Lunch in London

[laurelhollow]

Hi all - will have an eight hour layover in London before my flight to Rome. Plan on taking the HTR express, at 7:30 AM, into London and doing a wander for a bunch of time. Looking forward to it. It will be on a Sunday. Can anyone give me a great place for lunch? Does not have to be fancy just good. :D

Will probably go to the British Museum and Covent Garden.

Any other suggestions for the time frame? Need to be back at HTR by 5PM.

[John Bull]

Hmmm, if it's your first time in London, there's an awful lot of iconic sights way higher on most folks' agendas. Big Ben/Westminster Abbey .... Buck' Palace .... Whitehall/Downing St/Cabinet War Rooms/Trafalgar Square .... St Pauls .... Tower of London/Tower Bridge, etc etc. And a ho-ho bus is the way to see a lot in your time-span.

 

Covent Garden is somewhere to relax, wander, people-watch, eat or drink. Its not high on an actual "sight-seeing" agenda, but very popular as a place to take a break from sight-seeing.

 

The Heathrow Express takes you to Paddington Station, then it's two tube trains or a taxi to either the British Museum or Covent Garden.

Very much simpler, cheaper & probably quicker is to take the Underground ("the tube") from any Heathrow terminal direct to Russell Square (Piccadilly line, the deep blue line on the map), then a short walk to the British Museum. From there you can walk, tube or bus to Covent Garden, which has a multitude of eateries both there & round the corner in The Strand. Then direct tube again from Covent Garden back to Heathrow.

 

the tube:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/standard-tube-map.pdf

 

ho-ho bus:

www.theoriginaltour.com/

or

www.bigbustours.com/

John Bull :)

[Globaliser]

Need to be back at HTR by 5PM.

I hope you're not really trying to get to HTR by 5pm from London. The south-western tip of Japan, where HTR is, is a long way away. So I hope you haven't booked flights to/from HTR.

 

As John Bull says, for both the British Museum and Covent Garden, you'd be better off just getting the Tube if you have no luggage. The Piccadilly Line will take you directly from Heathrow to Holborn or Covent Garden stations.

 

There are certainly places for lunch. But "great but not fancy" only narrows down the possibilities to a few hundred in that area. If you can be a bit more specific about what sort of lunch you want, you might get some specific suggestions and recommendations.

 

And don't think that you will have 8 hours in London. To allow some margin so you don't miss your flight, you're likely only to have about 4-5 hours of usable time in town; you very probably won't get to central London before about 9.30 am at best, and you'll have to leave at about 2.30 pm unless you like living life on the edge. This applies whether you take the Tube or the Heathrow Express - the overall journey time is very similar if you're heading for Covent Garden or thereabouts (but the Tube is much cheaper).

[LHT28]

I have heard that the food in The British museum is cheap & cheerful but as mentioned there are several eating places within walking distance of the museum

You may not have as much time as you think do not forget LHR is a large airport & security lines will be long

[Giantfan13]

If you are set on going to London, you should try and do one of the HOHO bus routes. they will take you around central London, see most of the 'main' sights in about 3 hours or less. (Depending, of course, if the bus is riding behind Globaliser:D:D:D:D)

 

If you buy a ticket for the Original Bus Company's route, you should be able to buy discount coupon for lunch at the Sherlock Holmes Pub. Not fancy, but you will get the experience of a real nice English Pub (Are they open for lunch on Sundays????????).

To be honest, as others have said, forget Covert Gardens and see it in MY Fair Lady. Now it's a touristy area, nothing like what you may imagine it to be like. The British Museum is fine, but if I had limited hours in London, I would want to be out and see some of it's world famous attractions.

 

Anyway, that's just me talking.

 

Cheers

 

Len

[Globaliser]

(Depending, of course, if the bus is riding behind Globaliser:D:D:D:D)

If the bus is behind me, you won't see me for dust.

 

If the bus is ahead of me, then you'll be treated (if I can) to a fine display of guerilla driving tactics.

 

:D

[laurelhollow]

I have heard that the food in The British museum is cheap & cheerful but as mentioned there are several eating places within walking distance of the museum

You may not have as much time as you think do not forget LHR is a large airport & security lines will be long

 

 

OK - sorry I have not been here for a while. :( Just have to clarify that I have been to London numerous times. Just looking for a casual experience for whatever hours I have available.

 

Lunch at the British Museum sounds like a good choice. Just want to walk around for a bit and then get the tube back to HTR.

 

Not looking for a 'grand' experience - just wanted some imput from people who have been there and wanted to share their kick-ass experiences. :)

[Globaliser]

... and then get the tube back to HTR.

Er, HTR?

[celle]

OK - sorry I have not been here for a while. :( Just have to clarify that I have been to London numerous times. Just looking for a casual experience for whatever hours I have available.

 

Lunch at the British Museum sounds like a good choice. Just want to walk around for a bit and then get the tube back to HTR.

 

Not looking for a 'grand' experience - just wanted some imput from people who have been there and wanted to share their kick-ass experiences. :)

 

Oh, please!

Globaliser has tried to tell you - the code for Heathrow is not HTR, - t's LHR. (HTR is the code for Hateruma, in Japan.)

 

Whatever - enjoy your trip and your day sightseeing in London. It's difficult to recommend one place to eat - London is so big, and we have no idea what your tastes are.

