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I am going to be in London for a short stay in early March of '20. I have a room near Heathrow, and have two nights and what amounts to a day and half to explore. So...I am looking for suggestions both regarding public transportation and "must see" activities.

One source has suggestion a train to Victoria station and plan to spend the full day in that area? One caveat, health issues (and age) limit a massive amount of walking.

Thanks for the help. P.S. If anyone is familiar with Porto, Portugal, suggestions would also be welcome.

Of course it depends on interest, but the British Museum is probably my favourite museum in London. The Science and Natural History Museum are great, but more aimed towards children to some extent. British Library has some amazing things too.

London Underground can be packed at peak times but is damn useful.

You are right to plan in advance, quite a lot of things to do in and around Victoria, some walking but the tube is the best way to keep that down. Fares are sorted by a credit card, one card per person swipe at the entrance to the tube, there is a capped amount you can spend. Or you can get an 'Oyster Card', credit card works fine though.

A couple of suggestion, but there are loads more!

Churchills War room are interesting. Part of the Imperial War Museum

Westminster Abbey

If you fancy afternoon tea, very British! In a classic London Store, House of Fraser.

The Tea Terrace


The Tea Terrace - LONDON VICTORIA STREET
2nd Floor, House of Fraser
101 Victoria Street London SW1E 6QX
Tel 0844 8003762
Victoria@TheTeaTerrace.com

Forgot the National Gallery if you like that kind of thing. It's also well placed for seeing lots of nice buildings.

Asphalt_World wrote:Forgot the National Gallery if you like that kind of thing. It's also well placed for seeing lots of nice buildings.

And Tate Britain (Art Gallery) is close as well good point!

I love the Imperial War Museum. Truly brilliant place, but guess you need to have a passing interest or stronger in WWI/II. Also, the top floor is the permanent holocaust memorial. That is interesting, it is chilling, it is worth seeing but it's not exactly a good time. Natural history museum is also bad donkey. Buckingham Palace did nothing for me. Trafalgar Square has the National Gallery (I think, it has a big art gallery at least) if you like to see 10000 paintings of Jesus or his mother, wasn't my cup of tea. Parliament and Big Ben are kinda cool, though I'm not sure how much you can see of Big Ben. I liked London Zoo. They had a couple of beautiful big gorillas, penguins and a brilliant butterfly enclosure, if you like that kind of business. However, if I remember correctly, the underground near the zoo seems to be located in the centre of the earth and was down hundreds of steps with one elevator/lift and none of the moment. Some stations can be a bit tricky if you/your party has some issues with lots of stairs etc. I'm not sure how to easily check that. Anecdotally, it seems like most stations were pretty decent with easy access but a couple of them could be an issue.

If you like Harry Potter, I don't think it's all that much hassle to get to Watford from, say, Euston Train Station?

I've heard the Grenwich Observatory is interesting and also has some beautiful views.

Again, if you are into the WWII side of things, Bletchley Park is 45 mins away on the train. I have only ever heard glowing recommendations for it, and I would very much like to visit it someday.

As for travel, Transport For London has a nifty new service where you just tap your contactless card each time you use the underground or buses etc and at the end of the day it charges you but the amount is capped and it ends up cheaper than getting individual tickets or an oyster card [As I now see Option or Prime has already mentioned]. I would strongly recommend not being on public transport before 10am, or 16:30-18:30 (someone else may advise on times but those are my avoidance times for rush hour). If you have access to mobile phone data, there is an app that lets you know the best ways to get from point A to point B. The London transport system has flaws, but it really is rather brilliant.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I am traveling with my brother who wood cathedral to the north pole barefoot than visit an Art museum, but the museum's certainly appeal to me! I might be able to convince him t to see the Imperial War Museum, however. Sounds fascinating to me. I saw a Thames river cruise for a reasonable price...???

A matter of curiosity...does the public transport run 24 hr? In some cities (ie. Barcelona), I have found late evening shutdowns, thus requiring taxi rides. With that in mind, what would be the expected taxi fare from city center London to Heathrow?

One more question. Neither of us are big drinkers, but would be interested in some London nightlife (ie. Food and entertainment with perhaps social drink), any ideas?

Thanks again,
Blake

Taxi's are damn expensive, even for short runs. The underground runs to all the terminals at Heathrow. That would probably be your best option.

Probably not the suggestion you want, but get out of London! Try Bath or York or somewhere instead

minchy wrote:Probably not the suggestion you want, but get out of London! Try Bath or York or somewhere instead

Minchy, I could go for that, but I suspect my brother might prefer the landmarks. Are Bath and York reasonable day trips from Heathrow?

Windsor is very close to Heathrow and is very pretty and historic. You may get invited into Windsor Castle for tea with the Queen.

Brooklands, the worlds first purpose built banked track, isn't too far from Heathrow either. It has an amazing museum for car and flight enthusiasts. I've been many times and will probably visit again next year. I love the place.

Much to my surprise my brother said he would prefer to take our full day in England to visit a quaint village/city of two where we could experience the rural culture/life/architectural of the country. As for hotel is near Heathrow, we would be looking for convenient train routes, or bus...I don't think I am ready to try learning to drive on the "wrong" side of the road??? IF I did rent a car for the day, would it be a traffic nightmare in that area to get to rural settings???

Thanks for everybody's help, you are giving me so many too ideas.

Blake wrote:Much to my surprise my brother said he would prefer to take our full day in England to visit a quaint village/city of two where we could experience the rural culture/life/architectural of the country. As for hotel is near Heathrow, we would be looking for convenient train routes, or bus...I don't think I am ready to try learning to drive on the "wrong" side of the road??? IF I did rent a car for the day, would it be a traffic nightmare in that area to get to rural settings???

Thanks for everybody's help, you are giving me so many too ideas.

Busy roads are easier if you are not used to driving on the wrong side of the road. You can just follow the other cars. It's when you are on roads all alone that you have to think a little more.

The South and South East of England has lots of rural areas although the population is high so it's never exactly quiet. Head into Berkshire along the M4 and perhaps visit places like Pangbourne.

Head along the M3 and you can visit Stonehenge in a little over an hour!

The Boxhill area is quite nice and not far at all.

Blake wrote:

minchy wrote:Probably not the suggestion you want, but get out of London! Try Bath or York or somewhere instead

Minchy, I could go for that, but I suspect my brother might prefer the landmarks. Are Bath and York reasonable day trips from Heathrow?

Both are a short(ish) train ride from London and both have a really good history. York especially (although I'm biased as that's where I'm from) has good history with museums spanning 2000 years from Romans to Vikings, industrial and Victorian including a Medieval/Roman wall you can walk round for free. If you have 2 days, York is doable in 1

Heathrow to Oxford on the train appears to be a little over 2 hours and not much over an hour by car. Oxford is amazing to walk around and has great museums too.

Like Oxford, Cambridge is within reach too and is another stunning place that's very 'English' if you're after that kind of thing.

minchy wrote:

Blake wrote:

minchy wrote:Probably not the suggestion you want, but get out of London! Try Bath or York or somewhere instead

Minchy, I could go for that, but I suspect my brother might prefer the landmarks. Are Bath and York reasonable day trips from Heathrow?

Both are a short(ish) train ride from London and both have a really good history. York especially (although I'm biased as that's where I'm from) has good history with museums spanning 2000 years from Romans to Vikings, industrial and Victorian including a Medieval/Roman wall you can walk round for free. If you have 2 days, York is doable in 1

I'd wouldnt try to do York from Heathrow in a day. You'd be spending 6 hours of the day on a train.

I suspect Windsor might fit your requirements better.

Herb wrote:

minchy wrote:

Blake wrote:

minchy wrote:Probably not the suggestion you want, but get out of London! Try Bath or York or somewhere instead

Minchy, I could go for that, but I suspect my brother might prefer the landmarks. Are Bath and York reasonable day trips from Heathrow?

Both are a short(ish) train ride from London and both have a really good history. York especially (although I'm biased as that's where I'm from) has good history with museums spanning 2000 years from Romans to Vikings, industrial and Victorian including a Medieval/Roman wall you can walk round for free. If you have 2 days, York is doable in 1

I'd wouldnt try to do York from Heathrow in a day. You'd be spending 6 hours of the day on a train.

