Our Greater London Megathread

tommy21

Hey all - have been wading my way through this megathread, currently at page 5. I have gotten great ideas from people (thank to OpenRoad and others in particular), and plenty of accomodation links to follow up on. I just wondered had anyone experienced a decent hotel of late they would recommend? I am planning to take my girlfriend as a surprise for 4 nights early May, budget max of 120-150 per night, and as long as we can get to London fairly easily within 15-20 mins (Kensington comes to mind as Openroad recommend in post 90-something), it does not have to be central.

The poster above me asks about a hotel with spa - not a bad idea either if anyone know of somewhere half-way decent.

In meantime I continue to work my way through thread!
cheers

PH4T

Would London be a good city to have a stag in June?

powerstar

Hi All, I have to book a ticket from london to dublin. This is my first time in london, I am going to London from Manchester,But my return journey to Dublin which airport should I use?

Ticket prices to Dublin from Luton, Gatwick , Stansted are same with Ryanair. Which airport is easy and cheaper to reach from Central london. I heard Stansted train costs more. So, Please advise me which airport best to Dublin.

Thanks

zagmund

There's more to life than money.

Start off on the basis of where you are going to be in London and then you can determine which is the best airport. You might save a few £ by going to one airport with a cheap flight but blow an hour and a half and more than your flight savings getting there by train.

They all have trains from 'central' London and on that basis they are all equal, so in reality ease of getting to the train station that serves your particular airport should be the deciding factor if the flights all cost the same.

So, starting point . . . where will you be leaving from in London ? I note it's your first time, so be aware that getting from one side to the other can take a huge amount of time even on the tube, so your location really is key.

z

ScouseMouse

I flew with cityjet into london city and was surprised. Check it out.

Fratton Fred

I would usually say gatwick, but check heathrow as well, sometimes Aer lingus and BMI have pretty low prices.

None of the airports are particularly difficult, although luton is a bit fiddly because you have to get a bus from the station.

who the fug

Fratton Fred wrote: »

I would usually say gatwick, but check heathrow as well, sometimes Aer lingus and BMI have pretty low prices.

None of the airports are particularly difficult, although luton is a bit fiddly because you have to get a bus from the station.

Re Luton didn't they put a loop up to the airport ?

Fratton Fred

who the fug wrote: »

Re Luton didn't they put a loop up to the airport ?

There is luton airport parkway, but it is about a 5 minute bus ride from the terminal.

who the fug

Fratton Fred wrote: »

There is luton airport parkway, but it is about a 5 minute bus ride from the terminal.

I do love the joined up thinking we have in London

Fratton Fred

who the fug wrote: »

I do love the joined up thinking we have in London

Luton is the wrong side of Watford though, it's the north

Savman

Gatwick tbh, much prefer it to LHR. LTN is messy, I have not used Stansted or London City but the latter sounds like it would be worth it if on a tight schedule.

tommy21

Have flights and hotel booked and now doing up an itinerary to suprise the gf with Can I ask if anyone thinks these guided bus tours are worth it or would you be as well to use public transport considering its so good? Also are these london tour cards that cover entry to different attractions a waste of time?

Any thoughts or recommendations welcome!

zagmund

Savman - London City is a great airport, in and out in 10 minutes sometimes. However, while it is central-ish, and the transport links to central London are good, they aren't necessarily fast. The DLR which has a station right in the airport is great, but it pretty much trundles along. You can connect with the Jubilee line and get to Westminster and other areas, but it does all take time. You need to count 30+ minutes from getting to the DLR station to getting out at Westminster for example.

Having said that, London City would be my preference over the others. Just watch out for mega-queues at rush-hour in the evening as all the bankers & IT folk head back home to Europe from Docklands & the City.

Obviously you also get mega-queues at the other airports too, but you might get lulled into a false sense of security when you arrive and are out the other side of the terminal less than 10 minutes after your planes pulls up to the gate. Going the other direction can take a lot longer.

z

dave3

Hi all,
I'm heading to london by myself next week and hope to take in a show. Just wondering about getting somthing to eat beforehand. Would i look stranger asking for a table for one in a resturaunt. Would i be refused even.

dave.

tommy21

Having successfully booked and suprised my gf with a trip to London from May 2nd to the 6th (Mon-Fri), I have realised two things today.

1) May 2nd is a bank holiday! Will this impact majorly on what is open? From what I can figure from researching on the net all the main sights etc are open 24/7 except 25th December. I figure the biggest impact might be the tube running on sunday hours perhaps on the Monday?

2) The May Day Protests ... will these have occurred on the day before we come over (the 1st May, Sunday) or are they likely to occur the next day?

Hoping someonce can allay my fears, particularly re no. 2 - from years gone by watching it on tv it makes central London look like a no-go area. I know there were riots recently but these were just in relation to gov. cuts right?

Cheers

BuffyBot

Bank holidays don't mean that much. Pretty much everything will be open as normal, and even Sunday public transport is not all that different than during the week especially in the centre.

As for the protests, even if they do occur, London is a big, big city and they would be very easy to avoid.

