Headed to London for the first time in 25 years
 

I've been reading this forum in advance of my October 4-day weekend in London. I have not been there in 25 years and clearly things have changed! ;) Please bear with my very basic questions.

We'll be using the Tube for the most part. I have Chase Marriott Visa and Amex Platinum, neither of which have foreign fees.

1. What's an Oyster card? Do I need one?
2. What is TfL - is that the best way to plan how to get from place to place on the Tube? Do they have an iPhone app?
3. What are must-do places to see in 4 days?
4. What are some suggestions for a central hotel convenient to the usual attractions like Windsor Castle, Buckingham Palace, the Tower, Big Ben, etc? I have gold status in Marriott, Starwood, and Hilton.

Thank you!

Oystercard is the means by which you can pay for travel in London. It's an electronic wallet that can hold cash (for paying for single journeys) and or Travelcards (season tickets that allow unlimited travel)

You can also use contactless credit and debit cards as well as various payment smartphone apps

There is a daily cap on Oystercard and similar usage and it's substantially cheaper than paying for single journeys except

TfL - Transport for London. It's the controlling body for public transport in - em London.

Must do depends on what you consider must do

Windsor Castle isn't in London so a London location won't be convenient for it. You could stay somewhere like Victoria where you can get a direct train there but also be able to reach many other places in London

Thank you. I was reading on another thread here that contactless credit/debit cards (Apple Pay) from the US don't usually work on the Tube and that Americans are always jamming up the entrances trying to make them work. That's why I was asking about the Oyster card.

I'll be with my daughter, who is 26 so we'd be looking for a place to stay in a fun, vibrant, (dare I say) hip area that also has good Tube/train connections?

Personally, I quite like the Soho area which probably covers the "hip" requirement ;) There is a vibe which is quite unique and a lot quieter than the hell of Leicester Square just down the road on Shaftsbury Avenue (I implore you not to be sucked in by the overpriced poor quality restaurants in that area). I can recommend some decent pubs/restaurants in that area if you want.

Plus it is near Green Park, the palace and the splendour of Pall Mall and Trafalgar Square. I was just at the National Portrait Gallery today (in the Square) which was wonderful as always...if you're into that sort of thing.

I would love pub/restaurant recommendations. We love finding small, mom-and-pop, hole-in-the-wall places that have outstanding food. We are not into fine dining and certainly not into overpriced dining. We also love all ethnic types of food too with Middle Eastern/Greek/Lebanese being my personal favorite but we will eat any type.

I'll have a think sometime tomorrow (bit late here) and get something over to you.

Your best way of navigating all the public transport options will be to use the Citymapper app. Whilst it now covers lots of cities, it started in London and is excellent.

For a hip area, Soho is fine, but also consider Shoreditch, Hoxton and Borough, all of which have extensive night life scenes, are good fun, and are not too far out from the centre for navigation purposes.

If you are only there for four days you will never cover everything - or even a small part of what's on offer. I would suggest you think of a different theme for each day (eg do Architecture one day, History another, Design a third, modern art a fourth, or whatever floats your boat). You don't have to be religious about ignoring an excellent modern art gallery next door to the amazing architectural site you are visiting, just because it's not the modern art day, but it does provide some focus and purpose - and also allows you to do slightly more than scratch the surface of things.

This is an AWESOME suggestion! Thank you!

Most contactless bank cards issued in the US won't work in lieu of oyster, because they've used a different radio protocol from banks elsewhere. However, if your Amex is contactless, then it will work in lieu of an oyster (Amex use the 'global' radio protocol - for want of a better phrase - in all cards).
Do enjoy the visit. If it's been 25 years, it'll feel very different. Even more crowded. Much more multicultural. Far more diverse restaurant scene. Traffic speeds in central London even slower, so walking or tube generally always your quickest option.

But sitting upstairs in the front of the bus is still enjoyable. You see many things that you wouldn't see otherwise.

Oh boy, it's changed a bit in those 25 years.

Went back after a 20 year gap last fall.

Loved it, as I did the first two times.

If you use transit enough, the Oyster card will save you some money. Here's a link for info on the daily cap.

https://tfl.gov.uk/fares-and-payment.../price-capping

Your user profile lists your location as Boston - so think CharlieCard for the Oyster.

Must dos depend on your interests, but I think the Tower is worth doing especially if your daughter has never been. They spiffed up the Crown Jewels display a few years ago for The Queen's diamond jubilee too. Make sure you join a Beefeater guided tour as it includes a visit to the chapel where three of Henry VIII's wives are buried.

Unfortunately, Buckingham Palace is pretty much closed for tours in October. You can still see it from outside the gates and watch the changing of the guards though. I personally like watching the horse guards instead - no gates there.

I try to see a show when I'm in London. You probably know about the TKTS booths for the West End shows. I think tickets for the Royal National Theatre are separate from that. If you're really into Shakespeare - there's also The Globe - they added another theater a few years ago.

The Tate Modern also expanded a few years ago so it has even more galleries. The Natural History museum just moved the blue whale skeleton to the central hall which they redid - museums are good for a rainy day.

The hotel will probably have a paper map of major attractions nearby. I like these paper maps just in case the phone battery dies.

There's a Hilton in Bankside. We stayed in that area recently and found the location worked well for us (just not the property!). Convenient to transit, and not too far to walk to quite a few places of interest, but just far enough out of the utter chaos that is central London. The Globe Theater and Tate Modern are right there in Bankside.

Within the Hilton we had a very good Sunday brunch/lunch at the Oxbo restaurant.