Our Greater London Megathread

pampers1 wrote: »

Can anyone recommend a good cheap hotel/apartment for a girlie shopping weekend to London. What are the best shopping areas - Oxford Street is it? Thanks.

Shopping areas are actually all close by, Knightsbridge is a must visit for Harrods alone, Harvey Nichols and Burberry are also in Knightsbridge, Sloane Street is just off Knightsbridge which also contains a number of designer shops. Knightsbridge is served by the Piccadilly tube line. From there Oxford street is actually walkable imo, but as you only have the weeknend you can take the tube from Knightsbridge (Piccadilly line) to Green Park(2 stops) change here for the Jubilee line and take it to Bond Street(1 stop). Bond Street tube station is actually on Oxford Street and is the best stop for Selfridges dept store which is another must visit imo. Streets off Oxford street and good for shopping are Bond Street(Bond Street is nxt to Bond Street tube station) and Regent Street which if you walk up Oxford Steet is just off Oxford Circus. Off Regent Street you have Carnaby Street which has a really nice Italian Coffee shop, the name escapes me and also a number of nice shops. If you walk along Regent Street you will come to Piccadilly Circus(10 mins walk) and Leceister Square and in fact Covent Garden, all are well signposted.

As for where to stay, as I mentioned in an earlier post in this thread I would go for the Kensington area, I have mentioned a hotel already which I feel offers excellent value in a very nice area. You can get a room which fits 2 comfortably for £80-£100 including full English Breakfast. The hotel which mentioned tube station is Gloucester Road(Zone 1) served by the Piccadilly line and also the Circle and District lines is two stops from Knightsbridge and is direct to Heathrow airport 40 mins. The area as said is excellent and has plenty of restaurants/coffe shops a Waitrose/Tesco and huge Sainsbury and Boots.

The Westfield shopping centre as mentioned by Fratton Fred is also close by tube, from Gloucester Road for instance,(15mins) take the Circle line to Notting Hill Gate-two stops, change at Notting Hill Gate for the Central line and take it to Sheperds Bush(1 stop)

If you need any other help/advice please feel free to pm me.

Hotel Website:

http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/hi/1/en/hotel/lonhi

You can get better rates for this hotel on website below but is bit more difficult to navigate, click on bed and breakfast logo on this site which should bring up all Holiday Inns, if anyone needs more info please pm and I can guide you through if you can't find them.

http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/hi/925/en/home

IrishPhoenix wrote: »

Hi. Can anyone recommend a decent hotel near Wembley arena, London? What would the best place be to stay?

Wouldn't worry about staying in Wembley as Fratton Fred pointed out, you could stay pretty much anywhere in Central London and get up to Wembley quickly. For instance if you stay in the Kensington area, you have only two tube trains to take which should take you approx 30 mins.

It is an expensive enough place to stay. If you don't mind being a bit off the beaten track there is a travel lodge over by London City Airport where you can sometimes get good deals - bit it is about 35/40 mins on a combination of the Docklands Light Rail and the Tube to get into Central London.

For Central London itself, provided you aren't heading over to party party party, consider the Quaker guesthouse, The Penn Club, which has an excellent location and includes a full English breakfast!

It is on Bedford Place which is about a minute's walk from Russell Square Tube which will get you to the likes of Covent Garden and Leicester Square in under 5 minutes on a direct tube line or in under 10 minutes with one swap you will get to Westminster and Oxford Circus. Equally Leceister Square is only about 15/20 mins walk and the British Museum is on your doorstep.

Do you have any other details of what you are doing over there and I might be able to give some more recommendations?

Carol_1985 wrote: »

Hi guys,

Would anyone have any reccomendations for hotels. I'm looking to stay somewhere fairly central and with a reasonable price.

Thanks

See post 93.

kingshankly wrote: »

hi folks heading to london with the misses and 2 year old next month for a couple of nights,flying to stanstead and will get the train in but looking for a hotel close to the sights,not too bothered about shopping( as we are then getting the train up to liverpool for a few days where she can shop where we are more familiar).
and what sights are a must was there 15 or so years ago cant remember feck all

For hotel see my post no.93 as mentioned Kensington is a really nice area, one slight drawback is that it is much more convenient for Heathrow rather than Stanstead, that said if you get the train from Stanstead to Liverpool street station, jump on the tube from here, take the Circle line westbound direct to Gloucester Road(14 stops- approx 25mins)

Liverpool st station is grid ref C6 on the below map, Gloucester Rd is grid ref D3.5

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/standard-tube-map.pdf

As for attractions you are spoiled for chocie in London, if the weather is good I would give Kensington Gardens a vist(10 minute walk from hotel in post93) a really nice park which also has Kensington Palace where Princess Diana lived. I would give the hop on bus tour a go as this will bring you to all the major attractions in London and you can hop on and hop off at whatever point you want.