[celle]

OK - sorry I have not been here for a while. :( Just have to clarify that I have been to London numerous times. Just looking for a casual experience for whatever hours I have available.

 

Lunch at the British Museum sounds like a good choice. Just want to walk around for a bit and then get the tube back to HTR.

 

Not looking for a 'grand' experience - just wanted some imput from people who have been there and wanted to share their kick-ass experiences. :)

 

Oh, please!

Globaliser has tried to tell you - the code for Heathrow is not HTR, - t's LHR (London Heathrow). HTR is the code for Hateruma, in Japan. People gave you the benefit of the doubt, because what you meant was clear from the context, but using the wrong abbreviation can cause confusion.

 

Whatever - enjoy your trip and your day sightseeing in London. It's difficult to recommend one place to eat - London is so big, and we have no idea what your tastes are. Do you want gourmet or cheap and cheerful?

[laurelhollow]

Oh, please!

Globaliser has tried to tell you - the code for Heathrow is not HTR, - t's LHR. (HTR is the code for Hateruma, in Japan.)

 

Whatever - enjoy your trip and your day sightseeing in London. It's difficult to recommend one place to eat - London is so big, and we have no idea what your tastes are.

 

 

OK - sorry! :p Now I know. I will be in LHR!

 

Will probably take the tube to Picadilly and wander for a bit. Love London and just want to get a 'hit.' :)

Lunch at the British Museum sounds fine.

Now - give me time frames for getting into London proper and then getting back to LHR. Will the tube be adequate or should I go for the Heathrow Express?

[celle]

OK - sorry! :p Now I know. I will be in LHR!

 

Will probably take the tube to Picadilly and wander for a bit. Love London and just want to get a 'hit.' :)

Lunch at the British Museum sounds fine.

Now - give me time frames for getting into London proper and then getting back to LHR. Will the tube be adequate or should I go for the Heathrow Express?

 

Please forgive the double posts above - that was unintentional and I don't know how it happened. Probably my mind went AWOL and my fingers kept on working! ;)

 

My "thing" when I visit London is to go and stand on Westminster Bridge. It just makes me feel as though I am really there.

 

If you want to spend as much time in the city as possible, take the Heathrow Express - as long as you don't mind paying extra.

[Globaliser]

Now - give me time frames for getting into London proper and then getting back to LHR. Will the tube be adequate or should I go for the Heathrow Express?

Heathrow to Holborn by Tube will be about 60 minutes platform to platform; allow about 10 minutes to get from the exit from Customs to the Tube station platform, and about 15 minutes to get from the Tube station platform to the British Museum.

 

And it would be about the same in reverse.

 

I don't think you'll gain much (if anything) by taking the Heathrow Express. It'll be the same 10 minutes or so to get to the HEX platform. It's 15-30 minutes platform to platform to Paddington, depending on how long you have to wait for the next train. But then you have to get from the HEX platform to the Tube platform (5-10 minutes), and then get the Bakerloo Line to Oxford Circus and change for the Central Line to either Tottenham Court Road or Holborn. Platform-to-platform on the Tube will be about 20 minutes.

 

So frankly, it'll probably take you about as long to get to the British Museum using the HEX as it would to take the Tube, which is direct and much much cheaper.

[laurelhollow]

Thank you - that actually makes sense! ;)

 

 

Heathrow to Holborn by Tube will be about 60 minutes platform to platform; allow about 10 minutes to get from the exit from Customs to the Tube station platform, and about 15 minutes to get from the Tube station platform to the British Museum.

 

And it would be about the same in reverse.

 

I don't think you'll gain much (if anything) by taking the Heathrow Express. It'll be the same 10 minutes or so to get to the HEX platform. It's 15-30 minutes platform to platform to Paddington, depending on how long you have to wait for the next train. But then you have to get from the HEX platform to the Tube platform (5-10 minutes), and then get the Bakerloo Line to Oxford Circus and change for the Central Line to either Tottenham Court Road or Holborn. Platform-to-platform on the Tube will be about 20 minutes.

 

So frankly, it'll probably take you about as long to get to the British Museum using the HEX as it would to take the Tube, which is direct and much much cheaper.

[laurelhollow]

Wow! That sounds awesome! Sounds like a plan. ;)

 

My "thing" when I visit London is to go and stand on Westminster Bridge. It just makes me feel as though I am really there.

[danglish]

I would factor in an hour and a half transit time each way, just to be safe. As mentioned, based on you end destinations the tube against the heathrow express won't really save you that much time and the tube is so much cheaper!

 

Heathrow is a big, busy airport and there are a lot of people going through security but they are prepared for this and have lots of check points at peak times. I travel through LHR once or twice a month and security takes 10-15 minutes at most. I find it one of the most efficient airports in terms of security time.

 

As you're in looking for Lunch options on a Sunday I would highly recommend you find a traditional pub and enjoy an iconic Sunday Roast with Yorkshire Puddings. A real British institution which will be readily available in most pubs on Sundays and is highly recommended.

 

If the weather is nice then a great thing to do is to cross Westminister Bridge and just take a slow stroll along the South Bank to Tower Bridge.

 

Enjoy your day in London.

[PhilbeachTraveller]

I would recommend the cafe at the National Portrait Gallery (behind the National Gallery, Trafalgar Square). Fantastic views over London.