I am planning to spend ten days in London visiting friends. I always miss sight-seeing and regular tourist stuff. However, I enjoyed Modern Tate very much, nice view over the Thames too. Hampstead Heath area is beautiful and I spent one extremely hot day in July cooling myself by the men's swimming pond. I've never had luck with shows in London but I got my chance to see magnificent Lungfish in some basement club in Sheffield. They burnt it down with "Armageddon". London is great city.

Don't miss the Tate! It is amazing!

If you like Modern Art and architecture the Tate Modern is a must, Camden Markets can be fun.

The best thing you can do:

Buy Time Out at the Airport when you arrive, it has a complete guide to the whole week, gigs, art exhibits, places to visit, eat etc.

Grab a copy of the Lonely Planet guide before you arrive and plan your trip in advance. London is a lot smaller than it looks and if you have a Zone 1-2 Tube-Bus pass you can get to anywhere in 30 min-ish. Guide books can be crap, but Lonely Planets are quite good and if you have a limited amount of time you'll be surprised how familar you will be with the city before you even arrive after reading through the lastest guide -Do not but a second-hand or old copy, London changes very quickly and chances are that if you have a guide that isn't the lastest whatever you want to see will be long gone.

The Brit are really friendly and you'll have no trouble having a laugh with new friends for an evening. But 50% of London is non-English and London isn't really in Britain, it's an international city, so you'll meet people from anywhere you can imagine and people aren't phased by other foreigners.

The Don'ts:

DON'T buy Fish and Chips anywhere. I'm from New Zealand and can reference English Fish and Chips against good food. It is vile, luke warm week old over-fished Cod that sits under heat lamps for hours before you buy it, the chips are also soggy and crap. If you enjoy fresh, interesting healthy food English food is not what you should eat. Ignore any advice to the contary, you can't blame the Limeys they don't know any better.

Beer is the only thing you can buy in Bars, wine and liquor is really expensive and they sell it by the single shot. Don't order hard-liquor you'll only get angry.

Thanks so much, fellas! This is great. I was a bit on the fence about going for $ reasons, but now I am more than excited and fully committed. Especially like hearing that how friendly the folks are. A good trip always involves meeting new and interesting people, so hopefully I'll stumble into the right pubs.

Cranius wrote:
What sort of thing do envisage doing? Is shopping involved?

Long walks (the one Alex mentions sounds great) and sight-seeing during the day and much yak and drink at night. Shopping, yes; I am most eager to find good used and rare books. And I love the odd things that turn up at big outdoor markets.

Thanks again for everyone who has posted.

Camden is a really cool town. I would guess it's the London equivalent of the East Village, but in my opinion, far cooler. There was a ton of used/new record stores on the main block [forget what it's called?] that runs through the main "Camden" market so to speak. Lots of drugs, goths, and kraut-rock! I was most impressed that every record shop had its own "kraut-rock" section of vinyl records.

You probably won't have the time but if you can get out of London for a day try and visit Bath. Home of the roman bath houses, which weren't that spectacular to me, but the town itself is so old and historic it's like living in a museum; beautiful scenery in the background, and tons of shops. Just try and get there early, and keep track of time because many shops close at 5.

Also, if you're into theater definitely try and go to some of the smaller plays they have. I saw Macbeth at the Alameda [sp?] and it was incredible; small setting, excellent actors, British accents, and a really cool town in itself.

Oh, watch out for the money exchange situation. I don't know the current rates, but when I went in January, basically your American dollar is cut in half. Kinda sucks, but worth it for the experience.

Hey, I was in London earlier this summer. It is obnoxiously expensive, and there is no way to get around this fact. For Londoners, going to New York would be like visiting a city of refreshing bargains. If you want to use public transportation, the buses are cheaper than the underground, but make sure to use correct change when buying a ticket from the machine, as it will eat any extra coins you put in. I guess you have family to stay with, but the cheapest accomodations (32 pounds) you will find during the summer are vacant university dorms. I second the Imperial War Museam reccomendation, it has some good exhibits and a room full of old large millitary equipment -- such as the tank Monty used during the battle of El Alemain (sp?). Not all of the museams are free, I know the IWM and the National Gallery are, but the Cabinent War Rooms aren't. The London Eye is freakishly expensive, and I wouldn't go on it unless someone else was paying for me.

These replies reminded me of a few more things:
Don't use Thomas Cook (or similar) for money exchanging, use your bank card at an ATM. Exchangers take a huge cut, and a cash machine takes a small service charge, or maybe nothing. Take a lot out at a time because you'll avoid accruing charges, and well, you'll need it. The place is expensive. You can't go back just for a weekend though, so don't scrimp if you can help it. Spend a little extra when you go and live frugally when you get home.

The Cabinet Wars Rooms are very cool, if you have the time.

