Hi there! I'm looking to travel to London in mid September- will have 3 days- what are some nice mid range boutique hotels I can look at staying in and also, what are the must do things to see while there. Is it worth getting a pass for museums and sights or better to pay as u go?
Can't help you with boutique hotels as I like to stay at the cheaper chains in London, but most of the major museums are free in London so a pass won't be economical.
Re "Must Sees" in London, click here to see Rick Steves' discussion of that:
http://www.ricksteves.com/europe/england/london
Oops! Thanks Emma- I'm going to be in Paris too so had my forums mixed up- thx!
You can stay in one of the following mid-range hotels as per your convenience :
Flemigs Hotel
Townhouse hotel
London House Hotel
I will recommend you to visit tower of london,madame of tussauds,palace of westminster,british museum,natural history museum, tate modern, london eye etc.When you will reach then you will have lots of options to see many things.
I have to disagree with the poster who recommended Madame Tussaud's as a must-see. With only three days and having spent so much time and money to get there, I consider that a waste of time. I wouldn't go there, even if I moved to London for the rest of my life. On the other hand, I would include the Victoria and Albert Museum. It's close to the Nat. History, which I would exclude on the grounds that there are similar museums in many other cities. There is also a highly rated museum of the history of London (exact name escapes me). I think you should focus on sights that are special to England/London.
Victoria & Albert & British Museum are both very good. We enjoyed shopping at Harrods & Selfridges. We also did a couple of walks with London Walks, which I highly recommend. And don't forget the pubs! These are definitely MUST SEES in my opinion. Have a great time! We loved London & can't wait to go back.
Tower of London
Hampton Court Palace
Hyde Park
Kensington Palace & Gardens
Buckingham Palace
Westminster Abbey
St. Paul's Cathedral
Globe Theater
We really enjoyed the Hop On Hop Off bus. We stayed on for the whole route, sitting up top in the open air, weather permitting.
London Walks is an excellent suggestion from Diana. There are many to choose from.
While it's pricey, I found Madame Tussaud's to be quite fun. Travel shouldn't always be about cathedrals and art museums. I find mixing it up and adding some harmless non-academic attractions a must wherever I visit. If you do decide to visit MC, you can save big bucks and skip the lines by purchasing your ticket via the official website:
jcole,
It would be more efficient to find a hotel that's in a fairly central area to the sights you most want to see. I like staying in the Victoria Station area, as it's within walking distance to some sights and has easy Tube access.
You may want to buy a copy of at least the Pocket London guidebook, as that has good information on hotels as well as lots of information on sightseeing. There's also a Pocket Paris guidebook, which I found very useful on my last trip there.