Texans Trekking London

The highlights of the trip were beyond all else the Royal Observatory, make time to see this precious gem. Also, we enjoyed the tour of the Cutty Sark, it was a pretty cheap exhibit but interesting to say the least. Also the Imperial War Museum and the Natural Science Museum are must sees. The War museum is a bit out of the way, but a true treat that is free to visit as well as the stunning architecture of the Natural Science Museum. We unknowingly entered a church by the tower bridge and stumbled upon some pretty amazing pieces and information about history and beautiful works of art, so tread lightly and try to look beyond the tour book, many of London's true gems aren't in the books and can be appreciated for free.

Quick Tips:

On our trip to London the best attractions were those that were free. Preplanning attractions and setting daily budgets allowed us to see all that London has to offer for a fraction of the cost. Many of the cathedrals will charge a set price to tour its walls, but careful planning ahead will allow you to find which ones only ask for a small donation, you get to take in the same history and architecture for a fraction of the cost. Also, eating can become quite expensive, try to take most of your meals away, this saves you money, they most often will offer an eat-in price and a take away price, on almost every corner you may find a secluded place to enjoy your meal. Try to avoid prebooking many tours and attractions, although it sounds like a good deal, many times you will waste precious time standing in a queue. Find the attractions that you would like to see that don't have prebookings and see those first and then try to get by and see the larger attractions. We thought seeing the change of the guards would be amazing, with all that had been said, we agreed, don't plan you day around it, if you are in the area then take it in, otherwise I believe you will waste a lot of time and walk away feeling let down.

Best Way To Get Around:

The cheapest and best way to get around London is by the tube. If ordered in advance the tube day pass is the best value. It can be used on the tubes, buses and DRL. Most attractions within the city are within zones 1 and 2, this matters since the passes are bought by zones. Buying unnecessary zones can be a costly mistake. You can also purchase the passes at the stations, but often buying tickets this way will end up with you having to wait in a queue.We traveled almost entirely by tube and avoided the high prices of the cabs. Nostalgic as they are, they can become quite costly.Even for Texans, who have no prior knowledge of subway systems, they were surprisingly simple and user friendly. Remember two simple rules: take a compass, it is very easy to get turned around in London and without a compass you will almost guarantee that you will end up going the wrong way on the right line, and the second would be plan ahead, make sure that you know that the lines you need are in operation and not under repair. These delays, while common to London residents, can be very time consuming and frustrating for visitors.

Lovely hotel, although the first day we felt very welcome, my husband and I began to feel a bit put of place, the other guests staying there were more often than not businessmen, particularly at this time, pilots. On day two the doorman did not even hold the door for us as he looked at us sheepishly as to say that we were not welcome. We were dressed the part of tourists and looked rightly so, I feel that we did not set the example they were trying to convey. This luxury four star hotel is nice enough for a short stay.

 We prebooked our room using a discount site that allowed us to avoid the pricey $350 per night that they request. And I must say at that rate they are completely overpricing themselves. Upon walking into the hotel you are greeted by a very welcoming sitting area adjacent to the check in area. They have done an ice job of decorating the hotel to give it a rich and modern ambience. Unfortunately the hotel has a very musty smell to it throughout the hallways. Our room did not have that same smell though.

The bathroom within our suite was newly renovated and was EXCELLENT. It had a lot of polished marble and a super deep bath tub that was very impressive. The bed was average, it had a great bit of wear to it, but the linens seemed to be kept very fresh and clean. Everything was really within a great walking distance, the tube station was only a block away, basically right across the street and there is slew of bakeries on every corner very close. The Kensington area was very posh and a great place to stay! I would reccomend for the traveler but would advise against for the luxury hotel room connoisseur.

The most magnificent and breathtaking sight, it was well worth the trip up the almost completely vertical hill they built it atop. From the observatory you can see all over England, the views are magnificent. The Observatory itself should be a must stop for any traveler though England. The building allows for a quick tour throughout, there isn't much to look at within its walls, except for a truly magnificent telescope, but beyond its walls is truly a treat for the eyes. The Observatory is surrounded by a beautiful park which allows for hours of people watching entertainment as well as a quick cafe atop the hill where you can relax and sip a coffee. It should be one of the first places you visit when you arrive in the London area.

When we visited London we wanted to get the most we could out of our trip. So we looked into trying to cram a short stay in Scotland into our itinerary. Only problem there was, of course, money. We looked into all of our options on the major flight carrier and they were estimating a fee of $120-200 for the round trip flight. This outrageous cost would significantly affect the amount of funds available for the remainder of our trip. We knew that Europe has an extensive train system and we inquired about arriving by train, but still that placed major time restrictions upon us considering that each trip would take approximately 5 hours.While searching, I stumbled upon a small economy airline carrier website; Easyjet, they were offering tickets to Edinburgh, Scotland from London's Stansted for $10 each way during a half price fare deal, making the entire trip only $20! We were so ecstatic.We found such an affordable airline carrier. It was truly the cheapest and quickest way for us to get to Scotland. Easyjet is a low advertising and very low-frills type of airline carrier. It does fly out of London, but is limited to certain airports, so please make sure that they fly into your airport destination prior to booking. Now, you have to be thinking, "wow that is such a great price, what is the catch?" well there is one. Easyjet has recently begun trying to integrate e-check into their airline. We took advantage of what we considered to be a timesaving maneuver. Unfortunately, at the time of our departure they were still ironing out the kinks. We floated effortlessly thorough check-in and got on board of the plan, escaping the hoards of people who seemed to be standing in line to check in for eternity. We took our seats, which by the way Easyjet does not reserve; all occupants are seated on a first come first served basis, soon thereafter we went though all of the procedures for take off. They announced within the cabin that there was a delay due to some of the passengers who had checked in to the flight not being on board. We then waited for the "supposed" late travelers to make their way to the plane. 45 minutes later we were still on the ground, they had to come through and checked everybody’s boarding pass, then they did a second check 20 minutes later for all passengers who had an e-ticket. Low and behold all three of the passengers had been "missing" had been sitting on the flight the entire time, someone had dropped the ball in processing the e-tickets they were holding. I know this because I went through check-in and I was one of the missing passengers, even though I had gotten my ticket marked and had been seated comfortably in my seat. Shortly thereafter we departed for take off; we were 1 hour and 15 minutes behind schedule.The fight was very short and somewhat comfortable, as far as airplanes go. This airline, is focused on the economy rider, so be prepared to pay for drinks and snacks and a whole host of other items that are up for sale within the plane.The experience was a bit frustrating, and yes, we did experience a similar delay on the way home, fortunately the missing passenger was not me again. But we did get to and from Edinburgh with only a relatively small delay, I would advise anyone to use Easyjet, but until they get their e-ticket process completely worked out, avoid using it and wait in the check in lines. You can check out their great fares and specials at www.easyjet.com.