London part 2 - Tips on where to do..

So here we are in the second part of our London journey. Those who have not read my first part, here is the link to it.

http://alluneedandwant.blogspot.com/2010/07/london-what-to-expectespecially-for.html

With the information i gathered and based upon my choice i have put together below the best three attractions you can find in each different categories.

Castles
England is famous for their castles. There are number of castles in and around London. If you are a castle lover then you have a plenty of them. For people who want to just have a feel of the castle then here are three important beautiful castles in and near London.

Windsor castle: - 
It is one of the principal official residences of the British monarch, held in trust by The Queen as Sovereign for her successors and the Nation.

You have several day tours to windsor combined with few other attractions are arranged from London which we will see later. You can choose any of them. For the castle lovers who want to spend a whole day in windsor castle, you can get there by train. Your destination station will be windsor and Eton central. You have a direct train from London Waterloo(54 min) and london Paddington (34 min) station. Reach the nearest station from your place with the help of the tube map and get towards Windsor. Windsor is exactly behind the Heathrow airport terminal 5.


Hampton Court Palace:-

This is often referred as Hampton Court. It is located in South west London. You have 12 acre of gardens. The gardens are the particular feature in this.Check out for the flower shows during summer.


Tower of London:-

This is one of the stop in the original tour of London which is mentioned in my previous post. If you could not cover on that, then catch the tube and head to Tower hill tube station (0.1 miles)
Beaches
Brighton :-

It is located East sussex which is the south coast of Great Britain. This is one of my favourite place. Lovely happenening place specialy during summer. You will relax,enjoy and love the place. Dont forget to carry your sunscreen lotion. You have direct trains from Milton Keynes, London Victoria, Bedford, London Bridge and Gatwick Airport.


Isle of White:-

You have number of beaches here. You can get to anyone of them according to your wish.You need to reach Portsmouth and from there you need to catch a ferry according the beach you have selected. Direct train is available from Waterloo, Paddington stations to Pourtsmouth.


Bournemouth:-

Bournemouth's location on the south coast of England has made it a popular destination for tourists. You have direct trains from Reading.


Museums & Galleries
London is a place for history lovers. There are huge number of museums and galleries to look for. I have just named three which everyone will love to visit.
Buckingham palace:-

Buckingham Palace is the official London residence of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality. Its only open during the summer. You can see the Royal collection of the Queen and the state rooms.


National Gallery:-

This one is for the art lovers. Collection of Paintings by different artisits.So much to see for people who love drawing. It is located in Trafalgar square. This is the place were you will start your original tour London. Its one of the happening place and lots of events and activities takes place throughout the year.


Greenwich:-

You often come across GMT which is Greenwich Mean Time. It is a term originally referring to mean solar time at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. It is located in South London. So you can check out for the Royal observatory and the history behind them. Also you can get to see the Greenwich meridian line which separates east and west hemispheres. You can see people standing by placing one leg in east and another in west hemisphere posing for a camera shot. I did it too ;) You can have a view of the Greenwich park while walking towards the observatory. One of the old and Refreshing park.The nearest tube station is cutty sark, or else you can get into a bus which goes to north greenwich. Also you can use the Thames river cruise to get here.


Parks and Gardens
I have already mentioned about Greenwich park, so i am not repeating it.
Hyde park and Kensington garden:-

They are two different parks merged. You can get to see and enjoy lots of fun filling events like Horse riding, swimming, boating, cycling etc. Also in Hyde park you can see the Diana memorial fountain.Its actually 10 to 15 mins walkable distance from central London.The nearest tube station is Marble arch.


Kew garden:-

It is the Royal botanical garden located in South west London. It is one of them listed in world heritage sites.You can look for the Botanical glasshouses, Treetop walkway, sackler crossing, waterlily house.Nearest tube station is Kew gardens.


Regent's park:-

Another lovely park which contains beautiful sceneries. It is the largest area for sports in Central London. Its famous for its rose garden.Also you can look for boat house,queens garden, open air theater, London zoo. You have free walking tours. Walkable distance from central London. Nearest tube station is Regent's park.


To be continued....
In my next post will cover theme parks, day tours, shopping, weekend trips and the must visit places..

London - What to expect...Especially For people visiting for holiday

People from all parts of the world would love to visit London at some point of time. I would like to cover few things which the trip adviser, things to do section does not cover. So here we go....

I would say if you are on holiday visit to London, then i would prefer you to plan during the summer time in London, so that you could go places and also you get a long hours bright day which helps you to cover lot of places before dark. So the summer here starts from April middle till September every year.

Important Note:-
 Dont think it is summer, so you could have your suitcase full of minis which are long waiting in your cupboards. You may also need the jackets , umbrella , shawls etc...You will need them for sure. So have atleast one set of them. If you are not taking my words, then be ready to spend in pounds for the same as one of my cousin did ;)

OK lets start with sight seeing..No no.. before that,how will you reach your hotel?? Once you reach the Heathrow airport, if you have your friends an relatives to pick u up, then well and good. If not and if you are staying in any hotels and especially in central London, You have a direct train from terminal 5 to central London. If you are very tired after your flight journey and cant wait to buy tickets,then catch a taxi which will cost you apprrox 80 pounds to central london.

Basic essentials :-

Once you unpack your things,you will want to buy your basic essentials  for your stay like milk, water, Kellogg,sim card top up, creams etc.So where to get them? Check for a store called Sainsbury's. You have lot more chains like Asda, Tesco, Morrisons etc... But i feel Sainsbury's is more reachable  It has lots of branches all over UK (Like Ralfes in U.S and Nilgiris in India). Open your laptop, connect to internet and go to google maps. Put in your hotel address and search for Sainsbury's, here we go...So get your stuffs there and get settled.So before starting your sight seeing you need to buy one thing which is very very useful in UK. Its nothing but the Oyster card. This a card which you can use it in both bus and train. Unlike in U.S here in Uk the public transportation is awesome. In U.S you  have to have a personl vehicle to go around places,even if you are there for few months. But in London you have 24hrs bus and train services, which is great. So get on to the nearest tube station and get an oyster card, as well pick up a London connection rail services map. To get more information about oyster card , train and bus services between any two desired locations the below link will be useful.

www.tfl.gov.uk

All Set to Rock...

Now you are all set to Explore London. First thing that strike everyone when they think of London is the River Thames, London eye, Big Ben. So to start your Holiday in london by exploring The attractions in London. You have several london sight seeing tours available and arranged by different companies. The one i went is the Original tour London.An open top bus with a tour guide,or you have an option of having an audio guide with 8 different languages of your choice. It covers all major attractions and the best part of this is you have a hop on hop off facility in between the tours. Also you have a free Thames river cruise. You can book you tickets online anywhere around the world and it is valid for 6 months. Once you start your tour by getting into the open top bus it is valid for 24hrs. This tour wiill cover all major attractions in London. To get more info about the original tour click this www.theoriginaltour.com

Will give you few tips and information about areas you must cover in and around london in my next post..To Be Continued...