Vacationing in London?

Question

I will be going to London at the end of the summer. I would like some suggestions. I am not much of a drinker or nightclub person, so i really don't need any suggestions on this. There are enough pubs that if I want to go out at night I will find one. I am into Tudor history and will see Hampton Court and The Tower and will take in a few flea market, forget the London Eye, too high up for me. What I really want to know is about lodging. I would like a nice , reasonably priced hotel, not a chain, but a privately owned hotel with private bathrooms, close to the tube. Also any suggestions for renting a car for a day trip to the coast, i.e. fishing villages.

Answer 1

Not too many quaint little fishing villages within a day of London. The really cute, lovely ones you've seen in movies are in Cornwall, which is as far from London as Scotland, only west not north.

You're on the right track picking Hampton Crt and the Tower. They're great for historic monument stuff. Don't forget Windsor Castle as well, although that gets really, REALLY crowded in summer. There aren't too many tudor things left in London, they were pretty much destroyed in the Great Fire in 1666, and what was left went in WW2. The Staple Inn on High Holborn is the last timber-framed inn left in the City, and St James' Palace has a cool tudor-era gatehouse. (You can't go inside this, only see the outside.) Another Tudor-era palace is Lambeth Palace next to the Thames in Lambeth, which is also closed to the public. But once again, the gatehouse is great.

You may also enjoy a play at the Globe Theatre, in which you get to experience a Shakespeare play in the conditions of Shakespeare's day in a reconstruction of the original Globe.

You will find it hard to find a nice reasonable priced private hotel. The reasonable priced ones are a bit scummy, and the nice ones are expensive. You may have to rethink your lodging. Perhaps think of a hostel - I've stayed in some ok ones that were cheap-ish and in nice areas. (There is a good one in Belsize Park and one in Kensington. Both very smart areas. But its a dorm arrangement.)

Answer 2

Try and get down the South Coast - Chicester area (google Bosham in West Sussex - very nice sailing village). Or into Kent (Canterbury etc)

Also try and go to Shakespeare's Globe (right next to Tate Modern) and catch a play

Would also recommend the National Portrait Gallery (often missed as it backs onto The National Gallery)

Don't know hotels so much but you are right to go close to the tube. You would need to give some idea on budget. If you are not bothered about status, there is a big Holiday Inn on Tottenham Court Road (electronics centre of London)

Have fun!

Answer 3

even though i have lived in London all my life i still love finding new things and 1 of my favorites is the London dungeons in london bridge and from there you should go to hays gallaria which is a 2 minute walk and its right on the thames which is always a good walk and has plenty of sights hope you enjoy your visit.

Answer 4

barcelona..