Going to London for the first time!

[crash]

My work is sending me to London for 1 day the first week in November.  Of course, I am taking the rest of the week off.  I've never been there before, but have always wanted to go there.  I am just looking for advice on places to go, things to do, and any other advice.

I've got a couple of things on the list so far:
Tower of London
Piccadilly circus
As a Floyd fan, have to at least get a picture of the Battersea Power station

 

[m4rk0]

may as well check out abbey road then
I used to go to London at least twice a year for about 15 years..  most of the time on a budget, so I never did anything fancy

I always liked Camden Lock and Portobello road Markets.. London Dungeon is fun too.
I waited about 13 years before I went to the London Tower, because I always thought it was too touristic-y and too "obvious", but I actually loved it!
one thing I did every single time is one of those guided walks at night!! there are a couple of really good ghost walks and I think I did the Jack the Ripper walk a couple of times too!!
you should also have a nice walk in the park and visit the british museum.
Don't bother going to Soho or Kings road or one of those places that was Hip in the seventies..
anyway, the last time I was in London was 8 or 9 years ago, so I am sure JimH has a lot more up to date suggestions, since he lives there!

 

[Kostas]

Depending on what you like there are many things to do in London although if you are going to stay for a week you can take the train in the morning and go to other cities too. I went to Manchester, Doncaster & Leeds with the train.

If you like fish (and way more) the Aquarium is great http://www.visitsealife.com/london/ Be ready to spend many hours there and don't miss the penguins if you go.
Visit http://www.chandlerguitars.co.uk/ a good guitar store just outside London. About 40 minutes with the train with a good old fashioned pub close to the store and a beautiful place http://www.kew.org/ different from the noise & traffic of the center of London.
Many pubs to visit, I tried bitter beer in my first trip there and I became a fan.
Check from now and buy tickets online for live concerts.
If you want to visit guitar stores buy a copy of "Guitarist" and check the ads. The big stores are in other cities though. You can go to Denmark street for a walk and see all those guitar shops but they are expensive.

 

[Soylent]

I'll be there towards the end of November for my honeymoon too..  :headbang:

 

[reluctant-builder]

Yes. Denmark Street! It's south of Oxford Street, well east of Oxford Circus. It's south of the British Museum and north, I believe, of Covent Garden. The reason I say you should go there is because it's a guitar players wet dream. The entire street is music shops, many of them guitar shops. There was even a shop devoted almost entirely to lefties, when I went there. The conversion rate was a killer, though. It took $1.80 to make a pound, during my trip.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denmark_Street

Edit: I see now that this was already recommended, but I second it.

 

[ORCRiST]

My work is sending me to London for 1 day the first week in November.  Of course, I am taking the rest of the week off.  I've never been there before, but have always wanted to go there.  I am just looking for advice on places to go, things to do, and any other advice.

I've got a couple of things on the list so far:
Tower of London
Piccadilly circus
As a Floyd fan, have to at least get a picture of the Battersea Power station

Congrats! London rocks...

Yeah, if your into the historical side, definitely the Tower of London, "The Eye"... the Royal Air Force museum or the Battle of Britain museum in Hawkinge, I'd also recommend picking a castle and touring that
(I visited Warwick Castle, way cool). If you fancy a trip to Ireland, air fare (was) pretty cheap, there's also Stonehenge... granted most of that stuff isn't IN London itself, but if you're going to take the week
off...at least you have options... hell, you might want to catch the ferry and pop on over to Normandy and check out all the D-Day beaches and museums there, its pretty trippy.  :icon_biggrin:

 

[m4rk0]

That reminds me... the first time I went, I took the underground (I LOVE Travelling om the underground!) all the way to East Ham and visited the Ruskin Arms (ignored the "no tourists!" sign)  it was pretty cool!

in regards to Day trips, Brighton is very cool! you can check out the piers and the Royal Palace. especially cool if "Quadrophenia" is one of your most favorite albums ever (which was the case for me)
oh and on the way, the train passes by Battersea and gives you a great angle to shoot a pic.. I still have a picture I took from the driving train 20 years ago enlarged and hanging on the wall of my man cave!

 

[crash]

Thanks for the suggestions!!  I want to try and get over and see Normandy.  Other than that, I probably won't venture much outside London., unless I have time to go to Stonehenge.  Will definitely check out Denmark Street.

I leave Oct 29 and come back Nov 6.  I'll be there for Halloween.
Still haven't reserved a Hotel yet.  Just debating on how much I want to spend.

 

[m4rk0]

I usually stayed at hotels in Paddington or Earls court, there are lots of cheap hotels (well, years ago anyway)

 

[crash]

I've decided on the Hotel Indigo Paddington.  Close to everything.  Can't wait! :blob7: