London?

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bossel
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London?

Unread post by bossel »

The question is, for a touristic stay in London, 1-2 weeks, in what corner of London would you stay? Or does it not matter since the tube takes you everywhere in a sec? Now this is actually not really 'off topic' because I'am going to take photos there :D

Having visited Rome, Paris, Barcelone and others, we're thinking of London for this years city trip. It will be in May, well before the Olympics so hopefully hotel prices will be just extra-expensive and not hyper-mega-extra-plus expensive :mrgreen: I know many here are from the UK, any idea would be welcome :D
harvey
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Re: London?

Unread post by harvey »

I usually try to stay within walking distance of Charing Cross/Embankment and Leicester Sq as that gets you to a lot of tube lines quickly.
But I'm usually there for a short time and will see a musical or two at the theatres nearby so that fixes the area I want to stay in.

I'm sure you will get lots of different suggestions.

But the central hotels are harder to get at a good price, also check hotel websites directly for deals.
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Re: London?

Unread post by David Kilpatrick »

If you can stay just at the edge of the tube network upstream on the River Thames - Kingston, Richmond, or Kew - you'll save a lot on hotel costs and also be in a very attractive area. Have a look at the map, don't go beyond Kingston or Hampton Wick. You can even get river transport into the city, and to some great places further up the river.

Many tourists end up staying close to roads or rail, but I would really advise that if you can find a good Thames-valley riverside town/suburb, you get the best of everything. When Sony did an event we got a very good deal from the Antoinette Hotel in Kingston-on-Thames (a really nice regular-grade small company not a huge chain). It was also great to be able to walk out into the town, with riverfront pubs and restaurants, in the evening without the prices or hassle of central London. There are major historic houses, palaces, gardens and wildlife areas very close by.

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artington
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Re: London?

Unread post by artington »

I would second David's suggestion with the caveat that Kingston is too far out and very built-up and not very pleasant in my opinion. Richmond is ideally situated and easily accessed from Heathrow airport. It is very picturesque with plenty of hotels at a good range of prices and a fair choice of restaurants. It also gives you the option to go upstream or downstream on the Thames with ease, which is a lovely thing to do in the summer. The bigger hotels have car parking which allows even more freedom. Rail transport into central London is pretty good - you can either take the District Line or go Network Rail to Waterloo, changing at Clapham Junction, which is quicker. Kew is lovely - we lived for some years on Kew Green - but has no pretty town centre like Richmond and is a little less convenient for transport.
Last edited by artington on Thu Feb 16, 2012 1:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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bossel
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Re: London?

Unread post by bossel »

Thanks David,Harvey and Arlington, will have a look!
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pakodominguez
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Re: London?

Unread post by pakodominguez »

artington wrote: Rail transport into central London is pretty good - you can either take the District Line or go Network Rail to Waterloo, changing at Clapham Junction, which is quicker.
How much a ticket from there (Kingston, Richmond, Kew...) to Waterloo? Because if transportation is as expensive as it was in 2002 when I went to London, probably better to stay in town and walk everyday...
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pakodominguez
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Re: London?

Unread post by pakodominguez »

bossel wrote:Thanks David,Harvey and Arlington, will have a look!
Don't forget to try Indian food! probably the best in the world can be found in London ;-)
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Atgets_Apprentice
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Re: London?

Unread post by Atgets_Apprentice »

Personally, I'd stay as far away from London as possible. probably in France! It is the one European city I have visited that I do not like, but that's just my opinion!
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Atgets_Apprentice
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Re: London?

Unread post by Atgets_Apprentice »

Oh, and the best indian food in the world is in Berlin, at the Taj Mahal, in Schoenewiede! Followed by Gibson street, in Glasgow.....
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bfitzgerald
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Re: London?

Unread post by bfitzgerald »

I can personally recommend Deptford, Brixton, Peckham as places to not stay!
I used to live just off the New Kent road it's annoying traffic wise (constant traffic night and day) but convenient due to it's location.
They do a nice pie and mash just down Tower Bridge road I recommend the jellied eels myself with a nice pie ;-)

Honestly it's a damn fine meal have a look, near legendary among Londoners

http://www.manze.co.uk/
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bossel
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Re: London?

