weekend in london, need some help!


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Believe it or not, iv been many of places but never london! iv been once with school to the dome in 2000 but no where else. We've decided to go for a 'romantic' weekend there for the fact it has a lot to see and do, were stopping two nights and 3 days, thinking about getting the ticket for £55 that entitles us to four major attractions - the eye, dungeons, tausards and the sea life centre. Will we be able to do all four in a weekend?

I'm also after some nice hotel or b&b suggestions, everywhere seems very pricey but we're willing to spend upto £200 for somewhere nice (were treating ourselves after all) and also some nice places for food and a few drinks. Some must see places would be appreciated too! My partner has worked in London and visited briefly but never done anything touristy!

Thanks guys :)

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Ooh I'll be sure to visit those, especially Camden market! We were planning on booking at the last minute as its what he did when working away and got good deals. Hoping I can visit my dads hostel while there too to meet the people who helped him in his final few years and where he lived, I'm sure it'll be very bitter sweet.

Can't wait!

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When I went to Madam Tussauds it took us around 4 hours to go around everything. The deal is a good one. I've looked at doing it myself! There is a nice place to eat called Garfunkels on Oxford St too :)

On the last visit we did Natural History Museum which is free. Also went to see Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and the Ritz. Great day out!

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Pixie

I visit London about twice a month and know it very well indeed.

DJ brenton has it for the hotel website. I almost always use it. You get 4 or 5 star hotels for around 100 quid per night. It may seem puzzling at first, but once you have done it, you will be surprised at the quality of the hotels. It works like this - hotels dont like to have rooms empty, but neither do they want to advertise low costs for rooms. So they do "secret rooms". Often you can work out which hotel it is. If you are in any doubt about the hotel, give me a private message and I will let you know which one it is. Dont be wary of this scheme. Mostly the big companies such as Hilton, Park Plaza etc participate. For instance, Ive just had a look at The Millenium at Chelsea Football Ground and its £196 for two nights. A few hundred meters from Fulham Broadway tube station.

If you want to go to the theatre, then use lastminute.com and book ahead. If you pay for tickets in the West End you will pay far more.

If you are travelling by train get a couples rail card. Its 30% off. it costs 30 quid but you will save that on the first journey. Easy to get it too - just go to Eastmidlandstrains website.

Also, I would recommend Toptable.com. It shows the restaurants which are doing offers, such as fixed price menus. You will be extremely surprised what you can get. Also, many of the chain restaurants like Strada, Prezzo do huge discounts. Up to 30% off main meals etc. All you have to do is to get the discount code on your smartphone. Not difficult at all, but if you need some directions, then I can help.

Getting an Oyster card helps. Its cheaper than paying full rate.

Forget the pay museums like Tussauds. Go to Kensington. You have world class museums there, including the Victorian and Albert Museum, The Natural history museum. the science museum, the national portrait gallery - and all are free. In Trafalgar Square there is the National Gallery - you can see real Van Goghs and its free.

My favourite places - Covent Garden. Its central to almost everything and I have my favourite pubs there. including the Lamb and Flag. Its a real ale pub, a little pricy but its worth it for the atmosphere. Its hundreds of years old. Chinatown is a very short walk away if you fancy a chinese. Piccadilly Circus is also not far, as is Leicester Square, and Trafalgar Square is equally not that far. All within a few hundred meters and well within walking distance.

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That's a fine & comprehensive answer to Pixie's question mercurydancer !

Reading these replies on this thread I am tempted to take Mrs Catfan for a romantic weekend myself later in the year !!

Just shows how daft & soft I am.

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Shirley

Now that museum is astounding. Even for the architecture. The new roof over the courtyard is impressive. The contents of the museum is incredible. The real Rosetta stone is there. This museum is huge. I adore it. It is easily walkable from Covent Garden.

Camden Market on a Sunday is incredible.

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I forgot about the natural history museum! The eye and tausards are two things we both want to do, so might do that on the Sunday before heading home. We'll be arriving Friday midday so I think a restaurant and a few drinks is on the cards & a walk around. It seems such a magical place with all this history, i have a feeling I'm going to be in complete awe of the place! Definitely going to visit some of the free things, I love art and history.

I did wonder how the secret room thing worked, I felt abit dodgey about not knowing what hotel it was when I looked last night, but thankfully someone's explained it!

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Mercurydancer I agree with you about the British Museum. Last time I visited was with a party of schoolchildren aged 13 to 16. They loved it. "Come and see the mummies miss!". It was great to see them so relaxed and free to enjoy the experience when in school they were often negative and dismissive because of peer pressure. A fantastic day that concluded at the theatre where we saw "We will rock you". Awesome!

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catfan

When I visit London on my own I usually use Easyhotels - its Easyjet's hotel chain. It is safe, reliable and clean. But it is very basic. OK for 30 odd quid a night. When I meet the mrs on her way back from Russia, we often treat ourselves. Last July we got the Grange City hotel for a little more than £120 a night. Its a 5 star hotel and every bit of a 5 star hotel too! We had a huge room with a large sitting area, and a balcony which overlooked the river on one side, and the Gherkin tower on the other.

Other bargains are the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge - huge room overlooking the Houses of Parliament. I seldom pay much more than £120-£130 per night for a 5 star hotel. £70-90 for a 4 star.

The hotels I have stayed at with Lastminite.com secret rooms include, Radisson New Providence Wharf, Hilton Olympia, Hilton Wembley, Grange St Pauls (5 star hotel and we have stayed there 4 times - most I paid was £130) Park Plaza Westminster Bridge, Millenium at Chelsea and Hilton Kensington.

For toptable, I once booked the Savoy Grill for £20 for two courses on a fixed price menu. On one time we were in a pub in Covent Garden and I had my trusty ipad with me. Selected L'Escargot restaurant (2 Michelin stars) for a fixed price of I think less than £20 and booked it there and then. It was 5 minutes walk away!

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Pixie

Another tip is to get to the West End (That is centered on Covent Garden but includes Piccadilly and Leicester Square areas) at around 5-6pm. The restaurants do pre-theatre menus. Its often a fixed price and can be very very reasonable. I can recommend Cote Brasserie (There is one in Covent Garden and one near Trafalgar Square) which do two courses, including minute steak, for about £12.

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Lots of really great advice, Pixie. I lived in London for quite a few years, a wonderful place with so much to see and do. I guarantee you'll enjoy yourself so much you'll be going back again.

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Thanks for all replies, I appreciate the heads up on a lot of things! I'm usually ok planning trips to coastal villages/cities, but there just seems so much to do in london for our three days. I'm mostly looking forward to quality time with the other half, it's been two years since we've spent proper time together without little ones and even then it's only been a few hours :)

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