I (Tuomas that is) am planning of coming to London in the end of August, need tips on accomodation, etc. (UPDATE: I'm there again for Christmas 2013.)

Me and two of my friends decided yesterday that since we all have holiday in August, we should go to London together. Our initial plan is to fly there Wednesday the 19th of August and fly back Friday the 28th. But we need to find some accomodation in London, and we should try to find it pretty quick, since it's only a month until August 19th. I was wondering if you Londoners could give me some tips on cheap hotels or good hostels in London? Is it possible to find a relatively cheap hotel room in such short notice? We're not young hippies anymore, so we'd prefer to stay in hotel... But since our travel budget isn't huge, a quality hostel is okay too, if we can't find a cheap enough hotel room. Do you have any tips?

Also, if we're indeed gonna come there, it might be nice to have a pint or something with you London ILXors, if you're up for it. For example, some time during the weekend of August 21st-23rd might be nice, if you'd fancy a pint.

Probably best off asking non-Londoners for hotel tips - I've never had to stay in a hotel or hostel in London. Pity you can't stay for the weekend of the 28th for the Notting Hill Carnival.

I think it might be possible to be flexible with the dates, since one of the friends and I have holiday for the first week of September too. Maybe I'll ask if she wants to stay there for the Carnival... What is it like?

I always have loads of fun, though it can be an exhausting day. I'd recommend sticking around for it.

Well probably also be spending a couple of days in Brighton, since a friend of my friend lives there, and we can stay at her place. So if you have tips on what to do in Brighton, those are appreciated too. Though I guess our hostess should know what's happening there...

(x-post)

So is it like a street carnival, or something different?

Biggest street Carnival in Europe, up to 2 million people attend. It was started in the 60s(?) by the local Carribean community, and still has that flavour - lots of Jamaican food stalls, floats with soca bands playing on them and fat reggae sound systems.

Amazing costumes as well.

I just looked for it in Wikipedia, sounds like fun! But there must be a lot of tourists around then, right? That might mean it's difficult to get a hotel room for the weekend...

I'm sure you'll be fine if you book somewhere soon.

the brighton thread on ilx has a lot of good info, it's nice there!

i don't have too much practical advice apart from suggesting you stay in east london, cos it's fun.

Unfortunately, London hostels seem to have a pretty bad reputation. The St Christophers chain of hostels tends to be pretty decent, though, and some locations offer 4-person rooms, so if you book well enough in advance you could almost have an entire room to yourselves. Plus, some of them offer free breakfast, and most are well-located. Downside of course being that, well, it's a hostel, and it'll probably be very noisy and very busy, esp in August.

You might be able to find some cheap above-pub accomodation but I don't know if there's a website specific for searching for places like that or anything.

Hotels, I don't really know. There are tons and tons of them all over the city, so you certainly have a lot of options, but a quick search shows that they'll probably all start around £70 per room per night at the lower end. And they may try to make you get a second room for the third traveller unless they have a 'triple room' option. Although, you could just lie and say there are two adults travelling, then sneak in the third person and take turns sleeping on the floor...

You can probably still find some deals but you'll want to get searching right away. Make sure it's within zones 1-2, otherwise travelling costs more and takes way longer. And no matter where you stay, watch out for bedbugs...

TUOMAS IS COMING!! LOCK UP YR EVERYTHING!!!

i have had this bookmarked for a while, but i have never stayed there: http://www.hollyhousehotel.co.uk/

staying in of london during carnival is no harder than at any other time of year (except maybe notting hill itself).

Thanks for the tips, Salsa Shark! And Caek, that hotel looks pretty good! The cheapest three person room for seven days costs 560 pounds, I think that would be well within our budget. I don't know much about London geography, but apparently the location is (20 Hugh Street) is pretty good too?

Tuomas, please tell me you're going to London to be part of a wacky flashmob stunt at a busy station during peak hour.

http://www.generatorhostels.com/

used to walk past that all the time, a bit better location than the holly house, not much in it though. No idea what it is like inside though.

Yeah Russell Square is a better location than Victoria, but Victoria isn't the end of the world.

Location-wise it depends on what you want to do - if you're up for the whole tourist thing then Victoria will be fine. If you want to be staying out late and going clubbing etc then East London is the best place to do that. I probably wouldn't recommend staying in East London itself though, in which case Russell Square will be fine (and crucially walkable/bussable to most places).

A pint would be good yeah.

xpost ^^Actually that's a very good idea, as they appear to do private rooms for £20 per head per night if you are three people travelling together. If you don't want to eat out, there's a very nice supermarket nearby and you'll be able to take the Tube most of the way to Carnival. During Carnival, the police/transport org close the stations in the area so you have to get off somewhere like Little Venice or Paddington, hit the canal, and walk until you get to one of the places where there are sound systems and food (I recommend Golborne Road and the park/streets north of it for the best and cheapest food).

Matt may disagree but VICTORIA IS A SHITHOLE. Generator's spec and location are much better than some dive that looks like a B&B in Bristol in 1985, in a neighbourhood where nobody goes unless they're going someplace else. If you're doing tourist things, Russell Square is just as useful but useful x1000 for getting back from East London on 20 different busses. FWIW about 20 ILXors work near Generator and at least two of us, not counting Ed (former resident of neighbourhood) live within 5 minutes' walk.

