OT: Coming to England!

[bclaire]

Brighton definitely. Get the quicker train- hit up GAK- Guitar, Amp And Keyboard music store- hit the shops in the Lanes, go to the beach and have a seaside lunch and beer.

Stonehenge- all of my British friends say it's an awful lot of work to get there and then you say "Yup- there it is" and then leave. There are much better archaeological sites in the UK.

I'd recommend the Imperial War Museum in London- excellent! Tate Modern - excellent art and free! British Museum, Denmark St for music stores, etc.

Walk along the Thames over the Millennium Bridge near Tate...

What else... hmm. If it's your first time, do a touristy bus tour...

If you have a smart phone, iPhone, etc, download the free Metr0 app and add London as a city. It will tell you how to get from point A to point B on the Tube with very little hassle. It may even be worth buying an Oyster Card for subway if you're going to be using it a lot...

The Abbey Road crosswalk is also a bit anticlimactic too- yup, there it is- and don't be those tourists who stop rush hour traffic to recreate the shot- those people just want to get to or from work!

Where are you staying? I love the Columbia Hotel in Lancaster Gate. Very convenient to two tube stops (including Paddington) and it's where a lot of bands stay sometimes. No A/C but many places don't have it either...

[bclaire]

Jesse Malin
Hotel Columbia- shot at the Columbia Hotel
"sun goes down over Hyde Park-concierge is tending bar..."

Right across the street is Hyde Park- beautiful walks...

[myboss57]

My Favs in London:

The boat ride from Westminster tube station to either the London Tower or the extended version to Greenwich returning via the tube. If you make it to Greenwich you can walk through the tunnel under the river and take the Docklands Light Rail back.

Abby Road crosswalk near St John’s Wood tube station.

Portobello Road market early on a Saturday morning.

Camden Town markets on a Sunday.

Covent Garden, Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus, SOHO, Trafalgar Square areas. Don’t take the tube from one to the other. It’s faster and more scenic to walk.

King Street from Sloan Square Tube station to The Big Easy Bar-B-Q & Crab Shack: http://www.bigeasy.co.uk" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; It’s an upscale area that’s not too touristy.

Bill Wyman’s Sticky Fingers Restaurant in Kensington: http://www.stickyfingers.co.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Harvey Nichols restaurant at the top of the OXO Tower: http://www.harveynichols.com/oxo-tower- ... restaurant" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Day trip to Brighton.

I wouldn’t even think about trying to drive a car around in London. The tube is fast and the upper decks of the busses are great. I’ve seen it rain every day in London during June so bring umbrellas! The ones that automatically open and close are best…

Man, this is a lot to take in! Thank you though! I think this will be a matter of going through and figuring out what to do. Definitely some good stuff in here, the boat ride suggestions sound wonderful. And that Harvey Nichols place seems to have vegan food, which may be a nice "fancy dinner" night while there!
I'm really wondering about the car now, if we did rent one it would only be to get from city to city. I plan on using public transportation as much as possible. I've driven in England - Harrogate city and the countryside - so I can't even imagine what a clusterf*** London would be! I've seen National Lampoon's Euro Vacation! "Looks kids Big Ben, Parliament."

Brighton definitely. Get the quicker train- hit up GAK- Guitar, Amp And Keyboard music store- hit the shops in the Lanes, go to the beach and have a seaside lunch and beer.

Stonehenge- all of my British friends say it's an awful lot of work to get there and then you say "Yup- there it is" and then leave. There are much better archaeological sites in the UK.

I'd recommend the Imperial War Museum in London- excellent! Tate Modern - excellent art and free! British Museum, Denmark St for music stores, etc.

Walk along the Thames over the Millennium Bridge near Tate...

What else... hmm. If it's your first time, do a touristy bus tour...

If you have a smart phone, iPhone, etc, download the free Metr0 app and add London as a city. It will tell you how to get from point A to point B on the Tube with very little hassle. It may even be worth buying an Oyster Card for subway if you're going to be using it a lot...

The Abbey Road crosswalk is also a bit anticlimactic too- yup, there it is- and don't be those tourists who stop rush hour traffic to recreate the shot- those people just want to get to or from work!

Where are you staying? I love the Columbia Hotel in Lancaster Gate. Very convenient to two tube stops (including Paddington) and it's where a lot of bands stay sometimes. No A/C but many places don't have it either...

