Touristy trip to London- Advice please

[Stevoraith]

1st Wedding anniversary is this July, and due to poor planning we come back from our main holiday a couple of days before our anniversary.

This means I then have to plan something nice for the anniversary She's been banging on recently about how she has never been to London and fancies doing all the touristy stuff so I thought that might be a good idea.

I have only been once on a School trip about 16years ago so have no idea where things are etc.

Basically I'm after some advice on what airport to fly to and what area to look for hotels in. We'd want to do all the touristy stuff- open top bus tour, see Buckingham palace, tower bridge, London eye maybe, Harrods I guess, that sort of thing.

Any advice or recommendations would be gladly recieved.

[BiggestNizzy]

Isnt the first anniversary "paper" ? get tickets to a show. it shows you have put thought into it an dnot just posted on SE

[Stevoraith]

Good idea, already got the main 'paper' present sorted but thats a good idea for an extra! The trip to London is just something nice to do together rather than the actual present itself.

I'm sure I could hear my wallet let out a gentle scream as I typed that.....

[phraze]

fly to London City if you can, it's very close to the city you just jump on a trainline called the DLR which takes you straight to Embankment on the underground in about 35 mins.
we normally stay in the Hilton at London Bridge because it is pretty close to most things.

all the touristy stuff is good fun but my favourite thing about visiting London is the markets, Borough Market for food is incredible, the flower market on Sunday on Columbia Road is cool too...

[steve_weegie]

If you're looking for a decent club, I can highly recommend Fabric

[r055]

any time i have checked business flights for the city airport, they have been pretty extortionate. not been down to the big smoke for a year or two though.
i usually got the sleazyjet to stansted and get the express train into liverpool street as thats what our travel dept usually booked for us.
i was there a few years back with my ex and we stayed in the west end as we had booked a show and wanted to do the 'tourist' things. we stayed in the grafton on warren street/ totenham court road and im sure the theatre was the dominion?
we done the open top bus tour and went to the dungeon also. - its amazing how small the inner city is really as i had always got the tube when i was down on business and thought the city was huge

it really depends on your budget to be honest as there are some great hotels and really trendy places to go.

[dezzy]

Only really been to London on business (lots!) but only managed to squeeze in the odd touristy thing while there. I tend to fly to Heathrow with BMI and jump on the Heathrow Express to Paddington. I've done the London City flight and then DLR, but find that Heathrow then into Paddington can be just as quick. Plus, London City flight is very prone to delays/cancellations in my experience.

As long as your hotel is near a tube station, you'll generally be in reach of most things. Although, if I could give one big tip, it's not to use the tube! You miss so much of the city by hiding underground. Walk lots! Go to the Tate and walk along the river (in either direction). Spent most of my time in the city or at Canary Wharf, so I'm afraid I can't recommend many touristy things to do.

D

[H8OAG]

As someone who unfortunately visits every other week.........

Echo the above sentiments re visiting all the usual suspects.....(Harrods/Eye/West End Show)

Forget flying.......and take the train
If it works.....train travel can be a bit of a treat and only about 1 hour longer than equivalent air travel ...end to end.
Book in advance and first class travel can be very reasonable (£60 each way) from Gleneagles in my case.(Free wireless lan - when she falls asleep)

Look up Hakkasan for eating and drinking........My London staff's current favourite

[thinfourth]

Any advice or recommendations would be gladly recieved.

Don't its a sh*t hole

[VXJON]

Any advice or recommendations would be gladly recieved.

Don't its a sh*t hole

[ExigeKen]

Having been to London more times than I care for (business & pleasure) what I can say is find something special to do that you will enjoy. There are so many amazing sites and shows to see but in the main it is a huge rip off as everything is overpriced. Loads of hotels do deals if you stay over a Saturday night i.e. not business travel. Keep your visit short as when you live in Scotland you just cant wait to get back home when you go to London (and yes I am English as well).

You will have a great time if you plan it well enough.

Congratulations in advance!

[duggiesmith]

Wouldn't bother with Easyjet. I'm going down this week (for Chelsea) and again in August for a wedding. Going by sleeper train this week (only £16 each way if you book early) and using BA to Gatwick in August. Easyjet quoted £76 return and BA were £80. For the sake of £4 I'd rather have an allocated seat and, hopefully, some half decent service.

The good thing about the sleeper train is you arrive in the centre of London (Euston) and have the whole day available. Never used it before though, so can't say what it's like. If it's a disaster I'll let you know.

If you're going on the London eye. You can book Champagne "flights" (why they call them flights, I've no idea). Might help win brownie points for your anniversary.

Whatever you decide, Good luck and Congratulations.

[Justin]

Was there a couple of weeks ago for a weekend.. We stayed at the marriott county hall, right next to the london eye..

We flew with BA from ABZ to LHR and got the underground to our hotel pretty much direct. (Underground costs £20 for 3 day unlimited use) The hotel was brilliant, staff were awesome, and the room was immaculate!

When there we went to the Zoo, London Eye, Oxford Street and Covent Garden shopping, Harrods, Open top bus (great for listen to the fezza's/lambo's!) and ate just where ever took our fancy.. Spent a fortune though!

Maddame Tussauds and the Dungeon ques were just huge! So never bothered. Went to the Florence Nightengale Museum though!

[woody]

Tate Modern.

[Stevoraith]

Cheers for the replies guys, most helpful! (except Thinforth and Jon, you may be right but you can't tell a woman).

All of the hotels you've posted look good, especially the Haxton one. Shoomer, what's the best airport to fly to for that and how easy is it to get to from the airport? Is it walkable to trafalgar/buckingham palace/hyde park type area? The only downside is that it's slightly further out that the others I've looked at (not by much though).

Easyjet flights to Stansted were working out about £120 return, BA to LHR or LGW about £190. Willing to pay the difference for allocated seats and a more convenient location though. Plus I'd get American Airlines points- every little helps!

Keep the suggestions coming, the more Brownie points the better