^^^ agree 100%
I used to (not any more as I left London years ago) live in the apartment block next door to Generator. Russell Sq is where a whole load of bus routes intersect, so v v useful.

Oh I wouldn't disagree at all, Victoria is a shithole. A reasonably located shithole if all you want to do is see yer standard London tourist attractions, but a shithole nonetheless. It's nothing much more than a transport hub and some bad pubs really - Russell Square/Bloomsbury area so much nicer. Decent restaurants around there as well.

I think living in Camberwell/Oval and New Cross my first year or so in London has given me a proper dose of aversion therapy wrt Victoria and/or 36 bus.

yeah - but some of the East End ain't all that..

I agree about Russell Square though.

yeah, what brings me to london usually means that holly house/victoria would be fine, and it's about as good as it gets as a base for the tourist areas without spending millions, but suzy speaks sense.

I don't think we want to visit that many tourist sites, mostly just go clubbing and shopping and visit the pubs. So a nice location with good public transport connections would be good, and the Generator hostel seems to have three-person rooms well within our price range. So it seems like a good option, have to discuss it with my friends.

Russell Square is good then - you're within a bus ride of Old Street/Shoreditch, as well as Fabric and various other places. The pubs round Russell Square are good, ditto some of the restaurants, and there are lots of nice green squares to chill out in during the day.

There are also a lot of tourist traps round there, especially food wise, what with being so close to the British Museum, but I'm sure ILE can point you in the direction of the good places.

I just talked with my friend, and she said she could stay for the Carnival, but she'd have to fly back to Helsinki on Monday the 31st August. I might fly with her or stay behind for a day or two more, I dunno. Would we miss a lot of the Carnival if we left on Monday morning already? Are there any gigs or clubs you'd recommend during the weekend of August 28th-30th?

I don't think we want to visit that many tourist sites, mostly just go clubbing and shopping and visit the pubs.

I'm going to have faith here and suggest you just stay in east london in that case, you're on the central line and have amazing selection of pubs/clubs/restaurants. there are several hotels I've known friends to stay in, what's your price range?

I think staying around shoreditch and walking around dalston/hackney/bethnal green for a day or two going out or going to eat etc would give you a lot of really good experiences and a strong feel for at least one version of London. I know that's how I still feel having moved here about 18 months ago.

London tends to go pretty mental over the course of that August Bank Holiday weekend - there'll be parties everywhere but I'll take a look.

Quite a lot of the carnival takes place on the Monday. I'm not sure it's necessarily worth extending your stay for the carnival itself, it tends to get very crowded indeed and a bit pushy, but can be kind of buzz harshing.

I personally don't get the Russel Sq thing, the only place you're going to specifically want to go out to around there is Fabric, and it's not like that's a million miles from Shoreditch. Whereas if you stay in Shoreditch you can walk to about 50 different club events on a weekend, most of which are prob better than Fabric anyway, plus you get all the pubs/restaurants etc and (even more importantly) the general buzz that's around the air of lots of young people...

Like you're not going to wander into an amazing party walking through Russel Sq

Call me a purist but I think it's better to stay central and experience lots of different versions of London, especially if it's a first visit, but hey that's just me. Some people don't take to Shoreditch and you're stuck there if you don't.

It's certainly worth spending a lot of time in that bit of East London but it's not the be all and end all. You don't necessarily want to be staying right where the amazing parties are anyway and you can usually get back to Russell Square quickly at any time of night, even if it's in a cab.

Yeah for me I just don't see the point of that, it's not noisy/horrible in east London plus it's not just about parties either, I think the things you'd do in the day and eating/hanging out around east gives you as good an experience as going to warehouse parties or whatever.

I'm just providing info but if someone wants to stay somewhere that's predominantly young people, good cheap ethnic restaurants, v unorthodox clubs playing any kind of music, and a huge choice of pubs/bars, all in this fairly large but walkable area, it just makes perfect sense to stay east.

It's not even a rave thing, I hardly go clubbing at all, but I dunno, it's just for the size of the area you have a bigger range of options in practically everything you could want to do.

Only one of us has been to London and we probably want to do other things besides partying, so I guess a more central location might be good, I dunno. We only decided to go there a couple of days ago, so I think we'll still have to discuss what my friends want out of the trip. Personally, I don't think I want to party every night, but I definitely want to visit some clubs, so recommendations on good dance/electronic clubs are welcome. Preferably something a bit more bohemian than glitzy, and not terribly expensive.

(x-post)

LG, do you know any cheap hotels or hostels around that area?

"only one of us has been to London before"

I'm not actually sure on hotels/hostels, I know friends have stayed in hotels that are prob not that cheap, but I'm guessing there must be loads of hostels around, there are so many young people.

As for clubs/bars and stuff, wherever you're staying, revive the thread coming close to the time and I'm sure there'll be loads of ideas, and lots of non glitzy stuff too, there are loads of illegal parties around, or crazy anything goes type nights.

Passing Clouds in Dalston is a cool venue for that kind of thing. I understand it's a bit pot luck whether you're going to find a banging club night or some kind of boho poetry jam thing when you turn up there though (only been once and it was reggae).

