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London, England
My family and I visited London from November 23 - December 2, 2004. Airfare prices are much cheaper during this time and we flew with American Airlines. The flight to London was delayed an hour at LAX, but it was a good flight. We arrived in Heathrow the following day and were met by our airport transfer person. We were very thankful he waited for us since our flight was delayed.
Our hotel (Abbey Court Hotel Hyde Park) is a simple, yet clean, hotel. Our rooms were big enough for a family of 4, however, the bathroom was quite small, but very clean. Room service cleaned our rooms daily and provided clean towels each day. Continental breakfast was provided to guests free-of-charge, and the breakfast consisted of toast and rolls, plus ham, cheese, and assortment of jams. Coffee, hot chocolate, and orange juice also provided. A full English breakfast is provided for a fee of 3 pounds.
Our hotel is located close to restaurants, stores, internet cafe, post office, and Paddington Station. The hotel is in a perfect location - walking distance to everything.
We mainly visited the tourist attractions of London: Tower of London, Tower Bridge, The British Museum, Picadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden Market, The London Eye, Houses of Parliment, Westminster Abbey, and Buckingham Palace.
We used the Tube often. It's very convenient and easy to read and follow. We purchased the family Tube pass, which allows us to ride the Tube after 9:30 AM. The only thing that bugged us was there were no trash bins at Paddington Station. If we needed to throw something away, we had to hold onto it until we found a trash bin. It was just strange not having a trash bin nearby.
We also visited family in Reading. We took the train and visited the Oracle shopping center and also Oxford.
Weatherwise - it was cold, but being from California, it was o.k. Only 2 days during our trip where it was freezing cold. Smog and exhaust from cars and buses are still there. It's sad to see a lot of beautiful buildings covered in dirt and smog. London really needs to have some sort of smog emissions control.
Overall, it was a great trip and we look forward to returning again in the near future. We'll aim for summer time, but I know prices will be higher during the summer.
