Sightseeing, London

Favorite thing: I can't believe I've never written this up as a tip, London attractions can be very expensive but with a little help from the Days Out Guide 2 for 1 offers, I've saved a bundle of money over the years on some of the really high priced ones like the Tower of London, Hampton Court, Kensington Palace and London Dungeons.

The 2 for 1 offers were created to encourage travel by National Rail train to London but they've allowed a loophole for people who are just visiting London. If you are planning on getting a travelcard, you can also use the 2 for 1 offers. The key is that you must get a travelcard issued at a RAIL STATION, not at a tube station. You can get a 1 day travelcard or a weekly travelcard but it must have the crow's foot logo on it which is accomplished by going to a National Rail station (ie Paddington, Victoria, King's Cross, Waterloo). The Oyster Card is not valid for these offers, not even if you get your travelcard loaded onto an Oyster Card.

The last time couple of times I was in London, they checked to make sure we had a valid travelcard so don't think you can print out the vouchers and still use them without having the travelcard. And, of course, if you've traveled to London by train then you can also use the offers!

If you've left the vouchers at home or need more vouchers, there are usually booklets at the National Rail Stations.

If you are traveling by yourself, bring the voucher with you, I've been able to find people in line that have also traveled by train and have split the savings with them.

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Favorite thing: The British Airways London Eye, sometimes called the Millennium Wheel is the first-built and largest observation wheel in the world, and has been since its opening at the end of 1999.

It stands 135 metres (443 feet) high on the western end of Jubilee Gardens, on the South Bank of the River Thames in Lambeth, between Westminster and Hungerford Bridges. It is adjacent to London's County Hall, and stands opposite the offices of the Ministry of Defence situated in Westminster which it overlooks to the west.

Fondest memory: If you would like to get tickets - better to order its on web-site 7-10 days before a visit

0870 5000 600

www.londoneye.com

Favorite thing: A Bank holiday would affect transport frequencies for sure, so factor that in.

In Southwark, defo visit Monument, Borough Market and Tate Modern. St Pauls (north of Tate Modern) is an architectural masterpiece, and many famous citizens are interred there. The Whispering gallery is fun, but I found the views from the top are NOT that great, obstructed by all the odd buildings around it. Only the river view south is decent. You get better views from Tate Modern's restaurant :) Or Oxo tower restaurant :)

Tower Bridge exhibition is cool, insightful, gets into the mechanics, etc. Views from the enclosed top walkway are brilliant :) Also, check their timetable to view it opening to let tall boats come through, you'll be in the neighbourhood, after all!

You can easily walk along the south bank, from Tower bridge upto Westminster bridge (max 25 minute walk), past the Eye. Again, the Eye is only good for views of the Houses of Parliament, not much else!

Walk around Parliament Square, the Abbey, up Whitehall (past Downing St) and upto Trafalgar Square. Walk time = 15 minutes.

From Trafalgar Square turn right towards Strand & Covent Garden for restaurants & theatres galore :) If you turn left you end up in Piccadilly & Leicester Square - shopping, clubs, restaurants & cinemas.

As another walking trip (recommended when transport is bad), from Parliament Square walk up Victoria St to Victoria & round the right toward Buckingham Palace. 20 minute walk. BTW, you reach Buckingham even from Trafalgar Sqaure (via Admiralty Arch), straight along The Mall - grand frontal approach! That's a 10 minute walk. Include a stroll through St James' Park on the left, off the Palace. On the right is Green Park, and behind that is Hyde Park & Kensington Gardens. These 2 parks are best explored from South Kensington tube after a visit to V&A, Science Museum, etc.

Top right of Hyde Park is Marble Arch, and right (east) of that is Oxford Street (shopping). North of Bond Street is Baker St (Madame Tussuads - definitely a no, no in my opinion). However, Regents Park is most beautiful, worth a visit.

A canal tour (www.jasons.co.uk, as mentioned earlier) is an excellent idea, taking you from Warwick Gardens (Little Venice), past Regents Canal, to Camden Lock (market). A great ride. We can meet up at Warwick Gardens for this, if interested!

North west of Hyde Park is Notting Hill & the famous Portobello Market. Worth a peep for sure :)

Greenwich would make a fine day out, go further to Woolwich arsenal to see the Barrier museum. National Maritime museum is brilliant, as is the Observatory, park, Queens House. Need a dry day for all this!

