London is terribly expensive but what my sweetie and I did was stay in Bath (or any place fairly nearby) and commuted to into London daily by rail. The trains run frequently (about every hour from Bath to London and back) and it took about an hour commute as I recall. Of course we had a rail pass. I'm not sure what individual fares would be but I think it was still cheaper than staying in London. And there are places that are closer and probably cheaper than Bath. We just liked it there.
No way, no need to pay that kind of money for hotels in London unless you have first class taste. Again, hostels are really cheap ($12-15) if you don't mind dorming. For London, we just used our "Let's Go" London guide which had some good B&Bs split into price ranges. We went to that area, then found an entire row of them. In London without even hunting around, we paid $40-$45 nightly (cheaper for taking a room down the hall from a public shower/bathroom, but as I posted earlier, we decided we were willing to pay for a private bath for middle of the night pee-trips) for a B&B in the gay area (I think it's at the "Earls Court" Underground stop--the gay area). If we had hunted around, we could probably have done better, but we were lazy. We paid less once we got out of the city. By that time, we discovered the local tourist offices. While I would normally expect them to be the most expensive of lodging, I found their referrals to run in all price ranges, including our budget range, so we were willing to pay the $1-$2 service fee they charged for booking. Tourist offices are located in most every town in Europe it seems, usually close to train stops. I found the tourist offices in the airports more expensive though.
Guesthouse and B&Bs are essentially the same, exc I THINK the guesthouses are usually differentiated as nicer, private homes turned into businesses with 3-10 rooms, usually run by a family. B&Bs can be the same, but very often were essentially rooming houses serving breakfast.
Really, get the "Let's Go" guidebooks for the area you plan to visit; they make them for most countries (major cities like London have their own). They were a big help, and they are geared for the budget traveler.
As to tourist stuff, my favorite things are:
1) taking the tourist bus. There's lots of different lines, one called Pride (but not gay) and they stop lots of places and go lots of places. You buy a ticket and get on and off as many times as you like. Sit on the top of course. Frankly, I found this the best way to see all the stuff like Big Ben, Parliment, etc.
2) the other thing I liked a lot was taking a boat down the Thames. The river is such a big part of London's beauty. And, you can go to the South Bank (of the Thames, of course) where there's lots of lovely shops, lovely views, places to eat, etc. And a nice walk along the river. And you can walk across London Bridge or any of the other bridges. London is expensive, especially to eat out so beware. I found the food great in London, contrary to its reputation, but I didn't eat in places like hotel restaurants where they have "traditional" food.
Good luck girls and have fun!
I used to live in London, but I left 10 years ago, so I don't really have much info I can trust to give you. I agree with all the other tips you've been getting, anyway. But I do have several small things to add: The Silver Moon bookstore on Charing Cross Road is a fabulous women's bookstore, even if you're not looking for "lesbian tourist info" -- although I'm sure they *could* also help you with local lezzie action. But if you're into books, beware of "limp VISA card syndrome" after a visit to the shop.
Next: For inexpensive restaurants, I always found the best bet to be Indian restaurants -- they kind of serve the function of Chinese restaurants here -- "cheap and cheerful" as the Brits say. Not EVERY Indian restaurant is inexpensive -- in tourist areas they're as bad as anything else. But on the other hand, you can pretty well rely on ANY neighbourhood Indian restaurant being pretty good, so pick at random with confidence. And unless you want to burn out your stomach lining, ask for "mild". Even that was sometimes too hot for me. By the way, lots of the Indian eateries offer veggie and vegan food. Most, in fact.
Next: I agree about Neal's Yard, as a good place to get healthy and vegetarian food. It's a hop, skip and a jump from Charing Cross Road, in fact. (And both are cheek-by-jowl with Soho, which is the Gay district -- not so much for women there, but you could look.) You can't go two yards in England without tripping over a Vegan, so you will have no trouble finding vegan food everywhere. Neal's Yard is an experience in itself -- it's how the whole world would be if it were run by vegetarian feminist hippies. I ate there often while out shopping -- just pick some goodies, and schmooze with all the other weirdos sitting around as you eat. I also agree with whoever said that they like British food. That is one of my shameful secrets. In fact, up in Scotland, I even found myself enjoying haggis (right on the shore of Loch Ness, by the way, in a pub once owned by my ancestors, about 400 years ago). DO DEFINITELY get into eating "pub food" -- unless it's too un-vegan; I'm not sure what you'd find in that line. But besides Indian, it is the other reliable and inexpensive way to eat out. Not all pubs have really good food, but you can figure it out pretty fast. Outside of London, in the towns, villages, and countryside, the pubs almost invariably have great food (for a non-veggie, anyway). Do check it out.
