General Chat

A cruise on the Thames is lovely :-)

Is the cable car any good?

A walk along the South Bank of the Thames is worth a trot.

Start at Waterloo Bridge, and walk past the Aquarium, then past Festival Hall, the Globe, and along to Tower Bridge.

Lots to see as you go, and plenty of pubs to rest your weary legs, and have a lemonade!

As it is Half Term, there will be entertainers down there too.
:-)

Kempina - we will certainly see the Albert Hall, as that's where we will be seeing Mark Knopfler on Wednesday night!
As for walking, we certainly do a lot of that when we go to London - much more than we do at home in the country! :-)

Albert hall and his statue ....the statue has been regolded since the war it was left as stone ...they removed the gold so the planes couldnt see the park !! so in 2000 they replaced it ..now also in the same park is kensington Palace,The peter pan statue and the parrots that fly free...Speakers corner and marble arch and the late diana fountain all walkable in a couple of hours and all this in Hyde park ....

Now IF you walk alot ...as we do you can do museums!!!!!

Remember tube statios are often only yards apart

Soho at night is both dangerous and exciting War hourse is a bit out the way so leave good time IF WALKING to it ...watch your money and phones ...best thing is take only what you need

And Have a great time ...sometimes just standing and watching is great fun to!!

Stray...Ripleys is great but £25.00 each to get in! i was really shocked!

Stray - my grandchildren fancy Ripleys, so we might take them during the summer hols. It's pretty expensive, but is included in the 2 for 1 offers we get with our train tickets. :-)

ripleys believe it or not is fab! right near MnM world to which i think is worth a visit :-D

Thanks, MotownGal, I've just booked tickets for a tour this Thursday - they only do one a day during the week.
So,that's one thing sorted! :-)

Re. Highgate Cemetery. They used to do guided tours on the hour.

It depends very much who takes you around. I have been on quite a few, especially when the kids were doing Cub and Brownie badges.

Some guides take you to the Literary Section, some to the Celebrity graves, some to the Historial graves. It is very much pot luck.

They always include the Egyptian Avenue [if it looks familiar, remember all the Hammer Horror films] and the Cedar of Lebanon Circle.

A good hour well spent, provided it hasnt been raining.

:-)

If you fancy visiting the civilised part (South London) either the Hornimans museum as Piglets Pall suggests

http://www.horniman.ac.uk/

Or a little further afield Chiselhurst caves tour with an oil lamp for the only illumination, :-0
wear a jumper though it's 10 degC all year round!

http://www.chislehurst-caves.co.uk/

Mayfield

:-D :-D Temple Church.

I went there about 3 times before I found it open. Thanks to the popularity of The Da Vinci Code, 'they' had decided to extend opening times!

If you have a taste for things a little bit gruesome, The Royal College of Surgeons is interesting.

Maybe you've already been there as it's just opposite the John Soames House.

Pammy - Hubby would love to go into the Temple church, but we've never found it open.
Shirley, we love Greenwich, and like to go via the Docklands Light Railway, so may go again.
Tabitha - The Duck Tour sounds fun, so I'll put it on the list.
Gosh, we have a lot to take in in 2 and a half days!
But now we are both retired and have Senior Rail Cards, we plan to visit London much more - we live only 5 miles from the mainline train, and can be there in 1 hour and 20 mins.

If you are going to go to any of the exhibitions around -

Please make sure you either get tickets in advance or turn up very early in the morning to get the day ticket - 99% of them are sold out months in advance - like the Bowie one & Pompeii

I have to answer this sort of thing all week -

How about going on a DUCK ~Tour its something different & on a lovely day like today it will be something unusual & a talking point when you get home

Please google it and if you do go I really hope you have fun.

I loved the double decker bus tour - hop on hop off one

If you feel very energetic then you can always book to Climb up the O2.

A lot of the big hotels do wonderful afternoon tea but need booking early - try the Berkeley Pret-a-Pour -Tea - food dressed up in the latest fashions - or the Sanderson Mad Hatters Tea Party - The Corinthia had a special Chelsea Flower Show tea last week - its a bit of fun and a talking pint at hom.

Hope you ahve a wonderful time in London

Covent Garden is a MUST :-D :-D

If you can get to Greenwich then Greenwich Park is lovely . you can visit the Maritime Museum and walk up to the Observatory. They have nice walk around are too to with ponds etc.

Its lovely to see the views from the top of the park to the Royal Naval Hospitals that are still on the waterfront.

I come from the area and although at the time I didn't appreciate its steeped with History.
Even Charlton House which was library when I was young , was one of Henry V111 country homes

The Middle and Inner Temple precincts and the Temple church are interesting and an oasis of peace.

Thankyou, Lynda! Hubby is quite keen to see St' Pauls, actually, and with our train tickets we were given 2 for 1 vouchers for there and lots of other places. Your tip about the New Change Shopping Centre looks interesting, too.
I love art galleries, though Hubby is not so keen. HMS Belfast and London Bridge is more his style!

I've just copied what I wrote on Strays thread re London....



What I'd do......

First I'd get a travel card so you can hop on and off buses tubes all day, then ...

I'd take the number 11 bus from Victoria and try to get the front seats at the top of the bus, the bus passes.....

Westminster Cathedral
Westminster Abbey
Parliament Square
Big Ben
Downing street
Horseguards parade
Trafalgar Square
Covent Garden (passes by, you cannot see it)
Royal Courts of justice
St Pauls Cathedral, get off there.... then

Look around the St Pauls area, then go to The New Change shopping centre, back of St Pauls, get the lift, great view of St Pauls in the lift, and go to the roof, where you can see a spectacular views of London, The Shard, the wheel, old Bailey, etc etc then....

Go over the Millennium bridge, stopping to take in the wonderful sights, then go left to Borough Market to get yourself some wonderful food, then...

Back over bridge, get the number 11 back, and get on and off at the places above you want to see, or walk to the next place you want to visit. If you get off at Trafalgar Square, walk down The Mall, you'll see the fantastic approach to Buckingham Palace. That should take up a lot of the day, it's all free, except for your travel card.

If you have time, and money, there's the Wheel, great views of London, The Shard, daughter went before it it opened and looks spectacular from the viewing platform, Grandchildren loved it too.

I could go on, and on and on, but I think that's enough

If you need a guide, I'm available at 30p an hour

I'd also say if the weathers good, don't spend time inside, there's too much to see to stay indoors .

I was around the St Pauls area yesterday, wonderful, so many people, but there were 1,000's of lovely Germans, here to go to Wembley, I expect a lot of gone home now, so it should't be so crowded.

I may see you there Lynda, we're going on the London eye one day, then back to Art galleries another.

Have a fabulous time
:-D

Thanks for these sugestions, certainly some good ideas. Took the grandchildren to London Zoo during the Easter Hols. Looks like the weather won't be too good, so will try some of the indoor suggestons.
One place I fancy is Highgate Cemetary - I believe they do guided tours, so must look that up.
I'm looking forward to London - always feel the same excitement when the train pulls into King's Cross!