London Things to Do Tips by angiebabe

Check out the British Tourist Office, or also called the Britain and London Visitor Centre at 1 REgent ST, just down from Picadilly Square - well recommended for all the travel info you want - a monthly publication which i regularly go in to get, called the London Planner , is available and gives you almost everything you want to know about getting around London and whats on to see - special events for the month, the exhibitions that are on and where to see them -
- also whats most recommended if you have to priotorize your time - and budget.
It will give some idea of where to eat and also has some discount offers advertised too.

In the centre is also info for out of town travel - brochures covering district to district around the UK and also various booking centres who can actualy make bookings for you.

Information can also be accessed from the internet for you if necessary.

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Phone: blvcinfo@visitbritain.org
Address: 1 Regent Street, London,sw1 4xt
Directions: 200 m south of picaddilly circus square and underground (exit 3)
Website: www.visitlondon.com
Other Contact: www.visitbritain.com

A friend of mine phoned me last week from Kew Gardens to tell me i must get myself there as the place was stunning! - full swing spring - but i couldnt muster up a visit until today (too much work and travel!!) and sadly the peak had past but the spring flowers do continue but instead of the place being one mass of spring blooms they are now in areas around the park.

A great thing about Kew Gardens are not only the seasonal highlights such as 5 million different bulbs which flower in spring ie snowdrops which are the first flowers to appear in spring, crocuses(2 million bulbs of them!) and daffodils, camellias but also the all year glasshouses such as the Palm house which has has the worlds highest indoor plant, and the Princess of Wales conservatory where you can see 10 climatic zones with plants from orchids to cacti. Ive been to see the amazing orchid and tropical exhibition with over 200,000 plants on display which are on beginning of each year.

Theres also Kew Palace with its own Queens Gardens to see too.
Entrance is a bit expensive at £11.75 or like me today a late entry ticket for £6.70, but good value is a season ticket with unlimited visits for £35!! there are reductions if you are a student or over 60 or with a disability.

So i did make it out there today and have a few nice pics to show you - think i need to go again next week!

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Phone: (0044)02083323333
Address: Kew Road, Kew
Directions: take overground train to Richmond and then bus 65 to kew gardens or underground to Kew Gardens tube station , and follow the signs about 5-10 mins walk.
you will see it marked clearly though on ref maps for london
Website: www.kew.org

As my works not far from Buckingham Palace if ive done a nightshift or somethings happened like today and i am around after during the day i take the chance to head on up and see the sights along the way on my way up to the British Tourist Office at Regent Street off the Mall.

Its all a lovely walk along with historic buildings, gardens such as the flower beds - and the freqently changing colour and flower scheme in them! - in the roundabout in front of Buck Palace and St James Park and its lake, and in the mornings theres the Queens Guards and Horse Guards that come up and down the mall for the Changing of the Guard and other events.

You can check out what flags are out - whether the Royal Standard is flying or not on top of Buck Palace which indicates whether shes home or not, or like today it was flying on top of Clarence House a few houses along from the Queen, up the Mall, which should mean that Prince Charles is home.

Be around the area by 1030 to see all the lead up to the Changing of the Guard ceremony which is 11am daily in summer and alternate days in winter.

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Address: The Mall, SW1
Directions: Green Park tube

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Directions: St James's Park tube - or a short walk from several other stations - victoria Station, Knightsbridge, Green Park - and its just over the road from Buckingham Palace

The National Gardens Scheme is a charity founded in 1927 to raise money by opening gardens to the public.

3,500 gardens throughout England and Wales - 200 in the London area - with owners who generously open their gardens to the public on specific days to raise money from the entry charges plus the sale of teas and plants.

The gardens i attended charged £2 entry charge each or a special deal for 4 for £6 with teas and coffees 50p to £1. The London guide also included gardens that were having evening opening with wine and cheese for up to £4.50.

Some of the main beneficiaries include Macmillan Cancer Support and Marie Curie Cancer Care, Help the Hospices, Crossroads, The Nurses Welfare Service, The Royal Gardeners' Orphan Fund, NGS gardeners bursaries - to sponsor 15 trainee gardeners. £103,000 was raised last year by the London area gardeners!

A guide is produced each year for the London area giving you details of the adress, date or event planned or a complete book of all the participating gardeners and their addresses

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Website: www.ngs.org.uk

This busy and very central square that is such a significant London landmark gives tribute to Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson, born 1758, who became a hero after his death at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 fighting the French.

Lord Nelson was made a Baron Nelson of the Nile in 1798 and Viscount in 1801.

This square is handy for buses(which is also part of what makes bus passes such good value for tourists!esp the weekly passes), including night buses - a bus from home travels directly to or from here so is very handy for me when i need to come into the city or depart from as the New Zealand shop is nearby! or the British Tourist Office for monthly updates of the London Planner (see the relevant tip!) from whereever Ive needed to be in the city centre - up the mall from work to here or down from Tottenham Court if at our employer's education centre - and not far Charing Cross station or the tube stations of the Embankment or Picadilly Circus or Leceister Square.

