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Most convenient area of London to stay for sightseeing


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We are planning our first visit to London. We will spend a week in London to see the tourist sites and possibly some day trips to areas outside of town. We will then be spending a few weeks seeing the rest or England as well as Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland. What part of London is the most convenient area to stay in? We like to walk to as much as possible and plan to use the tube for getting around town. Are there any areas around London that are better seen on a day trip from the city rather than to try to go there later?

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This is a big question. Many people might recommend the Westminster/Victoria area with easy access to The Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey among many attractions.

 

I would prefer to stay in the Eastern part of the City in the Tower Bridge area. There is a lot to see there, including St Paul's and The Tower of London and access to the rest of London is also easy via the tube or the river boats.

 

One advantage of the former, is that it is there that you are likely to arrive from Heathrow. The latter area has hotels that aim for business people so bargains can be had at weekends.

 

The London that tourists want to see is a fairly small area with good public transport. So price and quality might be more important than location - within reason of course.

 

For day trips, there is Greenwich further down the river by boat - that has The National Maritime Museum, the Cutty Sark and other attractions in the World Heritage Site. Hampton Court and Windsor Castle are well worth a visit, and if you like botany, Kew Gardens is a must.

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There are so many options.

 

On our last visit a few months ago we stayed about a five minute walk from Buckingham Palace and thought that was great. We are also big walkers and walked most of the time but the tube is very convenient.

 

Keith

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So - Thalys to Brussels and Eurostar to St Pancras in London. (About five hours or so). St Pancras is a very impressive station in the North of London so it leaves you wide open for choice. I suggest that you look for somewhere near the river though as that gives you access to most of the sights. It may well depend on your budget.

 

Train info is here - https://loco2.com/destinations/amsterdam-to-london-by-train-eurostar-thalys

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Here's another vote for the Tower/St Katharines Dock area - convenient for many sites and on good bus routes for St Paul's, Covent Garden, museum of London, Barbican etc, also the river boats. Some very good hotels in the area such as the Tower, Hilton, Novotel and many more. Wouldn't recommend hotel Indigo in the Minories at the moment as the road is a bit of a building site.

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Have always stayed in Mayfare, Piccadilly, trafalgar and Covent Garden.

Access to wonderful restaurants walkable to the South Bant, many museums, houses of Parliment and Soho/ Chinatown, Most tube lines very close by and lots and lots of busses + 3,4 and many 5 star hotels. what could be better?

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We are planning our first visit to London. We will spend a week in London to see the tourist sites and possibly some day trips to areas outside of town. We will then be spending a few weeks seeing the rest or England as well as Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland. What part of London is the most convenient area to stay in? We like to walk to as much as possible and plan to use the tube for getting around town. Are there any areas around London that are better seen on a day trip from the city rather than to try to go there later?

 

I recommend you make a list of the specific things you want to do during your time in London. Post your list and, then, we might -- and only might -- be able to provide a useful answer. The problem is that every single suggestion made by every previous poster has been right to some extent because there are must-do sites scattered throughout London.

 

If you go to the underground map at the Transport for London web site, you'll see that there's a bottle shape (lying horizontally) created by the Circle Line. If you stay anywhere within/along this route, you'll have easy access to virtually every place you want to go. In three trips to London (both past and upcoming), we have stayed/will stay at hotels close to the Russell Square station, to the Gloucester Street Station, and to the Green Park Station. The reality is that these changes were about introducing variety for our evening strolls and walkable restaurants. With little effort, we certainly could have traveled to every destination we have visited or will visit from any one of our three hotels.

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I would agree with the advice from Pet Nit Noy.. The one area I would avoid ( although it is within the Circle line is Paddington __ lots of cheaper hotels but not the most salubrious of areas.

 

What kind of hotel do you like?

Edited by Eboracum_d
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Not sure yet what type of accommodations we will use in London. As long as it is clean with a private bath we aren't picky. Our budget is whatever is reasonable for the area/type of accommodation. I'm going to be look at hotels, VRBO, SFX, and B&Bs.

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For the better quality hotels is usually possible to negotiate a lower rate than that which is generally advertised but that is best done by telephone. Unless you are on an exclusive deal there is much to be said for not having breakfast in the hotel they will charge you £15 + per head head. There will almost certainly by a cafe close by which will provide you with a good cooked breakfast for half that price

 

As you know from another board, my advice if you are coming in by ship would be to make Cambridge your first port of call and then work your way round the UK to end up in London.

 

 

As to,places best visited by day trip from London, I would suggest Windsor Castle and (on a different day) Hampton Court Palace. But much depends on what your particular interests are.

 

You say you are planning to travel within London by tube which has the advantage of very easy navigation around the place. You can buy a day ticket or perhaps a weekly one? Your tickets will also cover travel by bus which will allow you to see many of the sights --http://blog.visitlondon.com/2014/01/best-bus-routes-for-sightseeing-in-london/

 

I would avoid using one of the specific tourist buses.

 

Greenwich on the Eastern Side of London is worth a visit and this can be reached by boat from Westminster, a journey which will give you a good view of St Paul's and Tower Bridge.

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If you are considering self-catering, then I have heard good things about London Apartments. They have a wide range of price/location/facilities, and for a weeks stay, are competitive with hotels.

