4 Nights By the Thames in London

Park Plaza County Hall

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Hotel | "Park Plaza County Hall Hotel"

The bar area Photo - Park Plaza County Hall, London, England

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We found this hotel on the internet several months ago, when looking for somewhere conveniently located for our trip to London. It is on the south side of the River Thames, we were absolutely thrilled when we got there and saw just how conveniently located it really was. It was just steps away from the London Eye, less than 5 minutes walk from the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben and just about 5 minutes walk to Waterloo Station. So, you could walk to a lot of places, but it was not far from the underground if you wanted to venture further afield. We also walked back to the hotel one evening after a night at the theatre in the West End. It took us about 20 minutes, but it was a delightful walk, c...Read More

We found this hotel on the internet several months ago, when looking for somewhere conveniently located for our trip to London. It is on the south side of the River Thames, we were absolutely thrilled when we got there and saw just how conveniently located it really was. It was just steps away from the London Eye, less than 5 minutes walk from the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben and just about 5 minutes walk to Waterloo Station. So, you could walk to a lot of places, but it was not far from the underground if you wanted to venture further afield. We also walked back to the hotel one evening after a night at the theatre in the West End. It took us about 20 minutes, but it was a delightful walk, crossing over the river, with all the London landmarks lit up.

Just be careful when you arrive at the hotel. There are 2 hotels with the same name right next to each other. We went into, what we thought was the correct one and only after queuing for ages at the check-in desk, did we find we were at the wrong hotel. 2 other couples made the same mistake in the queue with us, so it is obviously not uncommon!

The hotel is a 4 star hotel and is very modern. There was a nice bar and restaurant and fitness centre, but we did not use any of these. There are 398 rooms in total, but although we visited over the Diamond Jubilee, it was busy but did not feel hectic. Service was very good - they checked us in and out really efficiently. Check-in time was 2:00pm, we arrived just after midday and they let us go to our room, which was really good.

Our room was an executive studio room. These are on the 8th floor and above - ours was on the 13th floor.
We were delighted with the room. It was airy, large and spacious. There was a double bed in the "sleeping area" just inside the door. The wardrobe was huge, and inside was an ironing board and iron and a hairdryer. They also had lots of spare pillows in there.

The bathroom was also large with a (deep) bath and separate shower. Outside the bathroom was a little kitchen type area, with a microwave oven, little fridge and a sink. There was even a Nespresso coffee machine.

The living area had a big white leather sofa and 2 chairs. The sofa pulled out into a double bed. There was a plasma television and large desk. We had a big window with a view of the hotel next door and the railway lines. We could just about see Big Ben in the corner. It was actually quite cool to look out at the railway at night-time, so when we got used to it, we enjoyed the view. Some of the rooms look down on the restaurant on the ground floor, so when we saw this, we were thankful we had an outside view.

The hotel has free Wifi throughout, we found this worked very well for us.

We did not eat in the restaurant at any time. There are so many restaurants in close proximity, you are spoiled for choice. They offered us a special rate of £10 for breakfast daily (normally it is £13), but again we decided not to go for this. We are not big breakfast eaters and there was a really nice deli on the next street, so we got croissants and bread from here in the mornings.

The fire alarm went off on our second night at midnight. It caused a bit of a stir and woke us up, luckily it was a false alarm, but the hotel staff seemed a bit confused and at a loss about the whole thing, so that was a little scarey. They were all very apologetic the next morning though.

All in all, we loved staying in this hotel. The room was so large and comfortable (this is probably the biggest hotel room we have ever had in London - they are normally very small). The price was so reasonable too for all the space we had. My husband, who comes from London originally, was a bit hesitant to stay on the Southbank. Even he though had to admit the error of his ways! The location of this hotel was fabulous - for us we could not have chosen better. We decided when we left, that we will try and come here on all our future trips to the capital.

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Member Rating 4 out of 5 on June 11, 2012

Park Plaza County Hall
1 Addington Street
Lambeth, London
020 7021 1800

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A Walk Along the Southbank - Part 1

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Palace of Westminster Photo - London, England

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As we were staying so close to the Thames on the Southbank, we decided we had to have a walk along this wonderful river. We had watched the Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the river the weekend prior to our trip to London, so this inspired us even further to try and explore the banks of the Thames and the wonderful sights there are to see.The River Thames has always been important to London and has affected the growth and character of this great city all through the ages. London actually began as a small Roman settlement built next to the Thames and the first London Bridge. Now, 2,000 years later, the river is still important to this massive city. There are a lot more bridges but the river ...Read More

As we were staying so close to the Thames on the Southbank, we decided we had to have a walk along this wonderful river. We had watched the Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the river the weekend prior to our trip to London, so this inspired us even further to try and explore the banks of the Thames and the wonderful sights there are to see.