The London Eye is a must imo, the views of London are superb, on a clear day you can even see as far west as Heathrow and Windsor.Great views of all the great London landmarks, St Pauls,Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace,the City of London,Canary Wharf etc.. Tube station for the London Eye is Westminster (D 4.5 IS GRID REF) which is on the circle(yellow) and district(green line) and Jubilee line(grey line)

http://www.visitlondon.com/attractions/detail/282783

From the London eye a boat trip along the Thames is well worth it, you can take a short boat trip up to the Tower Of London or you can take a longer boat trip to Greenwich. You can also go by boat from here to Hampton Court Palace.

Buckingham Palace is now open to the public during the summer and is also well worth a visit.

The below link is an excellent site for finding attractions, London also has many attractions that have no entry fee if you are on a budget.

http://www.visitlondon.com/attractions/culture/.


As you are only there for a couple of days, do the bus tour it will take in the majority of attractions and the boat trip to the Tower of London. I know you mentioned shopping is not that important but a visit to Harrods is a must imo, it is an attraction in itself, Harrods tube station is Knightsbridge on the Piccadilly line(dark blue) map grid ref is D4.

You will be in the DLR less than 2 minutes after exiting front doors (and also the arrivals area of City Airport is very small).

It is a very nice airport, although very small and not too much by way of entertainment so don't check in for flight 2 hours early!

Think Cityjet may share check in with AirFrance in Dublin, whatever, they have staff and check in when I flew with them was without problem.

Really depends on what you want to pay.

For budget (Ryanair type) hotel check out Travel Lodge or with a bigger budget check out www.laterooms.com - the secret rooms can be a real steal. They also have theatre tickets.

In terms of shows, the obvious choice is www.tkts.co.uk - there are also many kiosks around Leicester Square, you will get something if not too fussy. If you want a specific show, particularly the big names then best book before you go and don't expect discount. Matinees are of course easier to get than the evening shows (and cheaper).

Many of the larger theatres release tickets immediately prior to the shows, necessary to queue at box office - not guaranteed so may not be an option.

Another website you may be interested in is www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/

Should add, many theatres have no shows on a Sunday (as your dates are Friday and Saturday not an issue) - keep this in mind.

Hi,

Traveling to london soon for first time, just wondering what is the best airport to fly into if i'm staying in central london?.... can anyone recommend a decent hotel too?

jobless wrote: »

Hi,

Traveling to london soon for first time, just wondering what is the best airport to fly into if i'm staying in central london?.... can anyone recommend a decent hotel too?

In my opinion Heathrow. Been to London loads of times and always come through Heathrow. Never been to Gatwick, mainly cos I'v always found heathrow very convienient.

I was last there in June. Stayed at the London Guards Hotels. It was nice hotel. Nothing majorly special. Not too dear tho, close to underground (central line) easy to get to from heathrow (one underground change - costs £3ish) or you can get an express one it paddington, but I don't think its cheap

http://www.londonguardshotel.co.uk/
http://www.booking.com/hotel/gb/londonguardshotel.en.html

and it had continental breakast which was plenty for me and was included saving time and money

rossie1977 wrote: »

the closest is london city but very few flights go there, heathrow is the biggest and is located in the west of the city and easily accessible by underground, for me though its too busy

I work at the airport and I think its just city jet (air france) that fly to LCY
You're right there though early morning the picidilly line is very busy, (I went over 2nd flight back on the last) and for the way home it was empty. Its just usual peak times.

jobless wrote: »

Hi,

Traveling to london soon for first time, just wondering what is the best airport to fly into if i'm staying in central london?.... can anyone recommend a decent hotel too?

I would go for Heathow, where exactly in Central London are you staying?

Where is the best / cheapest place to store your luggage in central London for less than 24 hours?