Places to visit in London?

[RallyJon]

Going for a long weekend with my wife. No fixed itinerary. Wanted to go to the British Museum and see all the Greek stuff that wasn't in Greece. Museums and touristy stuff mostly. Any interesting car stuff (collections, museums, restoration shops with large plate glass windows to stare through), favorite pubs, restaurant recommendations, etc?

[Tishabet]

I'll tell you right off, the British Museum is great for seeing "big ticket" items (rosette stone etc), but the Victoria & Albert Museum is unmatched for a damned interesting place to spend a day or two. Their collections of firearms and musical instruments is incredible, and their collection overall is much more about Britain than the British Museum, specifically as pertains to artifacts from the culture of empire.

[RallyJon]

Thanks, we'll check it out. Also heard that the Tate is a must see.

Gotta stop by Motor Books, of course... http://www.motorbooks.co.uk/

[Moses]

For pure impact, it's hard to beat the Tower of London. Traitors gate, the site of Anne Boleyn's beheading, the murder of a prince heir, the incarceration of Sir Walter Raliegh. Great stuff.

[Wrecked944]

I was a history major in school. So London rocked my sorry world. The Tower was unbelievable. Make a mental note of the age of each building if you go so you can compare them. For example, the central Keep dates to the mid 11th century. Next to it is a wall fragment from the time of Caesar. Interesting to compare the layered structure of Roman fortification walls vs the "building block" approach of the Normans 1000 years later.

Also see Westminster Abby. Hell, spend all day there if you can. The grave stones alone are amazing. Sure, the big names are all there, but I also spent a lot of time checking out the "lesser" tomb stones and saw a lot of names associated with major families in European History (for instance, a member of the Paleologan family of emperors from Byzantium is buried there with little fanfare). And check out Queen Elizabeth's tomb and who it sits on top of. The story it tells is a very sad one. There is also a small section of the church that dates back to the 9th century, IIRC. Totally different architectural style. Cool.

And if you are a partier, go to Soho. It was there I first drank absinthe since it is legal in England. I did it for...um...historical research since the green devil was a prominent fixture in 19th century bohemian life. And yes, it is green. Can't say I recommend it, though - unless you like the taste of cleaning fluid.

The sense of having a 1000+ year continuous history is something Americans don't have. And I really found it impressive. Take pics and let us know how it goes.

[Overpaid Slacker]

Couldn't agree more w/ Moses. If (meaning when) you go to the Tower of London, definitely stick with the Yeoman Warder for the tour. These guys are worth their weight in gold -- former commandos and special forces-types that are now the very knowledgeable "Beefeaters". Don't call them that. They provide a lot of color, character and interaction -- much more enjoyable than a static museum (though the BM and VA are great). I've done this tour 4 or 5 times; it's great.

I enjoyed the British Museum and literally got a chill when I saw the Rosetta Stone (which is the #1 reason I went there). Thing is, both the BM and the VA are great museums, but if you're only going for a long weekend, you'll burn up a lot of time in there that you could be using to explore. Walk around Westminster (the Abbey, Parliament, etc.) and up to Buckingham though St. James, then to Charing Cross, Picadilly, etc.

I'd post coordinates of my favorite little places, but my directions never involve street names -- it's more "a few blocks north of Trafalgar, turn left at such-and-such ginmill, go until you get to so-and-so chip shop, then take a right..." so I'd get you lost.

Absolute must: Buy a "Streetwise" map of London. These maps are aboslutely invaluable; every time I travel I get a Streetwise map of my destination.

Enjoy!

JP

[Jeremy Cottrell]

Ace Cafe. If you like motorcycles, plus they do a classic car night I believe the first thursday of the month. Lots of cool English cars, and some Porsches.

[MFAFF]

Planes, trains, etc at the Science Museum on Exhibition Road next to the V and A, and next to the Natural History Museum.

GET A RIDE ON THE WHEEL.....Best sightseeing trip possible, either a day time trip or a night time one. Although when are you coming as its closed until Feb 5th.

Located at Jubilee Gardens near Waterloo Station.

http://www.londoneye.com/

The are two Tate Galleries, the Tate Modern (Modern Art) at Bankside with the Millenium Bridge and the Tate Britain (Old Masters) further west on the north bank. The must see is the Modern for the Turbine Hall.

Modern buildings interest you?...a trip to the City to see the Lloyds Building and the Swiss Re Tower at 30 St. Mary Axe.

Or opposite the Tower of London to see City Hall.

Or the Royal Academy in Piccadilly to see the Sackler Galleries. The Great Court and reading Room at the British Museum are not shabby either.....

A 1000 years of history.....or like 2000 but hey who's counting....

When are you around?

If you want to see some 'real cars and planes there are a couple of museums on the outskirts of London, the RAF Museum at Hendon...good but not brilliant and Brooklands out near Weybridge, possibly a little far,but but its tops.

1) The first ever purpose built racing circuit in the world....with the original banking in place
2) Great car and plane museum with resotration happening all the time on cars etc and on planes including Concorde...

http://www.brooklandsmuseum.com

[Wrecked944]

Originally posted by MFAFF
A 1000 years of history.....or like 2000 but hey who's counting....

No offense intended. I just picked the arbitrary numer "1000+" to mean "a whole lot of years"...

[StevoRocket]

try this

Historic days out in London
http://www.chr.org.uk/dayout.htm

[StevoRocket]

try this

Historic days out in London
http://www.chr.org.uk/dayout.htm
oh and this too
http://www.londontourist.org/#skip

[RallyJon]

Excellent ideas--thanks everyone. Leaving now.

[Karl2bdc]

My parents lived in london for about 4 years, there are a lot of good places to visit....westminster abbey, pickadilly circus, tower of london, etc. If you can take a short drive, you can head up to stonehenge, but after you have seen it about 12 times, you decide it is pretty much just a pile of rocks, impressive though. Eat only in pubs, the oldest ones you can find are usually pretty cool.

[audi2.7t]

Museum of natural history, Maddame Tussauds, London dungeons, the Zoo and Lee Ho Fuks in Soho for the best beef chow mein in the world (watch out for the Werewolves).

[RallyJon]

Just got back. Great time--even the weather was decent.

British Museum, Victoria & Albert, Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Harrod's, changing the guard at Buckingham Palace, bus tour, Thames boat ride, four pubs, two excellent Indian restaurants, etc.

Oh, and trying to find a place to watch the Eagles (me) and Patriots (my wife). Not as easy as it sounds. Ended up at Planet Hollywood--ugh--with a few dozen other ugly Americans desparate for football.

Amazing to see the number of 996TTs, Aston Martins, Bentleys, etc just parked on the streets near the hotel. Missed the F1, though.

London really is a beautiful city. Have to go back someday when there's time to do it right.

[MFAFF]

Didn't miss the F1, its no longer there.

Since the SLR was launched the Mclaren show room has closed.

Glad you enjoyed it...