MUST SEE PLACES IN THE UK

hi mapleleaf, how ya doin ? got your question. it's 7-45 am here, so I'll put an answer together a little later, if I may. After copious amout of tea and a smoke. I'll have to put my UK geography disc into my brain.
I'll tell you what, how about if I put a London tour together and then a UK tour.

catch yer later

Neat!

London Town and the UK
Mapeleaf , here we go then. What to see in London. I will accept questions after the lesson is over.

The place is loaded with stuff to suit all interests and tastes..........

There are certain essentials you've got to have.
#1 web sites and do your homework. There are deals to be had that will save you money, if you book/pay in advance at your end.

http://www.timeout.com/london/
http://www.visitlondon.com/html/index.php?pgd=1 ( links galore)
http://www.london.gov.uk/approot/london/tourism.jsp (links galore)
http://www.londontransport.co.uk/buses/
http://www.thetube.com/

The above will either tell what's what or link you to the right place.

#2 maps, underground, bus and street maps. Know where you are. Or you could get lost and never be seen again, ever. It's nearly 1000 sq. miles of concrete jungle out there. Don't look shocked, the natives are friendly and you'll soon pick up the language.

#3 Time Out Magazine. London's bible as to what's happening. Print published every Thursday.

#4 Open Top Bus Tour http://www.bigbus.co.uk/ourtours.htm This will show you the sights in comfort, the "I wanna go there dad and the, that one sucks, dad" sights. You'll see all the historical sights from the Tower of London in the east to Buck House and Big Ben in the west. ah you're smiling again.

OK -- next. The London Eye --- the biggest ferris wheel in the world.
You can see the whole of London, whilst they play "I can see for miles and miles" by the Who. No, we can cancel the music. Poor taste. Fine.
It's on the south bank of the Thames and not a million miles from The Globe reconstructoin, Shakespear's theatre. Culture abounds along with history

Covet Garden -- pubs, boutiques, pubs, street theatres, pubs, London Transport Museum, pubs, oh yeah restaurants/cafes, large crowds, but a bundle of fun. Everything for the modern mom and dad and the odd thing here and there for les bambinos No good casting your eyes to heaven, this is fun or meant to be.

Now you will of seen from your bus ride, 2 paras. back, that the main attractions of historical interest are all close together and easily visited.
See web site for details :wink:

London also has acres and acres of parks for resting tired feet and getting a little peace and quiet, whilst the kids play tag with the water fowl.
Yes it's hilarious fun till the geese and the swans want there turn doing the chasing.

Theatres, this is where Time Out is invaluable. Tells you what's on and how to get tickets.

Travel -- special tube tickets are what you want, webs above. Don't use it in the rush hour. Coz it's a sodding madhouse. You didn't come here for the native hoards to carry you and your family into some office building and do 10 hours hard labor in the Bank of England or behind the counter at Fortnum and Mason's Grocery Shoppe. Quite.
regular bus services will take you anywhere in London. Have a ride in a trad London Black Cab. If there are 3 or 4 of you, the cost isn't bad. Say from Marble Arch, along Park Lane to Hyde Park and the kids can ask why you aren't staying at THE HILTON. No, you tell 'em. They're your kids. Yes I know it's my city, tell 'em the Beatles have taken it over.

Now if you want a breath of fresh air, with the river as a backdrop and a drop of history thrown in and more parks and olde worlde charm, then venture west and scale the new frontiers at Windsor, Hampton Court or Richmond. They are all different and ideal for courting couples, newly weds and rekindling old flames. The kids ? use your imagination.
All are a short train ride from London Waterloo Station. Yes you will find McD's, Pizza Hut and other items of New World Charm just about everywhere in History City.
So have fun, phun and don't forget that pubs serve good lunches, choice, taste and value and many o them allow kids in but they can't buy the drinks though. Why ?
Coz State Nanny will be cross, just like Mary Poppins

Thanks, olk!

I'd like to add that London (like all historic picturesque places) is well worth visiting by one's own feet.
Not only in this case, an umbrella will do much help!

Museums, btw, are throughout the UK (nearly) all free!

Must See in the UK?
Here are some things I'd like to see or do next time:

Kew Gardens -- different in every season
British Museum, Victoria & Albert
Poke Around London, Ride the Double Decker Bus at Night
Go to a show or two
Brighton Beach
New Forest and find the last of the big old oaks
Spend some time in old Edinburgh (despite the fire)
Cruise in the Lakes District
Revisit Fort William, Isle of Skye, Peterhead
Explore "The North"

we should add the Southwest/Cornwall,

http://www.westcountrynow.com/

and North Wales/Snowdonia to Piffka's list as well.

http://www.croeso-betws.org.uk/

The other places she has added are great and Brighton, 60 miles south of London is a very cool place.

I´d like to stick The Cotswolds in there.Preferably during a warm Summer day in an E-Type convertible with a Fortnum & Mason hamper stuffed with goodies tied to the baggage rack on the back.

Gads... I was just thinking about Cornwall! Good Call.

