Need help with London Trip

Seema, Just to clarify--- is your hotel budget an average for the whole 7 nights in Britain, including Leister, or just for your nights in London? More importantly, $100-150 per night per person? or per room (and you'll probably need two)? or for the whole family, which seems a very low estimate?

Just for london per nt

Your hotel budget is on the low end of the scale for London. The more you can bump it up, the better. It's pretty expensive. Good news: The London Eye, Big Ben, Parliament, and Westminster Abbey are all clustered together. Big Ben is in a tower of one of Parliament's buildings. The abbey is across the street. The London Eye is directly across the Thames, via Westminster Bridge. Check the Abbey's hours of operation to make sure you can get inside. I don't recall the entrance fee, but it is not inexpensive (in the teens of dollars). Tours of Parliament are not available on a walk-up basis. Tickets are sold for specific days online. UK citizens get precedence. Worth it for British history and politics buffs, maybe not for anyone else. In July, the lines at the London Eye will be long. If you want to go for a ride, plan for a full half-day, just to be sure. The Eye is on the South Bank side of the Thames, which is very much worth strolling along until your feet complain. Buckingham Palace is in another part of London. Research hours, tickets, etc. Trafalgar Square is about a mile north of Parliament. It's an easy walk and you should do it. It's the location for the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery. St. Paul's is upriver of all that, a Tube trip away. Again, the fee is not inexpensive. Tower Bridge is a long walk away along the Thames, so take the Tube or a bus. The Tower is right there. In the interest of saving money, be wary of booking a hotel that turns out to be far away from the part of London where you want to spend your day. You could be trading a few dollars for two hours each day on the Tube, plus adding the cost of those trips. You can also look for a riverboat cruise from Westminster Bridge up to the Tower. Cruising the Thames gives you a different perspective on the city.

Premier Inn County Hall is a family-friendly moderately-priced hotel that gets rave review. The location is perfect for you rwishes-practically next to the London eye, and just across the river from Big Ben, House of Parliament, and Westminster Abbey. It will likely be close to $200 a night for a family room, but maybe not on a weekend. I'm afraid $100 a night for a room for 4 in London is pretty unrealistic. It is a very expensive city. but worth it, so I suggest you adjust your budget and compensate with cheaper meals, etc.

Any other recommendations in regards to the hotel. i will have to raise my budget so we an be close to all the attraction.

London is an expensive town - your budget in pounds in more realistic but you may still be disappointed in a busy month like July. We stayed at Luna Simone last May and we pleased. It's not the cheapest place but it's nice and in a pretty area near Victoria Station with nice restaurants and pubs nearby. The Palace and Westminister are walkable from there (but in opposite directions) so it's central but London is a big, busy city. Plan on travelling either bus or tube to see things because they are not clustered together like Paris. Rick has some other suggestions in that area that were cheaper and it's early enough you might be able to book one if you shop around. Good luck!
=Tod

Thank you all for your suggestions.

I'm afraid that Buckingham Palace doesn't open to the public until the 27th July 2013.

Oh no. Do you know why.

That's where the Queen lives and when she is living there she doesn't allow the public in.

Hello Seema. An other factor to consider : at some hotels the price for a room includes breakfast. Are you aware that the cost (admission price) for a visitor entering West Minster Abbey (church) is 16 Great Britain Pounds for one adult person.

You might look into Cherry Court Hotel. They put us in a room that had a double bed and 3 singles once. The rooms are really tight, but many hotels in large cities are that way. With 4, you would have an extra bed to put your luggage on at least. We have not stayed with them since 2003, but their rates were very reasonable and the location was excellent (right behind Victoria station, but on a residential street). The Patels (owners) are very friendly and helpful. With your budget, you will have to compromise on something (location, size, cleanliness). At Cherry court, the location is excellent, but the size is small, the room is older but it is clean.

My husband and I have gone to London four years in a row. Three times we stayed at the lovely Crowne Plaza (part of the Priroty Club point hotel system) in South Kensington. It was a great hotel in one of the best locations you can stay in. It is directly across the street from the Glouster Tube station. This past June we stayed at the Doubletree Hotel (part of the Hilton hotel chain), in Westminister. We just had to walk a short distance to see Parliament, Big Ben, Westminister Pier, Horseguards Parade, etc. We could see the Thame, to the left outside our window. The hotel is just a few yards from the Thames. Everyday we walked along the Thames to go by Westminister Abbey, Big Ben, etc. or to get the Hop-on, Hop-off bus. Both are great hotels. I suggest you alter your budget to be in a great location in London. It is worth the price to stay near the Hop-on, Hop-off or Tube stations.

Thank you all for hotel suggestions, were able to book the hotel at holiday in express Victoria thru my rewards point. If someone can please guide me the most cost effective way to get there from heathrow airport. The hotel is close to Pimlico tube station.