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You found a dude with a man bun held back by a giant hair clip. Really Rusty, there are better attractions in England to see, my friend. Go get disappointed at Stone Henge.
 
Rgbeard said:
While in London, on holiday, we found this.....
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Been there! The museum is fascinating. This is an ongoing irritation to the French, who pushed hard for the Prime Meridian to be in Paris. For awhile, there were countries that had their own prime meridians (may still be, for all I know, but at least their scientists use this one). Made reading the scientific papers on geology from those countries interesting, especially if you were trying to compile locality data.
 
Timbeck2 said:
You found a dude with a man bun held back by a giant hair clip. Really Rusty, there are better attractions in England to see, my friend. Go get disappointed at Stone Henge.
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That’s what Roger said……

 
judypilot said:
Been there! The museum is fascinating. This is an ongoing irritation to the French, who pushed hard for the Prime Meridian to be in Paris. For awhile, there were countries that had their own prime meridians (may still be, for all I know, but at least their scientists use this one). Made reading the scientific papers on geology from those countries interesting, especially if you were trying to compile locality data.
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Well whadda ya know. There is something to see at 0N and 0E
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Null_Island#:~:text=Null Island is located in,a permanently-moored weather buoy.
 
nice. how early did you have to arrive to get that close to the King's balcony???

Timbeck2 said:
You found a dude with a man bun held back by a giant hair clip. Really Rusty, there are better attractions in England to see, my friend. Go get disappointed at Stone Henge.
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this comment hits home to me.....
I'm currently planning a trip this summer over there. Currently have 5 nights booked in London then looking for what else to do
going to Greenwich to stand on the prime meridian is of minor interest to me but I realize it's "boring" so it's very low on the list of things
and ditto for Stonehenge.... actually Stonehenge is lower than Greenwich on my personal list mostly because it's so far away
except.... in pushing the family for their input of things they want to do or see.... we were watching a tour video for ideas and of course they showed stonehenge.... two out of my three kids both said they want to go there...and of course my wife is game....
and to make matters worse it is I think the absolutely ONLY thing any of them has said they really want to do....
so I guess I'm going to Stonehenge.

current plan is to train out to Salisbury, stay one night as a staging area and explore that random town... then get a rental car, hit the stones, then on to drive around the Cotswolds for a bit.
Not sure where we'll go from there.... ultimately swinging back to London Gatwick for our flight home.
currently thinking of staging two nights in stow-on-the-wold (if I can find a place to stay for a family of 5), then maybe over to Oxford just for another town to see and let the kids see the university...and then catching a train from there back to London and the airport

rgbeard, I'm interested in any other trip reports you have!
 
Harrods for shopping
West End for theatre
Tower of London tour by the retired Army NCOs in full dress….ask any of them about Tom Clancy
Forget Covent Gardens, its become high end tourist
 
^^ Quite. That is actually me in the dark blue jacket with the white Sirius logo.

My wife, MIL and I arrived at our spot along the Mall near Horse Guards Road at 3:30 AM.

We walked in the "push" (not really) to the Palace from there, and a mixture of smarts, planning and dumb-luck got us where we were. (I will allow you to, individually, assign your own guesses as to the percentages of those elements.)

Still in London, recovering, leaving tomorrow noon-ish for Phoenix.
 
Brad W said:
nice. how early did you have to arrive to get that close to the King's balcony???



this comment hits home to me.....
I'm currently planning a trip this summer over there. Currently have 5 nights booked in London then looking for what else to do
going to Greenwich to stand on the prime meridian is of minor interest to me but I realize it's "boring" so it's very low on the list of things
and ditto for Stonehenge.... actually Stonehenge is lower than Greenwich on my personal list mostly because it's so far away
except.... in pushing the family for their input of things they want to do or see.... we were watching a tour video for ideas and of course they showed stonehenge.... two out of my three kids both said they want to go there...and of course my wife is game....
and to make matters worse it is I think the absolutely ONLY thing any of them has said they really want to do....
so I guess I'm going to Stonehenge.

current plan is to train out to Salisbury, stay one night as a staging area and explore that random town... then get a rental car, hit the stones, then on to drive around the Cotswolds for a bit.
Not sure where we'll go from there.... ultimately swinging back to London Gatwick for our flight home.
currently thinking of staging two nights in stow-on-the-wold (if I can find a place to stay for a family of 5), then maybe over to Oxford just for another town to see and let the kids see the university...and then catching a train from there back to London and the airport

rgbeard, I'm interested in any other trip reports you have!
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We've been here for two and a half weeks, let me know your interests, and I can make recommendations. Feel free to send a conversation if you want to take it off-thread. Else I'm happy to chat on-thread. Your preference.

At which hotel are you booked?
Download the TfL Go application - official app of London trains, underground and buses.

My wife and MIL are Royalty enthusiasts, our highlights were, in order:

  • St. Paul's
  • Tower of London
  • Tea at the Ritz and a day shopping at Fortnum and Mason
  • Windsor Castle
  • Hampton Court Palace
  • Kensington Palace
  • Queen's Gallery - Buckingham Palace - changing of the Guard
  • Greenwich Observatory - Uber Boat to Vauxhall - saw the MI6 building
  • Kew Gardens
 
just now downloaded the TFL Go app. thanks

currently booked at some chain hotel, Premier Inn Bank Tower, over near London Bridge. Not really the part of town I was hoping for based on the guidebooks and I really wanted more of small european inn sort of place...but I suppose it'll work. I spent far too many hours looking for something better based on Rick Steve's guidebook and other research...this was maybe 1-1/2 months ago...so more than 3 months out from our trip, and already it was hard to find available places. It's hard looking for a family of five when hotels are set up primarily for either two people or one...so I gave up and booked that. It'll be ok I'm sure and affordable, but after I get everything else figured out I might see if I can find better.

