Any Londoners/Visitors to London wanna give me some ideas!?

[deleted01]

I haven't booked it yet but my superiors at work said any time in october is good, so I'm probably going to be there the second and part of the third week. I'll be sure to keep you posted though.

Awesome :D Most UK students have a week's holiday the last week in October, so that's when I'd be back up that way. I'm sure I could wangle coming up for a big meet at any time though, if need be! :P

I know right? It was crazy freezing. That's the first thing I texted you when I arrived! I'm just happy I had packed what I needed. I miss you!!!

Come back? Or I'll come over to you. Now where's that lottery ticket.. :laugh:

[Arataniello]

As with all visitors to London, I would also suggest day trips to either Oxford or some other university city in the bogs of East Anglia (ie Cambridge). Great historical buildings.

In London itself, there is plenty to see just wandering around the city. The City itself - that is, the financial district - has some impressive modern buildings and older ones too, like Leadenhall Market, Lloyds, the Gherkin, the Monument (to the Great Fire of London), and lots of old churches hidden away down little side streets.

Shopping-wise, it depends what you are looking for. If you provide some more details, the board hive-mind^TM can give some suggestions.

[Targh]

Late to this party, but Brewdog in Shoreditch/Camden are worth visits for some epic beer.

And try the Porter at Sam Smiths pubs.

[Arch-MaesterPhilip]

Awesome :D Most UK students have a week's holiday the last week in October, so that's when I'd be back up that way. I'm sure I could wangle coming up for a big meet at any time though, if need be! :P

I'm going to be there between sometime between October the twelfth and the twenty sixth.

[Alester Florent]

The Cittie of York and Cheshire Cheese are two of my favourite London pubs, and they're also pretty reasonably priced as a nice bonus. Not far from either, there is also the Old Bank of England (now converted into a pub), which is worth a look. If you're in the general vicinity, it might be worth seeing if you can get into Temple Church, although I must admit I don't know what public availability is like.

As with all visitors to London, I would also suggest day trips to either Oxford or some other university city in the bogs of East Anglia (ie Cambridge). Great historical buildings.

Oxford's a bit far away from London, regardless of what it may try to pretend by renaming its airport. When I went there was also a bit of a funny smell about the place. I spent the whole trip worried that students were going to mug me for my shoes or something. Cambridge on the other hand is very close by, and lovely.

Hey hey! I'm looking for a hotel within walking distance of Parliament and Buckingham Palace.

I don't know a huge amount about London hotels, but I would imagine the majority of hotels in that part of Westminster will be very expensive. Your best bet is probably to try to pick something up on a discount-hotels site nearer the time, if location is important. However, it all depends on what you consider "walking distance". Five minutes is probably out of the question: twenty minutes is do-able, depending on walking speed. Most of central London is walkable if you know where you're going and can spare a bit of time; the buses are also pretty good.

However, I really would recommend picking up an Oyster travel card for Zones 1-2 (about £30/week) which will allow you travel all over any area of London you're likely to want to visit via any form of public transport.

[Isis]

Oxford's a bit far away from London, regardless of what it may try to pretend by renaming its airport. When I went there was also a bit of a funny smell about the place. I spent the whole trip worried that students were going to mug me for my shoes or something. Cambridge on the other hand is very close by, and lovely.

Oxford and Cambridge are both approximately an hour from London by train. Whether you like one more than the other does not negate the fact that you can reach them both in the same amount of time.

[Alester Florent]

Oxford and Cambridge are both approximately an hour from London by train. Whether you like one more than the other does not negate the fact that you can reach them both in the same amount of time.

It takes about ten minutes longer to get to Oxford - just think of what you could do with that ten minutes! Looking at the timetables, it seems the fastest service to Cambridge has slowed down recently, which is annoying.

[Angalin]

Oxford's a bit far away from London, regardless of what it may try to pretend by renaming its airport. When I went there was also a bit of a funny smell about the place. I spent the whole trip worried that students were going to mug me for my shoes or something. Cambridge on the other hand is very close by, and lovely.

*gets popcorn ready for when Aratan comes back to the thread*

You can go up the Shard now to see the view.

[Arataniello]

It takes about ten minutes longer to get to Oxford - just think of what you could do with that ten minutes! Looking at the timetables, it seems the fastest service to Cambridge has slowed down recently, which is annoying.

Exactly. With that ten minutes more on the train to Oxford, you could do ten minutes more reading, complete the newspaper crossword, spend ten minutes more letting the anticipation build for when you arrive.

Plus the train station in Oxford is a much shorter walk from the centre of the city than in Cambridge.

The "funny smell" you detected was probably fresh air, not the miasmic stench from the East Anglian fens. :fencing:

[Isis]

The "funny smell" you detected was probably fresh air, not the miasmic stench from the East Anglian fens. :fencing:

Yeah, I reckon it was probably the webbed-fingered bog people. :)

[Lady with Ink]

For the October trip I can recommend the Ceremony of the Keys:

"The Ceremony of the Keys is the traditional locking up of the Tower of London and has taken place on each and every night, without fail, for at least 700 years."

http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/WhatsOn/theceremonyofthekeys#sthash.4EQXSZI4.dpuf

You have to apply for tickets in writing 2 to 3 months in advance - but it is free.

[HyacinthGirl]

As a former resident of Camden I suggest you go and check out the market.

Also, my favourite restaurant growing up was this italian place called Marine Ices. So good.

Enjoy.

[Alex.]

If you head up to Camden, The Enterprise is a great pub. A minute walk from Chalk Farm Station.

[Targh]

Brewdog has a Camden bar.

[MuthaHydra / Lord Jo]

Brewdog has a Camden bar.

And it's lovely :)

[Isis]

It's a tricky decision between Camden and Shoreditch but I think I'd suffer Shoreditch for some Brewdog over Camden any day of the week.

[Alex.]

Shoreditch brewdog is definitely better than the Camden one.

[lunadangelo]

I think some of those suggesting Camden and Shoreditch, IMO are definitely on the right track. In order to really get to know London and avoid the tourist traps and high prices you may want to get out of central London.

London has lots of interesting areas which all have their own centres. I would add to the above suggestions Brick Lane specifically and Brixton.

[Conor]

I was at a great pub, last Saturday, in Holborn called the Whippet. No mainstream beers. Amazing beers such as Milk Stout, London Stout, Ales and the like, And the prices are very good (average £3.40).

Recommend it. Will probably be there this Sunday if anyone wants to meet.

[Alester Florent]

I think some of those suggesting Camden and Shoreditch, IMO are definitely on the right track. In order to really get to know London and avoid the tourist traps and high prices you may want to get out of central London.

On the other hand, Shoreditch is actually one of the more expensive areas in London to drink in, if you're not careful, and Camden isn't much better. I went on a night out in a Shoreditch pub a while back that was eye-wateringly expensive, and pretty rubbish, even though we took plenty of our own booze! Both areas are also pretty hipster-y, although the scenes in both are fading: I try to avoid them as far as possible. There are plenty of good places in the centre, and to be honest, if you stick to pubs (rather than bars) the price of the average pint is probably lower in most areas in central London than in Camditch.

In the vein of offering positive suggestions, I can recommend the Fox and Anchor in Farringdon. It is not cheap, though not wallet-gougingly pricey, but they have a wide selection of their own beers, and also do excellent food (the pies are particularly good).