• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Going to London. Tips appreciated!

Page 4 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
Excellent advice guys, thanks a lot!

Question: I have an iPhone 4S (Verizon), and I heard that I could buy a sim with 1GB data allowance from any British carrier. How is this possible, which carrier is best, and how much will it cost?
 
Don't eat at any of the restaurants around Piccadilly Circus, especially those steak houses. They are all terrible.

Soho and Covent Garden are my favorite places for food.

The British Museum can absorb a day.

Take the underground to Embankment and then go to the Embankment pier (there are other piers, but embankment is a very easy one to get to) and take a boat to Greenwich. There is the observatory and international dateline, as well as an awesome maritime museum in Greenwich. It's also a very nice area for food and wandering around. The boat ride is also very scenic and pleasant. This is a very fun day trip. Only the boat ride will cost $, and it's not that expensive.
 
London National Gallery

Tower of London -> Get on that cheap 10 dollar boat ride on Thames which will drop you off in front of London Eye. London Eye is great.

Those sightseeing tour buses are great too.
 
whoa, belgos is still around? i went to one about 18 years ago. you walked in on a cat walk over the kitchen and down a flight of stairs into a basement level. no way that'd pass health code in the US.


Yeah, i been going to belgo since 2001, they did a major renovation and they actually have lifts that'll bring you down, not those bbq backyard picnic anymore, they actually got real table and chairs now..

its very clean and nice for a couple of years now..
 
Excellent advice guys, thanks a lot!

Question: I have an iPhone 4S (Verizon), and I heard that I could buy a sim with 1GB data allowance from any British carrier. How is this possible, which carrier is best, and how much will it cost?

I dont think so, anyone confirm with a 4s ? isn't your phone locked ? I bought a mifi from 3, mobile wifi router.. i disable the roaming and just use this for data.. there are local cell phone stores, you might be able to score a pay as you go mifi for cheaper.. great thing is balance never expires.. i been using the same one since 2009, add as I needed.. i actually carry a cheap blackberry unit for voice and use iphone as data, since its much faster

http://www.three.co.uk/Discover/Devices/Huawei/White_MiFi/White

its fast and cheap.. I dont think vodafone or tmobile has a mifi unit out..
 
Oh and eat some of the best dessert ever made, sticky toffee pudding. Just be sure to get it with vanilla ice cream instead of custard. Both are good but ice cream is better in my opinion.
 
Excellent advice guys, thanks a lot!

Question: I have an iPhone 4S (Verizon), and I heard that I could buy a sim with 1GB data allowance from any British carrier. How is this possible, which carrier is best, and how much will it cost?

I was under the impression that verizon phones don't use sim cards, if that's not the case and your phone is unlocked you can walk into any phone shop and get a sim card for free, go to Three and get a SIM for £15 it lasts 30 days and you get 300 minutes 3,000 texts and unlimited data (yes actual data without limit)
 
I was under the impression that verizon phones don't use sim cards, if that's not the case and your phone is unlocked you can walk into any phone shop and get a sim card for free, go to Three and get a SIM for £15 it lasts 30 days and you get 300 minutes 3,000 texts and unlimited data (yes actual data without limit)

Meh, Tmobile will give you 30 days of internet for a fiver.
 
I was under the impression that verizon phones don't use sim cards, if that's not the case and your phone is unlocked you can walk into any phone shop and get a sim card for free, go to Three and get a SIM for £15 it lasts 30 days and you get 300 minutes 3,000 texts and unlimited data (yes actual data without limit)

Because the worldwide standard GSM LTE 4G with SIM cards provided a CDMA upgrade path for handing off calls and because Verizon is partly owned by Vodaphone, all Verizon 4G phones use CDMA+LTE chipsets with SIM cards instead of CDMA+WiMax. Even before that, there were several "world phones" available that basically had a CDMA and GSM (SIM card) phone in one (two radios for two completely different network technologies). The iPhone 4S also has a dual-mode baseband/radio with an integrated SIM, though it is not 4G and was only done so that there would be one model being manufactured.
 
Because the worldwide standard GSM LTE 4G with SIM cards provided a CDMA upgrade path for handing off calls and because Verizon is partly owned by Vodaphone, all Verizon 4G phones use CDMA+LTE chipsets with SIM cards instead of CDMA+WiMax. Even before that, there were several "world phones" available that basically had a CDMA and GSM (SIM card) phone in one (two radios for two completely different network technologies). The iPhone 4S also has a dual-mode baseband/radio with an integrated SIM, though it is not 4G and was only done so that there would be one model being manufactured.

Ah fair enough.
 
The london eye is like the dumbest way to spend $65 USD (for two). You will get a better view anyway when you inevitably go to St. Pauls cathedral and also the tower bridge.

You MUST go see tower of london, it is really nice and has alot of grounds to romp on for the expensive costs.

Food is pretty good, but it's freaking expensive. You can pay anywhere from USD$20 for a crappy ham cheese sandwich with a drink.

Go to Sainsburys grocery stores (The big ones) for some really good deals on food! Plus alot of good stuff you don't find in your own neck of the woods.

EDIT: Obligatory go to the museums and get an OYSTER card from a metro station. Go to every museum you can, they contain more artifacts from greece and egypt then exist in those countries combined.
 
Last edited:
The london eye is like the dumbest way to spend $65 USD (for two). You will get a better view anyway when you inevitably go to St. Pauls cathedral and also the tower bridge.

You MUST go see tower of london, it is really nice and has alot of grounds to romp on for the expensive costs.

Food is pretty good, but it's freaking expensive. You can pay anywhere from USD$20 for a crappy ham cheese sandwich with a drink.

Where the hell are you buying your sandwiches?

Go to Sainsburys grocery stores (The big ones) for some really good deals on food! Plus alot of good stuff you don't find in your own neck of the woods.

Sainsburys, Tescos, Asdas... all have good deals on food, the deals get better in that order with Sainsburys being the most expensive in my experience. I have to say I did struggle to find even basic food stuff in American supermarkets.
 
Where the hell are you buying your sandwiches?

we made the horrible mistake of #1 staying near sloan station area (for really cheap) but god damn if that isn't the most ritziest place of london.

we made #2 mistake of going to what we later found out was a chain pub for our first meal

we were really jet lagged and just wanted a meal quick and it looked decent

sandwiches for six pounds, but after you add everything else up with sides it was like 24 pounds


HAL9000, isn't it routine to tip waitress service in london? It looked similar to what we do in US

In London, subway offers six pound footlong subs. That translates to like a $9.00 USD subway footlong that we pay $5.00 for 😉
 
we made the horrible mistake of #1 staying near sloan station area (for really cheap) but god damn if that isn't the most ritziest place of london.

we made #2 mistake of going to what we later found out was a chain pub for our first meal

we were really jet lagged and just wanted a meal quick and it looked decent

sandwiches for six pounds, but after you add everything else up with sides it was like 24 pounds

Crazy talk, you got ripped off.

HAL9000, isn't it routine to tip waitress service in london? It looked similar to what we do in US

Nope, you can if you want, if the service was good but no one will care if you don't. Some places won't take tips.

In London, subway offers six pound footlong subs. That translates to like a $9.00 USD subway footlong that we pay $5.00 for 😉

Yeah things are more expensive in London, +20% VAT.
 
Back
Top