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Trip Report-London

Just returned from a quick 7 night trip to London. Stayed at the Royal Court Apartments (not recommended). Went on a day trip to Stonehenge, Windsor and Bath with Gray Line Tours (recommended-very similar to Evan Evans Tours). Saw all the typical tourist stuff...Oyster Pass is very easy to buy and use. Highly recommended. Found that pretty much all the pubs are the same. No need to search high and low for a certain one.

Weather was great despite everyone saying it was so cold. I guess when it is -30 here it seems tropical to me! Did not notice a certain "dress code". You could wear anything and still fit in.

Food in London isn't as good as mainland Europe but I loved all the ethnic restaurants. It should be noted though that I am not a wealthy person who will easily spend lots of money on fancy meals...maybe they were good....and the best part was that it didn't rain for my entire trip except at night when I was asleep.

Didn't experience the nightlife as I was very sick of what I thought was a cold, but had bronchitis and and ear and throat infection...

Posted by
2804 posts

Hi Kate, so sorry that you were sick while in London, it's horrible to get sick when you are vacation. Sounds like you had a good time even while being sick.

Posted by
59 posts

Hi Kate.
Thanks for the report. Did you feel you got enough time at each stop-Stonehenge, Windsor and Bath? We're going next month and I'm debating whether it's better to stay one night outside of London or just do as a day trip. Btw, I had a cold my first trip to London, it better not happen again!

Posted by
590 posts

There was lots of time at Stonehenge as it doesn't take long to make your loop around it. I believe they gave us 45 minutes there. Lots of time at Windsor as I wasn't too interested in the rooms inside. I spent more time in the town. If you were interested in spending more time in the castle listening to the audio commentaries, then you would have no time to do anything else. I would have loved to spend more time in Bath as they only gave us one and a half hours there! But I guess if I didn't do the tour I would have never have seen it anyway....always a next time!

I would only recommend the tour if time is an issue and it is the only way to get out there. Gray Line Tours was great and the tour guide was hilarious!

Posted by
922 posts

Kate, would you mind describing the buying and using of the Oyster Card in more detail? I plan to get one when I'm in London this year and would like to know what to expect from someone who has been through the process. Thanks! (You can PM me if you want.)

Posted by
590 posts

Teresa-We bought the Oyster card right at the underground ticket seller. You put down a 3 pound deposit. You could do a pay as you go or in our case we got a 7 day pass. On the turnstiles to enter the subway you touch the oyster card to a pad that will let you in. There are lots of attendants by the turnstiles if you need help. When you are done with the oyster card you return it to the ticket office at the underground to get your deposit back. We did all of this at the Paddington Station as we entered London from Heathrow using the Heathrow Connect train. If you use the underground from Heathrow I am sure you can buy the Oyster card at the airport.

Hope this helps. Let me know if you need more info