London
London is a fantastic city. Easy to get around on the double-decker buses or the tube. Finding a good, reasonably-priced hotel can be a challenge.
LONDON, ENGLAND
PLACES TO STAY:
When you are looking for a hotel, make sure to look for “en suite” accommodations if you want a bathroom in your room.
I’ve really enjoyed the last two place I’ve stayed in London.
The Troubadour’s Garret was a fantastic experience. An Arts and Craft apartment above the Troubadour cafe. The location in Earl’s Court was convenient to the tube and many good restaurants. The Troubadour has live entertainment, and helpful staff. The Garret is accessible only by climbing 62 steps, but the climb is worth it!
The Troubadour
263 Old Brompton Rd.
London, London SW5 9JA
020 7370 1434
www.troubadour.co.uk/
Earls Court Studios is inexpensive and clean, in a good location, en suite and with a kitchen.
Earls Court Studios
71 Eardley Crescent
Earls Court, Central London
London SW5 9JT
www.earlscourtstudios.com/
PHOTOGRAPHS:
THINGS TO DO:
Here are some other suggestions, by tube stop:
CHARING CROSS
Lunch or tea at the Cafe in the Crypt, in the underground catacombs of the St. Martin in the Fields church.
LEICESTER SQUARE
Go to a show. In the morning, go to the TKTS booth in Leicester Square and buy a half price ticket for a show that evening. Make sure you go to the free-standing TKTS booth and not one of the knock-offs.
WESTMINSTER
The Cabinet War Rooms are a must. These are the underground rooms where Churchill ran the resistance during WWII. They are just like they were then, frozen in time. Fantastic!
Across the street is St. James Park, a beautiful park with a lake, grasses and birds.
From Westminster Pier, take the ferry to Greenwich, a small sea village where you can stand on the international date line. Take the train back, to save time.
SLOANE SQUARE
A visit to Chelsea Psysic Gardens where you can see amazing plants from around the world; have afternoon tea (of course). Open Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday afternoons.
PICCADILLY CIRCUS
High tea at Fortnum & Mason. A nice tea that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg.
WARWICK AVENUE
Take a canal ride from Little Venice to Camden Town. You’ll go through Hyde Park and the zoo and pass the houseboats along the canal. Camden Town market, at the end, is a “happening place”.
GUIDE BOOKS:
I found four guidebooks I particularly liked:
Lonely Planet’s The Best of London.
The London Mapguide, by Michael Middleditch.
Visitor’s AZ London Map, by Geographers A-Z Map Company
City Secrets London, edited by Robert Kahn.
Westminster Abbey and Big Ben.
St. Margaret’s(?) and Big Ben.
London Eye.
Grounds of the Tower of London.
River entrance to the Tower of London.
View of where Anne Boleyn awaited her execution.
The rest room at the Tower of London won the 1995 “Loo of the Year” award.
City sights.
The tube.
Palace Theater(?)
The canal at Little Venice.
View from Chelsea Psychic Garden.
Sign near Wormwood Scrubs.
Gravestones at Greenwich.
TRANSPORTATION TIPS:
Purchase a Travelcard from any major tube station. It is good for the number of days (1,3,5,7) you buy and allows unlimited travel on the tube or double-decker buses.
Also, you can get a free tube map at the station.
Buckingham Palace.
Kensington Palace.
Trip Advisor (provides hotel reviews)
www.tripadvisor.com
OTHER LINKS:
AFFILIATE LINKS:
Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead
www.windsor.gov.uk/
Travel along the River Thames
www.riverthames.co.uk/
Budget hotels in London
travelstay.com/
Hotels, B&B’s and apartments worldwide
www.venere.com/
Chelsea Physic Garden
A garden founded in 1673 as the Apothecaries’ Garden, with the purpose of training apprentices in identifying plants.
It has a focus on education relating to natural medicine.
www.chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk
A FRIEND OF BROMPTON, by Brian Majic
Brompton was an eerie place in ‘53, full of spirits more entombed than free.
The gardens were neglected; overgrown, virulent plants smothered the flowers beneath. But a blackberry from the Tombs added zest to my belief.
Spirits of the grave roamed free, haunting paths and colonnades, spiraling up every tree. I found myself alone most of the time.
People seemed to shun the place - I found it exhilarating. To think that Tauber, Pankhurst, Wisden, Russian clerics and nobility occupied their space.
To me it was a garden of discovery - a place where history, love stories and all life found a means of recovery.
Long waist height Tombs served as Druid tables where tales were told - part myth, part fables.
I’m still a friend of Brompton where time has advanced to two thousand and ten. Which is why - I will - in future leave all my eulogizing to the pen.
www.signefied.talktalk.net/brompton/index.html
East of England Tourism site -
great pictures
www.visiteastofengland.com
African Poems on the Underground
www.bbc.co.uk/africabeyond/
amazon.com
Parking comparison - Heathrow and other airports in the U.K.
www.parking4less.co.uk
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