"How to Create the Perfect London Getaway... " a London Travel Page by Callavetta

With the volatility of airfares and a flexible lifestyle it's become rather easy to enjoy periodic long weekends in London. Often one of the majors will offer deeply discounted fares and the others will follow. $300 RT fares from San Francisco become a nearly regular thing on the off seasons. (Don't expect to find these fares in June or July!)

Thanks to a bunch of business travel for a couple of years I have managed to attain Elite status and as such, get double miles. A trip to London gets me enough miles for a free domestic trip. So $300 is a no-brainer! In fact, it's stupid to pass them up.

That said, this year brought two "long weekend" to London. In March daughter Jill and I headed across the pond for 4 days. In December, both daughters, Lorna and Jill and I are making the trip to shop, see the Christmas decorations, visit a Museum, and take some of the wonderful London Walks.

Someone asked me how many times I've been to London and I answered by counting the Hotels I've stayed at. Accommodations in London are among the most expensive. But it's easy to find deeply discounted fares at various internet hotel booking sites. So when a trip is in the offing I start surfing all the different sites and pick a Hotel that fits my budget for that particular trip.

The first thing one has to do when planning a trip to London is determine what neighborhood they want to be in. Obviously, that's going to be tough on a first trip. I started out right next to Buckingham Palace, at the recommendation of a family member. While that was nice, I soon discovered Knighsbridge, where I am very happy. I suppose I should branch out and try another area or two and when the Savoy fits my travel budget I shall do that!

To find the best websites for hotels at any particular time, simply google the hotel name and most of the references will actually be web booking sites. Compare and contrast. Different sites seem to get different fares. And of course, try the Hotel website itself to see if there might be a better offer. My collegues tell me Priceline is the way to go, but thus far I haven't been willing to continue past the "enter credit card" page.

Helpful websites for booking hotels are:

www.londontown.com
www.smoothhound.com
www.laterooms.com
www.hotel-booker.com

To learn more about booking through Priceline, check out www.biddingfortravel.com

I was chatting with a friend the other day about places we love and places we just love (and even some places that for some unknown reason just leave us cold). We kind of came to the conclusion that some of us have "warm souls" and some of us have "cold souls". Or maybe we could say that some of us have Northern souls and some have Southern souls. I am definitely a person with a "warm" or Southern soul.

So that leaves a few questions.... What is it about London that has won my heart? The same thing could be said about Amsterdam. Both are more northern and certainly colder than some of the places that just don't ring my bell like London or Italy or Croatia or Greece.

I ran across this photo and it spelled it out for me: it's all about diversity. In other words, it's more about attitude than lattitude. London is a City of incredible diversity. The many languages you will hear on the streets create a cocophony of sound that is music to my ears. The international spectrum of restaurants offer a selection like nowhere else.

London truly has something for everyone!