Hi there
We will be arriving in London in late October.We will be staying for 4 nights.
* Any outlet shopping nearby?
* Any historical boutique hotels you would suggest?
* Any sophisticated little towns between Liverpool and London?
* Best way of transportation between London and Liverpool?
* Any chance of finding a ticket for a premiere leauge game in London for the last weekend of October?
* Best way to get a ticket for a musical show such as the "Cats, Mama Mia etc"

I don't know what you mean by sophisticated little towns'. there are hundreds of towns and villages all over England, and plkenty between London and Liverpool, but 'sophisticated'is not a word I would apply to any of them. Perhaps you could explain further what you mean?

Best way of getting from London to Liverpool is by train. Look at www.nationalrail.co.uk for times and fares. You could also go by coach (bus), which will be cheaper but take (much)longer. www.nationalexpress.com and www.megabus.com are carriers.

There is a large 'outlet shopping village' in Bicester, which is quite some way outside London. www.bicestervillage.com

Otherwise the only 'factory outlet' of which I am aware is the Burberry factory shop in Hackney: 29 Chatham Place. If you put their postcode (E9 6LP) into www.streetmap.co.uk you will get aa streetmap showing you exactly where it is.

To answer your question about football tickets, most Premier League games are sellouts to season ticket holders and members, but you might be lucky with one of the smaller clubs.

These are the games in London over the weekend 25/26 October:

Tottenham Hotspur v Bolton 3pm 25th October (the way Tottenham have started the season the ground will be half empty!)
Chelsea v Liverpool 1.30pm Sunday 26th and you have no chance of getting a ticket for that crucial game.
West Ham United v Arsenal 4pm Sunday 26th - ditto for a local derby in one of the smallest grounds.

The home clubs official websites will be your best source of information. Tottenham will be the best bet in my opinion.

If you don't mind stepping down a level to the Championship, Charlton are at home to Burnley on the Saturday at 3pm and you will be able to get tickets - their first home game was watched by 20,020 and the stadium holds about 29,000.

Their website is http://www.charlton-athletic.co.uk/

The Sunday games will both be on live TV so, if the worst comes to the worst find yourself a a pub and sit down to watch both while consuming large amounts of beer - as I shall almost certainly be!

I hope that helps.

No not Tottenham. The best best by a long chalk would be Fulham FC. Google it and get their website. You could even join on line for nothing and then buy a ticket. That is definitely your best bet for a Prem Club in London.

Pete

I think "historical boutique hotel" is a bit of a contradiction in terms! A "boutique hotel" is generally luxurious and fashionable, but of modern design, so not sure what is being requested here. Maybe a SMALL historical hotel? Perhaps this one, although I haven't been there myself: http://en.escapio.com/hotel/the-cranley-hotel
My favourite (in my price range anyway) London hotel is Durrants, which is historical but certainly not "boutique". Located behind the Wallace Collection which is itself behind Selfridges, and around the corner from Marylebone High Street..
I am also somewhat at a loss as regards "sophisticated little towns": perhaps you mean "small towns with good shopping and a theatre"? Maybe Oxford (although it's hardly a "little town"!) and Chester?

Agree about the boutique hotel thing. There aren't that many really old buildings in London, and as far as I am aware none of those that remain are boutique hotels.

I await the intended meaning of 'sophisticated' with huge interest. One of its meanings ('wordly-wise and disillusioned') could apply to most places in the UK, whereas another ('very refined and subtle') most definitely does not!

I'm going to assume you mean 'interesting'. In which case: Oxford and Chester, as mentioned, Stratford-on-Avon, Warwick, Birmingham (if you're desperate). None of these are on the London>Liverpool train route though (just reasonably nearby), so you'll have to change trains if you want to visit.

For boutique hotels try www.mrandmrssmith.com/ to look for a hotel but use the hotel site or another hotel booking website to secure a room as it will be a lot cheaper.

Theatre tickets from the Leicester Square Box Office www.lsbo.co.uk/

Paul Smith has an outlet shop just off Oxford Street in Avery Lane but plenty others are listed at ... http://uktv.co.uk/style/item/aid/530196/multipageid/530198

I would have recommended Fulham if they were at home but agree that you should can get into see Spurs if you are willing to take a chance and see if anyone has tickets for sale outside of the ground.

Best way to travel to Liverpool would be a Virgin train from Euston Station.
www.virgintrains.co.uk

Virgin trains, like all UK trains, are listed on the National Rail site I linked.

I know you know that, Clive, but visitors don't always. :-)

Chester is a dinky little historic town on the way to Liverpool.

The Sanderson in Berniers St close to Oxford St is a boutique hotel with it's huge stained glass windows, Japanese garden, Salvador Dali sofas and long frosted glass cocktail bar. But it ain't cheap!

There are good fares from London to Liverpool but you should think about booking now. Like budget airlines, the nearer you get to your departure date, the more expensive the fares become. I too await with great anticipation the outcome of the "sophisticated little town" question!

I woner if we'll ever know? The OP logged in today.........

I wasn't trying to correct your post, it's just that the Virgin Trains website carries more information on the trains, timetables, etc than the more generic National Rail site which is good for journeys using more than one operator but since this is a direct route I thought he'd appreciate the extra info.

Is ok.....didn't think you were. Was just clarifying. :-)

Previously mentioned Chester is a good choice of town. But it's very close to Liverpool in case you wanted to break a journey half way. You could try Stratford on Avon or Shrewsbury.

If you are going to Liverpool then try "Cheshire Oaks" for outlet shopping.

Thank you all for your answers. I really regret using the term "sophisticated little town" in my question. Sorry for the hassle but all i tried to ask was a town created with taste, living the original English way of life purified of the effects of different cultures. If this sentence still does not answer what i meant it is due to my poor level of English and please just ignore. I once again appreciate all the help, thank you very much.

No problem. We were just a little bemused.

But what you seem to seek does not exist (if it ever did). England is a massively multi-cultural place, and its cities, towns and villages entirely reflect this.

Do not seek the 'original' England of Dickens and Agatha Christie, for you will not find it. It has not existed for many, many decades.

Enjoy exploring what we have: it is wonderful enough.

'original' England of Dickens and Agatha Christie was the proper expression. I will stay with the wonderful country you have as you say and i have one final question. Is there a direct train from Liverpool to Stansted Airport and how long is it from London (Zone 1) to Stansted Airport by taxi (by train if any?)

www.nationalrail.co.uk will give you train times and fares from Liverpool.

Do not even consider a taxi to Stansted: it will cost you a fortune. Get the Stansted Express train. It stops directly under the airport.

www.stanstedexpress.com

You don't need to buy your ticket in advance for either journey, unless there is a cheap advance fare which you want to take advantage of.

Remember that Dickens and Christie were fiction writers: come with an open mind! :-)