dial_100 Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 I want to go site seeing and get best out of my 2 and half days trip to London. 1. Thursday Evening arrival from India 2. Friday and Saturday 3. Sunday morning return Which area to stay in the city? What transport to use? Whats the weather is going to be like in end of Feb?
Guldozer Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 It's gonna be cold and you can even expect snow sometimes in February, though unlikely. The Tube and buses can get you into any corner of London.
dial_100 Posted January 16, 2015 Author Posted January 16, 2015 Oh ok. Cold is okay. I have seen worst. I heard about day pass on a bus. But I don't know how many places I should visit in 2 days.
BlackMamba Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 Typically when you ask this question on ICF, most common answer is Find a place to :alienbooty: and get into the act. My recommendations: 1) Go to Lords -- Take a tour of the stadium. They will take you into the visitor's dressing room. Stand on the same balcony, take your shirt off and wave it to the empty ground below. Just like Ganguly did. Or stand at the same location where the Indian Players celebrated the 83 WC win. 2) Go to Wimbledon -- I did not do this 3) Go to the Original Hard Rock Cafe and have a :beer_yum:. Walk down the stairs to the restrooms -- look at the photos on the wall. There is picture of Sai Baba flanked by Jim Morrison's picture on one side and Jimi Hendrix on the other side. Not sure who came up with this idea, but when I saw I laughed my ***** off. When you come back up, have another :beer_yum:. You have to have 2 beers. That's the un-written rule! 4) Take a walk in the Hyde Park. 5) if you have more time -- go find a kinky place and start :alienbooty:.
Guldozer Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 Oh ok. Cold is okay. I have seen worst. I heard about day pass on a bus. But I don't know how many places I should visit in 2 days. It all depends on your interest really. If you just want to visit some good places then have a walk down Queen's way, it's basically a walk next to River Thames in Central London, and you walk by London Eye, Big Ben and there are also stalls, magic shows etc. in the way. A bit like how they showed in Jab Tak Hai Jan ( song Challa). There aren't many places worth visiting outside Central London to be honest. It gets dark by 4/5 pm in February by the way, so be wary of that.
Sooda Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 Get a ticket to go on one of those Big Bus tours round the city, it will give you a overview of eveyrthing at least. And you can hop on and off where you want to see things- Crown Jewels Get a ticket to a West End show London Eye in the evening Are what I would recommend off the top of my head Do not go to Madame Tussauds
Desi Cartman Posted January 16, 2015 Posted January 16, 2015 I did all this in half a day. I was very much in London (Paddington) but had no idea what to do or where to go so I went to the nearest tube station and got a day pass. * went to the centre of the city and looked around, nothing special * spent sometime at the London Art Gallery, I didnt go inside * Hopped on to a bus to Buckingham Palace, walked through the park in front of the palace and loved the walk. * Could have walked or taken a cab to London eye I but I couldnt be bothered * went to a nearby French coffee shop and had a nice baguette with coffee * went to watch "book of moron" a theatre show written by creators of south park, really awesome! I landed there at 1 pm and got out of the hotel by 3 so I covered a lot considering my only purpose was to take some photos and not fall asleep during the day. I personally didnt like the place as it kept reminding me of Lagaan time for our forefathers :( Ps: I went to the show the following night
suraj Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 Reminds me of the time when I had a layover in London while on the way to India. I figured since I have a few hours I'll see London. I asked the airport official for some advice and he said "young man - the best thing you can do in London in the winter is to stay and enjoy Heathrow airport- it is not only cold but also so foggy and rainy outside that you can't see anything even if you want to outside". I think in different weather London is nice but not in winter.
dial_100 Posted January 17, 2015 Author Posted January 17, 2015 Reminds me of the time when I had a layover in London while on the way to India. I figured since I have a few hours I'll see London. I asked the airport official for some advice and he said "young man - the best thing you can do in London in the winter is to stay and enjoy Heathrow airport- it is not only cold but also so foggy and tiny outside that you can't see anything even if you want to outside". I think in different weather London is nice but not in winter. goddamn it!!. Ok in that case all the indoor museums and stuff. Should I try London Eye in the afternoon when fog clears out? Btw I can take cold no prob.
