Trip to London, England

London is a wonderful and historic city with enough to do that an entire family can have a blast here. For the history buff, there are few cities on Earth with the combination of incredible museums and historic sites. There is The British Museum, Buckingham Palace, The Tower of London, Tower Bridge, and so many others that I would never be able to fit them all in the space provided. Kids will enjoy the various "cool" places, like the London Dungeon, and the great toy stores. Older kids can enjoy a world-class nightlife and great beer. London is simply a great place to go on vacation.

Quick Tips:

London is a very expensive city. I recommend planning your trip in advance to give yourself time to find good deals. The best way to save (if you are so inclined) is to stay at one of the numerous hostels all over the city. They will provide you with shelter and a bed, which is all you need since you will be out in the city all day. Also, there are a number of coupons for 2-for-1 entry into popular sites if you just look for them.

Best Way To Get Around:

The Tube is the way to go. If you have to go a couple of blocks, WALK! If you need to go across town, take the Tube. If you are going to be in town for any number of days, purchase a travel card at the airport station. It will give you unlimited use of the subway in the areas that you most want to see AND save you quite a bit of money.

The Generator is wonderful and huge hostel in a pretty good location. It is located within walking distance of The British Museum and about two to three blocks from a tube stop. As with most places, you get a simple breakfast including toast, cereal, juice, and coffee. They do offer more options, like eggs and bacon, but they cost extra.

There is a bar in the building that can get a bit rowdy at times. The best thing about the bar is that the prices are much lower than any of the other bars I went to. The decor is somewhat futuristic, with lots of blue neon and metal everywhere.

The rooms are basic in all senses of the word. There is one small sink in each room and a locker for each bed. The beds are metal bunk beds, but they can be different, depending on which type of arrangement you choose (1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, or 12+). There are shared bathrooms/showers, like in most hostels in London, but these could have been in better shape.

London is such an expensive city, I will always stay here to save the money, but hostels are not for everyone. If you want to be pampered and have all the luxuries of home, do not stay here. If you want an inexpensive and fun place to stay that is within walking distance of major sites, this is the place to be.

This is the first of the Hard Rock Cafes. According to the story, Eric Clapton would come down to the "American Cafe" and sit at the bar. As the place became more popular, he could not get his seat. So, one day, he gave them one of his guitars and said, "Put this on this wall. This is my seat." Later, other musicians did the same thing and the Hard Rock was born. I apologize if the story is not 100% accurate, but you can get the full story from the people there.

The real reason to go is to see the vault next door in the store. If you are a Jimi Hendrix fan, you MUST GO there. I have a photo of me playing the guitar pictured. It is the last guitar he ever played, AND YOU CAN TOUCH IT!!! It was worth the entire trip to just do that.

Morelli's is an ice cream/gelato place inside the first floor of Harrods in London. I have had gelato in Italy, and this is some of the best you will find ANYWHERE! If you have never had it, gelato is similar to a thicker, richer sorbet. It is hard to make correctly (or, at least, people tend to screw it up a lot), so you don't find the good stuff very often. It has a very smooth texture, and the flavors just jump out at you. They had a wide selection, including lemon (my fave), hazelnut, and mixed berry. My father-in-law said it was some of the best he had ever had. My mother and I agreed that it was as good or better than what they have in Italy. If you get the chance and would like a little snack while walking through the miles of goods at Harrods, stop at Morelli's and have a try. You will not be disappointed.

This is the best museum I have ever been in. The history and sheer number of objects here is incredible. The pieces here were collected/pillaged from all corners of the world when England was in control of many of the world's trade routes. These include most of the pieces that were in the Acropolis in Athens, mummies and statues from ancient Egypt, and art from all over The Middle East.

I do not have enough space to describe the history and significant nature of some of the pieces, but I will mention that the Lindow Bog Man, Rosetta Stone, and part of the Sphinx's beard are all on display here. If you like history and love artistic pieces from all over the world, this is a place to spend a couple of days. Since the museum is free, it is well worth the time.

For those of you who are Harry Potter fans, there is a great photo-op for you. Inside of Kings Cross Station in London, you will find the backdrop of where parts of the Harry Potter movies were filmed. While the actual location of filming looks more like one of the first couple of platforms, there is actually a platform 9 3/4 that has a cart stuck into the wall. As you can see, it is well worth the time to stop in and look around. It will be worth it for the whole family. Kings Cross Station is located on the Piccadilly Line and easy to reach in just a couple of minutes from anywhere in central London. I would suggest going during off hours so that you do not run into the rush hour traffic and can take in the beauty of this station.