The River Thames has always been important to London and has affected the growth and character of this great city all through the ages. London actually began as a small Roman settlement built next to the Thames and the first London Bridge. Now, 2,000 years later, the river is still important to this massive city. There are a lot more bridges but the river still winds and snakes its way through London. Its importance was definitely highlighted by the wonderful Diamond Jubilee Pageant.

The Second World War did a lot of damage to this area of London, but afterwards there was a lot of rebuilding and the whole area was regenerated. After the war, the South Bank was chosen to be the site for the Festival of Britain. This was intended to cheer up the country after the very difficult war years. They cleared the riverside and it was the site in 1951 of the Festival of Britain, a national celebration. The Royal Festival Hall was built then and can still be seen today. Many other venues followed, which make the Southbank, nowadays, a very interesting place.

Despite a bit of a blip in the 1970's when things went downhill in this area, there was a further regeneration effort in the 1980's. There are now lovely parks and walkways by the riverside, lots of new housing and plenty of festivals and art displays.

We started off at Westminster Bridge. It opened in 1750 and was the first bridge to connect Westminster with the Southbank. They opened a replacement bridge in 1862 and painted it green - apparently this matches the benches in the House of Commons in the Palace of Westminster. You get a great view of the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben from this bridge.

The Houses of Parliament or Palace of Westminster is one of my favourite buildings in London. It is so impressive and grand, built for the Kings of England, it has been the heart of government in the UK for a thousand years. Henry VIII moved out in 1512 and that was when the palace became the Houses of Parliament. There was a big fire in 1834 which destroyed the buiding, it was replaced with what you see today. Most impressive of all is the huge clock tower which contains Big Ben - a 13.8 tonne bell. Be sure to stand on the bridge when Big Ben strikes the hour - a wonderful experience.

We came off the bridge and walked alongside County Hall. It is now a tourist venue which houses many different attractions including the London Aquarium and 2 hotels. There are also restaurants and bars - it always seems to be heaving with people and is so noisy and busy. At one time though, it was actually home to the London County Council. The building is 6 storeys high and took 25 years to complete. The Greater London Council was abolished in 1986, and now this building caters for tourists.

Perhaps one of the most iconic sights in this part of the Thames is the London Eye. Right next to County Hall, you simply cannot miss it. Again, it always seems to be busy and there always seems to be a big queue to ride on this big wheel. All the parts that made up the London Eye were brought down the River Thames by boat. They were then assembled by a huge, floating crane.

The London Eye is the largest observation wheel ever built. Its supports are steel legs on one side only. It opened in the new millennium and hangs over the river. It can carry 15,000 passengers a day. There are 32 observation pods. It rises up to a height of 135 metres and apparently you can see up to 25 miles over the city on a clear day. I have been on the London Eye twice, both times it poured with rain and we could hardly see beyond the Palace of Westminster. I am sure though, that on a good day, the views would be spectacular.

On this visit, we just contented ourselves with looking up at the magnificient wheel and admiring its construction from the ground.

Near the London Eye is a lovely adventure playground for children. It is free to use and has some great wooden aparatus to play on. Our 8 year old thoroughly enjoyed spending half an hour in here, it was a break from sightseeing for him and a way to let off some steam. Read Less

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A Walk Along the Southbank - Part 2

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Southbank graffitti Photo - London, England

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There are a lot of cultural buildings and things to see on the Southbank - the Southbank Centre is here, which houses a series of art galleries and theatres.The Hayward Gallery is the first of these you come to. It is a art gallery focussed on modern artworks, but most interesting for children, is that it also has a neon tower that changes colour in the wind - look out for this. It has a nice big, bright foyer where they have lots of touch screens, which you can use to look at videos of the artists.The Royal Festival Hall is also part of this complex. It was built for the 1951 Festival of Britain and is the only building that remains from this. It has a very modernist style...Read More

There are a lot of cultural buildings and things to see on the Southbank - the Southbank Centre is here, which houses a series of art galleries and theatres.

The Hayward Gallery is the first of these you come to. It is a art gallery focussed on modern artworks, but most interesting for children, is that it also has a neon tower that changes colour in the wind - look out for this. It has a nice big, bright foyer where they have lots of touch screens, which you can use to look at videos of the artists.

