But, when airfare prices dipped, I found a straight-through flight to London from Raleigh-Durham at a price made in heaven. I snapped it up and we spent
spring break "on holiday" – as the British like to say.Of course, London was a lot different than I anticipated in my teens. The England that swung as "a pendulum do" in Roger Miller's song is no more. Most of the mod crowd are
now in their 50s and 60s, but that really didn't matter. I wasn't going as a single young thing, but as part of a family of four. And nothing disappointed.
In fact, England – even wet, rainy England – was a wonderful treat for
the whole family. And, although it's not a cheap place to visit (you're not going to get by on $5 a day like the old travel books promised) it can still be accomplished in such a way as to not break the old pocketbook.
We booked
our tickets through Expedia, an online service. There are others, of course, like Orbitz, Travelocity and Bestfares. We've used local travel agencies in the past with great success. And there are also straight deals offered by the
airlines. USAirways has an online deal program where you can register to receive special offers by email, as does American and most of the other carriers.
We went with American and were pleasantly surprised to find that the
publicity about their expanded leg room in coach was not only true, but made a noticeable difference. Even though the changes only give each passenger a couple of extra inches, it's enough to make you feel like you're not crammed
up against the passenger in front of you. I could stretch my legs out and that was a big plus.
Our flight left from Raleigh-Durham. It was more economical to book a ticket from RDU than Onslow County. Additionally, I've found the
local service unreliable, having had my last flight from Albert Ellis cancelled as I was checking in. I ended up taking a flight that was more than four hours late in leaving – for a weekend visit. And I paid $100 extra in order to
leave from my local airport.
From RDU we flew into Gatwick, one of several airports that service London. Gatwick is much further outside the city than Heathrow and it's smaller. Security there is incredibly tight, as it is in all
English airports.
Upon arrival, we had to take a train from Gatwick to Victoria Station. The express train costs about $16 a person and kids travel for half price. It's a nice way to see the countryside, although the train
stations are, by far, the dirtiest sections of England a visitor sees. Most of the countryside is very clean and attractive.
Upon arrival in Victoria Station, which is London's main terminal with connections to everywhere,
we took a taxi to our hotel, a small family-owned building that has been divided into apartments. Being the practical sort, I chose the least expensive apartment – which was on the top floor.
The accommodations were a bit less
than we expected: the apartment was painfully small and the hotel – which was advertised as a four-star hotel – wasn't. But the owner and proprietor was quite agreeable. He moved us to a larger unit that was more in keeping with
what we expected.
We planned our itinerary with an eye to quality, not quantity. We could have seen more, but if we had opted to do that, we would have been pushed for time. So we chose to do less, but take our time. It was a
good decision for us.
Below are some tips for staying in London, a little bit about the side trips we took, and some information on the attractions we chose to visit. You may approach a visit differently, but one thing's for
certain: London is every bit as wonderful as I thought it would be when it was the center of everything hip back in the 1960s. It's no longer "mod" – but then again, I'm no longer 17. London in the year 2002 is a perfect fit for
the family.
Money:
England didn't go with the Euro, instead opting for the traditional pound. Watch where you change your money, though. I found banks, which are easily accessible, to offer the highest rates and charge the lowest commissions. Beware of the little privately run kiosks that offer a high exchange rate. The small print usually carries a disproportionate commission – sometimes as high as 10 percent! Some of the bigger stores will also take dollars in payment.
Getting Around:
London is blessed with a wonderful transportation system. You can take the tube – local trains with their routes clearly and easily marked – or bus system everywhere. Cabs are also available, but more expensive than public transportation.
Family passes are available at the railway stations. They allow you to travel all over London by train or bus for a little over $10 a day. It's even cheaper if you buy a weekly pass, but don't do that if you don't plan on being
in London all week.
The family pass lets you take any train or bus as many times as you need to on the date of issue. Tickets for the national railway system can also be purchased at the train stations. These trains take you to
Gatwick Airport and other cities, including Bath and Cambridge.
Food:
London has never been noted as the gastronomic epicenter of the world and for good reason: The food isn't all that much to write home about. They have wonderful candy (called "sweets") and nice pastries. The potato chips are heavenly – thin, extremely crisp and lightly salted, they're addicting.
There are tons of ethnic restaurants in London and an Italian trattoria on every street. Don't feel like you shouldn't be eating Italian while in England unless you're particularly fond of English dishes.
Accommodations:
Hotels in London are expensive year-round, so don't expect to get a bargain on a room. We stayed in a family-owned and operated hotel in Central London that was only a five-minute walk from the "tube" or subway station. Don't pay any attention to the star rating system – ours was supposed to be four-star, but wasn't. And the rule of thumb is that the closer to the heart of the city, the more expensive it will be.