Yeah Passing Clouds is exactly what I had in mind, I think Tuomas would love that. Actually anyone I've brought loves it. When I went it was reggae mostly but tropicalia and disco and stuff as well, totally shambolic but a great party.

That's an accurate description of the one I went to actually, maybe it was the same night.

yeah like maybe 3 months ago? maybe more...hmm.

Yeah, around then. It was cold, I remember that.

Yeah a lot of those basement bars around Kingsland Road can really kick off in a good way. I would be up for some Finnish rave action.

http://www.customhouse-hotel.co.uk/

This hotel seems to have pretty cheap rooms, but I take it the location is not good? Is it easy to get to public transport there?

Docklands is a whole 'nother world. Avoid if you want to have no hassle getting places.

That weekend might not be the time they're likely to offer whizbang cheap deals, but Hoxton Hotel or even the Holiday Inn in Old Street are good for Shoreditch and not expensive, considering.

I found the Ibis in Whitechapel to be great for all my sinister of East London needs. I would however recommend against the Whitechapel Travelodge - it's not really their fault, but having a train line right beside it means that if you keep your windows open you will be woken up by trains at the crack of dawn, while if you keep your window closed you will be too hot to sleep.

I'm actually thinking of my own trip to Lahndon in August, maybe we should have an ILX convention or something.

This hotel seems to have pretty cheap rooms, but I take it the location is not good? Is it easy to get to public transport there?

Don't stay there, Canning Town is a shithole and miles from everywhere.

public transport (tube and DLR) to that area is decent but that's not a good enough reason to stay there

I think living in Camberwell/Oval and New Cross my first year or so in London has given me a proper dose of aversion therapy wrt Victoria and/or 36 bus.
― going vogue (suzy), Sunday, 19 July 2009 12:42 (2 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

ha i would have thought living in camberwell/oval and new cross would just make everywhere else seem nice in comparison..

btw surely you want to stay in this hostel

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=lohia+excelsior&ie=UTF8&ll=51.572695,-0.087719&spn=0,359.982705&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=51.572633,-0.090447&panoid=27HX7sTeY1JAKUCKRVnPdQ&cbp=12,333.55,,1,-1.07

Call me a purist but I think it's better to stay central and experience lots of different versions of London

I think this is really good advice. I think it'd be really odd to focus exclusively on East London.

http://www.travelodge.co.uk/search_and_book/hotel_overview.php?hotel_id=269

http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/portal/page/portallive/summeraccommodation/shortstay/southsidehalls

These two hotels seem to offer rooms for a good price. The other one is located in 100 Kings Cross Road, the other one is apparently a part of Imperial College, the address is Prince's Garden, Watts Way. Would you say these are good locations for a visitor?

I tried to look online for cheap hotels near Shoreditch, but couldn't find any. Would you say Shoreditch is the sort of area where semi-bohemian and semi-artsy Finnish students would like to hang in?

just a little bit

if you want to stay in east london, one of my friends stayed in a pretty reasonably priced hotel on hackney rd

xp hahaha

kings x travelodge is a much better location than imperial, handy for both east london and the touristy stuff

btw surely you want to stay in this hostel

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=lohia+excelsior&ie=UTF8&ll=51.572695,-0.087719&spn=0,359.982705&t=h&z=16&layer=c&cbll=51.572633,-0.090447&panoid=27HX7sTeY1JAKUCKRVnPdQ&cbp=12,333.55,,1,-1.07

― ken "save-a-finn" c (ken c), Tuesday, July 21, 2009 3:26 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

Haha, I pass that place on the bus all the time and always wonder what kind of clientele it attracts. Ditto those weird hotels as you drive past Finsbury Park up to Manor House.

Most of those Finsbury Park to Manor House hotels are all boarded up now, whatever clientele they did have must have been hit big by the recession.

The Travelodge seems like a decent option to me. I just talked with my friend (the other one had to cancel the trip), and I think we're gonna book a hotel room instead of a private hostel room even if it costs more, because we're both a bit prissy and don't really like the idea of a shared toilet and shower. Especially with the swine flu going on and everything.

if you want to stay in east london, one of my friends stayed in a pretty reasonably priced hotel on hackney rd

You probably don't remember the name, do you?

i know someone had died recently in one of those hotels but i don't really know if it was something dodgy though - police described it as "chemical incident"
http://www.birminghampost.net/news/uk-news/2009/05/03/two-dead-after-hotel-chemical-alert-65233-23532200/

people who stay in central london rather than east london in order to get a more balanced view of london, classic or fucking terrifying?

You probably don't remember the name, do you?

most likely the Days hotel
http://www.hotelshoreditch.com/

only been there a couple of years, ideally located for Shoreditch clubbin, nice Vietnamese restaurants and, of course, Columbia Rd flower market

Yeah that King's Cross Travelodge is a decent location. King's Cross is, erm, not the prettiest place in London but as a base it's very good as you're well placed for everything.

