London/Central-Southern England

hz80408 · March 2012

I got burnt out on planning our trip and now am trying to pick up the pieces for our last city/country. We have 4 full days in England in April, Wed-Sat we're trying to come up with a rough itinerary for. We'll be staying with my sister in Reading (~30 min west of London), but plan on traveling via train into London and also to Southampton.

Our hopeful list (hopefully being soccer/football game). Any suggestions for how to coordinate these or other "must see" items. Since this will be our fourth country, we're not sure we'll be interested in art museums (which is a bummer since so many are free):

-Saturday afternoon: FA Cup Semifinals, Arsenal vs Wigan, or Chelsea vs New Castle (eta: depending on how the teams do and if we can get tix; we realize these aren't set in stone and there's even the possibility that Chelsea could be in FA cup)

-Tower of London

-London Eye

- Borough market

-Harrods

-Trafalgar Square

-Big Ben

-Changing of the guards

-ETA: Fuller's Brewery

-Southampton: SeaCity museum (opening that week)

Are there any full or half day tours that are worth it (especially since we already have buy one, get one tickets for London Eye and Tower of London?) There are two bike tours we're considering;

Royal London Fat Tire Bike Tour; 11am; 18E, 4 hrs

River Thames Bike Tour, 10:30am Th, Fr, and Sat; 5 hrs, 30E

TIA

Littlejen22 · March 2012

I am sure some of the ladies will come in here but I am interested since we will be in Northampton and London right after you, PLEASE come back and give reviews. I will have to check out that Sea museum.

hz80408 · March 2012

Littlejen22:
I am sure some of the ladies will come in here but I am interested since we will be in Northampton and London right after you, PLEASE come back and give reviews. I will have to check out that Sea museum.

Definitely! That is one of my main musts (SeaCity museum); I don't care if I take a portion of a day and go by myself. I'll certainly be back to share!

frlcb · March 2012

In regards to the football it is likely going to be very difficult to get tickets. I am 99% sure (and will ask my dh, who knows the premiership and football inside and out) that the tickets go first to season ticket holders, so, especially if it is Chelsea or Arsenal, the tickets left will be very, very slim. And, I would be remiss if I didn't tell you it is Newcastle, one word, my dh is from there

Definitely do Borough Market. Kew Gardens is awesome, and should be really pretty that time of year. You could spend an afternoon in Richmond, just sitting on the Thames in pubs. Are you doing Windsor Castle?

TravelingJen · March 2012

Aside from what you are considering, I would also recommend St. Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Windsor Castle, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. What's great about the V & A museum is that there is a wide array of things to look at. I am not a huge fan of art museums but I do love museums that have old clothing, furniture, household accessories, etc which the V & A has plenty of. It's actually my favorite museum to date. During my visit to London a few years ago I also enjoyed taking a cruise on the Thames down to Greenwich, which I explored for a few hours.

hz80408 · March 2012

frlcb:

In regards to the football it is likely going to be very difficult to get tickets. I am 99% sure (and will ask my dh, who knows the premiership and football inside and out) that the tickets go first to season ticket holders, so, especially if it is Chelsea or Arsenal, the tickets left will be very, very slim. And, I would be remiss if I didn't tell you it is Newcastle, one word, my dh is from there

Definitely do Borough Market. Kew Gardens is awesome, and should be really pretty that time of year. You could spend an afternoon in Richmond, just sitting on the Thames in pubs. Are you doing Windsor Castle?

You're correct on the tickets; at least from the research we've done. We had hoped to buy seats for the other teams for a better chance to get tix. Looking now the Arsenal game has already been moved. I told H he may be out of luck and we may just have to watch at a pub.

Thanks for the recs. Kew Gardens was in a Rick Steve's London video we watched and looked gorgeous! As for right now, we're going to skip on them because I'm hoping the tulips will be blooming in Amsterdam and one garden setting is enough for us; but if they're not, we will need to reconsider Kew

emilyinchile · March 2012

Definitely Westminster Abbey, and shell out for the audio tour as it's well worth it. Windsor Castle is great. I don't know that I'd say it's essential considering you've already got plenty to see, but it is between Reading and London, so I'd probably try to fit it in.

No clues as to the bike tours, but we did and enjoyed the Big Bus Tour a few years ago.

(In case you're interested, a couple pics of Windsor Castle - and one of Westminster Abbey - here: http://www.emilyinchile.com/2009/01/london-calling-pt-2/)

laptopprancer · March 2012

Whilst we are Tottenham fans, we do have some Arse friends Stick out tongue , and I can find out if you like what north London pub(s) might have the best atmosphere/fans. Sort of like next best thing to being there?

We're not posh enough to have any Chelsea fan friends, lol.

callatini · March 2012

Since you'll be traveling by train into London, check the 2 for 1 offers: http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/promotions/two-for-one-london.html

I believe you'll be on Great Western railways so check here too: http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Offers/2-For-1

I've used them for Tower of London and it's such a savings!