Tower of London is first on my radar personally. I plan to make reservations for that very soon. That and probably Churchill's war room are really about the only two things in London I care about seeing.... except generally just seeing historic and iconic places that I can just walk past and otherwise just enjoy finding interesting food, hoisting a pint or two in some traditional pub, etc... I wouldn't mind going to more WW2 and aviation oriented things, but I'm not planning to force the family to them unless it just falls into place
I don't care so much about fighting crowds to see the changing of the guards..stuff like that...I hate lines, hate crowds, and most of all hate waiting for stuff....but no doubt my wife and family will...so we'll plan on that too.

I'll have to look up some of those highlights you listed....
 
It’s touristy but one of the best things I did was to get on the double decker bus tours, top deck, narrated and you can get off and back on when you please. Outside of London, Bath was really cool. Stratford upon Avon was okay if you want to see Billy Shakespeare’s crib

oh and buy an underground (subway) pass. It’s a great way to get around the city
 
Timbeck2 said:
It’s touristy but one of the best things I did was to get on the double decker bus tours, top deck, narrated and you can get off and back on when you please. Outside of London, Bath was really cool. Stratford upon Avon was okay if you want to see Billy Shakespeare’s crib

oh and buy an underground (subway) pass. It’s a great way to get around the city
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I always thought those tour bus/van things were kinda hokey to. Did one a few years back in Savannah. It's a great way to start a visit to a city. Get the lay of the land so to speak.
 
Timbeck2 said:
It’s touristy but one of the best things I did was to get on the double decker bus tours, top deck, narrated and you can get off and back on when you please. Outside of London, Bath was really cool. Stratford upon Avon was okay if you want to see Billy Shakespeare’s crib

oh and buy an underground (subway) pass. It’s a great way to get around the city
Click to expand...

110% on all of this. A week-long Oyster card for zone 1/2 is about $50.
 
One thing NOT to do is go to Oxford and ask where the university is. They will look at you like you’re crazy
 
I guess I'm too American. The whole concept of royalty in a modern country just seems silly to me. But it's their country and their money, so whatever...
 
Half Fast said:
I guess I'm too American. The whole concept of royalty in a modern country just seems silly to me. But it's their country and their money, so whatever...
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There's lots of them. The UK royalty is more visible because of the pomp and tradition stuff. They probably bring in more tax dollars from tourists than they cost the UK (around $1.50/year/subject). Hotels, food, drink, etc in the UK. It costs money to visit the various castles and whatnot.
Besides the UK, there's Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Bahrain, Luxemburg, Bhutan, Lichtenstein, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Denmark, Andorra, Monaco and Spain. I'm not counting places where the UK Monarch is the head of state, such as Canada.

I hope we keep our republic as a democracy and don't fall into absolutism like other republics.
 
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did you buy any sort of memberships or passes for admissions to some of those places? (discounted over buying individually)

I was just looking tonight at reserving my ticket and tour for the tower of London. It seems there is no reservation for the tour, but the ticket page mentions a membership which also includes Kensington palace and some other things that I've never heard of... looks like it'll cost my family more for the membership than just straight tower admission.... and we haven't really talked about visiting Kensington so maybe not worth it....but I know my wife would enjoy it. I'd go but not excited if it's just another half day burned standing in lines.....
 
BT, DT.

Funny thing is, GPS did not agree. It put it about 100 yards East in the parking lot.

If going to London there is the RAF Museum that you can reach by public transport (and another one well North). Also, the DeHavilland museum with 3 Mossies, including the prototype. And the Museum is based on the farm where the first one was built and flown.
 
Tower of London is very good. Duxford is a great museum and if the weather is nice they may be flying. (Last time there a Hurricane was flying). It’s not far from Cambridge which is a great town. Don’t know if you can make it fit into your plans.
 
My wife bought tix individually from the web. Some were timed, others not.

the Tower of London is a great time. Get the dorky audio headset. You don’t know the players without a program.

My hands-down favorite palace tour was Hampton Court. Kinda cool knowing Henry VIII (and others) lived there. Beautiful grounds, well-preserved and used daily as offices for the govt.

Windsor is awesome, too. The tour of St George’s includes passing the resting place of QE2, Prince Phillip and her parents.

We just returned home yesterday evening and had a blast.
 
I should mention. Past trips to Britain have included museums and car factory tours. This trip was all about facilitating my wife and MIL with their life-long desire to see a royal coronation. And we knocked it outta the park.

A guy has to do this to help she who processes the payments for the bird.
 
Well done…being British and a in favor of the Monarchy and for all the dollars spent in tourism I applaud all the American Anglophiles..makes things cheaper in the off season…Married to one so also makes it easy. Heading home next week for a football playoff game…Go Sunderland H’way the Lads..
 
If you haven't seen it, the Museum of London is worth a stop. It covers the history of the city and includes actual excavations back to pre-roman times. I remember thinking it was going to be cheesy, but it is very informative and well done.

Then again, this is memory from 30+ years ago, so it could have all just been a feverish dream. I remember it being right outside the Tower, but it's about a mile NW
 
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