 | London Packing Lists | Tips 21 - 30 of 288 |  |
Popular Packing Lists | Miscellaneous Packing Lists Tips | All Tips (288)  | |  |  | Peanut butter, Hershey's Kisses and deodorant! | Tip Rating:    |  |  | |  |
Bring a bag that zips closed and doesn't just have a single snap in the middle, leaving the rest of the bag open. There ARE cases of pickpockets so keep it under your arm and don't be a floozy. Also, a roller suitcase that you KNOW you can carry up and down stairs (metro stairs...assuming you take the metro from Heathrow airport) If you take a rollersuitcase, make sure your bag either slings over your body so your hands are free to carry your bag.
Wear comfortable shoes, ladies. I seriously grew up wearing heels (wearing sneakers everywhere was a no-no with my lady-like mother) and I brought all heels with me. However, heels and COBBLESTONES do not mix. (Horrid memories of trips to D.C. in heels...heels and gravel...::shudder:) Bring lady-like flats (from JCrew or otherwise). They go with pants, skirts and you still look cute. Make sure you get arch support ot padding from Boots or something because you will be doing a lot of walking on hard cement/cobblestones/the very bumpy non-skid area which is found on every corner in London. Flats all the way!
Bring your own deodorant. They don't make a lot of American deodorants here and I know of too many cases where people have to study here for 6 months or so and only have one thing of deodorant. Bring it and you will feel right at home. Also, any make-up, lotions, and medicines that you don't think are available in London. The medicines here (ie. cough syrups or tylenol) are called different things here, so come prepared with things you know that work on you (like your favorite cough drop) because you never know if you can find it here. I was sick when I first arrived and thank god my mother made me bring tons of tylenol, cough drops, and vitamin C candies with me.
Some digital camera battery chargers do not have flexible voltage. You need to get a voltage CONVERTER (or TRANSFORMER) for this. YOU CANNNOT USE AN ADAPTOR (which you might use on a laptop comptuer) because your appliance will BLOW UP. Make sure it transforms the voltage to the appropriate settings.
If you're going to be here awhile, bring your favorite foods because they will most likely not be available here (ie Goldfish crackers and PEANUT BUTTER). Also, they don't have Hershey's chocolate here, so bring a couple bags of Hershey's chocolate kisses or something and you can use it to give as presents to locals or to bribe airport officials. It's a very rare commodity here and has helped me in more ways than one...plus, it's always great to snack on during that "time of the month." Tee Hee! Sorry! TMI! :-P Leave a Comment Website: www.boots.com
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| | | | It's a vortex of strange weather | Tip Rating: | | | | |
Bring a handbag with you that is discreet and also I highly recommend extra zippers. I carried a simple black leather bag, and it didn't attract attention at all.
Rain jackets are a must, as are umbrellas! For shoes, I recommend comfortable shoes that you can walk in (save the high heels for short nights out). If you want to stick out and have a big "TOURIST" sign over your head at all times, tennis shoes are great. However, if you want to make an attempt at looking local, a smart pair of comfortable and attractive leather shoes will be great.
A simple digital camera will allow you to take a larger number of better quality photos.
I suggest dressing nicely while in London, simply because the locals do. I have found the the people who dress sloppy and stick out are the tourists. It is easy to pick out tourists (ball caps, blue jeans, tennis shoes, backpacks) I honestly feel it's safer to dress nicely and try to fit in with the locals. Leave a Comment
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I have used three different kinds of pocket maps in London and all three have some good points. Let's Go Map Guide combines a 32 page city guide book with a laminated map cover. Attractions, restaurants, accomodations and directions. Map is laminated and includes the underground map. Focuses mainly North of the Thames in the main Tourist area of London from Earl's court to the Tower. Popout Maps by Compass Maps. Small, they fold out to a paper map. The one for London is a double one, with an overall and a central map, the underground on the back. Drawbacks are that the maps are paper and can tear along the fold lines and they aren't very detailed. Streetwise London: Folded laminated map of central london. Two sided, north of Hyde park, Notting hill to the Tower, South of the parks, Earl's Court to St. James park. Neither has much south of the Thames. Includes small underground map. Very detailed. street index.
There are a lot of new ones out since i've bought them. Some handy ones are small enough to toss in your bag or purse. If they are laminated, that's better because they'll withstand folding and unfolding. Some are inside booklets that have other transport info and all will have the tube map. Some may only focus on central London and that's maybe not what you really want overall. Another good plan is to buy an A to Z from a newsagent in London. They will have them in pocket sized as well, for convenience. I'd have to say probably the laminated Streetwise is the sturdiest but the Let's Go had info on attractions as well, quite useful. Leave a Comment Phone: http://www.streetwisemaps.com/Website: http://www.compass-maps.com/
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Don't forget to pack un umbrella because it rains almost every day. I was very lucky that it rained only once in whole week. But it was the only day that I didn't have the umbrella with me.I forgot it in my room.So I had to buy another (the third) one .Fortunately there was a stall with souvenirs just around the corner and I bought umbrella there for 5 pounds. Leave a Comment
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| | | | Weather, clothing. | Tip Rating: | | | | |
Harrods can get a bit picky about scantily dressed or scruffy individuals entering its store. London gets hot & sticky in June, July & August. The heat from London's buildings, roads etc. can trigger heavy showers/thunderstorms in the late afternoon. Take an umbrella and/or raincoat/waterproof. If you forget to pack something, or want to travel light, there are, of course, no shortage of clothing shops in London's West End. The pictured independent retailer, at the western end of Oxford Street (Marble Arch tube) does men's suits for a reasonable £79.99. These are made in China, rather than the £400+ Italian suits in nearby department stores like Selfridges. London does not get excessively cold, but sweaters, coats, gloves, etc. are a must from November to April. London's only gets about 25 inches of rain a year, but the weather can be unreliable/unpredictable: you'll need to pack an umbrella/raincoat/waterproof just in case.
The sun sets in London before 4pm in December & doesn't rise before 8am from mid-December to mid-January. The buildings aren't that tall by New York City standards, but are tall enough to keep the sun off a lot of central London streets in Autumn & Winter. You'll need 400-speed film in December: so you can get good pictures of Christmas lights & streets busy with Christmas shoppers/shops at around 4pm.
London's weather. Snow is a rarity in Winter, it's almost non-existent before Christmas & rarely exceeds a half-inch 'dusting' on about 2 days a month in January, February & March, plus a further 2 or 3 days of flurries in these months. Average daytime maximum temperatures: Jan & Feb = 7C/45F. March = 9C/48F. April = 14C/57F. May =18C/64F. June = 23C/73F. July & August = 24C/75F. September = 22C/72F. October = High teens C/60sF. November = Low teens C/50sF. December = 9C/48F.
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