I'd avoid the Kensington one, especially if you want to go to cool/arty/bohemian stuff. If you wanted to hang out with public school girls and City boys I can see how Kensington might appeal, but otherwise god no. You want to be within striking distance of East London for nightlife, not West London.

by the way, east london is pretty artsy tuomas. you'll probably enjoy it. it's a bit pretentious too. it doesn't really represent the rest of london very much but then no part of london really does to be honest, good to travel around everywhere though. and hit some parks.

plus if you stay in kensington check out king's kebab near earl's court station. obv.

hey tuomas - blueski's right, the days hotel was the one my friend stayed at.

Bits of Hackney Road can be pretty grim, I'm not really sure about the location of that Hotel Shoreditch. For one, it's not really Shoreditch (you don't want to be much further east than Kingsland Road) and that bit is a bit of a no-man's land between Shoreditch and Bethnal Green. I'd plump for the King's Cross one over that if it's reasonably priced.

it's not a big deal to be further east than Kingland Rd - 15 min walk tops.

Actually having just Street Viewed it, that bit of Hackney Road is okay. It's a bit far from the Tube though isn't it? That would be a big deal to me if I was visiting London for the first time.

That Days Hotel seems to be over our budget; a two-person room for 7 nights in there costs almost a thousand pounds, whereas in Travelodge you cna get one for less than 600 pounds.

Okay, I think we've decided to stay at the Travelodge, but it turns out they have another hotel at City Road that's almost as cheap:

http://www.travelodge.co.uk/search_and_book/hotel_overview.php?hotel_id=340

The address is 7-12 City Road. Do you think this would be a better location than the King Cross hotel? Or is King Cross hotel (at 100 Kings Cross Road) better located for a visitor?

Most of those Finsbury Park to Manor House hotels are all boarded up now, whatever clientele they did have must have been hit big by the recession.

I think that weird Bergmanesque double suicide didn't help either

Given the choice, I'd plump for City Road, because:

- you can walk to Shoreditch quickly from there (and crucially can walk BACK from Shoreditch easily at night)

- you can walk into the City easily, good for walking around and looking at cool buildings

- you're within striking distance of Clerkenwell and its awesome selection of pubs and restaurants, plus Fabric

- easy bus into the West End

- King's Cross is frankly a shithole, albeit a conveniently located one

Yes, Tuomas will fit in better in Shoreditch

I always thought they were either itinerant labourer hotels or total cathouses.

Tuomas, try this one, ground zero for Shoreditch:

http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/ex/1/en/hotel/lonct

...and OMG don't stay at Travelodge in King's Cross unless you want to hear trains and horrible drunk businessmen all night.

bring an umbrella

But that City Road location is great for Shoreditch, although my link is closer to the stuff you'd like. xpost

There's not much in it though really, distance wise.

I'd always assumed that Old Street Holiday Inn was horrendously noisy at all hours of the night but that's just an assumption.

I think I have stayed in the City Road one. Seemed OK for the short time I was in it.

I've checked that Holiday Inn, but it's somewhat over our budget. The City Road Travelodge sounds pretty good, though there's a special discount available for the Kings Cross hotel that doesn't seem to apply to the City Road one, so it will cost us a bit more to stay there. I think I can convinve my friend that it's a better option, though, if you're all saying so.

£30 a night, halls of residence just beside Hoxton Square:

http://www.wmin.ac.uk/page-5374

Also there is a recession on, so if you tried one of those sites where you and friend can offer £500 for the week and it's either that or the room goes vacant, you might be in with a bit of luck. It doesn't matter if it's theoretically high season if there are no tourists booking your rooms.

Recession + Swine Flu = you're laughin'

I think that weird Bergmanesque double suicide didn't help either

oh is that what the "chemical incident" was?

xpost either laughin' or oinking

For "chemical incident" read "lesbian suicide pact"

"my lesbian suicide romance"

Airborne Sapphic Event

http://www.laterooms.com/

This site has a special offer for Days Hotel Shoreditch, but booking a room there via that site would cost almost 40% less than booking the same room via the hotel's own website, so that sounds a bit too good to be true. Also, I looked for customer reviews for that site, and it seems there are many unhappy customers who'd found out that the rooms hadn't been booked when they arrived at the hotel, even though the site claimed they had a booking. Do any of you know anything about Laterooms.com, it sounds a bit fishy to me?

laterooms has been fine for me.

can always book, and then check with days hotel to confirm?

can always book, then post here fretfully to confirm?

Hmm, even with the special offer Days Hotel is still more expensive than Travelodge City Road, so I think we'll settle for the latter. 7-12 City Road is also closer to the City than 419 Hackney Road, right?

Seriously, don't bother with Days Hotel, it's in a shit location. City Road is much better.

yeah fuck a hackney road.

you can get to angel easier from there when shoreditch and not finding anywhere to sit down gets too much

oh my god i've become an old man

Okay, it's now confirmed: we'll be in London from Tuesday 25th of August to Monday the 31st, and we'll be staying at the Travelodge on City Road. Neither of us have been to London before, so any tips on gigs, clubs, good pubs in the area + other stuff worth seeing are much appreciated. And if folks are up for a FAP during that week, it would be nice. I'll probably start a new thread a bit closer to the occasion anyway.

It's worth going to the Victoria and Albert Museum because it's free!

Also it is full of cool stuff.

