dawtips

My wife and I are staying in London for one night in July on our way back from Rome (flying BA of course). We have 28 hours between when the first plane lands and the second departs.

I was thinking of staying at the W London - Leicester Square. Is this a good area to stay in? What should we do during our time in the city?

corporate-wage-slave

You could not be more central, and that hotel has its fans (though I personally prefer the Hilton Metropole).

Well here's my semi random top six suggestions:

1) British Museum - which is free-ish
2) London Eye - go in the evening when the queues are less
3) Choral Evensong at St Paul's / Westminster Abbey / Southwark Cathedral /etc - make sure there's a proper choir in though!
4) West End play or musical / National Theatre
5) Early morning walk around the medieval areas of St Bartholomew's Hospital / Smithfield.
6) Mid morning walk from Trafalgar Square, through The Mall, Buckingham Palace.

Basically I would treat it as a test run for a proper visit to London. It's an amazing place.

UKtravelbear

The National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery will be on your doorstep.

A river boat down to Greenwich will get you on the river and then a wander around the National Maritime Musum/ Greenwich Park*/ Old Royal Naval College and then the market are a nice day out too.

* a chunk of the park will be cordoned off as the Olympic Equestrian Events are being held there but there will still be plenty to see.

Raffles

The hotel is new but the bottom end rooms are meant to be very small, with the bathroom literally in the bedroom. It is a 'party' hotel in a very noisy spot, but as a W that is hardly surprising. Your Plat status should see you OK, though.

Location is very good for your needs, especially as the tube from Heathrow stops at Leicester Square.

UKtravelbear

Just to add that parts of the Mall will also be cordoned off due to Olympic preparations on Horseguards parade

That said, despite some restrictions London will be open for business !

jerry a. laska

See the following for some suggestions:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/u-k-i...xperience.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/u-k-i...hlight=layover

Bloomsbury

I personally wouldn't recommend Leicester Square to any friends. Although they've just finished a project to make the actual square nicer, it's not the most 'refined' of places, especially at night. You've got big cinemas, lots of night clubs, a few casinos, plus fast food places and chain restaurants.

Le Méridien Piccadilly is the Starwood I'd probably go for. Very nice since the recent refurbishment. I personally like the Firmdale hotels in London best.

What to do depends on you really and also what day of the week you'll be visiting. But certainly try to take advantage of some of the fantastic restaurants in London. Some of the pre and post theatre offers are very good value. I'd also see if any shows are in town that you want to watch - London has some fine music venues and great acts passing through.

JonWB

Some suggestions

Morning:
Scott's Last Expedition
Afternoon:
Afternoon Tea at Sketch (rather than lunch as it will be a long day flying west)
Evening:
West End - Warhorse
The Comedy Store
(particularly on a Tuesday night - a taster, content usually based around current affairs in the UK/Europe)

Depending exactly when, there maybe some arts/cultural events for the Olympics.

Prospero

Moving this thread over to the UK and Ireland forum

Prospero
Moderator: BAEC forum

HIDDY

My ideal day in London would not be spent inside at all.....especially if the sun is out. Walk about see the sights and picnic in one of the parks or gardens.

If you see a queue avoid it....no matter what it's for.

dawtips

Exactly. We will be spending as little time as possible in the hotel.

Thanks for all of the tips everyone! Looks like we will be in the right area.

kmandrew

We land at 2 pm BA from Warsaw and leave at 10:30 am the next day on AA to NY. My wife watches Masterpiece Mystery and of course now wants to visit Oxford. I see the bus takes around 80 minutes and runs every half hour so I assume we wouldn't be able get to Oxford before 4:30; travelling in July so plenty of evening light. She said we could stay for around 75-100 pounds at Keble College and catch the 6:50 am back to Heathrow.

Does this seam feasable to those of you who live near there?

ajGoes

I don't know whether the journey makes sense, but I can tell you that Oxford is well worth visiting. I was lucky enough to spend three days at New College and would happily go back. In addition to the colleges, I can recommend the charming little Museum of the History of Science, where, among other exhibits, you can admire the original flask of pennicilin and a small chalkboard bearing an equation in Einstein's hand. Realistically though, you won't have time to do much in Oxford as the museums and colleges will be closing to visitors by the time you get there. I think an afternoon and evening in London would be more realistic.

UKtravelbear

I'm guessing your wife wants to see some of the Morse / Lewis locations?

As ajGoes says most of the colleges / museums may well be closed by the time you get there.

London would still provide plenty of Masterpiece Mystery locations for her to explore from Sherlock and Poirot for example.

Whatever place you chose you could (with a little research and subterfuge) plan a nice late afternoon / evening exploring for some of the locations.

BearX220

On the plus side the Heathrow-Oxford bus you have your eye on runs like clockwork and is very pleasant to use; it drops you at Gloucester Green coach depot bang in the middle of Oxford central. Several hotels within a few minutes' walk. On the anti side there won't be much for you to do by the time you arrive but walk around and drink. The Ashmolean is worth a day in itself but won't be open late; as noted above most colleges, Radcliffe Camera, etc. will be closed (although you can still sneak into some of the quadrangles); etc.

Logistically perfectly doable but maybe not too fulfilling.