London For a Week

The museums were great, with free entry and more than enough inside to keep anyone amused for hours.

Quick Tips:

Check your baggage at Paddington station for the return flight – the queues were much shorter and you did not have to carry your bags on the train to the airport.

Visiting Westminster Abbey? The cafeteria in the church opposite (downstairs) was cheap, with a reasonable variety of food and nice clean toilets.

Best Way To Get Around:

Walk through Hyde Park to get into London. London’s double-decker tour buses were great and provided a good overview of London.

Staying in Paddington saved a lot of money as we could walk to most tourist attractions in London. It was also conveniently located for those times when only public transport would do – Paddington is well serviced with buses and trains.

The room was small, but did have an ensuite and TV (not much good if you have an idea of the standard of British free-to-air television!). There was no air conditioning and, for security, the window only opened a small amount, which meant that the room got kind of hot!

Breakfast was a continental breakfast consisting of coffee (no limit), two rolls with cheese and something that vaguely resembled meat or toast with jam, honey, or peanut butter. It was paid for, so we ate it, but give me a nice bowl of muesli any day!

The main advantage of this hotel was its location. It was a short walk from the train station, which had a direct link to the airport and within walking distance to most of the tourist attractions. A reasonable supermarket was nearby and there were plenty of take away food outlets and pubs offering counter meals of a very good standard (tasty and reasonably priced).

Very comfortable and reasonably sized rooms. Windows were double glazed to keep out the noise from the railway behind the hotel. Very effective, and fortunately, the air-conditioning also worked well to quietly keep the room at a comfortable temperature.

Breakfast was better than the usual continental fare. A continental breakfast was included, but it went well beyond the dry rolls and cheese of the Westpoint Hotel (our last London stay).

The location could not be faulted. Major attractions such as the Science Museum, Natural History Museum and V&A were within easy walking distance. A major shopping area, Kensington High Street, was just around the corner. The shopping area included a Marks and Spencer (quality clothing at affordable prices), bookshops, adventure stores and a number of very good coffee shops. (Even a Gloria Jeans if you like that sort of coffee.)

Budget restaurants were also located in nearby Kensington High Street. We had a reasonable meal of fish and chips. Tasty and not too soggy. Our earlier experience with fish and chips in London left us wondering what the fuss was about!

The main advantage of this hotel was its proximity to the major tourist attractions. The Paddington Hotel of our previous visit (Westpoint Hotel) made the return to the airport easier due to the check in at the station and rapid transfer.

This time we used the transit bus to the airport, which worked smoothly enough, and was still probably cheaper than a taxi. Checkout was some hours before the airport connection and the bags could be left with the concierge free of charge. (The Kensington Hilton charged a fee for minding bags.) Given that we did not have a lot of spare change left on what was the last day of our holiday, this was important.

Check in and check out was both friendly and efficient. Staff were polite and helpful, offering maps and advice when asked.

The theme for this museum is art and it has a fine collection of art from around the world. This museum has the largest collection of Renaissance sculpture outside Italy and the greatest collection of Indian art outside India. It also has a fine collection of tapestries and carpets. These my wife found more fascinating than I did and she was particularly impressed with the Islamic art house collection. However, I breezed through much of the museum. Tapestries are not my major interest. I found the sculptures to be well worth the visit, but my wife certainly found more to keep her interest.

For the discerning male art lover, two or three hours should do it. For women, leave them there for the day! The Victoria and Albert Gift shop, though, is reputed to be the best museum shop in London. (I found more to interest me in the natural history museum shop) My wife, again, found many things of interest and managed to find some gifts for family and friends in our price range here.

Overall, the museum is well worth a visit, but is likely to be more attractive to women than to men (unless, of course, I am not a typical male!). The price (free entry) is right too, although after going through the Gift Shop on the way out I'm not so sure!

This museum was fascinating from the outside and inside. It was a spectacular-looking building that did not disappoint with its contents. Having studied and taught about dinosaurs, it was great to actually see quite an impressive collection of real fossils. The earthquake simulation, along with the accompanying information, was also fascinating. The displays were excellent and comprehensive information was provided making this both entertaining and educational. This time, my wife could not get me out!

I also found a lot of interesting books in the museum shop. I guess you just have to balance the free entry against the great "finds" in the museum shop.

In this museum the roles were reversed. This time my wife was ready to call it a day long before I was!

This museum had it all, from mummies through to the much discussed Elgin Marbles (I played marbles as a kid and was expecting something a little different when I was confronted with the Elgin Marbles. I guess marbles have changed over the years!).

There is, though, something fascinating about death, be it in the form of mummies or the Lindow man. These exhibits seem to capture the fascination of all who visited the museum.

I also found the North American gallery interesting. Having grown up on a diet of Westerns where the Indians were always bad, it was interesting to see the cultural relics that had been collected over the years. It showed a different perspective of the North American Indians.

The week we were in London, Buckingham Palace was open for inspection. The queue for getting tickets was matched only by the queue waiting to enter the palace grounds; however, the queue can be avoided if you have internet access. Book online and choose your time. It saves waiting, but then, I believe the English do like their queues! The other way to avoid the waiting was to go to the palace souvenir shop near the stables exit. Tickets could be booked and purchased there!

It was certainly worthwhile to see Queen Bessie's house. As a colonial from Down Under, we have a fascination for all things royal. Some of the gifts on display had a certain cringe factor, though. Really, you had to wonder what the dignitaries of some countries were thinking! Still, they did make it to the display, so were obviously kept by the Queen. The grounds were beautiful too. It was nice to see that some of the houses in London have a good backyard!

How did such a barbaric tribe manage to conquer so much of the world? The stories of beheadings told here make one wonder how anyone survived!

Still, it’s worth a visit, not just for the history lessons, but also to see the crown jewels. My wife went all glassy-eyed and started dropping hints about needing some new jewelry. The collection here was impressive.

The Tower of London is one of those must see tourist attractions as is the nearby Tower Bridge. However, this was one tourist attraction that required us to hop on a train. It was just too far to walk. Tip: get there early. The queues continue to build and if you go too late in the day you won't see much by the time you get in through the gates.

The Beefeaters are also well chosen. Their knowledge is only surpassed by the sense of humour. They managed to make some gruesome topics more than a little entertaining!

By the way, the underground works well and it’s easy to get to the Tower of London via rail. We returned by bus after doing a tour of St. Paul’s.