London

[MRCboicgy]

Originally Posted by puffnstuff

(and let's admit it, there is almost nothing as bad as a tired British hotel).

Fawlty Towers

Flowery twats?
Flay otters?

[GrrlGoalie33]

The Tower Hotel comes highly recommended by my gf and her mum. Pretty much the only hotel they'll stay at. 15 minute walk to the tube, but great views of the Thames and tower bridge. http://www.guoman.com/en/hotels/unit...wer/index.html

[stampsx2]

Originally Posted by Coys1882

- a professional football match (even if you hate the sport - experience the atmosphere)

Don't forget to bring some sort of weapon. Professional sports aren't like they are here.

[d_phaneuf]

Most of what has been covered has been great, but to follow up on the football match, depending on when during the holidays you are going it shouldn't be difficult to find one in England

In the premier league alone there are 3 on the 1st

[K1LLswitch]

Where does one get tickets for a premier game, and any other info to know? I arrive in london at 10am on Nov 10th and there are a bunch of games that day...wondering what I need to know to not show up in the wrong color clothes and get stabbed before I get to my seat. :-/

[bigtmac19]

Originally Posted by K1LLswitch

Where does one get tickets for a premier game, and any other info to know? I arrive in london at 10am on Nov 10th and there are a bunch of games that day...wondering what I need to know to not show up in the wrong color clothes and get stabbed before I get to my seat. :-/

Make sure you wear a poppy!

[Mean Mr. Mustard]

Originally Posted by squiggs96

If you don't do one thing, make sure you don't go to the Tate Modern. What a piece of #### that thing is? It is a giant collection of crap. One exhibit was a mirror. It was submitted by two people and the card had some story about how the purpose was to have an introspective look at art. Go #### yourself. You submitted a mirror you ###### and likely got thousands of dollars for something you already owned and didn't make. I think 90% of the #### in that place was submitted as a joke, to troll people and/or to see how far they could bull#### the management.

Ugh really? The Tate Britain and the Tate Modern are two of the best art museums in the world and it would be easy to spend days in them. Do I think that all of it is great, absolutely not. Do I think that writing it off because of one exhibit that I didn't enjoy is even remotely intelligent. No.

Although I did go to an exhibition of chairs once and thought it was interesting...

[squiggs96]

Originally Posted by Mean Mr. Mustard

Ugh really? The Tate Britain and the Tate Modern are two of the best art museums in the world and it would be easy to spend days in them. Do I think that all of it is great, absolutely not. Do I think that writing it off because of one exhibit that I didn't enjoy is even remotely intelligent. No.

Although I did go to an exhibition of chairs once and thought it was interesting...

The mirror was the biggest waste of space, but I was also vastly disappointed with 99% of that place. There was a pile of bricks, another thing of air ducts, a room with only a spider web (on purpose), and I could go on and on. The only thing that was remotely cool as part of the regular building was a tree that was whittled into a stick. They had the trunk of the tree still in tact. Other than that, the Tate was a colossal waste of time.

During the time I was there they had a special showing of a skull made out of diamonds. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_the_Love_of_God This was separate from the rest of the building. I enjoyed seeing it, but it in no way made up for how much time I felt I wasted there.

[Nyah]

Definitely going to try and check out a football game. I'll channel my inner Vinny Jones and bring some brass knuckles or something. Thanks for the hotel recommendation Frankster...will definitely check it out.

Also - I second the question regarding tickets to a premier league game. Is there a website or do you just buy the tickets at the venue?

[me_dennis]

We spent 3 nights in London back in September and we stayed at the Tune Hotel Liverpool Street
http://www.tripadvisor.ca/Hotel_Revi...n_England.html

The hotel was fairly cheap ($120/night) and we booked through Expedia. The reason why the Tune Hotel chains are cheaper is because they cut out a lot of the things that most hotels would include (ie cleaning of the rooms only every 3 days; towels, wifi, safe, tv, toiletries are all at an extra cost). Since we booked off of expedia, all of the above extras were included for free.

Location wise, it is super convenient. The hotel is located in the East End of London (near the Gherkin Building). The Liverpool Tube station is only a 10 minute walk away. Brick Lane is a 10 minute walk away as well, and Spitalfields market (it is actually open 7 days a week) is only a 5 minute walk away. There are tons of restaurants nearby and public transit is really good as well, so you can get around pretty easily.

We watched Les Miserables and it was absolutely amazing. I would suggest you goto the half price ticketbooth near chinatown to buy some discounted tickets for the same day, then head into chinatown for some dimsum or bbq duck (which apparently is world famous).

Have fun! London is one of my favorite cities in the world.

[edmontonice]

ATP world tour finals runs Nov 4-11 if you're into tennis.

Originally Posted by K1LLswitch

Where does one get tickets for a premier game, and any other info to know? I arrive in london at 10am on Nov 10th and there are a bunch of games that day...wondering what I need to know to not show up in the wrong color clothes and get stabbed before I get to my seat. :-/

[jofillips]

if you're at all worried about going to a football match just join the home fans and you'll be completley fine.
The real experience comes when you're with the away support and have 30 thousand people in a stadium chanting (it seems) directly at you!!!

[Kipper is King]

I was in London for 3.5 weeks last year for the Olympics!

-First of all, don't get Oyster Cards for transit if you are only in London for a couple days. Get Travel Cards, which allow you unlimited travel in the system for 24 hours.

- When you get off the Tube in central London for the first time, get off at Westminster station. The view as you step out is amazing and it makes for a wonderful welcome to London.