Thanks for the suggestions! Definitely a good idea for the iPhone app. I'm definitely going to be using that feature I think!
The more I think about Stonehenge, the more I think you are correct about driving all the way there and saying, "Yup, back in the car!" I guess I'll see what the wife wants to do and play it by ear, I was thinking we could hit that on the way from London to Chepstow, but it's still out of the way a little. We'll see...

Haha, I wouldn't think of trying to recreate the Abbey Road shot, I can bet that's annoying as hell.

The museums sound great, and we'll definitely be doing a few touristy things - maybe a double-decker bus tour or something!

[bclaire]

I rave to everyone about the Metr0 app... it's free, first of all, but it has saved my butt in London and particularly Paris because I speak zero French. However, one of the really cool things is, you can look up attractions and get tube directions to them. It's amazing.

It's a must-have and it stands alone, not needing to be connected to a network or wifi to work...

... which brings me to- make sure you are ready with your iPhone- you're going to need to shut off all of the data transferring features except for when you need them- and that said, you're going to want to add a data plan for a month based on what you think you may use for data. You can reset the data used counter in settings and then check it as you go along. I can give you a run-down of what you need to shut off if you need it but definitely make sure you have a plan (pun intended) before you go...


Lastly, there's LOTS of archeological stuff that's similar to Stonehenge- standing stones, castles, etc. You can go here:
http://www.megalithic.co.uk/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

and check on the maps to see what's around where you'll be! Here's London:
http://www.megalithic.co.uk/asb_mapsqua ... tname&tl=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[myboss57]

Thanks a lot, Billy! Yeah, the phone thing is something I need to work out. I'd like to get some kind of a plan to be able to use it there, at least for internet and maybe the map features for finding restaurants and crap.
I have until June to get it figured out, so no rush! But I'll take any help you care to give us on it, when you get the chance. thanks again!

I'll definitely check out those websites too, Stonehenge may not be all it's "cracked" up to be! But I'd still like to see some ancient sites that may be similar and a little more intimate in regards to being able to explore and get a closer look.

~Myke

[alisondt]

I would recommend taking a visit up to Liverpool (which is what I did) for all your Beatles history.

They have:
Cavern Club http://cavernclub.org
The Beatles Poster Shop - http://thebeatlesposters.com
Beatles Story Museum - http://www.beatlesstory.com
and the Magical Mystery Tour!

Its where it all began really.

[Hubaxe]

I would recommend taking a visit up to Liverpool (which is what I did) for all your Beatles history.

They have:
Cavern Club http://cavernclub.org
The Beatles Poster Shop - http://thebeatlesposters.com
Beatles Story Museum - http://www.beatlesstory.com
and the Magical Mystery Tour!

Its where it all began really.

Even if it's not anymore the real Cavern Club, it's worth a visit.
In York the National Railway Museum is really nice.
In London, if WW2 history is something you like, "The cabinet War room" is also a great place to visit.

[Ronnie Robinson]

Thats fantastic, your heads probably spinning from the suggestions....but even so ...

York - one if not the most beautyful city in the Uk, so much history and beauty without the grime of london. York Minster and the Shambles are fantastic, afternoon tea at betties with all the japanese tourists!

Edinburgh also superb, the castle the royal mile and whistle binkies music bar .....but dont expect much to happen before 9pm...the bands dont come on till midnight

In any case Enjoy.

[Les Paul Lover]

I love York. That railway museum is pretty cool too. A shame the OP asked about it in 2011. I assume he's been back home a little while now.....

[Hubaxe]

A shame the OP asked about it in 2011......

None of us noticed that

[Les Paul Lover]

I assume the person who raised that thread from the dead is a spammer....

[bclaire]

I assume the person who raised that thread from the dead is a spammer....

Yeah, but Liverpool travel spammer? odd...

I'm keeping an eye out....

[bclaire]

We did the Magical Mystery Tour like 7 years ago back when they had one of the matching 60's bus. They've replaced it since which was probably a good thing since it was falling apart.

You totally understood why they wanted to get the heck our of Liverpool....

[Les Paul Lover]

We did the Magical Mystery Tour like 7 years ago back when they had one of the matching 60's bus. They've replaced it since which was probably a good thing since it was falling apart.

You totally understood why they wanted to get the heck our of Liverpool....

Liverpool has been improved quite a bit since, but still has a number of pretty rough and run down areas.