kensington, london.?

Question

i am off to london for the weekend next week and am staying in a hotel in kensington. will i need to get on the tube to visit any sights or can i get around on foot? also can you recommend something for night time entertainment apart from shows?

Answer 1

From Kensington there will be some places that you can easily get to on foot (eg Kensington Palace, Natural History Museum, Science Museum, V&A Museum, Royal Albert Hall). But you will need to cross Hyde Park to get to the main sights in the city centre (eg Oxford Street, Regent Street, Trafalgar Square, London Eye etc) so you will probably need to get a tube or a bus. Some of the other sights are on the other side of the city centre from Kensington (eg Tower Bridge, Tower of London, St Pauls, Shakespeare's Globe etc) so you will definitely need transport out to those places.

My suggestion would be to get a day pass which covers travel on the tube, buses, the DLR and I think it even covers some ferries. You will probably only need a zone 1 day pass (which I think is less than £5). There is of course always the taxi option but London taxis are pricey, especially since cars/taxis often can't go the most direct route between places because of one way streets etc (eg I get a London taxi home each night and, while it's a half hour walk, the fares are usually £15-20). Taxis and buses can also take a while if there is a lot of traffic but the tube is underground so obviously not subject to traffic in the same way.

The most useful transport map for visitors is http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/pdfdocs/cen_bus.pdf as it shows you how to get to the main tourist attractions. You need to read this map in conjunction with the tube map (http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/pdfdocs/colourmap.pdf) though because it only shows you stations and sometimes in London stations can be quite close to each other yet they can be hard to get between because they're on a different tube line.

Answer 2

Kensington is in the vicinity of Kensington Gardens/Hyde Park, Kensington Palace, and the famous Notting Hill Area. Walking is still the best, especially in London. If you wish to travel to Westminster (to see the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, the River Thames), it would be the best to take the Tube. Bayswater, Queensway, and Notting Hill Gate Stations are within a walking distance. You can buy a daily pass at any station for the Tube, for a decent price. If you get lost along the way, don't be afraid to ask. Londoners are very friendly.

Enjoy lovely London!

Answer 3

You will need to take the tube if you want to see all the top sights. Central London is really easy to walk around, but you wouldn't want to walk from Kensington all the way to Tower Bridge for example.

At night.....eating drinking dancing are pretty much the main things to do in any city I guess! The street performers in Covent Garden often go on into the evening if the weather's good. You could go and see any kind of live music....from an indie gig in Camden to jazz at Ronnie Scotts. There's plenty of comedy clubs too.

Get Time Out, and take a guide book. Have fun!

Answer 4

Big money-saving travel tip: as soon as you get to a tube station (even at Heathrow), get an 'Oyster Card'. This is a plastic card that you buy at the ticket counter, then load up with cash (I'd recommend start with £10 if you are there for the weekend), then you use it to pay for buses and tubes. The card itself is free, but when you pay for fares this way, they are automatically cheaper than if you used cash, and even cheaper than a day pass. For example, a cash bus fare is £1.50, but an Oyster bus fare is 80p. It also speeds things up - the card is just swiped on a reader when you enter the tube station or get on a bus. If it runs out you just top it up (same card) at a tube station or newsagent. But if you are staying in Kensington, there is also plenty to do within walking distance.

Things to do in the evening apart from going to shows:

If by 'next weekend' you mean the weekend starting tomorrow, Friday 29th, then I'd recommend the V&A's late night Friday event, which is always held the last Friday of any month, and it is free. The V&A is a vast respectable world-class museum, but the 'late night Fridays' are usually very hip, and aimed at a much more interesting crowd than usual, with food, a bar, music and djs, talks, films, happenings, shopping, etc etc. http://www.vam.ac.uk/activ_events/events/friday_late/

At any time of the day or night, just walking along the South Bank (start at Embankment tube, and cross the river via the footbridge by the railway bridge, following the signs to eg the Royal Festival Hall, then walk towards the OXO tower) is always interesting - there is usually something free going on, such as daft things like this: http://www.philharmonia.co.uk/thesoundexchange/play__fllstp__orchestra/

Answer 5

in case you are attempting West Kensington you will locate there are extra cost-effective inns. The Ibis on Lillie street is one, no longer too costly and not too a good distance from necessary London. purely get the District Line. Or the 28 Bus will take you to severe highway Kensington.

Answer 6

Ahh!! I can let you know about many clubs as my partner runs alot of nights in the Westend. E-mail me if you are interested. Kensington is a good location, you can get to afew places on foot, but a very quick train ride will get you to places very quickly. You can even grab a cab on every street corner in Kensington.

Answer 7

From Kensington you can walk to Harrods, Hyde Park and if you're not too lazy Buckingham Palace, hopefully by the time you visit, they 'd have got round to washing their net curtains.

Answer 8

ur better off to get the bus which will only cost 1.50 a ride. u can walk but depends how energetic u r! head towards piccadilly! u can walk to all west london haunts from there. ! have fun lady!

Answer 9

By foot will be fine but faster if you take either tube or bus.Have fun