And was going to say that I'd been to Snowdonia hiking... worth going for sure. What is the name of that English fortress city just outside Wales... on the harbor flats. I thought that was amazing... the wall is complete, a cool castle, smallest house in England...the boats...sigh. Wish I were there! (then I'd be closer to Ft William)

I do like to tour old castles!


______
edit: Hebba -- Ooo-la-la. Converitbles are always nice if it isn't wet out!

many sound silly but when i was in London last, my brother and i took a late evening boat ride up and down the river, was really quite a wonderful view of the city.

I'd like to visit the Imperial Artillery Museum.

Walter, you are right, walking around London is fun. Lots of little streets and alley ways, with a plethora of builings dating back to Tudor times and still in very good order. You can find any manner of curios. London is a vast mix of ancient and modern that lives cheek and jowell very happily.
And the landscape and skyline is constantly changing

Asherman -- Do you mean this? What a huge complex of museums and exhibits. http://www.iwm.org.uk/index.htm

I rec'd this enote this a.m. Is it true that any man in a park in England could be arrested if he was OR WASN'T practicing archery??? That's a good British catch-22 and a fine joke, if true!!!

"Dear Tweeters,

The illegality of keeping feathers is an amusing example of how the law limps along behind common sense. Luckily, enforcement does not reach the exremes imaginable--how many kids have picked up a flicker feather and marvelled at the colored shaft? Slam go the gates of the juvenile detention hall!

It reminds me of the old saw about the police in England having the power to arrest any man in the park--one law on the books said that all men had to practice their archery in order to defend the realm. Another law, also on the books, said that it was illegal to practice archery in the park. Therefore, one way or another, every man in the park was a felon!

Yours truly,"[/size]

Piffka

Chester, county City of Cheshire on the river Dee, near N Wales.
(Roman name Deva)

Asherman you would be interested in the Imperial War Museum at Duxford Cambridgeshire. Thats where spitfires and mustangs flew from during the war, and there is a new Norman Foster designed building displaying all USAF stuff.

There is a lot to see in Britain, and you can't see it all. I haven't and I've been around for ** years.

It really is a difficult one giving tips as to what visitors should see. People have different interests and different pre conceived ideas about what the place should be like!

One place that is a bit off the beaten track and might appeal is Lavenham

http://www.britainexpress.com/villages/lavenham.htm

If you are talking about MUST see places then I suppose in London Tower of London Tower Bridge. Take a boat to Greenwich (as in GMT). Then Palace of Westminster, Whitehall, Cabinet War Rooms
St James's park. Buckingham Palace (not my cup of tea!)
The Globe Theatre (rebuilt original Shakespeare's).

This in no particular order.

Will have a think and get back to you

Piffka, I think you are remembering Chepstow Castle

http://www.castlewales.com/chepstow.html

have a look at this one, below. It's the home village of my mother and her family. they lived in an 18th century stone cottage between the castle and the church.

http://www.britannia.com/history/somerset/castles/dunstercast.html


Dyslexia --- London by night from the river is quite a sight. some years ago i worked in an office on the South Bank when they were working on the rebuilding of Shakespears Globe Theatre and when I walked over Blackfriars Bridge on a winter evening those lights were quite a view.

Hebba, I lived in Gloucester, on the edge of the Cotswolds, for a while. So that area has memories for me. Don't see many E-Types these day, tho I did see one last weekend, in powder blue.

Piffka,

Certainly archery was encouraged to defend the realm, but you will be reasonably safe from flying arrows in any park (not so from skateboards). The medieval game of football (like soccer today but not as violent) was banned at various times because it interfered with archery practice. It might have been true that the requirement to practice archery and the safe use of park areas had conflicting laws pertaining to them at one time but personnally I have never heard of it as you describe.

I believe in Hereford near the Welsh border there is some archaic law never repealed that still makes it legal to shoot any Welshman within the church grounds on a certain day of the year. (With a longbow not a machine gun)

Piff

I didn't read you post propely. If it was a proper castle then it probably was Chepstow. But Chester is worth a look

http://www.mushroompublishing.com/maps/chester.html

Oh, pardon me... it is Conwy Castle and actually in Wales. (Sorry, v. poor memory.) It was on the train route to Snowdonia and somehow I THOUGHT I was in England.

http://www.conwy.com/index.html

Re Ft. Williams I just remember a terribel breakfast at a B & B.
New Forest woudn't attrack me much either - went there nearly every weekend + when I stayed as a yoth in England.

My preferances nowadays are a little bit different: I personally try to avoid the tourist streams - if possible.

Cheshire really is nice, which some pictoresque places, Dorset could be a beautiful alternative to Cornwall while I would prefer Clacton-on-Sea to Brighton.
(Hoping to get to see that and some Essex-specials this year, too.)

Strewph Walter -- Clacton-on-Sea ? I think you're pulling my plonker. Even the bulk of the residents get embarrased about the place. I went there once out of curiosity. It's dead from the feet up.
Brighton has some oomph. Lot's of phun, lots to do. Get's the pulses racing and the blood flowing. It's a great place for a day out and only 60 mins from the center of History City.
Still, as we say, each to his own.