Enjoy Visiting London

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The Dorchester Hotel, London

Most visitors to London choose to stay in either hotels or bed and breakfast although there is some self-catering accommodation.

Accommodation in Central London is usually more expensive so staying a bit further out can be a money saver. As long there are good rail or underground services you should be no more than 20 to 30 minutes from Central London. You can check on the underground train links by looking at the tube map.

Hotels
There are hotels to suit every taste and pocket from 5 star de luxe hotels to the adequate and sometimes not so adequate.

For a hotel in the UK to qualify for just one star from the Automobile Association (AA) the staff should be polite and provide a competent service. The majority of rooms should have en suite facilities and there is a "designated eating area with a reasonable choice of food and wines available".

To qualify for its highest award, five stars, the hotel should provide impeccable services with professional, attentive staff. All the rooms and suites should be luxurious and the decor, furniture and furnishings should be expensive and immaculate. The hotel restaurant should serve superb, well-executed meals and its wine list should have the best wines.

Find out more about how the AA awards stars.

Bed and Breakfast (B&B)
Bed and breakfast establishments are usually privately run, often by husband and wife teams, and the best provide a good personal service. Some are so good that people return year after year.

Strictly speaking, a B&B provides just breakfast which may be a full English breakfast of fruit juice or cereal, eggs and bacon, often with baked beans, sometimes it includes sausages as well. This is usually followed by toast and jam or marmalade. There is no doubt that if you can face it, an English breakfast sets you up for the day! Alternatively, it may be just a Continental breakfast, consisting of croissants if you are lucky, or bread rolls, with butter, jam and marmalade. You will probably be offered fruit juice or cereal as well.

The AA also provides a classification system for B&Bs. They are rated by the number of diamonds awarded, with a range of 1-5 diamonds.

Self-Catering
If you prefer self-catering there is a good choice ranging from budget one-person apartments to luxury houses. For more information visit Visit London, the official site.

Oxford Street

Oxford Street is probably London's best known street for shopping and Selfridges, at the western end, its most famous store. Other department stores are John Lewis, Debenhams and House of Fraser as well as Marks & Spencer and BHS. Oxford Street is said to have 300 stores altogether so there is plenty of choice.
Tubes Stations: From west to east of Oxford Street - Marble Arch, Bond Street, Oxford Circus, Tottenham Court Road.

Regent Street has always been a little more up-market than Oxford Street. The three main department stores are Libertys, Lillywhites and Dickens & Jones. Other stores include Jaegar, Acquascutum, Calvin Klein Jeans, Mappin & Webb, and Wedgwood.
Tubes Stations: From north to south - Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus

Kensington High Street is a smaller area and has fewer shops than Regent and Oxford Streets or Covent Garden but it is still well worth visiting.

You will find stores as varied as PC World and La Senza which sells quite glamorous lingerie, Kurt Geiger for shoes and Phones4U, American Apparel and the Non-Stop Party Shop. There's also an Oxfam charity shop which is well worth visiting because some of the wealthy local residents donate their designer clothes. You can't buy them for pennies but you can get a very good bargain.
Tube Stations: Kensington High Street

Picture: Kensington High Street
Copyright © Thomas Blomberg - Creative Commons License

Buildings of Upper Grosvenor Street, Mayfair, London
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Although all the areas mentioned above have some fine, expensive shops - the kind where, if you need to ask the price of something, you can't afford it. They all have stores suitable for people who don't appear on any Rich List too.

There are some areas in London, however, that are known for their very expensive designer boutiques and other stores. You will find these mostly in Mayfair, Belgravia, Sloane Street and Knightsbridge.

Mayfair
This is the area that lies between Oxford Street to the north, Regent Street to the east, Park Lane to the west and Piccadilly to the south. Mayfair is known as a very expensive and exclusive area. Here is located the American Embassy in Grosvenor Square, the Ritz Hotel is on Piccadilly and the Grosvenor House Hotel and the Hilton are on Park Lane. The area has wide range of shops including art and antiques, ladies fashion, jewellers and some of the city's best hairdressers. Some of the exclusive stores have names synonymous with luxury like Mont Blanc Pens, James Purdey (gunmakers) and the perfumiers, Penhaligons.

Belgravia
Much of the land in Belgravia is owned by the Grosvenor Estate which belongs to one of the wealthiest men in Britain, the Duke of Westminster. It is the area around Belgrave Square with the limits being Sloane Street in the west, Knightsbridge to the north, Grosvenor Place to the east and Pimlico Road to the south.

It is home to many embassies housed in beautiful terraces of grand houses while some of these are still private homes but only for the very wealthy.

Belgravia is not a busy shopping area but contains a variety of shops although the overall impression is that many of them are antique dealers or art galleries.

Harrods Department Store, Knightsbridge
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Knightsbridge
This describes the area rather than just the road and includes the Old Brompton Road. Again there are many designers stores here. It is also the location of one of the most famous department stores in the world - Harrods. You can't go in if you aren't reasonably smartly dressed but it's worth making an effort to browse around this temple to consumerism and maybe looking for something affordable to buy just to get one of those famous green carrier bags.

