Visitor Information

Some information for your upcoming trip to London THE MONEY As of right now: US $1 = £ 0.6124 £1 = US $ 1.6328 This fluctuates daily. Your best option for changing money is to withdraw it from an ATM once you arrive, rather than exchanging money prior. There are ATM’s at all the airports once you get your baggage. CELL PHONES Most Verizon cell phones will not work in the UK (with the “world phone” and many blackberry models being the exception). Most other carriers will. Check with yours prior to coming. Heathrow has a vending machine that sells UK sim cards, which will work in most unlocked phones. WHAT TO PACK It rains here often. November is the wettest month of the year. Dress in layers, with the outermost being waterproof, preferably with a hood so you don’t have to schlep around an umbrella. A pair of waterproof shoes is also a good idea. It doesn’t rain for very long, but if you are here for a week, expect some. Also, during the winter the sun sets at 4pm, so if you are planning to do the Eye, or something else involving a view, plan to do that early. During the winter it does get cold, you will need a winter coat. Temperatures should range from the low 40’s to the mid 50’s Fahrenheit. GETTING INTO LONDON FROM THE AIRPORT If you are coming into Heathrow, it is a tossup. If you are arriving prior to 10:00AM, you should probably take the Heathrow Express to Paddington Station. This is a central station and easy to get to pretty much anywhere in central London from here. The other, less expensive option is to take the tube from Heathrow to Piccadilly Circus, and change for wherever you are going to from there, or just grab a taxi from Piccadilly Circus to your hotel. If you want to take a car from Heathrow, we use Swiss Cottage Car Service. Their number is 020 7433 1000. Expect to pay about 35£(about $55.00) from the airport. You need to book them in advance. They provide a meet and greet in the terminal. Regular black taxis (London cabs) are very expensive; expect to pay over £60(closer to $90.00) from the airport. If you are coming into Gatwick, we recommend the Gatwick express train. It goes into Victoria station, and although offers no cost benefit, is significantly less stressful than sitting in traffic for 1-½ hours or more from the airport. If you want to take a car service, we would again recommend Swiss Cottage.

Expect to pay about £55 from Gatwick to central London by car service. A less expensive option is National Express Bus, which operate bus service into Central London (Victoria Station). www.nationalexpressbus.com. GETTING AROUND LONDON Once you get here, the best way around is by tube or bus. The most cost effective and easiest way is to get an oyster card (a travel card similar to a metro card). This will get you discounted bus and tube fares. You need to purchase the card itself (3£) and then add money to it. It will reduce the cost of a single tube ride from £4.00 to £1.60, and a bus ride from 2£ to 1£. We recommend putting a set amount on it (I would start with 10£ -20 per adult depending on your length of stay. You can purchase regular Oysters at any tube station or newsstand (called newsagent here) that displays the oyster sign. Check with your hotel where the closest one is. The TFL (similar to the MTA) has a helpful website, including a good planning tool at http://www.tfl.gov.uk. Taxis are very efficient, but expensive. If you are going out in the evening, you can also book a car from Swiss Cottage to take you from your hotel. SIGHTSEEING Prior to coming, you should get a hold of at tour book and figure out what you want to do. Several off the major tour book companies, such as Frommer’s have good websites. We also use www.timeout.com/london for information on theatre, and upcoming events. Here are some websites of some of our favorite attractions: The London Eye – I would check the weather forecast before booking, and book on the day or day before you want to go. Booking in advance eliminates lines. http://www.londoneye.com/ The London Duck Tour (great for kids under the age of 10, it is a land/water vehicle that does a cute, cheesy bus style tour of London, then goes on the Thames). It leaves right near the London Eye, so you could do this before or after your visit there. This is a very popular tour, so I would book prior to coming. http://Londonducktours.co.uk . Historical Royal Palaces (i.e. the Tower of London, Hampton Court, Kensington Palace). The Tower is SO cool. I would plan to do a Yeoman Warder guided tour...these happen every 30 minutes from opening which is 9 a.m. or 10 a.m. depending on the day. It is also near Monument (under refurbishment), and Tower Bridge - good photo ops. http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/ Tower of London Key Ceremony at the Tower of London is literally the locking down of the Tower. Book way in advance! You won’t go inside the rooms of the tower, but it is a lot of fun. It is every evening at 9:30pm. Anyone can witness the Ceremony of the Keys, which normally is open to the public