- I stayed at the Premier Inn County Hall, which is located right next to the London Eye! The rooms aren't fancy, but they are decently sized and clean. It's a great value, and it's near to Waterloo, the largest Tube station.

http://www.premierinn.com/en/hotel/L...|match|e|plid|


Amazing location!

-The Eye is fairly quick to do even if there's a big lineup. The view is gorgeous.

-I ate at Fergus Henderson's restaurants a lot. St. John, St. John Hotel and St. John Bread and Wine all feature wonderful food at reasonable prices.

- StubHub has an affiliation with some EPL teams for football tix.

Enjoy London! It's honestly one of my favourite places on earth!

[Addick]

Originally Posted by Nyah

Also - I second the question regarding tickets to a premier league game. Is there a website or do you just buy the tickets at the venue?

I tend to go directly through the clubs but as that often requires a membership or registration, you might find going through an agent/office easier. However, they might charge you more and unless they are recommended it could be a scam. So if you do go through a club, I'd recommend buying via their website.

It's probably not worth it to get a membership at a club so you're going to be looking for tickets that go on General Sale. Unfortunately, most matches involving the bigger clubs don't make it to general sale. However, you should still have a look around and see if any do by chance. Even though club will not require you to become a member to purchase tickets on GS, you'll probably have to register with their website.

At the end of the day, I'd recommend buying from the club and doing so online. Feel free to ask for further help securing tickets.

[Mark]

I just went to a West Ham game which has a free membership a tons of tickets. Tried for Chelsea but was an incredible headache and didn't even bother with Arsenal.

[Izzle]

BUMP

I booked return tickets to Calgary and noted that I have a 17 hour layover in London, UK. I'll be arriving 6pm on June 13 and flying out 11 am Jun 14. I plan on getting a hotel room (IBIS) near the airport. However, I plan on leaving my luggage there and venturing downtown to take in the sights and sounds.

There are no football games going on in June and since I'll be arriving in the evening, day time activities (stroll in park, going to the farmers market) are highly improbable. I know I'll be hungry, so some place with eats would be great. I love live entertainment so a pub with live music or even a show would be great. Just looking for suggestions so I dont have to stay in the hotel room and watch tv till my flight. Seems like a boring thing to do.

Thanks!

[Flabbibulin]

Originally Posted by Izzle

BUMP

I booked return tickets to Calgary and noted that I have a 17 hour layover in London, UK. I'll be arriving 6pm on June 13 and flying out 11 am Jun 14. I plan on getting a hotel room (IBIS) near the airport. However, I plan on leaving my luggage there and venturing downtown to take in the sights and sounds.

There are no football games going on in June and since I'll be arriving in the evening, day time activities (stroll in park, going to the farmers market) are highly improbable. I know I'll be hungry, so some place with eats would be great. I love live entertainment so a pub with live music or even a show would be great. Just looking for suggestions so I dont have to stay in the hotel room and watch tv till my flight. Seems like a boring thing to do.

Thanks!

I would say take the heathrow/Paddington Express from Heathrow to Paddington and then head to Soho/Leicester square area on the Bakerloo line. Plenty of pubs with live music to choose from and the area is pretty lively in the evening. That is also the theatre district.

edit- keep in mind, if you are heading to an airport hotel from heathrow, you would then need to get back to heathrow to get the heathrow express. There is no doubt that this is the best option for getting into London from Heathrow. The regional trains will take much longer. The return fare is around 35 pounds, but worth it for the time and hassle saved imo.

There is always Richmond- very close to the airport, where could get a hotel and stay for the evening, but certainly not as cool as actually going into London.

I am making the assumption that you are at Heathrow and not Gatwick??

[Izzle]

Originally Posted by Flabbibulin

I would say take the heathrow/Paddington Express from Heathrow to Paddington and then head to Soho/Leicester square area on the Bakerloo line. Plenty of pubs with live music to choose from and the area is pretty lively in the evening. That is also the theatre district.

edit- keep in mind, if you are heading to an airport hotel from heathrow, you would then need to get back to heathrow to get the heathrow express. There is no doubt that this is the best option for getting into London from Heathrow. The regional trains will take much longer. The return fare is around 35 pounds, but worth it for the time and hassle saved imo.

There is always Richmond- very close to the airport, where could get a hotel and stay for the evening, but certainly not as cool as actually going into London.

I am making the assumption that you are at Heathrow and not Gatwick??

Re: bolded. That sounds like a really good idea. My plan was to bus to the hotel (in all honesty, I could walk to the hotel in about half hour), drop my luggage, then bus back to Heathrow airport and tube it to London. If Heathrow Express only takes about 35 pounds return, that would be a huge time saver.

[Flabbibulin]

Originally Posted by Izzle

Re: bolded. That sounds like a really good idea. My plan was to bus to the hotel (in all honesty, I could walk to the hotel in about half hour), drop my luggage, then bus back to Heathrow airport and tube it to London. If Heathrow Express only takes about 35 pounds return, that would be a huge time saver.

Yup, it takes about 15 minutes. Free wifi as well in case you want to look into what may be going on that evening. Might be a pain taking the bus to and from Heathrow, but probably still faster than taking a regional train into London- which would probably be over an hour. At the end of the day, there are an endless number of parts of London you could visit and find plenty to do, but this general area is perfect for an evening visit- piccadilly, oxford circus, leicester square, chinatown, and soho.

[afc wimbledon]

Just go for a walk from Westminster bridge along the river, on the the south bank down to the tower, thousand years of history right there, make sure you stop for a beer at the anchor where Pepys watched London burn then wander over to the prospect of whitby, where Christopher Marlowe was murdered and Joseph Conrad set the beginning of heart of darkness.