If you want to see rare books, keep your eyes peeled when you're walking down Charing Cross Rd. Expensive, but worth a look. That's the traditional place for them. Also, look around the Russell Square area near the British Museum.

I disagree on the Fish and Chips. If you see a line, and it's only take away, try it. Ask a local. Use the malt vinegar and approach "brown sauce" with caution.

Another good restaurant, if you are in the mood, is Food For Thought in Covent Garden, on Neal St. I'm not a vegetarian, but I like the food there. It's a nice break and the girls are usually cute.

Ask people stuff. If you are polite, very few people will take a "pssshhh...tourist" attitude. You'll probably get a lot of help. You will suffer for trying to act un-touristy. Nobody knows you there so if you wear your day hikers instead of your coolest black shoes, who cares? Just be cool to everyone you meet and I'll bet you end up having drinks with people you like.

Not to be contrary, but don't leave London this trip. I love England and can find something nice to say about most towns. I've pretty much seen the whole country except for the very Northeast corner. However, it takes a lot of time to leave the city. Stay put in central London and learn it. After one trip you'll be comfortable. Then when you go back, spend a day seeing your favorite stuff, continue your tour of the British Museum, and then got out into the countryside.
Yes, London is as much England as NYC is the US, but that doesn't mean you need to wear yourself down trying to see "real" England in a day. London fucking rocks, so see London. Four days isn't enough, but it's a great start.

Gramsci is talking nonsense about Fish and Chips. If you can find a good fish and chip shop, it's fantastic stuff. The best one in London is in Finchley though which you're otherwise unlikely to visit since it's rubbish.

IMPORTANT TUBE TIPS!

1.There is one thing that is guaranteed to make you enemy of all Londoners, and it is this. On the way down to the platforms of the tube, you'll find 'escalators' to speed your journey. These are like stairs, but they move!! Ha! Imagine that!

There are signs on these escalators which read something along the lines of "STAND TO THE RIGHT". Apparently this is confusing to the average tourist, so I shall translate.

It means that you should "stand" on the "right" so that people who are trying to move more quickly can "walk" on the "left". See?

I promise you that this little secret will save your life.

Note the 'standing' on the 'right' as performed by these people!



2. Do NOT talk to strangers on the tube. It's just not done. Apart from by insane people.

Itchy Mcgoo!

Forgive me, a rare lapse of restraint last night has delivered a hangover like gulf war syndrome, typing (quietly!) will help my poor freewheeling mind. This feels like it will be an epic splurge.

London is a great city. Superficially it's not as eye-poppingly gorgeous as Paris or Rome and although it might not be as instantly spectacular or tourist-friendly as other European cities there are some authentically stunning parts and the general bric-a-brac quality - buildings of all eras and styles seemingly slung together - is something I really like. After spending half my life there over the last decade or so it still feels like I'm getting under the skin of the place, it's still largely un-homogenized and each area of the city often has a distinct character. It reveals itself slowly and is definitely worth making an effort to explore. Everything volunteered so far is just great and I’ve a special fondness for the parks although you might not have time or need for them with such a whirlwind visit.

My friend Paul came over from Portland back in January and stayed for a week or so, we had a great time rattling around together - it was really refreshing for me to see it through his eyes (and experience some of the obvious 'touristy' places which Londoners are often cynical about, I wholeheartedly endorse a whirl on the London Eye) and I'm pretty sure he enjoyed most of what I was able to show him, with that in mind here's a little round-up of things I think you might like to see and do while you're here.

Markets: Spitalfields market can be a truly lovely way to spend a Sunday morning (the only day it's in full effect). I'd really try and make it over that way. It's recently returned to almost its original size after being cramped while the old market hall was being scythed down to form yet more apartments for city workers. It's an easy walk from Liverpool Street station, which is right in the financial heart of the city. I'm always struck by the contrast of walking a few hundred yards from the gleaming plate glass offices into the labyrinthine former squalor of the East End. It’s really only in the last 10-15 years that this area has become gentrified and I still find it endlessly riveting to walk around. The market is especially good for jewellery, art prints, photos and knickknacks for home, second-hand clothes (where I bought my French garbage collector's jacket!) some great food to go too with speciality breads, cakes, good olives etc. I've never found a decent record there but there are one or two stalls. When you're done with the market it's top priority to walk on a little further to admire the clean symmetry of Hawksmoor's Christ Church and wander down Fournier Street which has some of the best preserved Georgian houses in the city (and also home to oddball artists Gilbert and George) and onto Brick Lane. This has a long history of being home to various diaspora: originally Huguenots (Protestant refugees who fled to England in the early 18th century to escape persecution in France) later Jewish immigrants from Poland and Hungary these days it's the heart of London's Bangladeshi community. Turn left and walk as much as you like - you'll encounter dozens of Indian restaurants, some snazzy little boutiques, a couple of decent cafes and at the far end the bustling 24 hour 'beigel' bakery where you can reward yourself with a salmon and cream cheese bagel (they're small and hard, my US amigo was alarmed at the difference but quickly warmed to them).

