London Travel Forum

Hi Vt'ers (again)

I would like to have some ideas for special places to Visit in London and around it.
No i dont talk about all the very famouse and touristic places we all know like piccadily, oxford st. backingham palace, london eye etc'.., just would like to have some more unique ideas to see some special places. (if you also know to tell by which tube/way to arrive that would be great)

Thanks in Advance,
Sharon.

I like Highgate (same tube). You can walk around in this "village" and also see the cemetary with Karl Marx' grave. The cemetary itself is amazing. Like a meadow with graves. Nearby Hampstead is another nice alternative. Up on the heath you have a good London view and great picnic spots and the village is full of nice cafés and pubs.

Go to Bath and see the Roman Bath - really lovely the many layers of Roman history displayed out.

See also the Stonehenge - even if you do not want to pay to go close, see off the highway is great enough - so much history to it.

Go to Startford upon Avon and see where Shakespeare history is. Or go to Oxford or Cambridge....all can be done in a day.

I did all this as day trip when I was in universtiy, and it should not cost much. You can either catch a bus - early in the day and back around 8pm.

Or go visit so many castles all over.

Otherwise you could go to the Kew Gardens and walk - realy nice walk.

Museums in the city - you can actually spend a day looking at one museum and never finish. Britsih Museum, V&A are the standard ones - r'ber they conquered so much part of the world - so their collection is pretty big. There are so many good museums in London.

I recommend that you go on one or more guided walks, to discover off-the-beaten-track parts of this fascinating city. For details, visit http://london.walks.com/ Living in London, I have been on several, and the guides are all interesting and entertaining.

Try Hampton Court and its maze, maybe a ghost walk (I have heard they are fun), Shopping in Camden Market (great prices), Winsor is a nice place to visit. Have a great time.

Hampton Court is well worth a visit-catch the tube or mainline from waterlooto Richmond, then you can bus from there-its a full days entertainment (Richmond cool too) see my travelogue

John Soane Museum-eccentric death-obsessed 18th neo-classical eclectic architect's personal mausoleum. Tube: don't know

Spitalfields Church-striking facades, interior. By Hawksmoor. Tube: Liverpool Street. See all his churches they are stunning.

Whitechapel Gallery-Art Nouveau/Arts and Crafts Gallery in east centrral London. Tube: Whitechapel

Stanstead Airport: modern masterpiece by Norman Foster. Also Cross his Thames river bridge to that Art Gallery. Wear black, fluorescent highlights

Trainspotting: join the fun and make new friends writing down the numbers of locomotives at British railway stations everywhere

We enjoyed the walk across Hampstead Heath as described in the book "A Perfect London Walk" by Roger Ebert. It starts at Keats home (you can get the book there) and ends at Highgate cemetary. Start in the morning...it takes a few hours. Have fun.

There are so many! Do you have any particular interests? Then you could get some personalised suggestions! Meanwhile, here are some of my favourites:
Oxford - beautiful and ancient university town with good shopping (especially Blackwell's Bookshop) - take the coach from Grosvenor Gardens opposite Victoria Station.
Canterbury (by train) - incredible amount of history, amazing cathedral, don't miss the boat trips on the river and the City Museum.
Kew Bridge Steam Museum - go to Kew Bridge station and it's just around the corner. Amazing Victorian steam engines, in steam every weekend, and Kew Gardens just a short walk away.
Brighton - wonderful seaside resort with the amazing Pavilion, and wonderful shopping in the Lanes. Get the Thameslink train from Kings Cross, Blackfriars etc.

The Science museum was rather good. It may be classed as a tourist place but I thought it was rather good anyway. Allow at least 4 hours to go around it unless you like rushing and its admission free. I imagined it to be rather stuffy and to be fair some of it still is, but there are an awful lot of imaginative and 'hands on' things to do in there. Its in the west side of London.

Go to Lea Valley Park! Lotsa nice birds! That's if u like bird watching eye. Its really quiet and remote depending on when u go. Dunno exact location but its at the suburbs of North London...? Maybe u can have a check on da search machines.
Nice!

Try the Old Bayley the UK's main criminal court. Its only open Mon to Friday when the courts are sitting but you'll get an insight into a facet of UK life and cerominal wear of judges. You can pick and choose the trial you want to sit in on and best of its FREE,
The court is right in the centre of London not far from St Paul's Cathedral

Thank you all !

Its my 3rd day here in London and so far so good.
Your tips are helpful and i'll surly do at least some of the things that was suggested here..

Thanks,
Sharon.

Welcome! Another (pretty obvious) thing that you should certainly do while you're here is go to the theatre, of which London may claim to be world capital. Tickets are expensive, but for the same day's performances for all but the most popular shows you can buy them for half price from the official booth in Leicester Square, behind the National Gallery. Enjoy!