Headed to London, England

What kind of landmarks are you interested in being near, and what's your budget? (Alternatively, what level of accommodation are you looking for - hostel, guest house, B&B, budget hotel, midrange hotel, luxury hotel?)

With the transport system(www.tfl.gov.uk) in London all tourist sites are within walking distance. Also what is your price range for accommodations.

Our price range would be (per night) $ 200-300 euros ($225-$325/ night USD). Landmarks we'd like to see Kew Gardens, Big Ben, London Eye, Buckingham Palace, Museums, etc...

Check out the Luna And Simone Hotel(www.lunasimonehotel.com/). A double room goes for about £145 per night. The hotel is conveniently located near Victoria Station or the Pimlico tube station.

Also as an fyi the currency in London is the pound(£) not the euro(€) .

By Flower Tours you don't mean Keukenhof with the tulips and other bulbs, in the Netherlands, near Amsterdam, do you?

The flower tours I'm referring to are "Kew Gardens and Luxenbourg Gardens Walking Tour.

What Joel said. And the exchange rate has been running about £1 = $1.40. So a $300 room would be about £210. And that Luna Simone price of £145 would be about $206.

I'm lstrasser's travel buddy. We are looking for tours of English country gardens, probably outside the city. We made a reservation at the Mermaid Inn in Rye but not sure if this is the best area for seeing gardens. We want to see a couple of gardens and castles. We're also aware of the Bath area as well as the Cotswold area. If you had to pick 1-3 of your favorite English country gardens, what would they be? Thanks!

It sounds like it will be a great trip. Good for you for having a budget, but this close to your trip, you'll want to do some of the research on your own. Too many of our suggestions may already be booked solid. The usual suggestion on this forum is to go to either Booking.com or Trip Advisor, plug in your dates and price range and see what is available. In booking.com, put in "central London" as the location . After that, most of us contact the hotel directly. If you see a place you like and it says it's full, the hotel still may have rooms. You can check your choices against a map to see what is close to a tube stop.

Celtic hotel. Cheap but may be booked up, walk to museums.

Or Nadler , a little more but nice and also good area.

As said, no location will let you walk everywhere, but these are good for several sights.

most gardens are just getting going in May. You may be a bit early.

From Rye, the big hitters probably would be Nymans, Sissinghurst, Sheffield Park. There are many more.

The Luxembourg Gardens are in Paris, not London.

Kew Gardens have twice daily free walking tours (you have to pay an admission fee). It is better to do this than rush round on a walking tour that is then moving on. Luxembourg Gardens are not well known in London.

UK Gardens not to be missed are Sissinghurst in Kent, Wisley (RHS) in Surrey, the Beth Chatto Garden in Essex and Hidcote in Gloucestershire.

The Mermaid in Rye won't disappoint. You really need a car to reach gardens and castles. Sissinghurst isn't too far from Rye and other gardens worth a visit nearby include Pashley Manor, Marle Place and Great Comp. Many of the gardens are not easily reached by public transport. It is also worth checking the National Gardens Scheme - ngs.org.uk to see if any gardens are open for charity in any of the areas that you are visiting. These often have excellent homemade cream teas too!

Nearby to Rye - castles include Bodiam (a must!), Scotney, Leeds and Hever Castles. You may wish to consider overseas NT membership.

I have looked, but can't find any local companies that only cover day coach trips to Kent gardens. Most are for 7 days.

As has already been said, May is very busy, so book accommodation asap.

We stayed in a couple of great Airbnb's last September. One near Hempstead Heath and one in Nottinghill - loved both. Also, we stayed at the London School of Economcs near Tate Modern. Inexpensive and in the heart of things. Feel free to send me a message if interested or want more info. Enjoy the trip. Love London.