Portobello Road: I can almost hear the collective groan of Londoners who abhor a tourist trap but I still think on a first visit to the city it is worth seeing, also it has a couple of unexpected pay-offs if you persevere. Personally I really enjoy being amid a sea of people and taking a humanity bath but it's not for the impatient or claustrophobic. The market is held on a Saturday although the surrounding shops are open throughout the week. I think it's best approached via a short walk from Notting Hill Gate tube although the first half mile or so can be ignored - it's nothing but old forks and brass doorknobs with verdigris, pictures of gents in riding britches, antiquarian claptrap and fodder for people honestly expecting to run into Hugh Grant at any moment. About halfway down it picks up. Just off the main drag is Talbot Road - home to the original Rough Trade shop, which is friendly (honestly! ask them what that is they'e playing. they won't mind a bit) and well stocked. The ordering is a bit chaotic but everything has a nice little description and you can spend a moment gazing at the original punk-era 7" sleeves and photographs on the wall. On the opposite limb from the main street (Blenheim Crescent) is Stand Out/Minus Zero - an odd little place that is actually two record shops in one. The owners - both called Bill - allegedly fell out and each stand with their tills on opposite sides of the shop. It's not great - more of a kind of Byrds-y, Flying Burritos vibe but occasionally has oddments on vinyl (Russian Stooges records, weird Psychedelic compilations) but okay to poke your head around the door for a moment or two. Back on the central strip, Intoxica is crazily overpriced and stuffed full of rarities but oddly fascinating nonetheless. You probably don't want that £600 mispressed one-of-a-kind Kinks record on the wall but the surf section has kept me in obscure Romulan compilations when a need for twang arises. La la la, admire vegetables as you walk up to the Westway. The Westway! be still my beating heart! my favourite drive through London is being swept up and along its gracious curves as you drive into the city on the A40, oh and the Clash sang about it too. The market extends to your left down towards Ladbroke Grove tube - some okay stalls, quite good for clothes I guess. If you keep walking straight after the Westway you'll find Honest Jon's records which is in two bits, it's main strength is Jazz, Reggae, Soul and Funk etc. might not be your cuppa but is a fine store and again not at all standoffish. In the distance you should see Trellick Tower, this monstrous slab of concrete brutalism was reviled for many years (the architect Erno Goldfinger is reputedly the inspiration for James Bonds' nemesis) and utterly failed as a social housing project in the 1970s when it became a notorious slum. It's had a bit of change of fortune since then and flats now change hands for absurd sums of money as people clamour to live in a landmark of sorts. Thankfully it still operates as a council housing project so low-income families in need of somewhere to live balance the retro hipster quotient. If you feel like walking towards it to marvel at it close up the market thins out but is intriguingly replaced by a swathe of London's Portuguese community - I've become horribly addicted to those little Pasteis de Nata custard tarts which are in abundance in some of the bakeries around there.

Camden market isn't as good as it should be, I think it must get mentioned in tourist guides as it's always heaving at the weekend but it's been ages since I've been (there used to be a very good record store and a brilliant book store there but they've long since closed) and always seemed to be full of teenage European Goths buying rubber boots with suspension springs in the sole. One stop up on the Northern Line though is unassuming Chalk Farm - as you step out of the station you'll see the Italian owned and delightfully unprepossessing Marine Ices, on a fine day it's so nice to buy an ice-cream from here and wander over towards Primrose Hill which offers a perfect panorama of the city. Great if you need a bit of fresh air. The walk goes though upmarket roads (sleepy, well-heeled, slightly 1970s) ankle-deep in cocaine and where twits like Kate Moss and Ewan McGregor choose to make their homes although it's saving grace is a fantastic vegetarian restaurant. The pubs around here are all kind of nice in a posh 'gastropub' sort of way but there's sometimes a bit of a yuppie contingent to deal with. The last time I was out around here I drunkenly stole a dustbin lid and a small bottle of tomato ketchup, I think with a Robin Hood intent of redistributing wealth. Ooh yes! Monkeychews! this is great, it was quite hip a few years ago but people have moved on but it remains a smashing little place for a drink, it's super cosy and serves good food in the back dining area.

Borough Market: This is open on Friday and Saturday and is an excellent food market but somehow more than that with itinerant expat French and Italians drawn in for their fix of high quality ingredients. I think it has a really nice feel to it and the wafts of food always drive me slightly crazy. It’s situated not far from Southwark Cathedral and so could be nicely built into a (long) wander along the South Bank (I repeat! Tate Modern is an absolute must) - a fantastic walk and something you should try and do (maybe incorporating the London Eye). Here you'll find cuts of venison and game, hams, loaves of bread of every kind, fine cheeses and marvellous things to munch on the hoof (I really like the little scallops which they serve grilled au natrel or wrapped in bacon). A curious diversion.


