London Travel Forum

Hello everyone,

First of all thank you to all that post extremely helpful info for advice seekers such as myself. I came across this website and have been reading a lot but, also am lost at the same time. I figured the best thing to do will be to ask direct qtns, maybe get specific help.

So as title says, my fiancee and I getting married in july and will begin our honeymoon in london where we will spend 5 days and 5 nights in august. We are still students and are on a modest budget. Hence, need to find possibly best deals on hotels for our accomodation and do as much research as possible to avoid paying for tour guides etc so we can do most of the touring ourselves.

Qtn # 1. I wanted to treat my wife to a very special day on our first day in london. I thought I would pick one of the better quality hotels out there where we can spend the day (spa service, flowers etc...). Are there any recommendations??? The budget would be say 150-300 U.S. dollars for that day and night???

Qtn # 2. Following this first day, I wanted to move into a more average hotel where the price would be substantially lower but, still worthy of a honeymoon stay. Any recommendations for this??? I have seen so many several hotels that I am truly lost as to which one is better over the other.

Qtn # 3. Where can I get an online train map as well as a city map of london? Does anybody know of a resourceful site where I can obtain this so I can map out my visit prior to arriving there?

Qtn # 4. Will it be wise within this 4 days to visit Dover (I heard it is really beautiful there). Maybe spend the night there. Also, are there any cruises that we can go out on for 1 day or so? I think it would be really romantic to spend some time on the water.

Lots of material. I hope ppl still read these posts. Any answers to qtns will be much much much appreciated by both of us!!!!!!!!!!! It would mean a lot. God Bless, I hope to hear from all of you.

What a thoughtful man you are!

1 and 2 I can recommend no specific hotel personally, but the official London tourist information website lists all accommodation. It has a serach engine which can search by type, landmark etc....scroll down the page and you'll find 'romantic retreats'.

http://www.visitlondon.com/accommodation/

But you should be aware that London is very expensive. A night at a better hotel will cost 150-300+ GBP, not USD. But if you use the site, and any recommednations members may make here, you should be able to find somewhere nice for your first night.

3 There is a special travel website for London, with information about tickets and travelcards, maps and timetables and a journeyplanner:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/

http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk

There is also a good Tube (underground train) map here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/travel/downloads/tube_map.html

The official tourist information site I mentioned above alos has lots of useful information about London transport, sights and how to get to them.

4 I had never considered Dover as being beautiful. It is a large and busy port and town, with a castle and walks along the cliffs....but there are (imo) far more beautiful and/or interesting places to visit for a daytrip from London. I'd suggest Winchester, or Salisbury, or Cambridge, or Bath or even Oxford.....or, nearer London, Windsor (not really beautiful, but full of history), beautiful Kew Gardens or Hampton Court Palace.

www.nationalrail.co.uk will give you train times details and fares for travelling to these places.

www.nationalexpress.com will give you long-distance bus times and fares (book onloine in advance). For Oxford,you can also look at www.megabus.com and www.oxfordtube.com Both are bus companies which run London>Oxford.

http://www.hrp.org.uk/HamptonCourtPalace/planyourvisit/gettingthere.aspx

gives you all the travel options for visiting the palace. Going by boat would make a lovely day out.

Leics is right, London is expensive and $150 - 300 won't get you a really romantic hotel. Besides, think of the trouble you'd have with moving hotels again, packing,checking out, storing your bags, checking in again.
I would suggest staying in the same hotel for your stay and treating your wife to a special meal instead, maybe an afternoon tea?

I like to stay close to Kensington Gardens in the Bayswater area. The Thistle Kensington for example is nice, or the Best Western Phoenix,to name just two. I absolutely loved the Westland Hotel, but I checked their rates for August and it's more than your budget. If you can get a special deal somewhere, this is a great hotel.

I have passed many, many hours marking time in Dover and feel I must “stick Up” for it! Over the years there has always seemed something new,improved to see or do. The Castle is a good example of this - much has been done in recent years to discover and re-tell the history of the Castle, Dover, and the part they have played in English history.