 

http://www.londonservicedapartments.co.uk/map.php

I'll add to that recommendation and suggest also checking out:

 

www.londonperfect.com

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As already stated, as long as you are somewhere central you will be within easy reach of what you want to see in London. London is a very spread out city, so not all places of interest are in one area, you need to travel around.

 

There have been some suggestions of staying near the Tower of London. This is the East of London and has become very fashionable in recent years. May be well worth considering as it is also easy to get anywhere else from there.

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Hi, I stayed at a hotel on (or across from) Trafalgar Square, for me it was the perfect, centralized location. I was able to walk just about everywhere, each day I set out in a different direction, & was able to do all my sightseeing on foot except for the the British Museum & King's Cross (yes, I did the touristy Harry Potter photo, by myself, as I was traveling solo... I was the weird middle aged american lady in line :D

 

day 1 Parliment/Westminster Abbey area one day

day 2 St. Paul's & surrounding area , (Rick Steve's audio guide) (dome climb awesome!) Templar Church, Dr. Johnson house, etc.

day 3 Buckingham Palace & surrounding parks

day 4 British Museum, followed by King's Cross for aforementioned obligatory photo

day 5 Tower of London area/Tower Bridge & surrounding sites

day 6 Just wandered back to my favorite spots, & more Trafalgar Square sights

 

I felt very safe, in that location, & as I was alone, loved that I was surrounded by sidewalk cafes for dinner, & never felt unsafe after dark.

 

I took the train from LHR into London, & then switched at Paddington to take the tube to a station close to my hotel... at that time (Early last May) they were doing lots of tube construction, & I had to walk a bit with my luggage as there were a few closures...

 

I also did a day in London at the beginning of my trip ( I flew from LAX to LHR, took the train to Paddington, left my luggage there, spent the day in London, then back to Paddington, picked up luggage & took the train to GAT, as I was flying out the next day for a week in Bordeaux)

 

Stayed at the Doubletree at Gatwick, which I highly recommend, immaculate & modern hotel, spacious rooms, easy access to airport (it was pouring rain, & I didn't have to go outside & get wet) & most important, a lovely small bar where I drank 2.5 pints of beer, took the elevator to my room, & slept away my jet lag :)

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If you go to the underground map at the Transport for London web site, you'll see that there's a bottle shape (lying horizontally) created by the Circle Line. If you stay anywhere within/along this route, you'll have easy access to virtually every place you want to go. In three trips to London (both past and upcoming), we have stayed/will stay at hotels close to the Russell Square station, to the Gloucester Street Station, and to the Green Park Station.

 

I strongly agree with Pet Nit Noy about the Circle Line (yellow on any colored tube map). But of the three stations that poster mentions, only Gloucester Road is on the Circle Line. That station has two things going for it: it is the farthest west (eg, closest to Heathrow) station on the Circle Line, and it is also on the Piccadilly line, which goes directly to Heathrow.

 

We've stayed at the Montana, a nice independent hotel on Gloucester Road, and at the Forum, the tallest building in the area - think it's now a Holiday Inn. There is also a Holiday Inn on Cromwell Road, and a few other hotels in the area, as well as pubs and several restaurants. And all within walking distance of the V&A in one direction, and Kensington Palace in another.

 

Oh, and should you need to get to Gatwick, the Circle Line also goes to Victoria, from which you can catch the Gatwick Express right to the airport.

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At all of these locations there is a Premier Inn a good UK hotel chain that is about 120 GBPa night less if you advance purchase. Most will hold your luggage for the day before and after you stay for free. Check with each hotel via email. They are not five star but they are comfortable, convenient and have great service.

 

The tube is excellent. A train every 3 minutes on the city circle line. Lots of people travel with luggage and it is easy.

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You'll be safe enough walking along Waterloo Road to the Station. If you continue walking past the station and over Waterloo Bridge you will be in the Theatre area to the left Covent Garden Shopping area to the Right.

 

Immediately next to Waterloo Station is the South Bank complex with classical music in the Queen Elizabeth and Royal Festival Halls and Purcell Room and Atherton Hayward Art Gallery. The National Theatre is also close by as is the London Eye. There is a pedestrian walk alongside the river b steen Waterloo Bridge and Westminster Bridge which is perfectly safe to use.

 

That said, you will be outside the Circle Line so will need to change trains on the Underground to get to many of the Tourist attractions.

Edited by Eboracum_d
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Top tip from orchestrapal about the Cut and indeed the surrounding streets. Great area to get to know.

 

Transport also easy on many buses that will pass the hotel. The difficulty will be first time you arrive at Waterloo, figuring out which exit - oddly, Waterloo Road is neither immediately obvious nor well signposted from the station. If you do decide to stay there, come back for more detailed directions and recommendations :)

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Lots of good advise and suggestions.

The Hilton at the Tower is a bit expensive, so we have narrowed it down to the Waterloo area or the Hilton Doubletree across from Victoria station. We will be arriving from Paris on the Eurostar, and it looks like a straight shot from St Pancras to the Victoria station via the blue line (Victoria line?). So that and the fact that it is on the circle line is a plus. It is a bit more expensive, about a total of 80 pounds more for our 3 nights.... and does not include breakfast. Are there resonable places in that area for a quick breakfast each morning?

The hotel at Waterloo is a bit cheaper, has free wifii and includes breakfast each morning. So... those of you familiar with each area, what one would you choose? Is the area in Victoria worth a little more money and giving up the free breakfast?

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