(All the major museums in London are free)

Bits of Hackney Road can be pretty grim, I'm not really sure about the location of that Hotel Shoreditch. For one, it's not really Shoreditch (you don't want to be much further east than Kingsland Road) and that bit is a bit of a no-man's land between Shoreditch and Bethnal Green. I'd plump for the King's Cross one over that if it's reasonably priced.

there is so much nice stuff that's east of kingsland road! broadway market/bethnal green/lauriston road/victoria park/london fields, some of the best things in the east area are v close to that days hotel, even if its immediate surroundings are dull.

but basically any of the suggestions above are fine, cos you can walk wherever pretty easily, and that city road place will be grand I'm sure.

you'd be so much happier getting home at night to city road than hackney road. good choice i reckon.

http://www.hollyhousehotel.co.uk/

^^, caek I have stayed here a number of times. it is extremely cheap - easily the cheapest place ive found in London. It is completely fine to stay in if you expect a basic no frills clean functional tourist room in a central and easily accessible area. I will always choose this place for staying in London - simply for the cost savings

there is so much nice stuff that's east of kingsland road! broadway market/bethnal green/lauriston road/victoria park/london fields, some of the best things in the east area are v close to that days hotel, even if its immediate surroundings are dull.

Yeah but they're not going on holiday to the East End, they're going on holiday to London. Seriously why would anyone staying in London for the first time go out of their way to go to London Fields? It's just a bit of flat grass.

Jesus, East Londoners are almost as bad as Americans for not noticing that anything of value happens outside where they live ;)

but we're right! if it wasn't the case we wouldn't have to make such a to-do whenever we leave our postcode

LOL Londoners

Anyway, purely personal recommendations:

Pubs/bars - loads of good ones near your hotel, some of the bars are a bit wanky but walk into most places and they'll be at least passable. A little bit further West, there are three or four lovely pubs (The Crown/The Three Kings/The Sekeforde Arms) round Clerkenwell Green that are also good for drinking outside. The Reliance on Old Street is a bit of a personal favourite as well. Probably worth doing a FAP earlier in your stay as well, it'll make you feel a bit more at home and you'll get ideas for other stuff to do just by talking to people.

Food - kind of depends how much you want to spend, but you won't be short of options. There are some awesome Vietnamese places clustered round the lower end of Kingsland Road, the best of which is Song Que. If you want to really push the boat out and eat somewhere genuinely world class then you're not far from perennial St John - probably not recommended if there are vegetarians in your party though. Avoid going for a curry on Brick Lane, there are hardly any good restaurants there and perennial ILX favourite Tayyabs knocks them all into a cocked hat. It's in Whitechapel and is VERY popular so worth booking unless you want to queue out of the door.

Art - if you want a really fun and cheap day out just buy a copy of Time Out and wander round various tiny galleries round the Shoreditch/Dalston/Bethnal Green areas. There are literally dozens of them and some of them will have some amazing stuff in them. White Cube in Hoxton Square is always a good starting point and has some Gilbert & George stuff there at the moment. Also near you is the Whitechapel Gallery although I haven't seen what's currently there. Tate Britain, Tate Modern, the Hayward and the Serpentine are all worth visiting as well, depending how much you actually want to do.

Clubbing - the August Bank Holiday weekend is pretty much the biggest party weekend of the year, there will be shitloads of cool stuff going on. I've been a bit out of the loop in recent months but Ronan and the Lex are the people to talk to here. If money's a concern you're better off finding some basement party in Dalston and the T-Bar is reliably excellent, FREE, and usually has some great people playing, especially if you're into techno.

Green spaces - all the main parks in London are lovely - Hyde Park/Regents Park/St James's Park/Victoria Park take your pick really. The best views over London are from the top of Greenwich Park or Hampstead Heath, both of which are further out but well worth visiting. They both have really nice, slightly villagey town centres near them as well but you need to devote more time to going there.

^ excellent

I thought the T-Bar closed?!

Thanks a lot for the recommendations, Matt, will be checking into those. We're both vegetarians, so St. John is probably not a good option, but the other two places you mention sound nice.

My friend studies theatre, so we might want to go to one... If you have any recommendations for local indie theatres (or reasonably priced mainstream ones), those are welcome too.

Tourist stuff: you probably have as good an idea of the major touristy things as I do. I have no idea whether the Tower of London is really worth visiting for example. Dan's recommendation of the V&A is an excellent one though, plus if you're there you can wander into the Natural History Museum and see dinosaurs. The British Museum rocks too and is closer to where you're going to be staying. If I had to recommend two things to do though:

- Walk along the South Bank on a Saturday. Can't stress this enough - if you start at London Bridge and head towards Westminster Bridge you'll be able to take in Borough Market (massive, awesome food market), the Tate Modern (free to get in and the collection is terrific), the South Bank Centre and then end up by the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye. The Eye is total corny tourist thing to do but the view from the top is spectacular so who cares. Also on the way there'll be a load of stuff to stop and look at on the way.

- Get a boat along the Thames. London looks fantastic from the river and you'll be able to see a lot in a short space of time. It's only really worth doing this if it's a nice day, but you can go either East as far as Greenwich or West as far as Richmond/Kew, and then just hang in the sunshine in gorgeous surroundings.

(T-Bar closed then re-opened at Aldgate)

Walk along the South Bank on a Saturday...

