Going to London. Tips appreciated!

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Jul 21, 2011
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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?
 
preslove

preslove

Lifer
Sep 10, 2003
16,754
64
91
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.
 
Zeze

Zeze

Lifer
Mar 4, 2011
11,395
1,188
126
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.
 
R

rsutoratosu

Platinum Member
Feb 18, 2011
2,716
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ElFenix said:
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.
Click to expand...


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..
 
R

rsutoratosu

Platinum Member
Feb 18, 2011
2,716
4
81
Carousel said:
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?
Click to expand...

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..
 
Fingolfin269

Fingolfin269

Lifer
Feb 28, 2003
17,948
34
91
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.
 
HAL9000

HAL9000

Lifer
Oct 17, 2010
22,021
3
76
Carousel said:
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?
Click to expand...

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)
 
HAL9000

HAL9000

Lifer
Oct 17, 2010
22,021
3
76
Fingolfin269 said:
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.
Click to expand...

You don't have sticky toffee pudding in America?! D:
 
WelshBloke

WelshBloke

Lifer
Jan 12, 2005
32,878
11,020
136
HAL9000 said:
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)
Click to expand...

Meh, Tmobile will give you 30 days of internet for a fiver.
 
CZroe

CZroe

Lifer
Jun 24, 2001
24,195
857
126
HAL9000 said:
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)
Click to expand...

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.
 
HAL9000

HAL9000

Lifer
Oct 17, 2010
22,021
3
76
CZroe said:
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.
Click to expand...

Ah fair enough.
 
M

mizzou

Diamond Member
Jan 2, 2008
9,734
54
91
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.
 
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HAL9000

HAL9000

Lifer
Oct 17, 2010
22,021
3
76
mizzou said:
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.
Click to expand...

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.
Click to expand...

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.
 
M

mizzou

Diamond Member
Jan 2, 2008
9,734
54
91
HAL9000 said:
Where the hell are you buying your sandwiches?
Click to expand...

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 ;)
 
HAL9000

HAL9000

Lifer
Oct 17, 2010
22,021
3
76
mizzou said:
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
Click to expand...

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
Click to expand...

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 ;)
Click to expand...

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