I'm traveling to London in the fall (Star Trek convention, but I've wanted to go to the U.K. for a while). For a lot of the sightseeing stuff, the London Pass seems like a good idea. You can get it for 1, 3 or 6 days, with or without transport passes.
http://www.londonpass.com/ David ________________________________ From: PGage <[email protected]> Subject: [TV orNotTV] NotTV: Summer in London I have benefited several times in the past from travel advice from list members; I hope you will pardon another open request. I know we have several UKers (not sure what the most global proper adjective is here) on the list, and several others who are familiar with London. My daughter, a rising Junior Film & Television major (there, I guess a little TV) is taking a course in London this summer (British Literature) and then hanging around a little longer to soak up some Olympic experience. She is very much on a typical college student budget. She claims I promised her some years ago that I would send her to London for the Olympics - I have no memory of that, but who knows what I told her when she was 12. Last September we agreed that if she could earn enough money for her tuition and expenses and kept her GPA up I would pay for her airfare. It was close, but she held up her end of the bargain, and her mother and I have pitched in a little extra spending money, but not too much. She has tickets to a few events already by hook and crook (including tickets to some women's Soccer, er, Football matches in Cardiff, which is a big thrill for her as a huge Torchwood fan; she is going with a friend whose family will be there, and they are providing transportation and accommodations for that part of the trip). I think she has also identified some events that are basically free, watching people run or cycle or row through the streets and waters of London. She will be staying in the Dorm for the weeks of the actual class, and then in the apartment of her friend for a week, who for some reason is leaving London at the end of the first week of the Olympics. Against her father's advice my daughter has decided to keep her options open for lodging for the last week of the Olympics, betting that she will either make friends with locals during her class (apparently at least half of her fellow students are locals), or find a hook up with her friend who has an apartment there but is leaving early. I have identified a few hostels in and near London (with predictably greatly inflated prices, but still cheaper than a hotel, if they had available rooms) but those hostel rooms will probably be gone soon. She will go to Paris for the last few days of her trip, staying with some friends, and flying home from there. One thing I have not yet done is check on prices and arrangements - I am assuming there is some kind of reasonable ticket on a bus or train. Anyway, I am wondering if any experienced Londoners have any advice for sites to see on a budget. She does have a few good guidebooks, and her school has arranged a few basic trips (one to Stonehenge, one to the more obvious museums, a play in the East End and I think a walking tour of London). I think she is now more interested in things that might be a little lower profile but still memorable - like a favorite pub or local eatery, a club to listen to music in or dance, a park or library to study in, or maybe a day or overnight trip to somewhere charming or interesting. I am a psychologist so I am going to nag her to go to the Freud Museum, and she is a big TV fan, and will probably look for sites she has seen on Dr. Who and Torchwood and Sherlock on her own, unless there is some kind of themed tour for American suckers for this kind of thing. Also, if there are any television shows being produced in London this summer she would probably like to check that out - she is the type that if she were going to NY she would get up early to stand outside the Today Show, or try to get tickets to Jimmy Fallon. We are also still deciding on the merits of some kind of transportation pass (so far it seems a little confusing). Also helpful would be any info on how likely she is to find free or "affordable" wireless connections in and around London. We think we have a handle on the converters, but if there are any common errors Americans make about this we would appreciate hearing about them. -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
