Help arranging tour in London ?

[NDD]

Hi all !
Today ND has special request. His old folks wanna see London, independently, for a week or so. Of coz, they turned to their computerized son to find out as more as possible about places to stay, places to eat, shopping, touring, and so on ...
I said "OK", and now it more than 4 hours that I'm on a Net trying to find out something. I simply lost in all the pages I've opened. They want to stay in low-budget 2 or 3 star hotel, preferably in some place not far from the center (or wherever it's social life there, never been to England ). Also, my dad wants detailed city map where marked all the museums, restaurants and places like that.
So, if you know some good Net source that contains the info I need, plz let me know. You help will be highly appreciated and rewarded
Thanks in advance !

[socalgal]

www.romulus2.com is our British friendly BBS and you might get some specific info from posting on their BBS, too

[Romulus2]

Hi ND,

These should start you off: http://www.travelengland.org.uk/
http://www.british-hotels.com/index.html

If it's purely London: http://www.in-london.co.uk/tourist-information.htm
http://www.london-tourist-information.com/

As socalgal suggested, some of the members at Romulus 2 may be able to give you far more detailed info. I hope your folks enjoy their stay!

[U-96]

My database supplier always recommends this one when clients have to stay over in London.

It is by a main train/tube station (King's Cross) so almost everywhere in London can be gotten to in an hour.
http://www.londonhotels.ndirect.co.uk/royscot.htm

Of course, there probably will be cheaper ones... it may be worth checking around further on that website.

For a map, you can't beat the old London A-Z. They should buy one in Britain as soon as they arrive. It is great if they like walking around, and also has a tube map on the back

If they are seriously into finding weird stuff, history, quirky English stuff, art etc, then you can't beat the Blue Guide to London. Publ: A & C Black; ISBN: 0713646780

As for things to do, here's some ideas, but it depends on what kind of interests they have:
typical tourist stuff (usually busy and expensive):
Madame Tussauds and Planetarium - waxworks and a star show type thing...

Millennium Wheel (London Eye) - big ferris wheel

Tower of London - 11th century castle, hold the Crown Jewels

St Paul's Cathedral - London's main church

Buckingham Palace - where Queenie lives

Hyde Park


less obvious stuff that people fleeting through miss:
British Museum - antiquties, including Egyptian stuff and the Sutton Hoo treasure


Natural History Museum - stuffed animals, dinosaurs etc


Science Museum - how stuff works. I love this place!


Imperial War Museum - tanks 'n' guns 'n' stuff


Cutty Sark and Observatory at Greenwich - a 19th century tea clipper, and a nice park. Where the world is measured from


London Zoo - unstuffed animals. no dinosaurs.


Hampton Court Palace - Henry VIIIs favourite haunt - good trip for a sunny day


If they fancy a trip out somewhere:
Oxford (great university town, 1 hour on the train from Paddington station)
Cambridge (ditto, 1 hour from King's Cross station)
Windsor Castle - another place where Queenie lives


Imperial War Museum at Duxford (if you had relatives in the USAAF during the war, this will be of interest) Take the train to Cambridge and there is a shuttle bus to the museum. If you are lucky old warbirds may be flying.

Stratford-upon-Avon - for Shakespeare fans, old timber houses, etc...

Warwick Castle - knights in armour, big towers, etc


Other stuff:
Food, same advice as anywhere - mostly avoid big chains.
Chinatown is based in the streets north of Leicester Square. There are some good cheap Chinese and Vietnamese eateries there.
Also, try a curry (Indian food). The best are supposedly in the Brick Lane area , but that is pretty adventurous for the casual traveller
There are also some very prestigious restaurants with celebrity chefs cooking English and French cuisine. Depends on the budget

Theatre:
Loads of good stuff on all the time. Musicals, plays etc. Don't buy tickets on the street! Matinees are probably the best bet for popular shows.

Have fun!

U-96

[U-96]

oh, I forgot, if the weather is good, they should take the River Bus from Westminster Bridge and either go upstream to Richmond/Kew/Hampton Court, or downstream to Greenwich.
It really gives a completely different perpective of the city...

[This message has been edited by U-96 (edited 06-21-2001).]

[NDD]

Thanks everybody, U-96 - now I got reading material for a month

Anybody else ?