But if you only have a few days there, you'll want to stay in a central location – South Kensington is nice and a short distance from most of the sights. If you choose to stay farther out from the city, you will trade off more
travel time in exchange for economy.
This is one place that an American hotel chain could be a good buy. Holiday Inn, Comfort Inn, Country Inn and many others have hotels in Central London.
Shopping:
All the tourist meccas have gift shops and plenty of nice souvenirs to take home to family and friends. Some are more pricey than others – you might not want to buy the trinkets at Windsor Castle unless you have a large gift budget – but there are tons of fun things at the Tower of London. Two places not to miss: Hamley's – a multi-storied toy store on the order of FAO Schwartz that was founded in 1760 – and Harrods. The kids will have a ball at the toy store and you will come away from Harrods convinced there's nothing the place doesn't carry.
Places to See:
The Tower of London is the premiere place to visit in London and well worth the visit. It's at least a half a day's worth of entertainment and old and young alike will enjoy seeing the Crown Jewels with
diamonds as big as a child's fist and the place where Sir Walter Raleigh was held prisoner for 10 years.
The tower has a nice café and plenty of gift shops, in addition to offering a look at the place where the two young sons of
a long-dead English king were believed to have been murdered after their incarceration and the exact spot where Anne Boleyn – one of Henry VIII's unfortunate wives and the mother of Elizabeth I – was put to death by having her head
chopped off. The little boys in the party particularly like that part.
The tower has a wonderful view of London Bridge and is laid out in such a way that it's easy to navigate. Just bring your hiking boots – it's much larger than
we expected and there are a lot of stairs to climb.
Hyde Park Speaker's Corner on Sunday mornings is a wonderful treat. That's when anyone can climb on his soapbox and address the crowd. The crowd listens – and heckles – and
everyone has a great time.
Trafalgar Square with its huge statues and tons of pigeons is a multi-national gathering point near where many of the most famous landmarks of London are located – such as Parliament and Big Ben.
Piccadilly Circus and the West End comprise the theater district and it's a bright confluence of lights and people in the evenings. We scored tickets for The Lion King and it was terrific. But there are literally dozens of shows
playing at the same time. The smart money says to try the box office on the day of the play, but you can also buy some tickets at the ticket kiosks for half-price.
Madame Tussauds Wax Museum and Planetarium is fun, but pricey.
The wax figures are so lifelike it's almost scary. And who can resist having his photo made with Sean Connery, John Wayne and the president all in the same afternoon. Watch out for the museum employees who sometimes become part of
the exhibit – as well as wax figures that look so real that you wait for them to finish a task before moving on. Fun for the whole family.
South Kensington area museums like the Natural History Museum with its huge dinosaur
skeletons and the art at the Victoria and Albert Museum are free to the public and full of wonderful things the kids will enjoy. A pleasant way to pass the day and not spend a whole lot of money.
Cambridge University isn't in
London, but we took a train to Cambridge and had a wonderful day visiting with Internet friends who took us around the gorgeous campus. It's a college town in the sense that the entire city is one huge university, with a dozen or
more separate colleges under its umbrella. We saw King's College and Trinity. Trinity College graduated Sir Alfred Lord Tennyson, Lord Byron, Sir Issac Newton and a lot of other notables. The buildings are awe-inspiring, but you
have to be escorted unless it's a special visitor's day. Best to check before going.
Also not in London, but a must-see is Stonehenge. We took one look at London traffic and decided driving was out. Instead we took a rather
expensive tour – but it was worth it. We also went to Bath, a beautiful city where the old Roman baths are located.
Windsor Castle is outside the city, but can be reached by train. The area surrounding the castle is full of
quaint shops and nice places to eat and the castle itself is gorgeous. It's well worth the time and money spent seeing it – especially since the Queen is in residence there several times a year.
Other attractions:
The Eye of London is the world's largest Ferris wheel. The cars hold 20 standing persons at a time and the Ferris wheel overlooks the entire city. It's not a ride for those who eschew heights.
Another attraction is the
changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace, which is a daily thing during the warm months and is held on alternate days in the winter. Check before going.
There are also tons of museums in London, as well as historic homes
and buildings. Westminister Abbey, St. Paul's and many historic and beautiful churches are also in the city. And there are the miscellaneous treats – the Sherlock Holmes Museum on Baker Street and Handel's home, now turned into a
museum dedicated to the musician and composer.
The people in London are very friendly and were quick to help out lost or confused tourists. It's a gorgeous, historic place and well worth the trip – but carry lots of
spending money. This isn't a cheap place to visit, even using the public transportation.
But, if you feel like splurging, there's no place better to do it than London.
