Camden Town. Take the blue line (Picadilly) to the black line (Northern Line) and ride a little ways. There's a stop called Camden Town that dumps you off right there in the thick of it all. Tons of shopping for cheap, great clubs, hipsters, record shops, cafes. It's just an cool place to kill an afternoon.
Try going to the Maritime Museum if you can. It's a ways out of the way but it's still in the city. Hey, you even get to stand on the meridian line too, and learn about the history of, what else, time. It's also a naval museum, since the area was used to house the naval military through the ages. The whole grounds belonged to Henry the the 8th, and Queen Victoria used to live there as well. It's rather interesting, there's an observatory up there as well and the view of greater London is magnificent. And maybe if you ask nicely, a curator will take you to see how ancient naval paintings are restored (the museum has quite a collection of paintings from all over the world from China to America to Spain to England - all having to do with ships and boats and such.) Last time I was at the museum in 1996 they had a fantastic display of artifacts pulled from the Titanic.
The Natural History Museum is great as well - but beware, there's lots of school kids running about.
Someone recommended Chelsea and that's a great place to stroll. Lots of shops from the hip to the high end, and there's *fantastic* joint called Chelsea kitchen which has full English breakfasts for super cheap, if you're into full English breakfasts that is.
By all means, stay away from Garfunkles, and Angus Steak House. Really, you're better off at McDonalds than any of those places.
Eat pub grub for lunch. It's affordable, and packed with starchy goodness that'll fill you up and get you ready for another stroll. And the beer on tap is quite good as well.
Also for fun take the tube to Hampstead Heath. A quaint little part of London that's out of the way but not too ar from it all. Nice pleasant shops and really cool houses to boot.
Not much to do in Covent Garden if you ask me, it's really touristy and too crowded with people blocking the walkways taking pictures. But if you do go, check out the multilevel Doc Martins shop.
Don't forget to check Westminster Abbey as well - my fave part of it is the Poets Corner, Where else can you actually gaze upon the resting place of William Blake?
It may be toursity as hell on a summer day, but if you're visiting London for the first time be sure and check out the Tower of London. Yes, it's touristy, but if you take into account all the history that place holds, it'll make you wish the walls could talk.
Other places to stroll about would be South Kensington, and the South Kensington market is a good place to go to pick up cheap trinkets for friends. And it's on the wild side too. Kind of like Camden Town in the posh part of town.
If you want to see posh, go to Harrods then skip on over to Harvey Nichols. There's a tube stop that lets you off right there. If you want to see more posh than you can possibly imagine, go to Bond Street. The shops there make Harrods look like Wal-Mart. The place has glint I tell you. I once saw a pair of gorgeous stockings in a store window that cost 215 pounds, and that was 10 years ago.
Be mellow and chill out in Hyde Park and walk along the banks if it's not too chilly or raining. Gorgeous flowers, wonderful for people watching, and you're only a hop skip and jump away from everything else in London.
I'd gladly give my right arm to live in London. I absolutely feel more at home there than I do where I live. Last time I was there was in 2000 and I miss it terribly. And there's so much going on - clubs, pubs, everything. It's a great place to be. Now who was it that said, in so many words "To be tired of London is to be tired of life." Truer words have never been spoken, at least in my case.
If you have some extra time and you want to get out of the hustle and bustle of London, take a trip to Bath. It's like a fairytale land. The trip by coach is 3 hours from London so get started early. I recommend getting there by coach, because you get to drive over the gentle hills to the gorgeous Romanesque valley shrouded in whispy fog that lays in the valley. It really is breathtaking. Take the train back, tho.
Also worth visiting if you have the time is Cambridge, which is a 2 hour train ride out of London. Grab a cab and have them take you to the town centre, Market Square. Saturdays are best because the market is going off. And check out King's College Chapel if you can - the longest nave in the whole of Europe, the ceiling so intricately crafted it looks like lace.
Have a blast! I'm sure you will. But I'm sure it'll be harder to get yourself back on the plane home.
[This message has been edited by adam's_mistress (edited 01-22-2002).]
Very cool, especially since I've never been overseas or even flown before. Of course I'm going to do all the touristy stuff, but I was hoping some of you could give me some suggestions for other fun stuff to do, record places to visit etc, good places to drink or party, whatever. I'm staying at the Edward Lear on Oxford Street, we got a good deal there.