British Museum is near Holborn (or Tottenham Court Road tubes), Holborn being just north of Covent Garden. There's another cool museum on the left just before Holborn tube on Lincolns Inn Fields - Sir John Soanes museum. Most delightful, free entry, but get there early. The Brit Museum is massive, check the website to tackle your main areas of interest first!

Hampton Court is a good trip, as is Kew Gardens in the neighbourhood.

Windsor Castle (including return transport) is at least a half day trip, so Bath would have to be another trip, though a sound choice :) Start early in the morning for each!!

All the above is easily achievable in 6 days.

Walking around some of the sights will be a highlight of your trip, try that.

To summarise: I'd skip Tussuads, the Eye, double-decker tour. I've done many hop-on-hop-offs, & found they're great if pressed for time, to get a quick synopsis. But you have plenty of time, will be strategically located, and a lot of the sights can be integrated on the back of many walks; eg get the tube to Holborn, do Brit Muse, Soane's then walk along Kingsway to Covent Garden for theatre (10 mins), walk south to Trafalgar (8 mins), etc :) Another day walk all the way upto Big Ben, Victoria, etc. Easy-peasy :)

Of course if walking is an issue, get a travelcard for days you intend to travel a lot; or oyster card for short bursts (for instance a single bus trip, of any length costs 2 UKP on-the-spot versus 1.20 UKP via oyster).

Enjoy my city ;)

Fondest memory: River walks on a fine, sunny day.

Strolls through Hyde Park, Regents Park, and having a picnic in these oases.

Being awe-struck by the breadth of collections at the British Museum; admiring the massive collection of paintings in the National Gallery.

Cute Canal ride from Little Venice to Camden Lock.

Approving the cool location of Hampton Court Palace & it's entensive park.

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Favorite thing: I had a flight to London starting on Xmas Eve (photo 5) and landing on Xmas Day (photo 3). I tried to find out on the internet what would be open on Christmas without much success.

My mom said their was ice skating at the Natural History Museum, and our hotel was near to there. We also took pictures with our local paper (photo 2 and 4) in various places.

Favorite thing: walking through Soho is really something. Before visiting UK I've found on http://www.visitbritain.co.uk/about-britain/image-and-sound-gallery/mobile.aspx great UK & London guide for mobile phones. It was easy to navigate while having my mobile phone full of useful information and maps. They have made a great job offering it for free!Definitely, I'll be back to London in near future.

Fondest memory: The best shopping ever.

Favorite thing: I caught the boat from the Westminster Pier (by Big Ben) to head to Greenwich. It was a cloudy day, which made the boat ride not really nice but anyway I got some great views of London.
When on the boat, the sights are amazing and combined, it makes for a nice day and is well worth a visit. If you're only in London for a few days I wouldn't put this at the top of your list. But if you have the time I would recommend it.

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Favorite thing: Covent Garden is a place where I always go when in London. The Piazza itself with the small boutiques and restaurant is very nice. Also there are a lot of shops on the nearby streets so this area is well worth a morning or afternoon spent there.
There are often music students performing at the Piazza (downstairs) so You´ll be able to here some good music.

Favorite thing: This subpoint in the area of VT called General Tip asks to enter the single most important activity or site to take someone who had never been to London before. I'll answer this category question with the standard answer I have been giving all my co-workers this week after my first week back, "in which city, on what day, in which hour" would you like to know about?"

This picture below happened in London, on our 3rd Day in town around the noon hour near Westminster Abbey, Parliament and Big Ben.

Fondest memory: What struck me about this picture I took was the variety of activities in and around Parliament. First, you have the official government offices of Great Britain with its security in place surrounding the complex. A part of this complex are the bells of Big Ben which I happened to catch striking 12 bells at noon on my camcorder. Then there are the people. In this picture we see a variety of people. The people on the left (tourist like myself) checking their map. Maybe all they needed to do was look at the sign behind them! The little girl and her mother(?) in the middle of the photo seemingly enjoying being out after a brief rain shower and finally the man at the right who was hurrying off to somewhere.

Check this picture further and you will also find at least 5 modes of transportation. 2 buses, a black cab, motorbike, car and an entrance to the Tube in the background.