Was just going to say much of this.

Me too. Last time I went to London, we spent our Saturday doing just that, it was great. London Eye is great as well, though I felt it helped that I have a decent feel for where and what things are, made looking for stuff more fun rather than going "hey, nice view" for half an hour.

You'll be surprised how walkable central London is. We bought travelcards the first weekend we went down and hardly used them at all. We did that London Bridge - Westminster Bridge walk straight off the flight, stopped for a coffee, walked up Whitehall, through the touristy bits (Downing Street, Horseguards, Piccadilly Circus etc) before getting lunch in Soho and walking through Covent Garden etc and back along the other side of the Thames (wish we'd done a boat trip, maybe next time). You're almost back where you started before you know, and it's a great way to see stuff.

Seconded for the V&A and Natural History Museum, also near nice parks.

^^^ This. The Tube map is a bit misleading and can make you think that two places are miles apart when in fact they're five minutes walk from one another. Worth spending a couple of quid on an A-Z rather than a tourist map.

two small independent theatres which spring to mind - the arcola in dalston (reasonably close to you) and the finborough in earl's court (not that close but it's a really awesome space - the audience sits on benches around a central space, which acts as the stage. it's very "intimate".

someone should probably mention that tayyabs is no good for vegetarians either.

for theatre, the arcola is seconded. you might also try the £10 tickets at the national theatre, or £5 standing tickets at the globe - a recreation of shakespeare's theatre on the southbank, bit touristy but great if you're interested in the history of theatre and productions are usually very good.

Dunno how much it costs to go on the London Eye, but I recently went up to the top of St Paul's and I reckon the view is probably just as good. Plus, you get to see the inside of the cathedral (lots of famous dudes in the crypts), and if you're interested in acoustics, the whispering gallery is really, really neat.

Vegetarian recommendation - Mildred's in Soho, despite the sometimes stroppy staff.

Not Bodeans.

and if you're interested in acoustics, the whispering gallery is really, really neat.

Can you take a ukelele in there?

Haha yeah Tayyabs = not worth going to if you're vegetarians. I know veggies who have been there and enjoyed it but probably not worth going out of the way for.

There is apparently one fantastic vegetarian restaurant on (I think) Great Eastern Street which is very near your hotel, but I have no truck with such things and therefore have no idea what it's called.

Barbican - just a few mins walk from the Travelodge (good as part of a walk either to or from the West End/Covent Garden, always something good on there even if it's just a film (or you can just admire the architecture) - google it for listings

Suggest Barbican

Do not go to Tayyab's, it's RUBBISH for vegetarians. Go to Chutney's on Drummond Street behind Euston Station - or if you're really adventurous go to Tooting Bec for Kastoori, which is the best Indian Vegetarian in all of London.

If you are on a budget - and even if you weren't - I highly reccomend going to the Indian Mission on Chapel Market in Islington. (shouldn't be too much of a hike over the hill if you're staying on City Road) It's £3 all you can eat (might have gone up to £3.50 the last time I was there) food is good and hearty vegetarian fare - and to make it even more worthwhile, the decorations are just fantastic - the walls are covered in vegetarian propaganda and weird facts and figures and photos of every vegetarian Miss India who's eaten there since it opened and it's just a wonderful, wonderful place. I think it will appeal to your sense of the absurd, Tuomas.

Chutney's is so good, one of my fave joints and I'm not even a veggie. It's all about the special pooris.

i like chutneys but thought it's nothing special. indian mission is (now?) called "indian veg" i think, it's cheap and cheerful.

it has a slogan in there that says "madonna good, pele better, george best - (something i forget) good, vegetarian better, vegan best"

genius.

maradona surely

has anyone been to that hare krishna place in soho?

oh yeah maradona soz

That list of footballers is the wrong way round and the food list is too.

if you don't fancy venturing to greenwich or hampstead heath, just go up primrose hill and you get a nice view (as noted by blur). and you get proximity to camden market etc. as bonus.

"madonna good, elp better, pete best..."

camden market proximity not any sort of bonus unless it has changed dramatically since i was last there (about ten years ago)

It has, it's got worse

tuomas would like camden market.

Camden Market is great if you want an impossibly large range of cheap indie tat, but not for most normal-thinking people.

Dunno how much it costs to go on the London Eye, but I recently went up to the top of St Paul's and I reckon the view is probably just as good

Might actually be better, due to the close-up view you get of the City towers. Plus you get to see inside St Paul's which is better than queueing for the Eye.

Another lovely (and pretty short) walk within the vicinity of St Paul's is down Fleet Street and then taking a wander around Lincoln's Inn Fields and through Middle/Inner Temple to the river. It only takes around half an hour and there are lots of windy little passages, which mean you're confronted with an unexpected and beautiful building round pretty much every corner.

Thanks for all the tips, I guess I have to print out this thread. A cheap veggie restaurant would definitely be nice (especially if they serve lunch), since our room doesn't include breakfast, so that Indian Mission/Indian Veg thing sounds good.

I'll probably want to do some record shopping too... Are there any record stores that would have a good selection of older dance/electronic music (used or new, doesn't matter) from the 90s and late 80s? Like Spacehall in Berlin, if anyone's ever visited that store?

idk what it's like for older stuff but phonica is prob the best dance record shop in london

we're both a bit prissy

Seriously, no-one picked up on this and laughed at Tuomas?