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.14571

Cliff Top walks are beautiful particularly those starting at St Margaret’s at Cliffe ( the village, a little north of the town, that has grown and is not quite typical quiet Kent village I first knew )

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-coastal_walk-st_margarets_circular.pdf

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/white_cliffs_-_wildlife_walk.pdf

The views from the cliffs out to sea and across the channel to France can be spectacular on a clear day.
But the best views of the white cliffs of Dover are to be had from the sea..

A day trip, as foot passengers, from Dover to France (about £30 each, less if special offers available) would give you appox. 70 minutes each way at sea, time to explore Calais for a couple hours, have a meal there, and leave on a ferry that will bring you home in time to see the cliffs in daylight. We arrived once at sunset - very atmospheric and romantic!

http://www.poferries.com/tourist/

http://www.seafrance.com/

So - I would not drop Dover from your itinerary as long as time permits.

I think your budget would only stretch to a 'day spa' experience (though at least this would save you having to change hotels with your luggage). Try googling 'Day Spa London'.

I agree with Leics that there are more beautiful places to visit than Dover.

You could combine your idea of a river cruise with visiting Kew Gardens or Hampton Court. See http://www.wpsa.co.uk/hampton.html and http://www.wpsa.co.uk/kew.html.

About the dover part i would suggest you buy a return ticket from london to amsterdam. The cheapest tickets involve catching a train from london to dover and then a ferry over the english channel then a train to amsterdam. Check it out on the net. You can get really cheap tickets and everything is very self explanitory. You can even get your own private room on both the train and the ferry which would be very romantic. For london this is pretty much the best value you will find for anything. Also in london the tate mordern art gallery and the national gallery are both free and house some extremely famous and amazing artworks(picasso,rembrandt,michaelangelo)etc. London is an expensive city so get ready for it, but I am definitely no rockerfeller by any means and I managed 2 weeks there on less than $800 australian. Happy honeymoon. Hope this helps a bit.

Try www.laterooms.com see if you can grab yourself a bargain.
But as others have said London is expensive, but the good news your getting more for your dollar now then you ever did.

I can't tell where you live or if you can use Priceline or Hotwire but I always book my hotels in London by bidding on Priceline. I get 4 star hotels for $75-$100 per night, 5* hotels will go for a bit more. But it's blind bidding (by area) and non refundable so there's a bit of risk involved. But I'd take anything I ever get on Priceline over what $75-100 per night buys me in London. Check out www.biddingfortravel.com before bidding on Priceline or if you'd rather use Hotwire, go to www.betterbidding.com. I agree with those folks who say not to move during your stay, it's not something I'd want to do on my honeymoon.

I also agree with those folks who say to pass on Dover over a different daytrip, I love Bath and most women I know love Bath, you can take her for a nice afternoon tea at the Pump Room and there is also a spa plus lots of other things to do. If she likes to read and is a fan of Jane Austen, then that would be my #1 choice. Otherwise, I always enjoy heading out to Windsor which is very close to London, about a 1/2 hour, and inexpensive to get to. You could have afternoon tea at the Crooked Tea House, visit Windsor Castle, do a little shopping. Cambridge is another option, you can go punting on the river but I'd suggest getting someone to steer the boat for you.

For maps, I'd suggest investing a few dollars in a laminated Streetwise London map or I assume most hotels have some sort of foldable map they give out.

This is a good map that shows the bus routes and what they go by, I like to take the bus in London when I'm not in a hurry, you get to see alot more than if you are on the tube. Routes 11 and 15 go by a lot of major sights, you can get an all day bus pass, an all day tube/bus/DLR pass, 3 day passes, whatever fits your needs.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/central_bus_map.pdf

In order of appearance:
Leics, Christine.J, ranger49, SallyM, srinpav, Rosstipha, and Dabs

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU.