I suspect Windsor might fit your requirements better.

Yes I agree, Neither Bath, York, Oxford either to be frank, you are talking about someone who wants to get a feel for the country not learn how tiring travelling can be on the train or by car.
I'd stick with a well planned trip to London, masses to see at minimum travelling times. First thing to do though is decide what interest you though Blake, your parameters are getting wider not more focussed. If you give a couple of key interests and a rough location you will get best advice from those who live in the UK. Its small the UK but not that small!

Good points. I am not too concerned with the half day in London proper other than the best way to get there from Heathrow. For the full day, we would like to see and experience places like perhaps Shere? If we rent a car, we could maybe visit a few places in a given area? Suggestions to off the beaten path things of interest.

I do realize that the parameters are expanding, but we are just trying to explore our options.
Thanks

Whilst I agree there is loads to do in London, if you want to get a feel for England, you need to spread your wings further than our capital. Given the time, visiting somewhere like Oxford means you'll see countryside en-route as well as somewhere quite different.

A train or drive to Brighton would be very different and give a real taste of a type of traditional English seaside resort.

An idea... rental car.
Heathrow to Windsor Castle to McLaren, Woking, to Surrey and back to Heathrow. Too ambitious??? Feasible??? I have no idea of how long a Windsor tour would take...and/or McLaren???

No idea about McLaren but Windsor isn't that big so you don't need too many hours there.

If I remember from last time I went to Windsor, there isn't much there other than the castle and lego land, and I don't know what access there is for tourists to the castle? But Woking to Hethrow should be an easy drive in a hire car (M25 traffic depending).

(when I went to Windsor I was playing with British Grenadiers band for the day so we had fairly good access when we weren't performing. The actual Grenadiers took round the 'back of house' for the fun of it which was pretty good So all you have to do is learn to play in a British military marching band and make sure your visit coinsides with a royal event of some kind!!!)

I just stayed in a hotel just by Heathrow and commuted into the city for work as it happens. I found the easiest way of getting into the centre was getting a shuttle bus from the hotel to the airport itself (there are services that calls around all of the local hotels) which takes about 10 minutes, maybe a little more if you have to pick up lots of people.

Then from the airport (Terminal 2/3 for me, not sure about others) you can get on the underground which will take you right into the centre or a slightly quicker (but more expensive) way is getting the 'Heathrow express' train to Paddington station, then you can get the underground from there, that will shave about 15 mins off your journey time.

Thank you, Black Flag. That helps a lot. Our current plan is will the first afternoon and evening in London proper, then take the rental car to the " country"

Blake wrote:Thank you, Black Flag. That helps a lot. Our current plan is will the first afternoon and evening in London proper, then take the rental car to the " country"

Just avoid getting in London with the car. You'll have to pay the congestion charge (in week days) and also a pain in the backside to park (and extortionate day parking fees).

Better leave the car for the day in the country side. I'd say you must drive in the country side, some of the twisty roads are absolute pleasure for driving. You can try Woking and the McLaren HQ (you won't see them, but plenty of McLaren road cars around there so you'll see them if you are lucky!), some nice places in the Surrey region in general.

Siao7 wrote:

Blake wrote:Thank you, Black Flag. That helps a lot. Our current plan is will the first afternoon and evening in London proper, then take the rental car to the " country"

Just avoid getting in London with the car. You'll have to pay the congestion charge (in week days) and also a pain in the backside to park (and extortionate day parking fees).

Better leave the car for the day in the country side. I'd say you must drive in the country side, some of the twisty roads are absolute pleasure for driving. You can try Woking and the McLaren HQ (you won't see them, but plenty of McLaren road cars around there so you'll see them if you are lucky!), some nice places in the Surrey region in general.

You are speaking my language, my friend! I have NO intention having my first attempt in driving on the "wrong" side of the road being in London traffic. Nothing against London, as I have avoided driving in other big cities too...ie, Milan, Brussels, New York, st al. I'd like to visit Woking, but not too sure my brother is down with that? Surrey is currently the leading region for our "field day". Still haven't finalized anything yet.
I do have a couple of friends (former PF1 members) in London that I am hoping to see, so that may be a part of things too.

