London

[Dzone1]

Well my brother is taking me on a long weekend for my 50th. He asked me tonight if I wanted to go to London. Iâ€m sure it will be great. Let me know your thought or if you have other vacation suggestions.

[zigbee]

Well my brother is taking me on a long weekend for my 50th. He asked me tonight if I wanted to go to London. Iâ€m sure it will be great. Let me know your thought or if you have other vacation suggestions.

Tower of London for sure.  Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace,  eat Fish and Chips near Piccadilly Square at pub,  and ride the TUBE... The British Museum of natural History, Harrods shopping, River Ride of the River Thames... GO DO THIS TRIP.  YOU'll have fun.

[Dzone1]

Yeah itâ€s pretty amazing heâ€s asked me to do this.

[zigbee]

I spent several days in London and did all those things.   Get an excursion to see Big Ben and the Statue of Queen Victoria's husband Albert.  It's an incredible sight.

[cincydawg]

I've been to London 4-5 times, couldn't really say I had a great time there.

Try to get out of the tourist areas to dine, or else find an Indian place.

And be sure you look BOTH WAYS before crossing a street, BOTH ways.

[ScarletHayes]

I don't have a prayer rug, so I'll probably never make it.  

In all seriousness, there are traditional hot spots I just don't have a desire to ever visit:  NYC, Paris, London, Vegas, etc...   Most people do though...  obviously.  

Now if I was going on someone else's dime?  That's different.  

[zigbee]

I don't have a prayer rug, so I'll probably never make it.  

In all seriousness, there are traditional hot spots I just don't have a desire to ever visit:  NYC, Paris, London, Vegas, etc...   Most people do though...  obviously.  

Now if I was going on someone else's dime?  That's different.  

I went in 2005-06, iirc.   Did all the stuff that tourists do and loved it.   No problems at all.  Tower of London is a cool thing to spend several hours in seeing where they held prisoners and so forth with the family jewels.   Had an Indian meal on a Sunday when about every restaurant was closed.  Walking is easy to get around or riding the Tube as I mentioned.  Riding on the River Thames was pretty cool for boat tour, and you can get off the beaten path in ways to wander around the streets for a pub.  I found an old one not many people were in there and had great fish and chips.  I did not ride the big ferris wheel as it was not an interest.

[cincydawg]

I was with the wife when she was there on business, so I was tagging along "for free" almost. They had parties and dinners most nights. I toured the city during the day while she worked. Much of it is walkable, as noted. I have some Brit friends who suggested places to go.

I ate at a McDonald's once for lunch. The woman taking my order could not understand me, nor I her. She was a Cockney. I pointed. It was expensive and mediocre.

I stayed once at a hotel right on Trafalgar Square and visited the art museum there. Everyone was rushing around to see the famous paintings like Sunflowers and ignoring everything else. Check check check check.... Leave.

I found entire rooms with almost no one in them because there were no well known paintings in them, another room would be packed.

A somewhat pricey way to see cities like Paris or London is to hire a limo for about $500 a day. You get a personal tour guide in effect and he drops you off specifically where you want and you don't mess with parking. You can see a LOT of stuff that way in packed cities in one day and not be totally exhausted.

[lrrps21]

Stonehenge/Woodhendge and Hadrian's Wall were my things to see. Some French lady's wax museum was ok, too. Other than those things, London and the UK isn't worth visiting.

[cincydawg]

The wife has a close friend in a tiny village north of London. We stayed there three nights. The place was built in 1200 or something and the ceilings were about 5 feet in the old part. We spent one very nice day watching a local team play another team in cricket, which was quite interesting for me. The ladies were bringing us drinks all afternoon, and her friend was a great cook. We walked into town and visited the local bar, which was an experience. We also toured Cambridge which was nearby.

A great way to experience the real parts of a country is to have friends who live there rather than seeing the touristy spots.

[lrrps21]

I went through several castles visiting Europe. Those dudes were small people. I'm not sure the UK is worth visiting. I understand the 'get away from tourists' as that is what we do when we travel. I think dzone and his brother are looking to party. I could be wrong.

[ChinaBuck]

I love the architecture there, but the gardens in England are the best in Europe as far as I'm concerned. Kew Gardens is a great spot, but there are many.

[Jacketbuckeye]

So you'll just be there for a long weekend? Do you prefer local flair, touristy things, history, or what?

You could spend weeks in London and never run out of things to do. When we were over there awhile back we had the fortune of having an exchange student and his girlfriend, a local, show us around. We also really like history, followed by local flair and then touristy things.

The markets are great. We checked out Camden Market and Borough Market.

Greenwich Village was one of our favorite stops. The Naval War College had an exhibit on the development of clocks, and we never thought we'd spend 3 hours learning about clocks. Plus seeing the Prime Meridian was cool.

For touristy stuff, Westminster Cathedral, St Paul's Cathedral, and the Tower of London were all very worth it. The Churchill War Museum was also a great stop.

We were there during the Scottish referendum, so we loved being a fly on the wall in the pubs. Learned a ton of great stuff. The pubs are where you go to get a feel for current events. Since Brexit is big on everyone's mind, I expect you'll have a similar opportunity.

Have fun! London is a fantastic city! And happy birthday!

[Dzone1]

Thanks Jacket. My brother has been there several times so he will know where to take us. Definitely explore the city during the day, and throw down many beers at night. Probably go for 5 days.