Your advice is great greatly appreciated. I have read all the responses in quite detail. I am currently trying to find the best possible accomodation FIRST. Once I have that set up, I believe I can go about setting up all my travel plans. I am going to browse a few websites try and find some deals to a decent place that is not too expensive. Lets see what I can pull up. I will keep all updated of my progress :) Very excited now that I have some sort of direction

Please do.....we will all be happy to help as much as possible.

It is very sensible indeed to concentrate first on getting your accommodation sorted out and booked. Especially as you are visiting at the height of the high season.

You also might try Londontown.com.

Bath is great, York offers much more for a day trip IMHO.

I agree.....Bath, whilst pretty, is a classic tourist day or overnight trip from London and therefore has a tendency to be very very busy (and over-touristy).

But York is much further (a rather long daytrip) and much more expensive. An overnight stay would be much better.

Winchester would be my preference for a nearer, easy-to-access, historical, not-too-touristy town with a superb Medieval Cathedral and lots of interesting shops. It's just a really nice place to wander around.

York is another of my favorite daytrips from London, takes about 2 hours to get up there. Train tickets though are likely to be expensive, I had to book mine several weeks out to get a good rate. Same with Bath though, unless things have changed, the tickets are the most expensive on the day of travel.

Windsor, Hampton Court and Oxford can be done almost as cheaply on the day of travel, Windsor and Hampton Court via cheap day return tickets on the train, Oxford by bus (oxford espress or Oxford Tube)

I checked out 4 and 5 star hotels in London for a night's stay in London during July using www.expedia.co.uk and found several at under £300 a night (with some at over £1000!). This does not include any extras so you need to budget these in.
Each hotel listed on Expedia has contact information so you can call or email for prices for the spa, flowers etc.
Expedia provides a listing for all grades of hotel so follow the link to expedia.co.uk and click on the 'hotel' tab at the top of the page, then follow the instructions provided.
I use Expedia a lot and have never had any problems with them.
Have a very happy wedding and an even more enjoyable future together.

I can recommend the Guoman Tower Hotel for a romantic stay - right next to Tower Bridge. Not cheap but within your budget. Request a Tower view room and you'll have a lovely view throughout your stay - its especially charming when lit up at night.

Its a good area for sights and also has easy tube/bus/river boat links nearby.

I've just had a quick look on their website and they have some offers on during summer: www.guoman.com/hotels/united_kingdom/london/the_tower/index.html

Hello everyone again!!! Ok. Dabs, thanks for letting me know about bidding on priceline and hotwire. I never knew about these links. I was reading up a lot today first of all on the geography of the different boroughs of greater london (whew, sigh of relief) and so now I think I have a good idea of how all the different areas are distributed and where I would be willing to pay more or less for. Plus, I also figured out how to use the bidding areas so I think I am going to try and give this thing a shot to try and save some $$$ :) I will let you all know which hotel I end up deciding to stay at. Then, its going to be putting in all the places I wanna go, This is super-exciting!!! Thank you again!!!! Will be updating further if anyone is still interested :)

Just remember with Priceline and Hotwire it's absolutely positively non refundable, non changeable, non cancellable. There is an insurance option but I've never used it, it's worth taking a look at to see what it covers.

Mayfair Soho is the nicest area to stay in for easy access to attractions and being centrally located but it's usually the most expensive to bid. My last trip I bid on Kensington/Earl's Court and got a nice hotel near the Gloucester tube, the NH Harrington, for $75. You can see what people are getting hotels for on www.biddingfortravel.com and see what hotels are coming up in what areas. I always bid 4*, if you want something nicer you might try for a 5* but expect to spend about $150 or more per night.

Do carfeully check out hotel reviews on other sites before you bid.

Google the hotel name plus 'london review'.

OK guys, got an update for you all with respect to accomodation. Staying at:
HOLIDAY INN LONDON-KENSINGTON-FORUM
97 CROMWELL ROAD,
London,GB,SW7 4DN

This will be for 3 nights ......We decided we are gonna pay for the location of Kensington to start off our trip and yet stay within our budget (got the room for 78 Euro or 109 USD per night). I think this is a good deal compared to the regular prices we would`ve had to paid or yet more expensive for better hotels. I think this was a good decision. What do you all think. Any criticimss, reviews.....I feel kinda bumed out cuz I read a few reviews on this hotel and there were really mixed between good and bad. Plus, I am paying still a pretty expensive amount ...but, at the end of the day I attributed the cost for the location as Kensington is pretty close to a lot of things and is beautiful (i don know for sure, never been!)