If you are thinking of visiting McLaren HQ I don't think its open to visitors, long way to come for a wasted trip.

Thanks, Option. It was just a thought. What about Aston Martin?

You can drive from Heathrow to Silverstone in a little over an hour. Their new museum looks astonishing. I will be making a vist later this year.

https://silverstone-experience.co.uk/

Yet another great idea, thanks, AW

From Heathrow you could drive to the New Forest in just over an hour and visit the Beaulieu motor museum. Some beautiful towns villages and pubs close by as well.

mikeyg123 wrote:From Heathrow you could drive to the New Forest in just over an hour and visit the Beaulieu motor museum. Some beautiful towns villages and pubs close by as well.

I second that, New Forest is great. Or similarly the Cotswolds, awesome drives and picturesque villages.

Siao7 wrote:

mikeyg123 wrote:From Heathrow you could drive to the New Forest in just over an hour and visit the Beaulieu motor museum. Some beautiful towns villages and pubs close by as well.

I second that, New Forest is great. Or similarly the Cotswolds, awesome drives and picturesque villages.

Me too, the New Forest is awesome

Siao7 wrote:

mikeyg123 wrote:From Heathrow you could drive to the New Forest in just over an hour and visit the Beaulieu motor museum. Some beautiful towns villages and pubs close by as well.

I second that, New Forest is great. Or similarly the Cotswolds, awesome drives and picturesque villages.

Thanks, guys. I hadn't heard that idea before. I certainly will look into it...especially the beautiful villages.
Judging by the Google search photos, it is indeed beautiful in New Forest, the first week of March won't likely be as green!

Brooklands isn't far from Heathrow and is quite interesting but much of it is outdoors so better later in spring or summer.

Dunno if you're back in the states yet Blake, but let us Brits know if you enjoyed yourself and what you did. Always good to hear a foreigner's perspective of our cold, wet, flooded, windy, possibly snowy land

(And feel to complain about the weather while you were here, we love of bit of that!)

minchy wrote:Dunno if you're back in the states yet Blake, but let us Brits know if you enjoyed yourself and what you did. Always good to hear a foreigner's perspective of our cold, wet, flooded, windy, possibly snowy land

(And feel to complain about the weather while you were here, we love of bit of that!)

Well, it has been an exceptionally crappy Feb/early March so far...

I just got back to the states tonight. I'd like to be able to say that I had a great time in London and the area, however...

The first night I took the underground from Heathrow to the city and had a good time. Picadilly, Trafalgar Square, and surrounding areas, even visited the Hippodome and ate at "the Moon under Water", curious to learn the difference between English Beef Lasagne and other beef Lasagnes. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. That is where I should have stopped!!!

The next day was our long anticipated "drive in the country". Perhaps the single most frustrating and tension filled day of travel I have ever experienced. First my reserved Eurocar Passat or similar somehow became a brand new Mercedes SUV at $680 pounds, a far cry from the $128 for 2 days that I booked. After a energetic discussion, they (Eropcar) came up with a new Mercedes C300d, for "only" $550. Again I said no, and as they claimed to have no other car to fit my choice (an automatic tranny, one of my few wise decisions), I said to just cancel the reservation and we would just spend the day in London proper. Amazingly, I suddenly I had that same new 300d for $120 for the two days and was off see Jolly Old England.

I quickly learned some new things... 1) having cars coming at you on the side you are not used to is very intimidating. 2) GPS on a Merc is Useless in London. 3) you do have some very nice residential areas (see #2), 4) one can park anywhere, unless you are driving a Mercedes rental, then you can park nowhere.

Some Masochist in the UK decided if a goat path was good enough for the goats, is good enough to be a two lane road!!! Then they said, let's make curbs to force the drivers drive down the middle. Signs are apparently too much of a bother, so we often had to backtrack to find the proper turn. I figure we drove 15 km for every 10 of forward motion (remember, I did say you have some nice residential areas, I know that for fact!!!). BTW if any of you where driving the car(s) that I cut off on one of the dozens of roundabouts, I am sorry, really I am!


