London HELP!! About This Page:

[Leighanne]

Hey everyone-
I haven't posted in a little while, but I figured that someone here could help me.
I am going to London in about 2 weeks. It's a last minute thing. My uncle is going there on business for a week and wanted to take his 12 year old son with him. Since my uncle will be working during the day he asked me to come with them to do the tourist thing with my cousin Zack. Could anyone suggest any travel books/must see things to see and do? I'm not sure where we will be staying, but could assume that it will be at a Marriott right in the city. Thanks in advance for the help!

[chezp]

Hi Leighanne!

A good first stop would be to check out the London FAQ's in this forum, as it covers some of the major things to see and do in London.

Hopefully that'll be a good starting point for you. If you've got any other questions about any of the attractions mentioned, then do ask away - and we'll do our best to help.

[BritDisFan]

Hi Leighanne,

You should definately check out the London Faqs, Cheryl has done a grand job and has most of the attractions in London covered. If you have any questions please ask away and I'm sure either of us will be able to help you.

Karen

[HiddenMickey]

I have a couple tour books of London that I liked. Look for London With Kids, its a small guide with many of the main attractions described and tells of places to eat near each place, and the AAA spiral-bound guide (has good maps in it) and more information. If I can remember, I'll try to find the author names at home tonight.

My kids loved Tower of London (get the free kids guide as you enter, it really helps in touring the castle grounds).

The Big Red Bus tour was a wonderful way to start the trip, as we traveled around town on several of the buses to get a good idea of where things were, and stopped at a few of the stops (i.e. Wax Museum, Hard Rock Cafe). You can buy tickets to the different sites right on the bus, you get commentary during the ride, and you can go whereever you want for 24 hours on any of their London Tour buses.

The British Museum was also a hit, especially the Egyptian areas.

We especially like the day we bought a picnic lunch in a deli place and ate outside Buckingham Palace (it wasn't open to the public when we were there) and then roamed around St James Park in the afternoon.

Have fun. London is a really nice place to visit. Hopefully we'll be back some day, and actually get outside the city some too.

-HiddenMickey

[pflamingo]

London is awesome! I'm so jealous!

I've used "Let's Go London" and "Let's Go England" as my guides. They're budget travel guides, and have great recommendations for food and for off-beat things to see - as well as the standards.

I've never been to the London Zoo, but my parents went when they were there (years ago). They really enjoyed it. Harrod's is my idea of a great "zoo"! Think about day trips to Bath and Salisbury. The Roman baths are really interesting, as is the city of Salisbury. From Salisbury you can go to Stonehenge. It gets a lot of criticism, but I thought it was cool. Definitely do some of the city walks. There are several companies that offer these, with lots of different themes - something for everyone.

Good luck deciding and have a great time!

[wwaaww]

I'm new to this list and hope I'm doing the right.

I lived in England for several years and spent most of my weekends traveling up to London.

I second the suggestion about taking the double decker bus tour around London. It's very touristy, yet, an absolutely wonderful way to see the sites.

Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum is always a fun thing to do. Be sure and take a sweater as it's very chilly inside.

The London Zoo is very nice. Covent Gardens is nice to see. I think you can do a trip to York in a day - ask - because that is where the Vikings landed and there are a lot of Vikings exhibits. Plus, the city is surrounded by a great wall which is pretty cool. Most of the 'large' cities have bus tours which makes it nice and easy to see the sites.

It is relatively easy to navigate your way around town on the underground. You might want to invest in one of those postcards which has the subway 'map' with all the stops outlined. It will be an easy reference for you.

Here's another tip - if you want to get a quick lunch on the run to eat on the train or in a park, go into most any Boots or Marks & Spencers. They have food sections in the back with ready-made sandwiches and juice. If the sandwich is described as salad (like "chicken salad") it has lettuce, sprouts and tomatoes on top - like a salad! Try the flavored 'crisps' - for a kid his age, I think telling his friends he ate Steak or Ham & Mustard flavored potato chips would be a cool thing.

You might want to take a 'day trip' and take the train down to Brighton (easy to do). I'm pretty sure you'd depart from Victoria Station, but, check with your hotel to make sure. It's a nice town to walk around. Just walk out the train station and down the main street (follow the crowd) and you'll 'run into' the sea! Queen Victoria's 'summer place', The Brighton Pavillion (fashioned after buildings in India) is in the center. There is a wonderful pier jutting out over the English channel and lots of arcades and things to do for fun. It's considered a 'seaside' town and primed for tourists.

Another good day out to see the 'Old' England is Canterbury.

And, I believe that LegoLand is open near Windsor Great Park. (Windsor, with Windsor Castle is also a very nice way to spend a day walking around). That might be a fun time.

London is primed for tourists and you will find brochures everywhere (especially train stations) on things to do and see.

Have a wonderful time and, if you can, get him to the theater. There is a half price ticket booth in Leicester (pronounced 'Lester') Square that might be helpful. You both might enjoy a musical and London is ripe with so much theater.

Have a WONDERFUL time in what I like to call 'my old neighborhood'.

Wendy

[chezp]

Hi Wendy and welcome to the boards!

You've got some great tips there about London and places to visit from there, you obviously made the best of your time in the city, judging by what you said.