I'd also consider going to Windsor. It's a beautiful city with lots of history, things to see, and great restaurants and shops.

dublin · March 2012

I am sure you sister will give you good advice, but just to forwarn you if you've been travelling in more compact cities, getting around London can take a lot longer than you think. The train from Reading to London (35-40 mins) gets you into Paddington which is in Zone 1 (so central London) but somewhere like the Tower of London is the opposite side of Zone 1- so to get from Paddington to Tower Bridge (station for Tower of London) is a 40 min tube journey (not including the time to transfer from the train to the tube which is another 10 mins). I recommend you check Transport for London's Journey planner http://www.tfl.gov.uk/ so you can get an idea of how long it will take you to get from location to location. You obviously don't want to spend your day on public transport.

And the First Great Western site someone else posted is also definitely worth checking out.

Bath is another suggestion, you can take a direct train from Reading to Bath which takes about an hour.

hz80408 · March 2012

callatini:

Since you'll be traveling by train into London, check the 2 for 1 offers: http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/promotions/two-for-one-london.html

I believe you'll be on Great Western railways so check here too: http://www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Offers/2-For-1

I've used them for Tower of London and it's such a savings!

I'd also consider going to Windsor. It's a beautiful city with lots of history, things to see, and great restaurants and shops.

Thanks, I actually posted about these last week and already have a coupon booklet with my items to pack for the trip!

hz80408 · March 2012

dublin:

I am sure you sister will give you good advice, but just to forwarn you if you've been travelling in more compact cities, getting around London can take a lot longer than you think. The train from Reading to London (35-40 mins) gets you into Paddington which is in Zone 1 (so central London) but somewhere like the Tower of London is the opposite side of Zone 1- so to get from Paddington to Tower Bridge (station for Tower of London) is a 40 min tube journey (not including the time to transfer from the train to the tube which is another 10 mins). I recommend you check Transport for London's Journey planner http://www.tfl.gov.uk/ so you can get an idea of how long it will take you to get from location to location. You obviously don't want to spend your day on public transport.

And the First Great Western site someone else posted is also definitely worth checking out.

Bath is another suggestion, you can take a direct train from Reading to Bath which takes about an hour.

Thanks for the insight and link. I need to bookmark that and use it to plan accordingly. I guess we're both somewhat used to travel time via public transit (we live in Chicago, but it still takes me 45 min door to door for home/work via train and we live 4 miles away)

hz80408 · March 2012

laptopprancer:

Whilst we are Tottenham fans, we do have some Arse friends , and I can find out if you like what north London pub(s) might have the best atmosphere/fans. Sort of like next best thing to being there?

We're not posh enough to have any Chelsea fan friends, lol.

That would be lovely, thanks! (We don't, especially H, have any true connections with any teams, but I'm sure he'd hope on the bandwagon and cheer for Arsenal)

BlaireD · March 2012

We are going to London too for a couple days, and the only thing on our list that you haven't already included is the Churchill War Rooms. My husband loves history, so he is really excited about it. I've also heard really good things about the Fat Tire tours, although have never been on one myself. For what that's worth

hz80408 · March 2012

BlaireD:
We are going to London too for a couple days, and the only thing on our list that you haven't already included is the Churchill War Rooms. My husband loves history, so he is really excited about it. I've also heard really good things about the Fat Tire tours, although have never been on one myself. For what that's worth

Thanks! My family did Fat Tire in Berlin and Paris and raved about it, so we booked Paris for us but are debating on London! Seems like a fun and informative way to learn about some sites

laptopprancer · March 2012

hz80408:
laptopprancer:

Whilst we are Tottenham fans, we do have some Arse friends , and I can find out if you like what north London pub(s) might have the best atmosphere/fans. Sort of like next best thing to being there?

We're not posh enough to have any Chelsea fan friends, lol.

That would be lovely, thanks! (We don't, especially H, have any true connections with any teams, but I'm sure he'd hope on the bandwagon and cheer for Arsenal)

OK, I'll ask.

ukyankee · March 2012

My DH is an Arsenal fan (:-p to laptop!) so I'll also ask him good places to watch the match.

ukyankee · March 2012

Here's what my DH had to say:

Twelve Pins, which sits on the bottom of Stroud Green Road, a minute from Finsbury Park station is a good one. Or if you want an Arsenal memorabilia type pub, then go to the Gunners, 204 Blackstock Road. The first has better beer & food, but the former is definitely an "Arsenal" pub.

If your DH is into beer, I also want to suggest a few pubs with great artisanal beers: Brew Dogs and Craft Beer Company. If you are not into beer, both places do serve wine. But the beers are awesome!

London/Central-Southern England

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