All that said, I enjoyed Windsor Castle, and Windsor. I made it to Brooklands but was well behind schedule and it was pouring, so we just moved on. Finally got to Shere, and finally got a feel for the UK that I had been hoping to find on my country day. I highly recommend the White Horse Pub. In fact, I'd love to spend more time in the rural areas...If only I didn't have to drive to get to them.

On a side note: I am currently awaiting the damages for what was a new blue 300d Merc. It seems a left front wheel was beat up a bit (imagine that!), and somewhere somebody scuffed the rear bumper cover. oh, one last thing. The M25 became my favorite London area road, sadly the only road I felt comfortable on! I am told that is a thought that horrifies real Londoners.

So, inconclusion, I am glad to say I tried it, but any future visits to London will be sent in historic London or with a London experienced friend\chauffeur. My driving days in London are now history and you are all safer for it. So is my pocket book.


On the plus side of our two country adventure, Portugal was wonderful and even relatively comfortable to drive in. Had a great time there. If you have never been there, I highly recommend using it. Porto is beautiful and frindly, Estoril is pretty much a resort town. A!so it is amazingly inexpensive.

Oh, one last question... It seemed as though requests for assistance in said residential areas resulted in either a very friendly willingness to help us get back on track...or outright disdain? One older gentleman even volunteered to guide us back to the desired road with his car, but some others were downright rude even loathing? (I thought I was In New York at times) In general though, I found the people to be friendly and funny. Another observation, I think London has more than its share of pretty women!!! Quit being so greedy and share.

a very big "Thank you" to all who offered advice here in the forum, it really is appreciated.

P.S.
I also failed in one of my goals...to eat a good Cottage or Shepards Pie. None of the many menus I searched listed either one??? How did that happen?
???

Good read Blake! I'm glad you had a nice time (well, all things considered).

Normally when they do not have the car that you asked, they would offer the next higher class for the same price. That's what they do when I have to rent cars, although that is from the business account. It is weird that they tried to trick you to pay more when they failed to deliver what you had rented. Thankfully it worked out for you. Ah, the wheels are the one thing that they really care for, as scratches and cosmetic stuff they can fix, but tyres and rims should be spotless when you hand back the cars. They normally tell you these things when they inspect the car before they let you go.

When you first drive in the UK you definitely get the feeling that some roads are narrower than other places, but you get used to it. I find that it adds to the charm. And quite the opposite, the M25 is dreadful for me, how can you have a 4 or 5 lanes road get clogged up? Especially around Heathrow, it is nearly always packed and they have a speed restriction.

London is pretty terrible for driving, for over a decade now they have tried to pretty much ban the motorists from the centre by introducing the congestion charge (but if you pay then it is of course ok, congestion is not an issue anymore!), then putting the London transport prices up, so basically if you don't cycle (by the way the cycling lanes are terrible too) you will have to fork out to get anywhere. Parking is still ok-ish, they still have free parking in places on Sundays and even Saturdays at places. Which is not the case for some other cities in the UK.

Anyway, back in time for the Aussie GP!

Blake,
I left London for the Arctic about thirty-five years ago so did not feel qualified to advise on current activities. I have since relocated to Quebec but I remain a Londoner (I guess in modern parlance I self-identify as a Londoner) One of the things I missed greatly was whitebait (A tiny fish, deep fried) when I returned for a visit to London a while ago I hunted high and low for this dish and found it eventually in Camden Town - on a subsequent visit I found the restaurant burned down so "No whitebait for you!" Did find something called whitebait in New Zealand but it was more like a small fish omelette also found small fried fish in Saint Petersburg but not quite tiny enough to qualify "Nyet! Our Russian fish much bigger!" Shepherds pie was part of my childhood; this dish is a method to use up cold roast lamb. I did find (and have cooked) shepherds pie here in Canada following a Gordon Ramsay (Yes. I know) recipe and it turns out remarkably well (look for it on You Tube). If you can't be bothered to cook and you are going back to London you can find Shepherds Pie on the menu at Shepherds restaurant in Westminster (the clue is in the name)
I think this is a bit like Yorkshire pudding; every body knows what it is but no-one can agree on the recipe but hey, come to Quebec City or Montreal and maybe Ol' Painless will cook one!
Sorry if this rambles a bit - just had a rather good lunch!