After our stay here, we are gonna move to another hotel to save some money. We will go wayyyyyyy Southwest to the Airport. We need to catch a flight out of London to Rome. So for the last 2 nights, we will stay at the:
Sheraton Heathrow Hotel
Heathrow Airport, Colnbrook Bypass,
West Drayton,GB,UB7 0HJ

Nothing special here I dont think. Got a good deal of 49 Euro or 69 US dollar a night. I think whatever else we have left to do or see in London, we can commute from here to the central locations (bit inconvenient but, we only need to do this for 1 day so not too bad). Well, so thats my accomodation. Hope this was good decision making on my part.

But, of course......Excellent comments and help from everyone!!!! Updates will come further as I need to now get to the fun part of planning what I wanna do all over London

I find with hotel reviews that you can throw out the very worst and the very best, the truth lies somewhere in the middle. I've stayed at that Holiday Inn a couple of times and it is perfectly fine, I like the location because it is very close to the Gloucester Road tube station which has three lines running out of it, the Piccadilly, Circle and District and it makes it very easy to get around. And if you are coming in from Heathrow you can do the trip in about 40 minutes via tube with no changing of lines.

You might send them an email mentioning that it is your honeymoon and how excited you are to be staying there and maybe they will give you a nicer room or at least ensure that you don't get a twin room (2 beds) instead of a double (double or queen bed).

We just stayed in that area in May, there is a large Waitrose grocery store next to the tube station, if you want to save a little money on breakfast you can get fruit, yogurt and pastries there (most London hotels have coffee and tea in the room). There is a Nando's on Gloucester Road, you can get a good filling meal there for not too much. This website lists more of the restaurants in the area.

http://www.allinlondon.co.uk/tube-gloucester-road.php

I haven't stayed in that particular Holiday Inn, but have stayed in others elsewhere. The accommodation is fine. The restaurant though is likely to be expensive and not particularly good value, so avoid it (except for breakfast IF this is included in your deal).

If you are staying in the Heathrow area on your last day, you might consider using that day for a visit to nearby Windsor, rather than travelling back into London.

Visiting Windsor from Heathrow is an excellent idea, we caught a bus from Heathrow to Windsor once on a layover so you'd just need to go from your hotel to Heathrow to catch a bus (ask at your hotel though, you may not need to go back to Heathrow to catch it). To get to Windsor from Heathrow it was about 25-30 minutes, to get to central London via tube is 45-60 minutes. Windsor is a nice place to visit, you can visit the castle, head over to Eton and I think you can even go punting on the Thames there

Hey - I don't know how much help I can be with your hotel questions, as i just got back from London staying in 20pouns/night hostels. But as you're on your honeymoon, I have one idea of something for you all to do one night.

A buddy of mine's dad owns a cabaret show which we went to one night in London and it was awesome. Very moody decorum, dark and intimate. Show up around 7:30 for dinner, enjoy some drinks, and the singer/piano player will go to stage around 8:30 and perform for roughly one hour. We had an absolutely incredible experience, and it is a quality (but affordable) establishment.

Go to www.americansongbookinlondon.com for all the details. If you're there before or by June 28th, see Maude Maggart, she was incredible!

Hope you enjoy your honeymoon!

You have managed to get good prices in acceptable hotels....well done!

It is good advice to avoid eating at either hotel. They are 'chain hotels' so food is expensive. You can do better for less money. Get your breakfast (if it is not included) at a nearby cafe.

The Heathrow airports are not in the most scenic locations so you'll appreciate getting out to visit places like Windsor. You could also consider Hampton Court.

To check out buses to Hampton Court, visit the Transport for London website.

There is also Runnymeade and the JFK memorial - close to Egham.