(sorry Tuomas...)

I mean, I just liked the idea that the king of TMI is squeamish about communal bathrooms/shower areas.

Are there any record stores that would have a good selection of older dance/electronic music (used or new, doesn't matter) from the 90s and late 80s?

Music & Video Exchange in Camden probably best bet here, or the more specific Soul & Dance outlet in Notting Hill

tuomas would like camden

Yeah but they're not going on holiday to the East End, they're going on holiday to London. Seriously why would anyone staying in London for the first time go out of their way to go to London Fields? It's just a bit of flat grass.

well I just pointed out that there were nice places near that days inn on hackney road, that was the specific reason for mentioning those places, so it wouldn't be a matter of going out of your way if you were in fact staying in that hotel! most of my favourite pubs are not in shoreditch but broadway market/lauriston road/bethnal green, you have a string of amazing places to eat/drink along that general strip.

I have to say, not to get fractious, but just as a matter of curiosity, I don't see any appeal in central London whatsoever. it is pretty ugly for the most part not to mention overcrowded, plus every pub/restaurant is full of people who are straight out of the office.

soho is nice enough I guess on occasion but struggling to think of what else I like in central

National Gallery, National Portait Gallery, British Museum. The royal parks.

Chinatown.

Think the appeal of central is wandering around and seeing things - and lots of it can be surprisingly peaceful, even just tucked in behind Oxford St. Lots of good pub options in Bloomsbury, Fitzrovia, Gt Portland St also

well I just pointed out that there were nice places near that days inn on hackney road, that was the specific reason for mentioning those places, so it wouldn't be a matter of going out of your way if you were in fact staying in that hotel!

to be fair it's going quite out of your way if you choose to stay in a hotel there in the first place so you can be close to those places!!

everything around the river is kind of great around central london.

Fitzrovia is chilled

Fitzrovia is nicer than Soho and full of good restaurants and less crowded places to drink.

I'm not sure what you mean by "Central" anyway. The bit around Oxford Street -> Leicester Square -> Piccadilly Circus is overpriced, over-touristy and grim but the rest of it is fine and there are loads of good places to eat and drink if you know where to find them. I just don't think you really know it very well.

Plus, y'know, the Royal Academy of Arts, St James's Park, Hyde Park, the Haunch of Venison, that whole stretch along both sides of the river, that whole Bloomsbury/Holborn/Clerkenwell stretch is full of awesome restaurants and cool buildings and random twists and turns.

Actually the Fitzrovia/Bloomsbury stretch probably has more good pubs than any other part of London, and is full of chilled out little squares and so forth. Cherry Blossom OTM.

well ken he did ask about what it was like around that hotel...it's pretty good! also like it takes about 15 mins to walk to shoreditch from there, hackney road is not middle of nowhere or something. i don't get how getting back there would be hassle at night, you walk. or you get a cheap cab or a night bus, same as getting back to city road. it's not like it's rough or whatever.

I think its more that the convenience of a central hotel is good for "so its 4pm, lets go back to the hotel and drop these records and clothes off, freshen up and head back out for a meal". Or the ability to walk the whole time and perhaps not even get a bus

Yeah that's it really. That's kind of why City Road is the perfect compromise, because you're close to both central and East London. There's also a lot to be said for being within 5mins walk of the Tube.

I really dislike that lower stretch of Hackney Road, not round the hotel but just past the Old Street roundabout and the Joiners Arms etc. It suddenly feels quite quiet and intimidating, especially at night. Much more so than Kingsland Road or Mare Street which are always lively and full of people. I suppose it's partly irrational, but this pub has always scared the shit out of me.

it's not even worth the argument but ok.

city road hotel by nearby night bus routes
205 214 271 43 N55 N35 243 N76

hackney road nearby night bus routes
N55 N26 (N253)

distance to nearest tube station
city road: 0.2 miles (old st) 0.2 miles (moorgate) 0.4 miles (liverpool st)
hackney road: 0.6 miles (bethnal green)

sorry xpost research took a bit long

wow Ronan is a true Eastender! rarely do they care to venture "up wist".

i wish the pub on Hackney Road called THE SCUD was still with this. don't forget that the WEST BROM PUB is only a stones throw from Days Hotel tho. and Little Georgia.

now that i'm livin central I appreciate it a lot more obv (esp. bloomsbury and clerkenwell)

little georgia otm...as for the transport thing, if you're talking better connected in general then that's once again nothing to do with the initial point made, which was that that hotel is not in the middle of nowhere or in a crap location.

fair enough

LOL at the suggestion that central London is 'ugly' in comparison with Shoreditch!

tuomas is going to have a very fucked up trip to london if he carries on reading this thread.

It's all right, we've already told him camden market is shit.

I really meant a crap location in terms of tourists staying in London for the first time, rather than in general. It's kind of the equivalent of going to New York for the first time and staying a fair way out in Brooklyn - there'll be good stuff going on there, it's not the middle of nowhere, and it's fine for people who have been there several times, but hardly the best base from which to explore the city for the very first time.

