London is becoming unaffordable...

[3rd Viennese School]

Listen to this! There are adverts on our trains telling us that we will be better off walking during the Olympics rather than using public transport.
And I think they expect commuters to take 6 weeks off work.

Nice to know that Southeastern are thinking of us!

3VS

[JFLL]

Listen to this! There are adverts on our trains telling us that we will be better off walking during the Olympics rather than using public transport.
And I think they expect commuters to take 6 weeks off work.

Nice to know that Southeastern are thinking of us!

3VS

It's well-known that Southeastern would far prefer it if people always walked – passengers are such a tiresome inconvenience.

But what I can't quite understand is, why should all London public transport at all times during the Olympics be a no-go area? Won't the people who want to watch go by train from, say, their hotels Central London to the Olympic site and stay there? If you're travelling from, say, Dartford to Charing Cross at 2.00 p.m., how would that affect you? And I suspect that (a) many tourists will stay away from London anyway and (b) Londoners (me included) will be heading elsewhere for the duration.

I wonder whether this is one of those scares like the Year 2000 computer crash non-event.

[teamsaint]

london is a mad crazy place, with prices to match.

Anyway here are a couple of money savers.

The Etap in Hounslow (I know, i know !!) is usually cheap, and handy for the tubes into the west end.(and they sleep 3 and get an en suite shower room)

And this pub is fab .........(very close to London Bridge)

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/george-inn/

You can get something decent to eat for a tenner in really nice surroundings. Handy for the Barbican etc, I should think.

[Nick Armstrong]

And this pub is fab .........(very close to London Bridge)

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/george-inn/

Wonderful - the last of the old galleried Inns that Dickens, Shakespeare and even Chaucer (cf. The Tabard) knew. It's mentioned in Little Dorrit. As mentioned before in these precincts, it's a great place to hunker down by a fire of a winter's afternoon with a book and a pint of porter

[Serial_Apologist]

Wonderful - the last of the old galleried Inns that Dickens, Shakespeare and even Chaucer (cf. The Tabard) knew. It's mentioned in Little Dorrit. As mentioned before in these precincts, it's a great place to hunker down by a fire of a winter's afternoon with a book and a pint of porter

A few years ago I took some Canadian friends for a drink there. As we sat in the courtyard, some American tourists came past, one of whom asked in a loud voice, "Gee, did they transport this place from Norwich?"

[gurnemanz]

gurnemanz, I'm intrigued by your free off-peak parking close to Waterloo. It's some time since I drove into the centre (coming from Stroud, not that much further from the M4 than WB, I tend to park near Northfields, & tube in), so any tips are most welcome!

We used to do the same thing, parking near South Ealing but we now prefer to drive all the way. We nearly always find a place in or around Wootton Street, SE1 8TG, where parking is free after 6.30 weekdays, 1 pm Saturdays and all day Sundays. Nearby, other possible streets are Alaska and Exton. If you're unlucky you might have to go further East, but in many visits we have never not found somewhere free.

http://www.londontown.com/hotelmapbeta/DirectoryPrintMap/index.php?geoh=531353&geov=180022&width=631&height=456&zoom=6

PS There is a nice corner pub called the Kings Arms right nearby in Roupell street where we often sometimes stop off for some good Thai food at a very reasonable price.

http://www.qype.co.uk/place/75780-Kings-Arms-London

[Serial_Apologist]

We used to do the same thing, parking near South Ealing but we now prefer to drive all the way. We nearly always find a place in or around Wootton Street, SE1 8TG, where parking is free after 6.30 weekdays, 1 pm Saturdays and all day Sundays. Nearby, other possible streets are Alaska and Exton. If you're unlucky you might have to go further East, but in many visits we have never not found somewhere free.

http://www.londontown.com/hotelmapbeta/DirectoryPrintMap/index.php?geoh=531353&geov=180022&width=631&height=456&zoom=6

PS There is a nice corner pub called the Kings Arms right nearby in Roupell street where we often sometimes stop off for some good Thai food at a very reasonable price.
http://www.qype.co.uk/place/75780-Kings-Arms-London

You are very brave, gurnemanz, IIMSS, driving into central London from the provinces, and lucky to find free parking. Was it on a whim and a prayer?

Given the capital's fame for traffic congestion, and the timings necessary to get to and from places you intend visiting during the week, you will of course have taken Congestion Charge times into acount, but it might be worth mentioning.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/roadusers/congestioncharge/whereandwhen/

PS Must try that pub sometime!