Unread post by bossel »

Thanks all!
Atgets_Apprentice wrote:... probably in France!
I should try France, the south east is said to be nice :mrgreen:

We're more akin to a central location, we'll probably walk a lot, that's how we normally explore a city. But London might be too huge. Guess will spent some time searching around ...
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pakodominguez
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Re: London?

Unread post by pakodominguez »

bossel wrote: We're more akin to a central location, we'll probably walk a lot, that's how we normally explore a city. But London might be too huge. Guess will spent some time searching around ...
Since you're planning to stay more than one week, how about changing hotels every 3 days? that way yo can live in different neighborhoods ;-)
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artington
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Re: London?

Unread post by artington »

Charing Cross is supposedly the centre point of London, from which street numbers apparently begin on radial roads (with the notable exception of Apsley House on Hyde Park Corner, home of the first Duke of Westminster, whose address is No 1, London). Charing Cross is a bit mixed although the Charing Cross Hotel is excellent (as, of course, is the Savoy at twice the price). There are plenty of hotels close to Apsley House on Park Lane from the top notch Hilton and Dorchester, through the fashionable Metropolitan or the considerably cheaper but still ok Park Lane Mews Hotel where I sometimes stay and can recommend. Tnis backs on to Mayfair and Shepherd Market, which is quite pretty and has good, reasonably priced restaurants, particularly Lebanese.
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artington
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Re: London?

Unread post by artington »

Atgets_Apprentice wrote:Personally, I'd stay as far away from London as possible. probably in France! It is the one European city I have visited that I do not like, but that's just my opinion!
A quotation from Boswell's life of Dr Johnson -

Johnson: "The happiness of London is not to be conceived but by those who have been in it. I will venture to say, there is more learning and science within the circumference of ten miles from where we now sit, than in all the rest of the world." Boswell: "The only disadvantage is the great distance at which people live from one another." Johnson: "Yes, Sir, but that is occasioned by the largeness of it, which is the cause of all the other advantages." Boswell: "Sometimes I have been in the humour of wishing to retire to a desart." Johnson: "Sir, you have desart enough in Scotland."

Personally, I think he was mean about Scotland but, hey, that was just his opinion :)
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bakubo
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Re: London?

Unread post by bakubo »

David Kilpatrick wrote:If you can stay just at the edge of the tube network upstream on the River Thames - Kingston, Richmond, or Kew - you'll save a lot on hotel costs and also be in a very attractive area. Have a look at the map, don't go beyond Kingston or Hampton Wick. You can even get river transport into the city, and to some great places further up the river.

Many tourists end up staying close to roads or rail, but I would really advise that if you can find a good Thames-valley riverside town/suburb, you get the best of everything. When Sony did an event we got a very good deal from the Antoinette Hotel in Kingston-on-Thames (a really nice regular-grade small company not a huge chain). It was also great to be able to walk out into the town, with riverfront pubs and restaurants, in the evening without the prices or hassle of central London. There are major historic houses, palaces, gardens and wildlife areas very close by.
That is wonderful advice. In April 2001 and again in July 2001 my wife and I spent a total of about 10 days in London. We didn't know where to stay, but stayed at a couple of hotels that were not far from stations in convenient areas rather close in to central London (I don't recall which places), but I seem to recall us taking a short walk to Notting Hill one day so somewhere in that area for the July hotel. The only reason I remember the name is because of the movie that had come out not too long before of the same name. :lol: Anyway, the hotels we stayed in were not cheap (even with the strong dollar in 2001) and not too good. This was right at the beginning and end of our 4 months of travel in Europe where we had spent a ton of money and London was by far the most expensive place among Greece, Italy, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, France, and England. Darn, trying to do the same trip now with the weak dollar and all those countries (except for Switzerland and the U.K.) now using the euro would cost at least double, I think.

Next time I will try to remember your good advice. Do you have suggestions for how to find the sorts of places you mention? Just the regular expedia.com and so forth websites?
Last edited by bakubo on Sat Feb 18, 2012 1:14 am, edited 1 time in total.
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