What's there to do in London?

[xospec1alk]

I'm here on business for the next week or so....I have this saturday and sunday to just hang around, and see whats out there...so any suggestions? I went to stonehenge last sunday, which was...pretty interesting...but haven't had an oppurtunity to check out london itself.

Im in 'the city' but it looks like nothing fun happens out in the city.

any suggestions?

 

[j00fek]

drink!

 

[Descartes]

That's rather like asking what to do in NYC; personally, I say just grab an underground map and start going places. See Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly, etc. This is what I'd do, if you have time:

- See the changing of the guards. Here you go. It's a tourist trap obviously, but it's fun to see.
- Madame Tussads. A lot of people seem really fascinated by it. It doesn't interest me much.
- Walk around the Thames, see Big Ben, Parliament, Tower of London, Tower Bridge (not London Bridge), etc. You could perhaps ride the London Eye. Again, a tourist trap, but fun enough and the view is great.
- Eat. Plenty of restaurants around. I'd hit some of the great Indian restaurants and some of your more ethnic places. I had great food while in London, everything from Egyptian to Ethiopian.
- See Westminster Abby. Darwin is there, Newton, etc.

That pretty much covers the touristy attractions. I'd mostly suggest just walking around and having a good time; of course, that depends on where you are, but that's where the Underground map comes in.

In summary: Go explore.

 

[HEPCEE]

Boiled meat. Two story busses. And oh yeah tea.

 

[DainBramaged]

I'll be honest with you. London has NOTHING that Kansas doesn't.

 

[Pocatello]

Originally posted by: HEPCEE
Boiled meat. Two story busses. And oh yeah tea.

Interesting

 

[allisolm]

This ought to cover it.

 

[Sukhoi]

Off the top of my head:

Covent Garden shopping (Covent Garden on Picadilly line)
London Transport Museum (next to Covent Garden)
British Museum (if you like pottery and that kind of stuff)
Royal Air Force Museum (near Colindale on Northern line, PM for details)
Imperial War Museum (near Lambeth North on Bakerloo line)
London Science Museum (near South Kensington on Circle/District lines)
Natural History Museum - great rock collection (near South Kensington on Circle/District lines)
Selfridges (near Bond Street on Central/Jubilee lines)
Harrods (near Knightsbridge on Picadilly line)
Tower of London (Tower Hill on Circle/District lines)
Great London Fire Monument - lots of stairs! (Monument (connected to Bank) on almost every line)
Greenwich (Docklands Light Rail)
Westminster Abbey (Westminster on Circle/District/Jubilee lines)

Longer train rides:
Portsmouth for the old ships
Arudel Castle (haven't visited myself, saw from train to Portsmouth, looks bad ass)
Bath for Roman ruins
Hampton Court Palace and Gardens
Windsor Castle

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

i was there last fall...

i would recommend the following sites:

1) tower of london 4-6 hours
2) double decker bus (history and transportation rolled into one, and its a great place to eat a sandwich and relax) 2 hours hop on and off at your leisure over a 24 hour period)
3) pubs (4-6 hours)
4) westminister abbey (2-3 hours)
5) one of the museums (4-6 hours)

theres more, but thats plenty to do for 1 weekend.

BTW, i ranked the sites with most interesting first....

PS the Air Museum is good, but its out of the way and would eat up 2-3 hours in travel time alone (I don't think there is a tube near by...)

 

[Sukhoi]

PS the Air Museum is good, but its out of the way and would eat up 2-3 hours in travel time alone (I don't think there is a tube near by...)

Maybe 2 hours transit, but weekends probably wouldn't be as bad. From what I can recall it's about a 15 minute walk from the Colindale station on the Northern line. Call the museum for directions from the station or find someone to ask when you get off the train. It's not that hard but I don't remember the route we took.

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

Originally posted by: Sukhoi

PS the Air Museum is good, but its out of the way and would eat up 2-3 hours in travel time alone (I don't think there is a tube near by...)

Maybe 2 hours transit, but weekends probably wouldn't be as bad. From what I can recall it's about a 15 minute walk from the Colindale station on the Northern line. Call the museum for directions from the station or find someone to ask when you get off the train. It's not that hard but I don't remember the route we took.

ahh.. i went there on a monday afternoon... Driving from Windsor mind you, but it still seemed like it was out theres a way. Very nice planes, but not something I would rank up there for as a must-see.

 

[aphex]

I miss London

 

[A5]

The British Museum (or as I like to call it, the Museum of British Imperialism) is awesome and FREE. They have the Rosetta Stone among many other artifacts of Greek/Roman/Egyptian/Norse origin.

There's also some cool stuff inside the Tower of London (not free, but I thought it was worth it), like the Crown Jewels of England and a lot of old suits of armor and weapons.

Not to mention the boatloads of pubs and stuff - just walk around Piccadilly Circus (or north into Soho) and Covent Garden, and you'll find plenty of nightlife.

If you can find anything to do in London, then you just aren't trying.

 

[GasX]

Originally posted by: xospec1alk
Im in 'the city' but it looks like nothing fun happens out in the city.

What world do you live in?

 

[SLCentral]

When I was in London at night I went to Oxford Circus to see the nightlife (bars/pubs) but everywhere had a crazy $10-20 pound cover charge; forget that. I went to Fullham, and found about 8 nice places with 5-10 pound cover charge and some hot British girls...and I had fun.

 

[xospec1alk]

Originally posted by: Mwilding

Originally posted by: xospec1alk
Im in 'the city' but it looks like nothing fun happens out in the city.

What world do you live in?

the city is where the financial firms are, so everything shuts down pretty early, and theres NOTHING going on there on the weekends...

its like hanging out on Wall St. in nyc.

 

[Kelnoen]

Natural History and science museum will easily kill a day.

there are some great places to see down the side streets of tottenham court road and oxford street.

 

[spherrod]

Originally posted by: Sukhoi
Off the top of my head:

Covent Garden shopping (Covent Garden on Picadilly line)
London Transport Museum (next to Covent Garden)
British Museum (if you like pottery and that kind of stuff)
Royal Air Force Museum (near Colindale on Northern line, PM for details)
Imperial War Museum (near Lambeth North on Bakerloo line)
London Science Museum (near South Kensington on Circle/District lines)
Natural History Museum - great rock collection (near South Kensington on Circle/District lines)
Selfridges (near Bond Street on Central/Jubilee lines)
Harrods (near Knightsbridge on Picadilly line)
Tower of London (Tower Hill on Circle/District lines)
Great London Fire Monument - lots of stairs! (Monument (connected to Bank) on almost every line)
Greenwich (Docklands Light Rail)
Westminster Abbey (Westminster on Circle/District/Jubilee lines)

Longer train rides:
Portsmouth for the old ships
Arudel Castle (haven't visited myself, saw from train to Portsmouth, looks bad ass)
Bath for Roman ruins
Hampton Court Palace and Gardens
Windsor Castle

:thumbsup:

 

[compuwiz1]

Ack...I just checked and London is not close enough to scotland. I was gonna ask someone for a favor.

I have someone in Glasgow I want offed. :|

 

[Sukhoi]

Originally posted by: xospec1alk

Originally posted by: Mwilding

Originally posted by: xospec1alk
Im in 'the city' but it looks like nothing fun happens out in the city.

What world do you live in?

the city is where the financial firms are, so everything shuts down pretty early, and theres NOTHING going on there on the weekends...

its like hanging out on Wall St. in nyc.

That's the financial district. The city is just a little bit larger than the financial district.