The Royal Festival Hall is also part of this complex. It was built for the 1951 Festival of Britain and is the only building that remains from this. It has a very modernist style - I don't think it is too attractive really, but it was the first post war building to be given a Grade I listing. Here they have a variety of shows and concerts. You can go in during the day, and sometimes there are free performances in the foyer. The auditorium itself is built very high up to insulate it from the sound of the nearby railway lines at Charing Cross Station. Inside they have lots of different galleries, shops, cafes and performance areas.

The National Theatre is the next place of interest - it has 3 theatres and sometimes free entertainment in the foyer. In the summer months they have an oudoor festival as well. We saw some unusual huge furniture here outside, made of astroturf - I think it was there for an outdoor performance, but children were enjoying climbing and sitting on it.

Look out as you walk along this area for different and unusual pieces of "artwork". We saw an interesting "tree" which was made from what looked like pieces of carpet. There is also a "head" made from Jenga and a big skateboarding area with lots of really cool graffitti.

Just a little bit further along too is the Oxo Tower Wharf. It was originally a power station. The "Oxo" Tower was built in 1928 when they used to make Oxo cubes here. The stained glass windows spell out the company name. The factory and this tower were in danger of being knocked down in the 1970's, but the public campaigned to save them and were successful with this. It has been rebuilt now and there are homes, shops, restaurants and galleries inside, and the original stained glass windows are still there.

During our walk, the tide was low and we saw areas of sand beside the river. We even saw a sand sculptor making sand models on these little beachy areas. It was fun and interesting to watch him as he worked. Read Less

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A Walk Along the Southbank - Part 3

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St Pauls Cathedral from the Southbank Photo - London, England

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As you walk further along the Southbank, the sights and things to see get no less interesting. Quite the opposite - there is literally some iconic thing to see absolutely every step of the way.The Tate Modern is very impressive. It was originally built to be a power station and is made entirely of bricks - 4 million of them in total. It has a huge chimney that goes up 100 metres into the sky. It was converted to a modern art gallery in the late 1990's - there is a model of the inside of the human body and all its organs by the entrance, which is a little unusual.Right beside the Tate Modern is the Millennium Bridge. It features on a lot of television programmes in the UK a...Read More

As you walk further along the Southbank, the sights and things to see get no less interesting. Quite the opposite - there is literally some iconic thing to see absolutely every step of the way.

The Tate Modern is very impressive. It was originally built to be a power station and is made entirely of bricks - 4 million of them in total. It has a huge chimney that goes up 100 metres into the sky. It was converted to a modern art gallery in the late 1990's - there is a model of the inside of the human body and all its organs by the entrance, which is a little unusual.

Right beside the Tate Modern is the Millennium Bridge. It features on a lot of television programmes in the UK and was a bridge we really wanted to see and walk across. It was built, as its name suggests, for the new millennium and was the first completely new pedestrian bridge for a century. When the bridge was being designed, it had to be low enough so as not to hide the view of St Paul's Cathedral, but on the other hand, to be high enough for ships to pass underneath. The supports are not like those of a traditional bridge - they do not rise into the air, but are on the side of the bridge. When it opened, it began to move as people walked on it (its nickname was the Wobbly Bridge). Embarrassingly, they had to close it again to sort this problem out. They added special shock absorbers - this cured the wobble, and now having walked across it myself, I can confirm there is no wobble anymore.

The view from the Southbank of St Paul's Cathedral is wonderful. It was built by Sir Christopher Wren after the Great Fire of London burnt down most of the city in 1666. It dominates the skyline in this area - the dome is stunning, and bigger than the chimney of the Tate Modern.

The Globe Theatre is another lovely sight in this area. It is a working reconstruction of the original theatre used by Shakespeare 400 years ago. It was built using Tudor craftsmen techniques and has a thatched room - the first (and only one) of these in London since the Great Fire. Here, they have open-air performances of the works of Shakespeare throughout the summer months.

London Bridge is not so lovely now, but historically it is very interesting. A thousand years ago, King Olaf and the Vikings attacked London. They fought on London Bridge and the Vikings destroyed the bridge and drowned the defenders. London Bridge is the oldest and most important bridge in the history of the Thames. It has though, been rebuilt many times. In 1968, one version of the bridge was bought by an American developer and shipped stone by stone to America. The bridge now, is a bit bland and nondescript, but it is good to stand by it and remember its wonderful history.

Eventually you come to HMS Belfast - another of the great sights on the river. It was built for World War 2 and also saw service in the Korean War. In 1971, after she had travelled half a million miles, the warship was retired and moved here to the Thames to become a floating naval museum and visitor attraction.

After admiring HMS Belfast we carried on to perhaps London's most well known and iconic bridge - Tower Bridge. It is a wonderful sight on the skyline of the city, and at this point we turned and walked all the way back along the Southbank.

