Ok well here's what myself and my girlfriend did while we were there....
Spent 4 nights in London. bought day passes for the tube each day (if you buy them after 9:30am it is only 4.70 pounds.) We stayed in Camden which is the north part of the downtown right across from Euston Station, and just two blocks away from King's Cross and St Pancras stations. We stayed at the Premier Travel Inn - Euston, which came to around 80pounds per night. I found that you get what you pay for when it comes to hotels, and if you're going with a friend or a group it's cheap to split the cost.
Now, as for things to do while you're there here is what we did each day. We planned everything based on proximity, so we could walk from one place to another quite easily. You only really need to use the tube to get to and from your hotel, or if you're tired. All the times listed are the hours they were open the day we went there and the Tube stop for that particular place is in ().
DAY ONE
AREA: SOHO / TRAFALGAR
British Library (St. Pancras)
British Museum - Hours: 10-6pm (Tottenham Court Road)
Piccadilly Circus (Piccadilly Circus)
National Gallery: Free, Hours 10-6pm daily (9pm on Wednesdays) (Charing Cross)
Trafalgar Square - in front of National Gallery (Charing Cross)
day one notes: This is an awesome schedule to get the jet lag out on your first day there. If you arrive in London before noon you will have no problem doing all of this by foot. The walk from the Library to the Museum and then to Piccadilly Circus is somewhat lengthy but if you've never been to London before it'll give you a chance to see what the city is all about. By the end of the day you'll be drained so you'll easily be able to sleep and the jet lag will be gone.
DAY TWO
DAY OF ROYALTY!
AREA: ST. JAMES’S AND WESTMINSTER
Buckingham Palace - Must be there by 11:30 to witness the changing of the guard (Green Park)
Walk to Westminster Abbey/Big Ben/Parliament (Westminster)
Westminster Abbey: 10 pounds
Walk to Houses of Parliament & Downing Street
Walk across Westminster Bridge to London Eye
London Eye: 10pounds (book online to save 10%) (Waterloo)
Walk to the Imperial War Museum: Free 10-6pm daily (Elephant and Castle)
Day two notes: All of this is extremely short walks. We did the London Eye at around 7:00pm and thought it was a perfect time to go. It wasn't busy at all. The imperial war museum is a bit of a walk, but not too much. We walked to the War Museum from Parliament, and then took the Tube from Elephant and Castle to Waterloo to go to the London Eye. Your feet will probably hurt by the end of this day as your body probably won't be used to walking so much, and walking on cobblestone in some areas.
DAY THREE
Tower of London - 9am-6pm, 13pounds (Tower Hill)
Tower Bridge
St. Paul’s Cathedral (St Paul's)
Abbey Road (St John's Wood)
Leicester Square/Covent Garden
Day three notes: This is the only day when a tube pass is absolutely necessary. Make sure you get to the Tower of London as soon as it opens to avoid the crowds. Abbey Road is cool if you're a Beatles Fan. Leicester Square and Covent Garden are great place to eat and take in some nightlife, and go to a show. There is a cheap tickets place in Leicester Square for theatre.
DAY FOUR
Kensington Palace: 8.50pounds, hours 10-6pm (Queensway)
Walk around Hyde Park & Find lunch
Walk to Royal Albert Hall: Tour is 6pounds
Walk to Natural History Museum or Science museum (there are other museums in the area): 10-5:50pm, Free
Ceremony of the keys at the Tower of London (Tower Hill) (
http://www.hrp.org.uk/webcode/content.asp?ID=704)
Day four notes: This day takes you to the Kensington, Notting Hill, Knightsbridge area which is pretty nice and has some fancy houses and such. You absolutely MUST go to the Ceremony of the keys. It was our favourite part of the whole trip, and I have included a link with more info about it. It's a ceremony that has occured nightly for the last 800+ years.
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ok that's a comprehensive list of things to do and see in London. I am going to make a couple suggestions that will help you tons. First, get the Eyewitness Travel London Pocket Map and Guide (
http://www.chapters.indigo.ca/books/ite ... cket+book'). It will tell you how to get everywhere, has a nice fold out map that also has a map of the tube system, and it's no bigger than your hand. We loved it so much we ended up buying one while we were in London for Paris. The second thing is that food there is a lot more expensive, but you can find a lot of sandwich shops that are pretty good for lunch. Expect to spend almost double what you would here on dinner, but remember, you're on vacation and you never know when you're going to be back there so don't worry too much about money. London is so big that if you don't have a plan you're probably going to lose out trying to figure out what to do next.
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ok so that's it for London... after that we took the train from King's Cross Station to Edinburgh Scotland. On the way we got off in York, which is an old walled medieval city. We only spent the afternoon there and basically just walked around. We got back on the train and went to Edinburgh. If you plan on visiting multiple cities, might I suggest looking into a britrail pass? You can get passes where you can have 4 days of travel within Great Britain for $230. This means you can get on and off as many times you want in one day.
So, we spent 3 nights in Edinburgh. the first day we didn't arrive until after dinner so we just basically walked around. We stayed in a travelodge Hotel right on the Royal Mile. While in Edinburgh we saw the Castle, Holyroodhouse Palace and walked up Arthur's Seat. We also did a ghost tour where they take you underneath the city which was really cool. You really only need one full day in Edinburgh, as on the second full day we took the train up to St Andrew's and spent the day there. I also had the best pizza in my life in a place in Edinburgh, so if you decide to visit there let me know and I'll give you some other pointers and places to eat and such.
Next we went to Liverpool... don't go to Liverpool unless you're a Beatles Fan. We stayed in a travelodge near the train station. The Beatles stuff is really cool though. You can do a Magical Mystery Tour where they take you around Liverpool showing you Penny lane, Strawberry Fields, where the four of them grew up, go in the Cavern Club, etc. There is also a beatles museum that was cool. If you're into soccer try and see if you can arrange it where you can be in town when Liverpool or Everton are playing. You could score some tickets for that, and that would be an awesome experience. Actually, from Liverpool you can take a ferry over to Ireland, so perhaps Liverpool wouldn't be a bad place for you to go. There just isn't much else to do in the town other than Beatles stuff, but one or two nights there wouldn't be horrible.
As for distances by train, London to Edinburgh is around 5 hours and Edinburgh to Liverpool was 4. Liverpool to London is about 2.5 or 3 hours. The trains are high speed trains and a lot of them offer really scenic views, plus it's a good chance to catch some sleep.
I think this is long enough. I caught a bit of the travel bug after my trip so I love talking about my trip and what we did and saw and just discussing the experience. if you need any other advice just let me know and I'll keep a look out for this thread.
I can't wait until the day schools are over-funded and the military is forced to hold bake sales to buy planes.
"It's a great thing when you realize you still have the ability to surprise yourself. Makes you wonder what else you can do that you've forgotten about"