AmreekanDesi Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 you have a visa? how are you planning to leave the airport?
randomGuy Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 Bus tour ( Hop on , hop off ) Madam Tussad's museum Oxford street Piccadli circus Lord's cricket ground London eye and london bridge Hyde park Soccer match at Stamford bridge
BlueBee Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 Friday : Go visit London Eye, Buckingham palace, Tower of London, National gallery, History Museum. Take a nice walk around Queens Walk in the eve. Go back to your Hotel and have a power nap. Go to a club nearby and enjoy!!! Saturday : Go to Lord's. Go visit the Stamford Bridge :winky: combine it with a visit to Chelsea museum. Go to madame tussauds. Come back to your Hotel. Have a good sleep. Sunday : Walk around the city. Come to India.
dial_100 Posted January 17, 2015 Author Posted January 17, 2015 ^ Luckily I wont need a visa to enter for a short trip. I was asked to carry some documents, like Passport, employment proof, pay stubs, tax returns, residence proof, return ticket, hotel booking and reference letter if I am visiting anyone. (Has anyone travelled to UK without Visa on US passport before). No idea about how am I going to get to my hotel from airport. Probably a cab? Thank you RG. I will try to visit all those places. BlueBee, that's exactly what I was looking for. This is awesome. Can you suggest me best area to stay in a hotel or areas that I should avoid. BTW, weather in late Feb is not as bad. Its touching mid 50s. I can handle that with a light jacket alright.
BlueBee Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 Avoid areas like Deptford, New Cross, Lewisham, Elephant & Castle and Camden at night. Pickpockets, you know. As for staying, I recommend a minimum 3 star hotel. There are lot of good hotels around Hyde Park.
AmreekanDesi Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 ^ Luckily I wont need a visa to enter for a short trip. I was asked to carry some documents' date=' like Passport, employment proof, pay stubs, tax returns, residence proof, return ticket, hotel booking and reference letter if I am visiting anyone. [b'](Has anyone travelled to UK without Visa on US passport before). No idea about how am I going to get to my hotel from airport. Probably a cab? Thank you RG. I will try to visit all those places. BlueBee, that's exactly what I was looking for. This is awesome. Can you suggest me best area to stay in a hotel or areas that I should avoid. BTW, weather in late Feb is not as bad. Its touching mid 50s. I can handle that with a light jacket alright. ok you have a US passport so i guess it works. is sth similar possible on the indian passport i feel these layovers if you can get out ae the best way to explore the world without killing your pocket and time. when the hurricane irene came my plane stopped in doha due to conditions on the east coast US. So i got to explore doha for a few days. Recently sth similar happened with me in dublin due to the whole iceland volcano thing. But you cant plan for these. theres no way they would have let us out of the airport if it was a regular layover
dial_100 Posted January 17, 2015 Author Posted January 17, 2015 Avoid areas like Deptford, New Cross, Lewisham, Elephant & Castle and Camden at night. Pickpockets, you know. As for staying, I recommend a minimum 3 star hotel. There are lot of good hotels around Hyde Park. Got it. Thank you dude.
dial_100 Posted January 17, 2015 Author Posted January 17, 2015 ok you have a US passport so i guess it works. is sth similar possible on the indian passport i feel these layovers if you can get out ae the best way to explore the world without killing your pocket and time. when the hurricane irene came my plane stopped in doha due to conditions on the east coast US. So i got to explore doha for a few days. Recently sth similar happened with me in dublin due to the whole iceland volcano thing. But you cant plan for these. theres no way they would have let us out of the airport if it was a regular layover I don't think they allow with indian passport. I booked tickets just so that I could spend 3 nights 2 days in London. Yes that is the plan from now on. I will make a point to stop someplace and spend couple of days to explore. Flight to india are way too long and painfully boring. These little stopovers will make them interesting.
coffee_rules Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 ^ Luckily I wont need a visa to enter for a short trip. I was asked to carry some documents, like Passport, employment proof, pay stubs, tax returns, residence proof, return ticket, hotel booking and reference letter if I am visiting anyone. (Has anyone travelled to UK without Visa on US passport before). No idea about how am I going to get to my hotel from airport. Probably a cab? Thank you RG. I will try to visit all those places. BlueBee, that's exactly what I was looking for. This is awesome. Can you suggest me best area to stay in a hotel or areas that I should avoid. BTW, weather in late Feb is not as bad. Its touching mid 50s. I can handle that with a light jacket alright. Back in 2008, we took a train from Heathrow to a station in London and took a cab from there to the hotel (it was near paddington). That worked out cheaper than taking the cab from airport. You need to have pounds with you for local transport. Used the daily pass from tube to move around the city. The regular spots that people have already mentioned - went to trafalgur sq, walk between that and 10 downing street . westminister abbey, london eye are all in walkable distance. Buckingham palace is overrated - I found Mysore palace better. Madam tussads is good. Tour of towere of london and river cruise in Thames is also good. Try to catch a show in London or go to a local pub much better than a visit to these fancy overrated places. Visit Lords/Oval one morning. Paris/Rome is much better for a stopover in EU. There is more to see than in London where we see the colonial hangover (Lagaan feeling), Brits talking down on you as you look Indian or more over Paki! But the Indian food in London is much much better than in Paris or Rome.
Guldozer Posted January 17, 2015 Posted January 17, 2015 By the way you can't pay on the spot when you get onto the bus anymore. You have to have an oyster card / ticket before you get on the bus.
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