Actually, this might be a good point to make a note about eating. The great myth about our food is that it's awful - it certainly can be and the sad truth is it's not like being in Italy where you can walk in off the street to almost anywhere and be assured of a wonderful meal. There is good food - great food - out there but we keep it hidden; you just have to know where to find it. Every cuisine on earth has at least a foothold in the city (I recently discovered how good Ethiopian food can be) and is often found where that community flourishes - the best Vietnamese restaurants are found in the Southern reaches of Hackney, Turkish places across NE London, the wonderful Indian Restaurants around Brick Lane etc. A good guide book can be your best friend here - I think Time Out is easily the pick of London guides and would be a really good investment for your trip. Also, try and pick up a copy of its weekly listings magazine when you arrive too, every newsagent will sell a copy and it's by far the easiest way to find out which bands are playing, what's on at the cinema, club nights, comedy venues etc.

Here are a couple of places I really like eating at - none are very expensive but they're not super budget options either (fleece Papa for a few reunion meals out!).

Rasa, Stoke Newington. Although a little further out you can catch the number 73 bus from many accessible points (Euston Station or across the road from Angel tube might be good) which will drop you more or less outside on Church Street. It's busy and generally worth booking but the food is top notch Southern Indian/Keralan cuisine. One restaurant is purely vegetarian and the one across the road serves fish dishes. Utterly fantastic. If you fancy eating Indian food and are a bit daunted by the trek then try Brick Lane.

Manna. This is the one in Primrose Hill and is medium-swanky although thoroughly reasonable and definitely worth it. Really inventive vegetarian dishes.

Inaho, Hereford Road. A tiny place that no-one really seems to really know about, I hope it stays that way. In west London (Notting Hill Gate or Bayswater Tube are closest) Easily the best value (and perhaps the best) sushi in London. A real gem.

Meson Don Felipe. I recommended this to someone on the EA forum a short while ago when they were asking about tapas. This is a noisy, hectic little joint and one of favourite places to eat. Book if you can although you can drop in, grab a drink and hope/wait for a seat.

Fish and chips. Okay it's a cliché but you have to do it just once. Everyone will have his or her favourite but mine is the Golden Fish Bar on Farringdon Road. I'll openly admit it'll be a swine to get to (1/2 mile walk from Farringdon tube past the Guardian building) but it is very close to a nice little cluster of bars on Exmouth Market (I especially like the lively Café Kick and Medcalf Bar). The couple that own it go on holiday and it closes for a month in the summer. I think it's really charming, with unreconstructed Formica tables it has the atmosphere of a classic café. I'll try and think of a good one located centrally.

Afghan Kitchen Yes, they've heard the joke about serving airdropped food parcels. This is just 5 mins walk from Angel Tube (closed Sunday and Monday) and has a really small menu (it's a really small place and inevitably you'll make friends with the people sat on the bench next to you) but it's great and really inexpensive. The flatbreads are kickass.

On no account *ever* eat anywhere like This.

Ambling on - central shopping areas are okay although I'll never understand the allure of Oxford Street which is bland and unremarkable. Soho and Covent Garden are close enough together to walk between and indeed central enough to possibly fit into a larger walk - maybe down through Trafalgar Square, over Hungerford Bridge and on to the South Bank.

Berwick Street in Soho has a decent fruit and veg market and an armful of quite good record stores (Sister Ray, Selectadisc) ah! quite a good (although shabby looking) fish and chip shop here too. Nearby Broadwick Street is home to the Soul Jazz store which is great. From here you can walk down Old Compton Street and call in for a coffee at Bar Italia (no fake Italia!) as you wander towards Covent Garden. From Cambridge Cirus at the end of Old Compton Street wander up Earlham Street towards Seven Dials (explore Monmouth Street at your leisure) and then along Shorts Garden to the delightful Neal's Yard. The other Rough Trade shop is here - down the metal spiral stairs inside Slam City Skates. Neal Street forms the main artery back to Covent Garden tube and has some quite nice shops (Caluccio's Deli and the pokey basement eatery Food for Thought which is a good spot for lunch). Endell Street runs parallel and there's another very good chip shop The Rock and Sole Plaice there as well as the snug Cross Keys pub.

Challenge to Champion Rabbit! Here's a thought (bear in mind I'm hungover and feeling expansive and much fondness for mankind at the moment. It will pass) before you leave the smoke to rusticate yourself how about inviting London EA types to meet up for a farewell drink? (I'll travel). I dare you!

Wow CJH! I don't think that this can be improved on. So I won't try.

(I also feel slightly embarrassed that alex maiolo seems to know more about London than me)