De Vere Park Hotel London
60 Hyde Park Gate, London, W8 5AS, United Kingdom
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Forum Posts
Sending Travel Luggage on ahead
by tjrundy
Hello,
On a recent business trip to our office in Shenzhen (from London), I took a week hols in Thailand on the way to break up the journey. Rather than lugging the 2 weeks worth of luggage (esp business clothes) around the beach, I took only a hand-luggage case and sent via UPS my clothes and files on ahead.
I mistakenly also sent a portable printer, which seems to have flagged up the case going through Chinese customs. It made it there in the end, but I had to pay some GBP 30 duties and taxes, even though the commercial invoice was marked as personal luggage.
I thought I'd try my luck on the way back, and again because my clothes were of a reasonable European brand (though after 1 week of 30 deg. humidity without any laundering, they were clearly used), there was trouble getting them out of China this time.
I'm not a great fan of lugging heavy suitcases around, particularly when traveling with my young family. Therefore, I wondered if anyone had any advise about sending 'luggage on ahead'. I chose UPS, simply because my company has an account that I could use without any personal cost...
Doing this domestically makes sense, particularly if traveling by train for a long holiday - any thoughts about tweaking this approach for smoother international travel?
Cheers,
Tom.
Re: Sending Travel Luggage on ahead
by unaS
luggagemark
Re: Sending Travel Luggage on ahead
by GrumpyDiver
When packing, we have a moto "if in doubt, leave it out". In general this means one small suitcase per person (plus one piece of hand luggage), with very few exceptions. This does mean doing laundry while travelling, and being very frugal in the amount of clothing and other things we bring along. If we are going to a place with serious weather issues, I might take a larger suitcase and carry rain gear or warm clothing (i.e. bulky things), but the rest of the family would stick to a small suitcase. If we picked up too many souveniers, we would buy an extra inexpensive bag to handle the extra goods. On occasion, we would mail larger, bulkier items home.
Consumable items - soap, shampoo, etc. we would buy at our destination and throw out anything we did not use up just prior to leaving for home.
The same rule applied to my daughters. As soon as they were old enough, they got their own suitcase and backpack that they were in charge of (starting at age 4).
When the girls were younger (babies and toddlers) we did bring one extra bag of "supplies" - food and diapers. Bonus was that the empty bag would hold items picked up on the trip.
Travel Tips for London
Trafalgar Square
by pili
One of the most famous square in the world. It was built in the 1830´s to commemorate the Nelson´s victory at the Battle of Trafalgar. The center piece is Nelson´s column, which supports a large statue of Nelson column. Four bronze lions by Landseer stand at the base of the column. Trafalgar Square is also famous for its pigeons.-
Around the sides of the square you can find the church of st. Martin´s in the Fields and the National Gallery.-
Una de las plazas más famosas del mundo. Fue construída en 1830 en conmemoración a la victoria de Nelson en la batalla de Trafalgar. Por ello, la columna central de la plaza tiene una escultura de Nelson. La columna está rodeada de los cuatro leones de bronce de Landseer, donde invariablemente todos los chicos y algunos grandes se montan para la foto. Trafalgar Square es también famosa por sus miles de paloma que vuelan muy veloces y que parece que en cualquier momento se estrellan contra tu cara.
Alrededor de la plaza se encuentra la iglesia St. Martin´s in the Fields y la Galería Nacional.
Picadilly's Angel - Great meeting place after down
by MedioLatino
On Picadilly Circus you can find a small statue of the Angel of Christian Charity myde by Alfred Gilbert, erected in 1893 in memory of the Victorian philanthropist, Lord Shaftesbury.
Today, however, the statue is commonly regarded as Eros, the Greek god of love (No wonder...this youngsters of today...:).
The area around the statue is a general meeting place for the people going to the theatres or to the night spots of the Soho.
Do not set meetings with people you heaven't met already...it will be hard to spot someone in the crowd...:)
Suisse Re building.
by irisbe
The Suisse Re (2004), environmental and users friendly steel/glass building with a 360-degree view and a top level restaurant but no access to the general public.
It houses the Swiss Re company and is designed by Foster and Partners.
A magnificent example of modern architecture!
Eating in the Park...
by volarevolare
... or any open green space in the sun...
Just grab a sandwich, a cuppa and a good book, sit on any space you fancy on a turf of green, and have your lunch!
It's that easy to have lunch in London...
and of course, a lot of times, it's the lack of humidity that makes it so easy to enjoy time on the grass and nibbling on a sandwich.
I didn't have the time to do this for this trip but would love to have my own private picnic on a public patch of green one of these days! :)
Street decorations for Christmas in London
by angiebabe
As with most European cities, Christmas is a big money spending time for shoppers and a lot of money changes hands between shoppers and businesses - thus creating the environment is a big issue for any city council - and London pulls out all the stops to set the environment for excitement and anticipation for each coming Christmas.
From November colourful christmas decorations start appearing in the main shopping streets - the long shopping streets of Regents Street and Oxford Streets have reputations for being the main ones to head for to see.
Questions and Answers
Q: First time touring my hometown "Hey guys,
My girlfriend and I are planning a few days in the city. I live near the centre, but I've never really seen it..."
A: "We often take for granted the things closest to us.
As a tourist I can tell you that I instantly fell in love with your city and rank London as one of 3 of my top..."
Read 13 Replies »
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