in England should be able to help out in case I'm wrong. You could go to South Hall and East London (Green Street, Ilford area) if you want desi places. Both are on opposite ends though. South Hall is closer to Heathrow whereas the other two are in East London.

Madame Tussauds is a famous wax museum. Here's there website:

http://www.madame-tussauds.co.uk/

If you go to Madame Tussaud's, you should also try and go to Regent Park mosque which is really closeby to there. It's gorgeous.

coolmunda

Is the mosque closeby to Madame Tussaud's?

uzzybuzzy

If you need to know how to travel around London on public transport i.e.what route to take, train timings etc have a look at www.tfl.gov.uk and go on the journey planner.

Also if you like museums and art galleries most of them are free e.g. Tate Britain and Tate Modern, Science Museum, British Museum, National Gallery etc

zidee

i plan to buy a 3 day pass for the train
i just have to map out my route...i am hoping to make it to stonehenge...but the problem is, i don't have enough time

thank you all for your tips...i will try to take pics and post them once i return
i've never been to anywhere in europe, so i'm really looking forward to this trip

thanks again