Ah, dear London . . . dirty, dilapidated, inefficient, falling apart actually, and full of an alarming number of yahoos. But dear to my heart, like an ancient relative, of sterling reputation but secretly disreputable habits. I could rhapsodise . . . .
We eventually stayed at a place in Brixton (sacrificing some of the convenience part) called the No. 7 Guesthouse, which we also saw in the guide. It has a web site. I had also done a fair bit of hunting for closer-in hotels on the web, and wasn't finding much for less than about 60 pounds a night (over $100 at current exchange rates). The rates at the No. 7 range from 49-79 pounds/night. That's a lot more than a hostel would be, to be sure, and Brixton isn't exactly in the middle of the tourist area, but the room was spacious enough (unusual for London, though admittedly we splurged on the most expensive room) and the price compared favorably to what we were finding quoted online for the closer-in hotels. Plus, it's gay-owned and operated, and all the other visitors were gay or lesbian. I'd like to go back to London in the near future, so it would be great if this discussion generates a list of inexpensive non-hostel-type hotels there (less expensive than the No. 7 Guesthouse)!
I am a frequent "go without a plan" traveller. Britain is quite easy because virtually every town has a tourist office that will help you find a place to stay, and Britain is coated from coast to coast with inexpensive B&Bs. In the smaller towns, they could be as little as 15 pounds a night. In larger towns and cities probably closer to 30. Even in London, you can go to the tourist office or to Thomas Cook at Victoria Station and they'll reserve a room for you for a small fee. The rooms that Thomas Cook books are generally in the 30-40 pound range and are usually in one of the areas densely populated with cheap hotels, e.g. near Paddington or Russell Square. The tourist office will ask you how much you want to spend. At this time of the year, there probably wouldn't be any problem finding lots of vacant rooms. The one danger you run into is sometimes in the bigger cities, such as London, Manchester, or Birmingham, there might be some big convention that you would have no way of knowing about that's taking all the rooms. That happened to me in Brighton once. But my advice is just be prepared to move onto the next town and never wait until night to find a room. Try to find a place by 4 or 5p.
I've spent half of the last 26 weeks in London... as for gay clubs, you > MUST check out the "Edge" -- a large bar where everyone hangs out on the block and drinks beer and socializes -- as well as "Heaven" -- a HUGE... yes HUGE... dance club four stories tall and a city-block big. Generally, if you hang out in the Soho area, it is VERY gay-friendly and VERY gay, regardless. London is a great place to be gay and everyone is generally not phased by men holding hands or womyn holding hands. Enjoy!
As for cheap places to stay, good luck... generally, there is no such thing in London. Sorry I can't help you with that. What I CAN say, is don't trust Thomas Cook... they put my sister and I in a complete dump for more than $80 a night and called it "nice"!! It was the dirtiest place I had ever stayed.
Depends on what you want to do and what you consider a good vacation. It rains about the same amount (2 or 3 inches a month) all year long...sometimes it's warm when it rains, other times it's cold when it rains. But it's always raining. You might get lucky and not encounter any, but you can't plan that. It's really cheap to go in the winter, but it gets dark early and the temperature is frequently in the 40's, occasionally less. But if your vacation consists of going to the theater and museums, the winter is a great time to go. Crowds are smaller, flights are dirt cheap, a lot of hotels are cheaper, theater tickets are easier to get. If you're idea of a great vacation is seeing huge crowds hanging out in Piccadilly Circus or Covent Garden until 2am, then June/July is better. The month I would avoid is August. Europeans all go on holiday in August, so you'll mostly run into American tourists, everything is really crowded, and flights and hotels are at peak prices. When I go to England, I generally don't spend that much time in London because it's an expensive place to stay. The first time I went I spent 9 days and did all the usual London things, but subsequently I've generally only stayed there 2 or 3 days and spent the rest of my time farther north. I usually go in spring...either late April or May, maybe even June. The weather is usually pretty good at that time, most places you want to visit are on their summer hours by then, but the summer crowds aren't there yet. My philosophy about vacations is no matter when you go it sure beats sitting at a desk in an office.