I thought it was overrated. The guards march down and the captains shout orders. As an American, I thought they could jazz it up a bit by adding fireworks, music, lasers, and dancing girls. I would always go then!!! As it stands, it is just one of those “things to do in London because everyone will ask you about it when you get home” kind of things. If you do decide to go, get there early and pick either the palace gates or the top of the Victoria Statue as your viewing points.

My father-in-law (retired and 62) and I went to the London Dungeon, and it was the one place he could not stop talking about when we got home. It is "basically" a recreation of some of London's worst times. There are images of The Great Fire, The Black Death, and The Middle Ages. You walk through the darkness, and it kind of reminds you of the BEST haunted house you could ever imagine. The sights are scary, gruesome, lively, and funny. It is not for small children!!! The images can be very frightening. However, they do add a large amount of fun and games to the displays of the times. You can buy tickets ahead of time, and they do offer a number of student/senior discounts. Overall, it was a very fun place that my father-in-law wants to visit again!!

The London Underground, or Tube, as the locals call it, is one of the largest and most extensive subway systems in the world. It may seem like you would be lost in these mazes of tracks and tunnels, but it is surprisingly easy to navigate. Each "line" is displayed in two ways; one is by color, the other is by its name. This makes it easy to pick out that the "Picadilly Line" is "Blue". The Tube is also structured into zones, but you will not need to worry about that unless you venture outside the major sites of London. In order to determine which way you want to go, you can either select the endpoint of the line in the direction you want to go or look at the line maps that are at each major "fork" in the path. The map will show the name and color of the line along with an arrow pointing to which way to go to get to the correct platform. The hardest part is matching your destination to the closest Tube stop, but most maps and guidebooks will give you that information in the description of the site. To make it easy on yourself, go during non-rush-hour times. This way, you will not hold up traffic or feel rushed.

A couple of major things to remember:
Each trip, including tranfers in the same trip, costs about $3.75. The 7-Day Unlimited Travel Card costs about $23 for Zone 1 (Central London), which is where most of the things you want to see are located.

The Tube runs all the way out to Heathrow Airport and takes about an hour to get into the center of London. It is a nice ride since most of it is on the surface. Talk to the people at the Customer Service Desk and they will help you find what you need.

If you intend of riding the Tube alot, buy a Travel Card for the number of days you will need it. It is good for unlimited use and will save you quite a bit of money. You can get these tickets at any major stop as well as the Heathrow Airport terminal.

Always keep an eye on your bags and be aware of your wallet. While pickpockets are not as out of control as they are in Italy, they are still around. Just pay attention and you will not need to worry.

The Tube is great for traveling longer distances, but will be a pain for short ones. If you need to go one or two stops over, walk! You will see more of the city this way. Otherwise, take the Tube and enjoy the ride.

Whenever I fly to Europe, I do my best to fly on Virgin Atlantic. They normally have the best or near-best rates whenever I go. They have a wide selection of in-flight services, including video games, movies, TV shows, news, flight info, and music. All of these are personally controlled and viewable on your own personal video monitor. The movies are newer, and they offer five to six movies at a time. It is really hard to be bored with all they offer.

During the flight, they also offer a wide selection of drinks, including liquor, wine, beer, coffee, juice, tea, and soda. As I remember, they were all free as long as you do not get drunk. The food is good as well. They usually offer three different meal options for dinner or lunch (normally meat, fish, and pasta). The servings are just enough to keep you from being hungry during the flight.

The staff are always helpful and kind. I have had some great discussions with them concerning where to go in London. They are usually very knowledgable about the places to see and things to do. Most of them are good-looking too!!

NOTE--the one time that Virgin gave me any problem, I reported it to Customer Service, and they made it right. The last thing--and this is not small--is that they offer a little bag of goodies on the plane. These included anything from a pen and paper to a toothbrush and toothpaste. It has also included a sleeping mask, earplugs, and headphones. In the case of headphones, I always bring my own. I purchased a set of noise-cancelling headphones and would never travel without them.

A normal flight runs like this:
You take off and have about 30-40 minutes of the plane gaining altitute. After that, they begin to offer drinks and dinner. By the time everything is served and the garbage taken, it is time for the movies to start. You can watch the movie or entertain yourself with the other options. When the movies end, they start the second batch of movies. By the time those are over, it is time for breakfast and tea. After breakfast, the plane starts to head down for the landing. This is a normal 7-hour flight from NYC or DC to London.

People say that it is such a long flight, but I do not agree. If you have enough to entertain yourself, the time goes by very quickly. If you ever have a question, you can always ask me, but I am sure that you will have a great flight when you go with Virgin Atlantic.

PS--I do not work for them or have anything to do with the airline. I am simply a happy customer.