If you had 3 days in London
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Anonymous
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I'd do a day trip. There's one that goes to the Cotswolds, Oxford, Stratford upon Avon and Warwick Castle. We loved it!
We spent one long day seeing most of the touristy stuff in London (changing of the guard, outside of Westminster, parliament, Big Ben, Tower of London). We walked everywhere, and had a blast! We also did a day trip to Paris. |
Anonymous
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With only 3 days, I wouldn't. There's so much to do in London beyond the basic touristy stuff and on day trips you'll spend a lot of time just travelling to get there and back which seems wasted with such little time.
Apart from all the things mentioned previously, I'd also suggest: The London Dungeons, The Clink, Greenwich. There are also some really lovely child-specific things like the Childrens Story Centre in Stratford, The Ragged School Museum, etc. I'm a Londoner so feel free to ask any other qs! |
Anonymous
The drive to/from the Cotswolds is beautiful. Rolling green hills covered with sheep and charming thatched roof cottages. Walking around oxford and Stratford upon Avon was fun. Warwick was cool...but next time I'd cut back on walking around the castle and instead walk around the village. There's a gate in the parking lot by the castle that leads to tge village. Charming! We got back early enough to walk around London that evening and have a nice dinner and hit a tavern. Everyone on dcum always says to stay put in whatever city the post is about, and I'm always the lone voice suggesting venturing off the beaten path...that's just how I prefer to travel. |
Anonymous
| What about the trip to the Harry Potter studio? Has anyone done that? |
Anonymous
London PP here. Yes, I have (I love HP!) Worth it I think if your kids are really into it, or actually are just into films in general and how they are made; my DH is not at all an HP fan but he thought it was cool just seeing the special effects and sets and stuff. It's just outside London and there are buses from the centre going directly there. |
Anonymous
It's not off the beaten path, though. It's a whistle-stop tour of a few picture-postcard places that are not far from London. I'm not meaning to be snarky - it's a great way to see different places, and of course, each to their own. But to me, off the beaten path means NOT just doing the very touristy things (whether in London or on a tour outside London), it means finding the unusual, less-seen, interesting things that make these places special. |
Anonymous
| If you have any interest in tennis...I would definitely do Wimbledon.. |
Anonymous
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We loved the Magic of London all day tour! We got into the Tower before it opened to the public, saw the crown jewels, went to all the iconic sites around town with an amazing guide, it included a great lunch in an old bank that had been converted into an Irish Restaurant, a boat ride down the Thames, and it concluded with afternoon tea at Harrods (London Eye was also an finish option, but we picked Harrods). So awesome!
Bonus: our tour guide sounded just like Alan Rickman |
Anonymous
Looking for a local and inexpensive tea and scones place in central London - not high tea at a fancy hotel. In other words, where do locals go for a daily spot of tea with a scone with creme and jam? TIA |
Anonymous
There haven't been taverns in the UK for several hundred years. Do you mean a pub? |
Anonymous
Yes, I meant a pub. Feel better? |
Anonymous
Jeez people just love to pick apart words on dcum! My apologies for using the phrase off the beaten path when clearly I should have said "venture out of the city." I'm so sorry! We did off the beaten path stuff in London with some friends who are local. We hung out in some galleries, restaurants and bars (not pubs) in West London and Notting Hill and even saw some celebrities that I never would have recognized and still didn't after being told their names and what movies they've been in. And while that might thrill some people, I much preferred the rolling sheep covered hills and thatched roof cottages ;0) Being in a gallery or bar in London wasn't any different than being in NYC, San Fran, or LA. Off the beaten path in London might mean the business district, no? We did happen to find an old warehouse district that was recently converted into lofts, bars and restaurants a few blocks from black friar...it was just locals, and we were the only Americans in the area all night. But I'm not sure it's worth venturing there unless you are around that area. We actually stayed in the area and found it to be somewhat centrally located and very walkable. We walked everywhere (with the exception of Notting hill). |
Anonymous
Marginally. Just waiting for someone to suggest ways to avoid the London fog which hasn't existed since the 1950s when coal burning fires were finally banned. And maybe someone might mention Mary Poppins. Let's hope not. |
Anonymous
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Londoner here! Whatever you do, don't go to the Clink and I'd avoid Greenwich too. Total faff to get there and yeah it's a nice park with a good view but something to avoid during a 3 day trip.
Tea! Plenty of locals go to tea to the Ritz or the Savoy. I'd recommend Fortnum and Mason for a high end tea over those two. There is no shortage of restaurants that do tea (indeed most of them will, lower priced than the 3 options mentioned earlier). You could try the Modern Pantry or Bea's of Bloomsbury. If all you want to do is eat a scone with clotted cream, buy a scone from Gail's, easily the BEST bakery in London, and some Roddas clotted cream from Waitrose. Done. I would recommend all the baked goods and food at Gail's. |
Anonymous
Agree (Londoner PP here), Gail's is v good! Not sure I would call it the BEST in London  but it's good! To be honest I don't know many Londoners who go out just to get a scone and a cup of tea, but you can certainly get one in Gails, Maison Blanc (a few branches of this around), and many little independent cafes - e.g. J&A Cafe near Charterhouse Square (I think they do a scone tea for £6), the Potting Shed in Dorset Square, Bake a Boo in West Hampstead (good for catering to free-from diets), the Coffee Cup in Hampstead. Often museum cafes (like the one at the V&A, the one at the Wallace Collection) have mini cream teas with scones. There are also less expensive versions of the classic hotel high teas, e.g. the Ham Yard Hotel's tea is very nice and about £19.
BTW I recommended the Clink and Greenwich - Greenwich is on the jubilee line so not really a faff, and my kids loved it there. But agree that these aren't essential places to go, just somewhere different to go in London! |