As for avoiding, forgot Jan-Mar, or even April and May! - nasty, nasty. April & May are theoretically spring and can be wonderful but it can also snow and be completely inconsistent. It depends on what you're going over for and how long you intend to stay. London has so much to do and see that you can spend a great portion of it indoors in galleries, museums etc so it wouldn't matter too much what it was like outside! But like I say, it's very difficult, my sister went over to UK from New Zealand for a month in Aug (height of 'summer') and had pretty rubbish weather the whole time - luck of the draw. Why do you think UK is so green! Good luck and enjoy the trip - London's a great place to visit regardless, just make sure you have enough money!!! In case you're wondering, I'm British but recently moved to NZ because of the weather! :-)
Many hotels and small guesthouses do give discounts of 5 to 10 percent for extended stays, which can mean anything from 3 nights to a week, from April to September. The absolutely cheapest time to go is December to February...what a surprise!
With large hotels, the rack rate is the maximum charge for a room and it includes 10- or 25-percent travel agent commission. You can often get that knocked off by making your own reservation.
Consolidators gets discounts by buying or reserving in bulk, and pass the saving (or some of it, at least) on to you. The following are among the more reputable providers: Hotel Reservations Network ([tel] 800/964-6835; www.hoteldiscounts.com); and British Hotel Reservation Centre ([tel] 00 44 20/7828-0601; www.bhrc.co.uk).
There are big savings to be had through www.laterooms.com, too, for bookings up to three weeks ahead. And reservation site, www.leisurehunt.com, has got some excellent August cheapies on offer at the moment.
Business hotels need to fill beds at the weekend, so many offer great leisure breaks, and some deals even apply during the week. Try Best Western (00 44 845/774-7474; www.bestwestern.co.uk); Forte Posthouse (00 44 845/740-4040; www.forte-hotels.com); and Choice Hotels Europe (00 44 800/444444; www.choicehotelseurope.com).
Visit the britrail.com website which is wonderfully heplful and includes a time table where you can type in your destinations from London and they estimate the length of your journey. I don't know how accurate it is but I've been using it myself to estimate the time of my own train travels outside of London when I visit there in the coming
Just so as you know, the Brits tip at a flat rate of 10% - unless they're flash git millionaires! And they don't do it for everybody. It's usual practice to tip cab drivers, staff in restaurants, hairdressers, some bars with table service, and posh hotels, but never pubs. Budget hotels and B&Bs will rarely add a percentage to the bill, so it is up to you.
One thing to watch out for. More expensive restaurants tend to include a service charge of 12.5%, as do cheaper ones if you’re a big group. All should write their policy on the menu. If in doubt, ask. And make sure to check the bill before filling in the gap for a gratuity.
As we say in Frommer's London from $85 a Day, the top attractions are the British Museum, Buckingham Palace, Hampton Court, the Houses of Parliament, Kensington Palace, Madame Tussaud's, National Gallery, Natural History Museum, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, St. Paul's Cathedral, Science Museum, Somerset House, Tate Britain, Tate Modern, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, Victoria & Albert Mueum, and Westminster Abbey.
If you were to twist my arm, I'd say do Tate Modern first, because it really is astonishing - in the old power station at Bankside. Then cross over the Millennium footbridge - that's if they've sorted out the swinging hammock effect by the time you arrive - to visit St. Paul's. The Tate is free and its $8 for an adult to visit the cathedral. Then I'd take a river cruise to catch a lot of the other sights. You'll find details of what's on offer at www.londontransport.co.uk. If you're prepared to splurge a bit, there is a wonderfully eccentric new service called Frog Tours. The company has converted a couple of World War II amphibious troop carriers, painting them bright yellow, and rumbles through the city streets before sploshing into the river at Vauxhall. It costs $20.80.