[pmartel]

Wonderful - the last of the old galleried Inns that Dickens, Shakespeare and even Chaucer (cf. The Tabard) knew. It's mentioned in Little Dorrit. As mentioned before in these precincts, it's a great place to hunker down by a fire of a winter's afternoon with a book and a pint of porter

You are SO LUCKY to have something like that.

Torontonians could only wish for that.

Last year I was in Montreal and toured around the old part of Montreal, oh how gorgeous. I shot photos of old Montreal in b&w and the result was quite stunning.

If I EVER get to the U.K again, I will be shooting mostly b&w based on the area I'm in

[gurnemanz]

You are very brave, gurnemanz, IIMSS, driving into central London from the provinces, and lucky to find free parking. Was it on a whim and a prayer?

Given the capital's fame for traffic congestion, and the timings necessary to get to and from places you intend visiting during the week, you will of course have taken Congestion Charge times into acount, but it might be worth mentioning.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/roadusers/congestioncharge/whereandwhen/

PS Must try that pub sometime!

It's not a case of being brave. We were actually forced into taking this approach because when my aged father was still alive, living on his own in Coulsdon, South London, we got into the habit of combining trips to London with going to see him. He really appreciated these visits. We would stay the night at his place and take him out for Sunday lunch before going home from there. Parking the car at a West London tube station would have been no use at all in this itinerary. By the time he died we had got into a new routine which suited us.

Congestion charge shouldn't enter into it. It doesn't apply after 6pm and at weekends.

[scottycelt]

A few years ago I took some Canadian friends for a drink there. As we sat in the courtyard, some American tourists came past, one of whom asked in a loud voice, "Gee, did they transport this place from Norwich?"

Maybe he was told about this nearby and also fascinating pub and really meant Ely ... ?

http://www.londontown.com/LondonInformation/Bars_and_Clubs/Ye_Old_Mitre_Tavern/ac9e/

[ostuni]

We nearly always find a place in or around Wootton Street, SE1 8TG, where parking is free after 6.30 weekdays, 1 pm Saturdays and all day Sundays.
PS There is a nice corner pub called the Kings Arms right nearby in Roupell street where we often sometimes stop off for some good Thai food at a very reasonable price.

Thanks very much! I've just today booked a ticket for ENO's Flying Dutchman on 12th May, so I think I'll give it a try.

[Serial_Apologist]

You are SO LUCKY to have something like that.

Torontonians could only wish for that.

Last year I was in Montreal and toured around the old part of Montreal, oh how gorgeous. I shot photos of old Montreal in b&w and the result was quite stunning.

If I EVER get to the U.K again, I will be shooting mostly b&w based on the area I'm in

Well I recomend a visit to The George, pmartel. My friends were from Toronto, as happens, and they enjoyed it - as well as a stroll around the (admittedly expensive) Borough market just nearby, followed by a promenade down the river front, now bustling all year round, with lots of stalls serving exotic foods, second hand bookstalls etc., ending up at the Festival Hall for a look around the bookshop, cup of decent coffee and slice of whatever cake is on offer, and maybe some free music being presented in the first floor bar as well. Ten minutes across the Hungerford Bridge walkway - with great views down the Thames, especially at night, and on up the narrow lane beside Charing Cross station, and you're in Trafalgar Square... probably pretty knackered by that stage!

[pmartel]

Well I recomend a visit to The George, pmartel. My friends were from Toronto, as happens, and they enjoyed it - as well as a stroll around the (admittedly expensive) Borough market just nearby, followed by a promenade down the river front, now bustling all year round, with lots of stalls serving exotic foods, second hand bookstalls etc., ending up at the Festival Hall for a look around the bookshop, cup of decent coffee and slice of whatever cake is on offer, and maybe some free music being presented in the first floor bar as well. Ten minutes across the Hungerford Bridge walkway - with great views down the Thames, especially at night, and on up the narrow lane beside Charing Cross station, and you're in Trafalgar Square... probably pretty knackered by that stage!

My trip to the U.K was back in '93. It was WONDERFUL.

Stayed with a friend I had written back and forth to in Somerset. Unfortunately, only one night in London, but felt I was home as found most places without a map.

We had a bus trip to Bath and had my first Guiness on daft.

Funny, my partner who is American and my ancestors BOTH come from Yorkshire.

We plan to have a trip back to the 'homeland' at some point.

Oh yes, I even had a car and barreled down the M5 at 120MPH listening to Pet Shop Boys 'Go West' on Radio 1.

In London, I stayed in Earl's Court, need I say more.