London -- East End - Olympic Village

The Olympic Village will still be under reconstruction at that time and much of the Park will be not accessible - the buildings need a lot of work to convert them from temporary athlete accomodation to homes. The currently hip bits of the East End are a lot closer in than that - around Aldgate, Hoxton and Hackney. But there are still some very nasty areas around there so be careful.

Thanks for your replies about the East End of London. Since we will be 2 women traveling alone, I appreciate the "heads up" about watching out for the nasty areas. Still working on figuring out where to stay, so I'll be reviewing postings about various hotels, etc. Would really like to avoid the chain hotel and stay where we can have more interaction with the locals. My previous experience in the UK was so memorable because the people were so terrific.

Mary Ellen you're gonna love a day trip to Paris via the Chunnel train! Rick's London guidebook has a whole chapter dedicated to the Paris daytrip effectively. The chunnel train site also has some discounts available to popular sites in both Paris and London checkout the Chunnel train site for all the details: http://tinyurl.com/chunnel-discounts

I'll row in with Keith and Philip... be careful. Stratford and the Olympics area is a building site in many places. The area was chosen because it was a "redevelopment area" due to the sky high unemployment and living conditions. If you pick Hackney, pick carefully. In addition to the "dodgy" areas realize that most of Hackney has no Underground. I still shy away from Old Street and Dalston. I refer more main stream areas but if you want to be "edgy" and have the personality - go for it but carefully.

Thank you, Nigel, for your suggestions regarding my mother/daughter trip to London. I'm beginning to think I should just visit the East End and stay in another area of London. The only one that I am familiar with is Bloomsbury, as I stayed there before and it was close to the museum, which was fantastic. I definitely want to stay somewhere so we can access the Tube everywhere, as that is our plan for transportation. Believe it or not, my daughter, who is just 21-years-old is a huge Beatles fan, so I think one of our day trips may be to Liverpool. So now I am open to suggestions on "non-edgy" areas in London to stay, where we can access the Tube easily (no problem walking a ways but not miles)! One final note my big surprise for my daughter is that we will be taking the Chunnel to Paris for one overnight. Any suggestions on this would be appreciated also, as I have never been to Paris myself. Thanks again for everyone's help.
Mary Ellen

Before a man from New York rolls up and pushes the term "chunnel" with bold letters, I will say that the expression is nearly unknown on this side of the Atlantic. The hole in the ground between the two countries is known as the Channel Tunnel or Eurotunnel in England, and as Le Tunnel sous la Manche or Eurotunnel in French. The passenger train that currently runs through the tunnel from London to both Brussels and Paris is known as the Eurostar. The link for them is http://www.eurostar.com and tickets should be bought asap after they are open for sale. When you go to check in you will need to be there the best part of an hour before departure time because there is a mandatory 30 minute check in deadline which, if you miss it, will cause you to not travel on that train. Tickets are train specific so if you miss it you will have to pay for new full-fare tickets.

Mary Ellen, for your London hotel choice, I would suggest you stay once again in Bloomsbury. You have a large choice of hotels and B&B's in that area, as well as pubs and dining options, Tube stations all around you. Location can't be beat, IMHO. You are close to the British Museum, as you know, and also close to St. Pancras Station, where you will catch your train for Paris. When the native Brits on this board tell you an area of London is too rough to go to, take heed. Be safe. If you want something cool and offbeat, go to Camden Market.(Too funky for me, but some like it.) You may also like Borough Market; an excellent place to go for street venders with great food, food stalls where farmers bring their fresh produce and cheese. Great people watching. It's south of the River Thames not too far from The Globe Theatre. Your daughter may like the Beatles Walk given by a company, London Walks. It takes you around London to locations relating to the Beatles.(www.walks.com) Of course, Abbey Road Studios is included, just the exterior.

Saying that east London is "too rough to go to" is pushing it a bit far. There are very few bits of London that I'd be too scared to set foot in at any time of day. It's more a case of actually staying there and potentially having to walk back to the hotel late at night.

I agree with Philip on this too. I drive through Old Street fairly often - during the day. I've been to museums in Hackney - one of my friends lives there. There are parts I wouldn't like to go into at all, and there are several parts that I won't go into at night. For two tourists it would be difficult to delineate. Dalston is one. Many parts in and around Stratford and the Lea Valley are others. There are more. I read the paper daily. In all my life so far I've never been robbed or seen that sort of thing and I am careful where I go. I stay away from places that are more likely to be difficult. There are some in central London too. You don't find me in parts of Soho after midnight, nor around Leicester Square after midnight. I'm careful.

Hello and thanks to all of you for your great advice- Nigel I will no longer call it the "Chunnel" from now on, it's the Eurostar (since the French term will probably catch me up in the pronunciation). I did order and just receive the Rick Steves Paris 2013 guide, so I'll check out the section on the one-day Paris visit. I am hoping that we can at least stay one night in Paris. I also had looked at flying out of the airport in Paris rather than going back on the Eurostar to London, but the one-way fares were outrageous so we're doing the round-trip to/from London and paying the Eurostar to Paris and back to London from Paris, then flying out from London probably the next day. Here's another question for you all - afternoon tea. I went to the extreme on my trip to London before and went to an afternoon tea at Harrod's, which I won't do again (but was nice for the first time there). Is there a "preferred" place for afternoon tea in London? Or a few preferred places? This local custom was such a favorite of mine and I also came back with multiple tins of amazing tea in my suitcase for back in the states! British Airways website continues to give me error messages and calling them means listening to lengthy vacation specials. As of right now, they are still offering the least expensive fare to London so I'll keep trying. Again I sincerely appreciate all of your help and please feel free to continue the advice I need all the help I can get!!
Mary Ellen

Mary Ellen, Here is a whole page of answers for you on the London afternoon tea question: http://www.ricksteves.com/search/?query=London%20afternoon%20tea This question has been asked so many times here, there are dozens of past threads you can pull up. Click on any of these titles and read the whole thread.

Hi,
I was replying to your question about tea in London. I have been to the Orangery twice and loved it both times. It is on the grounds of Kensington Palace and is a very delightful place. I read about it in Rick Steves book. I have stayed in Bloomsbury once on a trip last year at the Alhambra and found it very nice and reasonable. It is extremely close to the Tube and St. Pancras. We used to stay around Victoria Station, but the hotel we really liked has been sold. The Lime Tree Hotel is very nice but a little pricey. I plan on going back for a visit this year to both London and Paris. Have a great time!

Thank you to everyone for your wonderful suggestions. I have started bookings for our trip in May and am pleased to find such amazing hotels, etc. We will be staying in Bloomsbury after all (due to your fine recommendations) and are looking forward to our trip so much more now! Thanks to Nigel -- I will now be referring to the train to Paris as the Aerostar rather than the Chunnel (although when I discuss the trip with friends here, they say "Oh, you mean the Chunnel?"). Thank you again for your assistance and I am counting the days to our exciting trip to London!

I'm always amused by the battle on this site regarding what to call the train to/from London and Paris, Eurostar, Chunnel, whatever, but Mary Ellen if you call it the Aerostar they definitely won't know what you're talking about.

Have you checked Iceland Air? We Are flying over in April and found they had the best prices.