Fratton Fred

tommy21 wrote: »

Having successfully booked and suprised my gf with a trip to London from May 2nd to the 6th (Mon-Fri), I have realised two things today.

1) May 2nd is a bank holiday! Will this impact majorly on what is open? From what I can figure from researching on the net all the main sights etc are open 24/7 except 25th December. I figure the biggest impact might be the tube running on sunday hours perhaps on the Monday?

2) The May Day Protests ... will these have occurred on the day before we come over (the 1st May, Sunday) or are they likely to occur the next day?

Hoping someonce can allay my fears, particularly re no. 2 - from years gone by watching it on tv it makes central London look like a no-go area. I know there were riots recently but these were just in relation to gov. cuts right?

Cheers

not many tourists will see the protests as they tend to take place in the square mile. Avoid St Pauls and maybe the tower on that day and you will be fine.

tommy21

Fratton Fred wrote: »

not many tourists will see the protests as they tend to take place in the square mile. Avoid St Pauls and maybe the tower on that day and you will be fine.

Cheers for the reply - do you mean on the 2nd (monday)? Or will the protests take place on May 1st regardless of what day it is each year?

Fratton Fred

tommy21 wrote: »

Cheers for the reply - do you mean on the 2nd (monday)? Or will the protests take place on May 1st regardless of what day it is each year?

Good question. I'm not sure but i would expect it to be on the 1st.

There are fears of the great unwashed demonstrating at the Royal wedding on the Friday, so i can't imagine they would be at it twice on the same weekend.

gebbel

Trying to book a single ticket from Heathrow T1 to Paddington on thetrainline.com. It seems there is no collection point at the airport for the ticket so I can't avail of the lower online price . Can anyone advise if this is the case and suggest the best value train there?

Thanks.

patsyrockem

Hi all,

Heading to london this weekend for football game with GF, staying beside euston station, I'm looking for a venue/pub with live music in or around this area. Heard camden is lively but seedy and expensive. Any ideas?

Savman

http://venues.meanfiddler.com/jazz-cafe/home

jaff

patsyrockem wrote: »

Hi all,

Heading to london this weekend for football game with GF, staying beside euston station, I'm looking for a venue/pub with live music in or around this area. Heard camden is lively but seedy and expensive. Any ideas?

Camden isn't that bad really and no more expensive than other parts of London. The Dublin Castle or Barfly are a couple of places to check for live music. If you want to take the missus to half decent bars, restaurants I recommend Upper Street in Angel which is beside Euston and easily reachable by bus or tube. There are plenty of options round there. Euston itself is little more than a train station and busy road so you'll have to venture somewhere.

Have a nice trip!

jaff

dave3 wrote: »

Hi all,
I'm heading to london by myself next week and hope to take in a show. Just wondering about getting somthing to eat beforehand. Would i look stranger asking for a table for one in a resturaunt. Would i be refused even.

dave.

God no. London is full of single working professionals who eat out all the time. You'll be grand.

Raoul

Thinking of bringing the girlfriend to London for two nights on the June bank holiday. It is really tough to find a nice cheap place to stay in a central enough area. I only want somewhere that is around 200 or 250 euro (is that at all realistic).

Also want to go to the lion king, where is the best place to get tickets?

roundymac

Raoul wrote: »

Thinking of bringing the girlfriend to London for two nights on the June bank holiday. It is really tough to find a nice cheap place to stay in a central enough area. I only want somewhere that is around 200 or 250 euro (is that at all realistic).

Also want to go to the lion king, where is the best place to get tickets?

Jurys inns are very good, you can book them online and your not billed until 2pm on the day of check-in , so you can cancell foc up to then. Also buy your selves a pair of oyster cards, put about £20 credit on them and you can use them on bus's and underground very easy to top up and you have them for the next time you go to London. What airport you flying into.

roundymac

If you want to get tickets for a show go to Leicester square, the ticket booths there sell tickets for that day, generally at a reduced price.

Raoul

Already booked the hotel at this stage. Flying into stansted. Does the oyster card work on the express? Do you think we need the card if we are only there two days?

Also booking a show, unfortunately I can only get tickets to the third price seats, well afford. Is lastminute.com the best place to get them or should I just wait fort leceister square. It has a present and a surprise until we get there so might be better if I have them before going
Thanks

roundymac

No the oyster works on the underground and london bus's only, I'm not sure about Docklands light rail. The benifit of the oyster is there is no messing about at tube stations for change etc, this is where a lot of pickpockets hang out. Also you bring your card home for your next visit, whatever credit is left is still valid. We normally put £20 on to ours so we're ready to go when we go back to London, oh and the card is valid for all zones, 1-6. If your traveling at a weekend the Stansted Express gets replaced by bus's some of the time for line repairs. Allow extra time for your flight, Ryanair won't wait for you.

undo

roundymac wrote: »

No the oyster works on the underground and london bus's only, I'm not sure about Docklands light rail.

It is valid on Docklands Light Railway and London Overground as well.

The benifit of the oyster is there is no messing about at tube stations for change etc

Other benefit are much lower fares and a daily cap. When using public transport in London, the Oyster really is a must.