On our return, we looked at a lot of the landmarks north of the river we had missed on our walk down - in particular the strangely shaped Gherkin building and the Monument - which remembers the Great Fire of London.

We paused halfway at beautiful Southwark Cathedral and sat on the wall there and admired the architecture. Just behind it on the skyline is the Shard - a new building and the tallest building in London. It makes quite a contrast to Southwark.

From here, we walked all the way back to the London Eye. This is a delightful walk. The walkways by the side of the river are busy, but not crowded, there is something to see every step of the way, lots of bars and restaurants and cafes to stop for a drink or snack and endless photo opportunities. Read Less

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Shakespeare's Globe

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Attraction | "Shakespeare's Globe Theatre"

The Globe Theatre Photo - Shakespeare's Globe, London, England

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The theatre is easy to find on the Southbank of the Thames, not far from the Millennium Bridge and the Tate Modern. It is good for adults and children alike to get a glimpse of Elizabethan London. The theatre was recently reconstructed and built with materials and techniques from that time.It is open every day between 10am and 5pm. In winter, guided tours are offered every day. From May to September, which is their theatre season, tours are only available in the mornings. The entrance, which includes the tour costs £13.50 for adults and £8.00 for children. It is not really suitable for very young children - at 8, I think our son was as young as I would go for this.The t...Read More

The theatre is easy to find on the Southbank of the Thames, not far from the Millennium Bridge and the Tate Modern. It is good for adults and children alike to get a glimpse of Elizabethan London. The theatre was recently reconstructed and built with materials and techniques from that time.

It is open every day between 10am and 5pm. In winter, guided tours are offered every day. From May to September, which is their theatre season, tours are only available in the mornings. The entrance, which includes the tour costs £13.50 for adults and £8.00 for children. It is not really suitable for very young children - at 8, I think our son was as young as I would go for this.

The tour does not need to be pre-booked. You can buy your ticket at the admission desk, they never sell out apparently. The tours last about half an hour and run constantly. We arrived at 11:25 and still got to go on the 11:30 tour on a Saturday morning.

Our tour guide was very informed and informative. The tour was really interesting, although to be honest, I thought she was just a little too bossy. She informed us at the beginning that we were not to take photos while she was speaking as it would be too off-putting for her. She told us in no uncertain terms where we could sit, and if anyone wandered even a little way from the group, they were briskly reminded to return. That said though, I did very much enjoy the tour.

Shakespeare's Globe was one of the most important public theatres ever built and he premiered many of his most famous plays here. The American film-maker Sam Wannamaker worked for 20 years to raise funds to recreate this theatre as it existed in Elizabethan times. The building is not on the original site of the Globe, though this is not far away. Apparently a listed building exists on the exact site and they were not allowed to pull it down, so used this site instead. It is a beautiful location though - right on the edge of the Thames.

The building has a thatched roof. This is the first new thatched roof in the city of London, since the Great Fire of London in 1666. The roof has been specially treated with a fire retardant and the spikes on top of it are powerful water sprays, should they be needed. The theatre and seating are beautiful. The roof covers the seated area, but in the standing area around the stage, it is completely open to the elements. Everything is made of oak and the decorative paintings on the stage and in the gentlemen's boxes are wonderful.

The theatre season here runs from May to September. The performances are critically acclaimed and sell out. They use only natural light, no microphones and the minimum of scenery - just as in the times of Shakespeare. The theatre is not an exact replica, it seats 1,500 and not 3,000 as in the early 1600's. You do get a wonderful feel for what it must have been like there in those days though.

The plays last around 3 hours, they rent cushions for the seats, but in the standing area you have to stand - exposed to the elements as well!

After the tour, you can have a look at the exhibition. It is very interesting and tells the story of the Globe's construction and craftmanship. There is a lot to read, our 8 year old was not that impressed, but they do have some interactive exhibits.

There is a little shop selling high quality souvenirs. This place is a charity and receives no government funding, so all money they raise on the tours, in the shop etc. and ticket sales goes directly to the theatre and keeping it open. There is a bar/restaurant and also a lovely little cafe selling delicious home-made food. We had lovely vegetable soup and sandwiches - I would definitely recommend eating here. The only downside was the distinct lack of seating area to eat your food - it was cramped to say the least.

The Globe is a wonderful and educational place to visit. As well as the half hour tour, we spent about an hour exploring the self-guided exhibition. The tour also goes on whatever the weather - if it is raining, you do spend a lot of it in the open-air, so come prepared! Read Less

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on June 13, 2012

Shakespeare's Globe
21 New Globe Walk, Bankside
London, England SE1 9DT
+44 20 7902 1400

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