The boy won't know whether he's coming or going at this rate

(Haha yeah Tuomas you probably don't need to bother printing out anything after the record shop recommendations)

depends on your defn of ugly, most of central london looks like a 70s drama about IRA bombing campaigns

i have no idea what you mean or where you could be thinking of.

congrats

I agree about seeing central London first, but then Tuomas has quite a bit of time, so voyaging east could be fun. The Vyner street galleries are interesting to pop in and out of.

The market etc in Camden is a fucking armpit, but it's part of what makes London, er... London. And it's something of an eye opener, at least. Worth passing through once, maybe? For what it's worth, Brick Lane in full effect makes me queasier in some ways.

brick lane is horrible, I will give you that for sure.

Most of East London is pretty ugly just to look at, but then again most of London is pretty ugly just to look at. You want to go to a beautiful city, go to Paris or Copenhagen or somewhere. You go to London because it's exciting and full of really cool shit.

not sure Paris is really more beautiful (esp. if you take conveniently disregard Montmartre and the Isles).

Camden market is fantastic if you are in the mood to spend an afternoon in the 1990s!

i guess some of The City is ugly? i dunno London kind of is the most beautiful place in the world, to me, so i'm finding all this discussion almost painfully baffling.

there are enough beautiful buildings, little parks etc. in zone 1 to excuse all the crap imo

Central London's not ugly at all! (Though it does have its bad points)

Fitzrovia, Belgravia, Mayfair, all those large town houses and squares. The small streets in Soho, the broad avenues of Regent St and Haymarket. Trafalgar Square. The Parks! Laaaahvely.

And I'm very fond of Camden, but it's been my stomping ground forever. I can understand disliking it.

Most of most cities are shit to look at unless you know where the pretty stuff is. Helpfully, many of us have pointed out pretty/interesting things already.

I can only assume Ronan is taking Central London to be TCR/Oxford Road/Centrepoint or something.

xposts

i thought most of the city was really ugly when i was younger and just going into town for the day on the tube. used to find all post-war stuff plus the general greyness just depressing.

In most of zone one that's way outnumbered by 18th and 19th C stuff though.

my heart belongs to the Black Tower of Archway

I had a dream once that Archway Tower contained an illegal casino full of Star Wars cantina aliens.

haha no that's archway snooker club across the road

zone 1 is filled with little parks and squares and courtyards and passages

and look there's Tiny Tim dancing a gay jig

In most of zone one that's way outnumbered by 18th and 19th C stuff thoug

yeah but the later stuff tended to be a lot taller thus more imposing and noticeable, esp. in the busier spots

Yeah I think the thing with Central London is that it can appear a bit grey and ugly and then you walk round a corner and suddenly see something amazingly beautiful, it's the whole patchwork architecture of the place. Like I just walked past Hinde St Methodist Church, like two roads north of Oxford St, and was immediately like "wow, that's gorgeous, I had no idea that was there".

So, what happened? I was expecting the Notting Hill Carnival photos, and considered review of London by now.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v356/kenjuggle3/tuomascarnival.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v356/kenjuggle3/tuomasbigben.jpg

Hey, I'm coming to London again for Christmas, we'll be staying there from 23rd to 27th December. I dunno if everyone is spending time with their families that week, but if not, maybe we could try a FAP again, since the last one didn't quite work out?

Also, I'd need a few Christmas tips, if any London ILXors can help me... We're thinking of going to a classical music concert; I'd love to hear some choral Christmas music like Händel, Saint-Saens, Mendelssohn, etc. Can you recommend me any venue or gig along those lines?

Another question I need some help with: we already have options of where to eat a Christmas Day dinner, but what's the restaurant situation on the 24th and Boxing Day? Are restaurants open or close on those days in general? If you can recommend me some good mid-range restaurants that serve nice food for both carnivores and vegetarians, I'd love to hear more.

"Mid-range" = "mid-price range", if that was unclear.

And tips on any other fun stuff to do in London during the Christmas week are appreciated too.

London will be super quiet that week, people will be out and about on the 23rd and 24th but you will feel like you have the city centre to yourselves for the rest of the time. That said, I'm not sure how much will be open on those days so plan ahead/phone ahead if you're thinking about going out on either day.

You can't do anything in London in December without passing a choir but most of the concerts will be done by that point. Having a look at concert-diary.com there's Handel's Messiah at St John's Smith Square on the 23rd and this on Boxing Day.

I'll be in London that week but doing family stuff throughout your stay, with the possible exception of the 23rd.

http://www.concert-diary.com/?f_Region=London

ha, reminds me of this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ianvisits/sets/72157628564018557/detail/

(photos of central london taken on christmas morning)

How's the public transport on Christmas? Our hotel is in SoHo, I guess it'd be nice to find a restaurant within a walking distance for Christmas Eve.

You will have no problems whatsoever on Christmas Eve and there are more restaurants within walking distance of Soho than pretty much anywhere else. Might still be worth booking ahead though.

Public transport will basically shut down completely on Christmas Day and will start up again with slightly reduced services on Boxing Day. There will be football matches played across London on the 26th so things will be running and people will be moving about.

Those pictures of London on Christmas day are amazing. It's like the start of 28 Days Later or something.