Right here at the Square is the National Gallery and St Martins-in-the-Fields church which has lovely classical music evenings and its daily Cafe-in-the-Crypt in its historic Brass Rubbing Centre.
Just around the corner is the National Portrait Gallery and Covent Garden and just up further is Leceister Square.
Just south is St James Palace and the Horse Guards, Whitehall, Banqueting House, the well guarded entrance to 10 Dowling Street, and Westminster with Big Ben and just over a little is Embankment tube station and the Hungerford Bridge over to Waterloo Station and the busy South Bank area!!

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Address: Trafalgar Square, WC2
Directions: Charing Cross or Leicester Square tubes

The National Gallery is London's foremost or leading art museum with over 2,300 paintings, most on permanent display.

Apparently in 1824 King George IV persuaded the government to purchase 38 major paintings which became the core of a national collection of European art that now ranges from the 13th century to the 19th century Impressionists and Landscape. Particularly notable are the Dutch, Italian Renaissance and 17th century Spanish paintings (namely Velazquez's only remaining female nude!).

Special exhibitions are also held here - often particularly prestigious with works from the greats of the artworld!! - for example at present, until 16th September, is the Dutch Portraits:The Age of Rembrandt and Frans Hals which is the first international survey of 17th century Dutch portraiture and follows the Golden Age experienced by the Dutch Republic after its independence from Spain.

As with several excellent exbitions held here in the past I enjoyed seeing the paintings in this exhibition and learning more about European art and the linking between the art and museums Ive been to seen around Europe in the years that I have been living over in this hemisphere. With my Art Fund membership I am able to get a concession, generally about 50% discount from the usual price making it £5.

Opening times to the Gallery are daily 10am til 6pm with Wednesdays having a late evening until 9pm. Last admissions are 45 minutes before closing time.
There are often also free lunchtime talks, evening lectures and short courses available at the National Art Gallery.

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Phone: 0 20 7747 2885
Address: Trafalgar Square, WC2
Directions: Charing Cross or Leicester Square tubes
Website: http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/

Ultimately this is a thing to do as I recommend these as a way of getting oriented to London. especially if you are pushed for time a tour helps get your bearings and a plan of whats what around the city centre.
Plus you might enjoy the sit down after all thats been involved getting to London! The kids should love it and its a pretty good way of people watching - watch us who live and work in London making our way around the place as well!

The 2 companies are 1. the big brown buses called The Big Bus Company and 2. the big red buses called The Original Tour.
Both companies have 24 hour tkts made up of various routes which can be commenced or resumed at any stops enroute and run between 8.25 am to about 5 pm, 6pm from April to September. Both have routes with multi language commentaries and a route with live english only.
Both also are agents for fast tkts to top attractions to minimise queue waits and have discount offers for meals and restaurants.

1. www.Bigbustours.com
Buying your ticket online saves you £2 a tkt so thats £20 for adults, £10 for children.
You can buy tkts at any Big bus stop or from the Big Bus Information Centre at 48 Buckingham Palace Road, sw1 or from any London Transport Travel Information centre and by post (£2 postage).
Starting points are from Marble Arch 1st bus 0825am, Green Park 0825am, Russell Sq 0855am. Theres a timetable that you get with the map of what time the first bus is of all the stops.
Included is a boat cruise one way between Westminster, Waterloo and/or Tower Pier 10am-1850pm and 3 walking tours each day at 1 time each of 10am,230pm and 6pm.

2. www.theoriginaltour.com
Online/E'ticket tickets are £17.50 and £11 instead of £19 and £12. There is a family pkg £60 online instead of £72 for 2 adults & 3 children.
There are 6 starting points with the earliest at 825am.
The boat cruise is a choice of a hopon hopoff service from the Embankment all the way down to Greenwich or a circular cruise from Westminster Br to Tower Br with commentary.

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Address: as above
Directions: all around central London with many departure points available for info and tickets or starting the tours.

This historic road has been the venue for many a Royal Occasion with parades of pomp and celebration such as Royal Birthdays (such as the Queen Mother's 100th and the Queens 80th, and anniversaries (eg the Queens Golden Jubilee) heading on down to the Royal Family at Buckingham Palace. During Royal or State occasions the road will be lined with the Union Jack and any other relevant flags for the occasion.

Daily in summer and alternate days in winter (or not at all if very wet weather) the Queens Guards come on down here to Change Guards at 1130 am.

This area is all nice walking distance from tube stations such as Green Park, Victoria Station, Hyde Park Corner, St James Park, Westminster, Picadilly Circus, Charing Cross and the Embankment.
There are many buses that go from around Trafalgar Square and Victoria Station etc.

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Address: The Mall
Directions: The long straight stretch of lovely Oak tree lined road between Buckingham Palace and Trafalgar Square/Admiralty Arch - off each side is the lovely St James Park to Horse Guards, Clarence House and Green Park
Website: www.visitlondon.com

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Directions: this impressive 'gate' connects Trafalgar Square with The Mall leading down to Buckingham Palace and St James
Website: www.visitlondon.com