Sloane Street
This runs between Knightsbridge in the north and Sloane Square in the south. Department store Harvey Nicholls stands on the corner of Sloane Street and Knightsbridge - this is the local store for so-called 'Sloane Rangers'. Going south down Sloane Street you'll find designer Christian Dior, Gucci, Valentino, Prado and Hermes.

A Red Double Decker London Bus

The cheapest way is get an Oyster card which can be topped up (like a pay as you go mobile phone) at many stores. This prepays for travel on London's buses and tube trains and is really easy to use. The tube (or underground) provides good coverage of all of Central London. Alternatively, you can use the London Pass which has an option of free travel on London Underground plus free entry to 55 of London's major visitor attractions like the Tower of London and London Zoo.

You can also use London's famous black cabs, a more expensive alternative than public transport. You will probably notice that black cabs disappear when it rains and everybody wants one! You can hail a cab in the street by raising your arm when you see one with his orange taxi light on.

One of London's famous black cabs.
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No, they are not all expensive although many are. Museums and art galleries are free although there may be a charge if they have a special exhibition but, even so, you can still access the rest of the collection free.

London's historic churches, abbeys and cathedrals usually ask for a 'donation'.

Places like Hyde Park, Green Park and other parks and open spaces are free and beautiful places to visit especially for picnics. At lunchtimes on warm summer days in the parks, you'll see Londoners enjoying the sunshine during their lunchtimes. The parks are referred to as the 'lungs of London' and are well used by locals and visitors alike.



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Eating Out
Like other cities, it can seem difficult to find good, inexpensive places to eat in Central London. Of course, there are plenty of burger chains and other fast food outlets but maybe you don't want to eat burgers and fried chicken everyday. Around 1pm weekdays, watch where the office workers go. They know all the good, cheap places to eat. You'll probably want to wait till the lunchtime crowds have cleared or get in earlier to miss the rush.

Oxford Street in London, outside Selfridges Department Store.
This is just the kind of area pickpockets operate.

Fortunately, the areas that most tourists visit in London are safe. Like any big cities there are areas that are unwise for strangers to visit but there are probably no reasons for the average visitor to go to them.

In the popular tourist and busy shopping areas, the biggest danger is probably pickpockets. Make sure money and credit cards are safe. Don't carry them in your back pocket or in an easily opened bag. You'd be surprised at how quickly and easily a pickpocket can open them and take your wallet and other valuables. You probably won't even notice until later.

In restaurants or anywhere else, don't allow your credit or debit card to be taken out of your sight. You should hand it over and it should be processed right in front of you.

Don't buy overpriced hot dogs, ice creams,etc, from unlicensed street vendors. Not only are they overpriced, they are also unhygienic and food poisoning will ruin your visit.

Even the first time visitor can enjoy London without any worries if they are aware of some of the pitfalls they might encounter.

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The Da Vinci Code has really touched the imagination of people worldwide. While in London you can visit the places mentioned in the novel.

Fleet Street
After leaving Paris, Langdon, Neveu and Teabing unravel another clue that sends them down Fleet Street, once the centre of national newspapers in England. In fact so closely associated is this thoroughfare with newspapers that 'Fleet Street' is still used to refer to the national press even though they have all now moved out to more modern and spacious premises elsewhere. The Fleet is one of London's underground rivers and is now part of the sewer system although it once ran along this street as an open sewer.
Closest tube stations: Aldwych, Blackfriars.

The Temple Church
Langdon, Neveu and Teabing go down Fleet Street and turn into Middle Temple Lane on the south side (just west of Chancery Lane on the other side of the street) to arrive at the Temple Church. Built in the 12th century. the Temple Church is one of only three round churches to be found in Britain. It was built by the Order of the Knights Templar formed to protect pilgrims in the Holy Land. Unfortunately Victorian 'restoration' has destroyed many of the original medieval features in this ancient church. The Da Vinci Code has had a positive effect with visitors increasing greatly since Temple Church was featured in the novel and visitor donations have increased too.
Closest tube station: Temple

King's College
To find the meaning of the clue 'in London lies a knight a pope interred', Langdon and Neveu visit King's College in the Strand to seek the help of a researcher. The college was founded by the Duke of Wellington in 1829 and it became part of the University of London in 1908. In 1849, this was the first college in London to hold evening classes. Thomas Hardy, the novelist, was one of the people who benefited from them as he studied modern languages there.
Closest tube stations: Temple, Charing Cross, Embankment

Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey
The clue unravelled with the help of the King's College researcher takes Langdon and Neveu to the tomb of Sir Isaac Newton in Westminster Abbey. Here they receive a mysterious summons to the Chapter House of the Abbey which is where they discover the identity of and overcome their enemy.
Closest tube station: Westminster

St James's Park
The enemy of Langdon and Neveu, before most of the action in London takes place, meets an accomplice in St James's Park and deal with him there. The park is about 90 acres in size Henry VIII took the land into royal ownership. Charles II had fruit trees planted and ponds amalgated into one continuous stretch of water called the Canal. Today it is one of the prettiest of the Royal Parks and a good place to go bird watching.

The National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London
Closest tube station: St James's Park

The National Gallery
Leonardo da Vinci's painting, The Virgin of the Rocks, plays a role in the novel and you can see it in the National Gallery on the north side of Trafalgar Square.
Closest tube stations: Trafalgar Square, Charing Cross