England Trip in June - London and Manchester Questions

Two initial observations-

For the Hyatt Place London City- from Heathrow I would stay on the Elizabeth Line all the way to Whitechapel then walk back down the road to the hotel;
or transfer onto the tube one stop back west to Aldgate East.

I'm not sure if there is a mis-type. Son is a Manchester City Fan but you are going to an Old Trafford (Man Utd) tour- I would have thought you would go to the Etihad for a Man City tour?
3 hours would be a slow train to Manchester Picc nowadays. Most are a few minutes over two hours.
You reach the Etihad on the tram from the undercroft at Piccadilly.

For Harry Potter train/bus is always the fastest way to get there. The cheapest is always a couple of tube/red London bus combos.
I thought the studio bus ran from Victoria and Baker Street, not Kings Cross (as opposed to your Kings Crossing) but plenty of people take the bus- it costs a lot more and not really more convenient for you. But then you have an hour and more on the bus of apparently getting into the mood. So I suppose it's your choice.

Thanks much for the reply - and typo for sure :) He's a ManUnited fan, not City. So Old Trafford it is.

We enjoyed the views from Horizon 22 (free), just north of Leadenhall Market. Are you planning to visit the Tower of London? We were in that area over the weekend and some restaurants were closed on Sunday. We ended up at the Pizza Express by the Tower which had slow service but was fine overall. After dinner we walked over to the Tower and got some great "golden hour" photos of Tower Bridge.
For your return, are you sure you want to stay near Heathrow when your flight home isn't until 6 pm? I would stay in central London if possible.

Sounds like an exciting trip- a few thoughts/suggestions:

• For getting from the airport to your hotel- yes, you can transfer to the tube at Paddington to the Hammersmith and City line to Aldgate East. There is also a different nearby station called Aldgate on the Metropolitan line.
• Some of my favourite things in the area you are staying in: walking down Brick Lane (especially to get an authentic London beigel at Beigel Bake or Beigel Shop- they are next door to each other tho I believe one is currently closed); going for South Asian food at either Lahori Kebab House, Needo, or Tayyab's (Tayyab's tends to be the most crowded- and note these are all BYOB); seeing all the oldest parts of London, including sections of the Roman city wall in the City around Bank (tho note on the weekends this area gets very quiet); climbing the Monument to the great fire of London at Monument; and of course the Tower of London which is very close by (in my opinion the best historic site in London)
• Manchester is quite far for a day trip in my opinion but I understand when you're short on time. Train bookings open something like 90 days ahead and I would definitely book in advance for that one to ensure you get seats. In terms of things to do there that kids might like there's a great Science and Industry Museum, and the National Football Museum.
• There's not a whole lot I can think of to do near White Hart Lane so I would probably just head back into town.
• You can just walk up and see the changing of the guard. Just be there a bit early to beat the crowds. For Trooping the Colour, even if you don't get a ticket for the ceremony you can still watch the parade for free.
• London Dungeon is a little silly but can be fun. I think it would be scary for an 11 year old but in a fun way.
• For Wimbledon you can queue for ground tickets on the day but I think it's quite popular and you're not guaranteed to get anything. I wouldn't bother unless I was a really big tennis fan.

Hope this was helpful and safe travels!

Thanks for the feedback - Tower of London is on the list. And we may end up staying in central London that one night - but we're in the "need 2 rooms" category, and this will be our 22nd night of our trip, so not sure I will be wanting to drop Central London rates for one night (Staying at Hyatt for main London leg as they have a program where your 2nd room is 50% off for families).

Thanks again for the suggestions on the restaurants!

I’ve never been to Trooping the Colour but I believe that the audience needs to be in place well before the ceremony starts (11am from memory) and you will have to go through a security check. I don’t know when you’ll be able to leave but would expect not before 1230. Tube trains in the area will probably be quite busy. If you want to, you can walk from the parade ground up the Mall to Buckingham Palace where the King and the Royal family will come out onto the balcony for a fly past by the air force at 1pm. However, you’d be right at the back of the large crowd outside Buckingham Palace.

Changing of the Guard is a vastly smaller and much quicker (15 mins plus marching to Buckingham Palace and back??) ceremony which takes place 3 or 4 times a week. There’s a website giving dates if you google Changing of the Guard. There are no stands or bookable places, it is just turn up and watch. The best places by the palace railings go first. Note, unlike Trooping of the Colour, this will be cancelled in rainy weather as rain damages the musical instruments.

Regarding the visit to the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, the nearest station is White Hart Lane on the “Weaver” line of the London overground. It goes from Liverpool Street. Or, you could get the tube to Seven Sisters and a bus from there. It’s not well served by public transport and I would aim to avoid going there on any day when the stadium is hosting an event.

There isn’t anything else to see in the area, indeed the stadium looks totally out of place ( very big and shiny glass and concrete ) in an otherwise not very prosperous area of north London.

I would suggest that you don’t book anything the afternoon of the Harry Potter studio tour. I am not a huge HP fan and I spent 4 hours there. It is a huge site and it would be easy to spend much more time there.

I went to the HP studio last June. The easiest way was to take the London Northwestern Railway from Euston to Watford Junction. The train ride was about 20 minutes. The HP bus was right outside the station. You show them your ticket to tour the studio and the bus is free.

If you go to the London Northwestern Railway website and click on the dropdown menu for destinations, you will find HP Studio.

Enjoy your time at the studio & happy travels!

Thanks all for the recent posts and information on the stadium (sounds like not the best area) and the HP Tour information. The family are all huge HP fans, so we'll plan to spend at least half the day there with no rush to get back.