every night of the year. However, tickets (which are free) must be obtained in advance by sending a written request, a return envelope, and British postage stamps or two International Reply Coupons to: Ceremony of the Keys Office HM Tower of London London EC3N 4AB United Kingdom Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. It happens everyday at 11:30 in the summer and every other day in the winter. Check the website for the schedule. Get there EARLY is my advice to get a good spot. But it is something not to miss - hard to believe this kind of pomp and circumstance still goes on! http://www.changing-the-guard.com/sched.htm Big Bus Tour - a good overall tour of London - hits all the major sites and you can hop on and off so you could plan to hit a couple of sites on this day while riding the bus. http://www.bigbustours.com/eng/london/default.aspx Westminster Abbey is really interesting http://www.westminster-abbey.org/ Cabinet War Rooms and Churchill Museum - very cool http://cwr.iwm.org.uk/. This is where Churchill ran the Second World War. Great audio guide. St. Paul's Cathedral - across the river from the Tate Modern, which has a very cool café for lunch. You could visit the Cathedral then walk the bridge across the Thames to the Tate for a visit and lunch. A visit to St. Paul's requires energy, as there are 500+ steps to the top of the dome! http://www.stpauls.co.uk. Imperial War Museum http://www.iwm.org.uk Great history of the U.K.’s involvements in the wars, from World War I to the present. As well as a very well done holocaust memorial. One of the best museums in London for the recent history of the country, and great for children. National Maritime Museum. Good overall history of the U.K. Accessible by boat or tube. Also next to the observatory that determines Greenwich Mean Time. http://www.nmm.ac.uk/ (Note: There is a pub nearby, The Union, where they serve our favorite locally brewed beer, Meantime, http://www.greenwichunion.com) Big Ben and Houses of Parliament. When in session, you can tour Parliament; I need to arrange this for you, as it has to be done through my local MP’s office. This tour is very interesting and gives a good overview how British Government works. So let us know ASAP if you would like to do this.

Fullers Brewery The oldest Brewery in London offers a full tour followed by tasting. Yes it is appropriate for kids (except the tasting part). Tours must be booked in advance. www.fullers.co.uk. It is about a ten-fifteen minute walk from the tube station. Theatre London has a ton. Go to www.Playbill.com for the current London theatre listings. Also, Broadwaybox.com has discounts for London theatre. Some suggestions: War Horse: Good for kids 10 and up (the website says 12 and up). I would recommend having children read the book prior. Retelling of a popular British children’s book of a horse’s experience in world war one using life size puppets that is spectacular. Oliver: What is more classic than seeing Oliver in London? Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (Not for kids under 12, explicit language and sex), but great music and costumes. The most fun in the West End right now. Pantomimes (called pantos here) are child friendly interactive theatre (Think Rocky Horror Picture Show for kids). http://www.bigpantoguide.co.uk will have a list in the fall. They are very popular during the Christmas season. Billy Elliot is also playing here, and it is way easier to get tickets for the U.K.production (the original, by the way), than for the one in New York City. Sister Act (yes that Sister Act of Whoppi Goldberg fame) has gotten great reviews as a fun musical. The London Dungeon: Horror experience that kids (10 and up) love and parents tolerate. http://www.thedungeons.com/en/london-dungeon/index.html Art Museums: Too numerous to list. Most museums are free, check the website. The biggies are: The National Galleries http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk The Tate http://www.tate.org.uk The Tate Modern http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/ The Victoria and Albert http://www.vam.ac.uk Some smaller museums that may be more manageable with kids are:

The Wallace Collection (a personal favorite) http://www.wallacecollection.org/ The Courtauld Galleries http://www.courtauld.ac.uk/gallery/index.shtml The John Soane’s Museum (a townhouse with a wide spread collection of antiques, artifacts, mummies and Hogarths http://www.soane.org Formal Tea. The Ritz http://www.theritzlondon.com/tea/, The Berkeley http://www.theberkeley.co.uk/,or the Browns http://www.brownshotel.com, are the classics. You should book prior to coming here. Fortnum and Mason are over rated and expensive. A friend of mine recommends the Sofitel St. James http://www.brasserieroux.com/cuisine/cuisine.shtm as being less expensive than the more famous options, and just as good. London Walks. There are literally dozens of cool walks around town. Go to www.Londonwalks.com to look at all of the options. No reservations necessary. They have a great Jack the Ripper tour in the evenings. TRIPS OUT OF LONDON If you want to venture to Stonehenge, Bath, Windsor, Oxford, etc. you can catch a sightseeing bus www.premiumtours.co.uk. Also, Anderson tours has several locations throughout London for day trips. www.andersontours.co.uk. For Paris, www.eurostar.com . Paris is only 21/2 hours from London by high speed train. Bath is doable by day. The train leaves from Paddington station and takes about 90 minutes. www.visitbath.co.uk. Windsor Castle and Hampton Court Palace are also good day trips as they are very accessible by train. WWW.royalcollection.org.uk for Windsor Castle. Hampton Court Palace. http://www.hrp.org.uk/hamptoncourtpalace. If you plant to visit both Hampton Court and the Tower of London, it may make sense to by a family membership, as entrance fees to both are fairly high. If you are planning to see the Key Ceremony, you do not have to pay an entrance free to the Tower that night. Please email me at [email protected], or call my UK cell at 011 44 7812 507 253 with questions.