Sunny Summer In and Around London

Tate Modern, London Eye (Millennium Wheel), Tower Bridge, Tower of London, and Greenwich (Prime Meridian)

Quick Tips:

Get half-price theatre tickets from the TKTS booth in Leicester Square (see my article). If you're in London for a few days, get a 3-day Tube pass (for zones 1 and 2 is usually enough). Bring a water bottle, because you'll be doing a lot of walking and there aren't always places to buy water.

Best Way To Get Around:

Use the Tube or DLR (to Greenwich), walk, and take buses. Taxis are fairly expensive, and the traffic is horrible.

The International Hotel is a hotel that's had its time. Located a 15-minute walk from the Canary Wharf Tube station, it's cheap but fairly basic (which probably explains why there were so many tour groups).

I would recommend against getting any meals with your room. The food (breakfast or dinner) was cafeteria style and generally unappetizing. You'd be much better off heading to Jubilee Plaza above the Tube station for Krispy Kremes.

The rooms were adequately sized, although somewhat oddly furnished. For instance, my bed was two twin beds pushed together. The view wasn't too bad, though.

One of the definite pluses was the free wireless Internet access. If you have a wireless card in your laptop, all you need to do is turn it on and you're online.

There is a gym, but you need to pay to use it (something like £2.50/day or £5 for the duration of your stay). However, since it was only open Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm and Saturday to Sunday 10am to 7pm, I never had the chance to use it.

Overall, if you want a comfortable and quiet place to sleep and are okay with being a 15-minute Tube ride away from the city, consider this hotel. If you're looking for many more amenities and are willing to pay the price, try the Four Seasons in Canary Wharf.

Run by the Society of London Theatre, the TKTS booths in Leicester Square or at the Canary Wharf DLR stations are the ONLY places to get real half-price theatre tickets for the same day. The other places lining Leicester Square will happily sell you an upper balcony ticket for half the price of an orchestra seat. Make sure you go to the right one and don't get duped!

I've only purchased from the one in Leicester Square, mainly because Canary Wharf was out of the way (although fairly convenient if you're coming back from Greenwich), but they offer the same shows.

In order to find Leicester Square booth, come out of the Leicester Square Tube station and walk towards the square. After about a 5-minute walk, you'll see the garden. The booth should be to your left, in the garden facing the Odeon movie theater.

The five times I went there, there weren't more than five people in line. Before you get in line (or while you're in line), take a look at the bulletin board and decide what you want to watch.

Usually the seats available are orchestra seats with unobstructed views. I went to Phantom of the Opera, Stomp, and Les Miserables and got central seats in the first five rows by buying my tickets before noon. You don't get to choose your seats, but from my experience, it's not a problem.

If you're a theatre fan, you can definitely get your money's worth. However, not all shows are available all days. And the very new/popular ones won't be available. Check the website to get an idea of what's playing.

Website: http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/tkts

It's common knowledge that the UK is not particularly known for its culinary delights. While there are excellent restaurants in London, you can expect to pay through your nose for them. So what does a tourist with a limited budget and time do?

This is where M&S (Marks & Spencers) Food, Tesco Express, and Sainsbury Local can save your wallet.

As urban, convenience-store branches of their supermarket parents, you can pick up anything from a light snack to a full microwaveable meal. For those who think this means it'll be high in fat and innutritious, you'll be glad to know that the majority of options are low-fat, with no preservatives with even some organic choices.

For lunch on the go, I recommend picking up a sandwich or a wrap, a juice/smoothie, and a piece of fruit in the morning. It'll run about £5 and be much tastier and healthier than anything you can get in tourist areas. If you're travelling with a friend, there are usually discounts for buying 2 of the same smoothie, further saving you money!

If you have access to a microwave (such as hostel dwellers), you'll have a lot of healthy and tasty options, ranging from chicken tikka masala (supposedly the most popular dish in the UK) to lasagna, to fried rice, all for under GBP 8. While you're there, you might as well pick up a salad and a dessert to complete the meal.

If you come across any of the aforementioned locations, go in and look around. As an American, I was surprised by the number of healthy "TV dinners."

I found Tesco to be slightly cheaper than the rest and also an excellent place to pick up Twinings Tea (£0.60 for a box of 24 tea bags). Incidentally, this is cheaper than the Twinings Museum/store charges.