no longer traveling solo to Europe

Hi Marty, I'm dashing this off before going to work, but I'll get back to you later with some travel/tourist info links (no doubt that pesky Walter Hinteler will beat me to it - he's SO good with finding stuff).

Off the top of my head, I reckon you'll be staying very near to Kensington Park, which is great for a stroll when you feel like getting away from the traffic. Look out for the Peter Pan statue there (and don't forget to make a wish).

I did hear mention that the Lancaster Gate Tube station was closed for a while, but it may have re-opened now. I think the next nearest station would be Queensway. (not far - definitely walking distance).

You're pretty much in the centre of things there, with places like Oxford Street, Buckingham Palace and Harrods a short hop away, and all the rest of the famous landmarks a few stops further on.

TAKE GOOD WALKING SHOES!

I'll post again later, but if you have any specific landmarks or places in mind, or what type of stuff you like getting up to during the day (ahem - keep it decent), please post it here and I'll do my best to beat Walter with an info link or two.

Thanks, I'm hoping April weather will be nice enough to see a show in Regents Park. What makes me a little nervous is that my friend asked me to make all the arrangements since she is going through a lot of personal issues right now. I just want us both to be happy with the choices I make. So I just logged off of british airways and booked our flight and hotel. Always makes me a bit nervous to put that much money on my credit card.
Thanks--I think I can keep our day time activity choices decent(night time??? not so sure-ahem back at you)
Have a great day at work as I am up sleepless with 5 hours before needing to get ready for work myself.

April, eh?

I'm munching a ham roll as I type, so please excuse the crumbs.

April can be a mixed bag as far as the weather is concerned, so you'll just have to cross your fingers and bring a brolly for possible rain, a thick jumper just in case it's cold, and a thong bikini because it can sometimes be quite nice and warm.

I'll come back with more later, but for now I'll post these to get you started.....

First off, if the weather's OK, I would highly recommend a boat trip from Westminster (not far from your location) down to Greenwich. The link will give you most details, but I can say that it makes a bloody good day out, and is very interesting.
There are several firms that do these trips, but this one is about the best value (IMO).
Boat trips.......Westminster to Greenwich
http://www.riverthames.co.uk/boat/cruise/london/74.htm


Loads of info on this site.........
London Tourist Board (loads of stuff)
http://www.visitlondon.com/


And train details (for Paris)
Train to Paris.......(Departs from Waterloo)
http://www.seat61.com/France.htm#Eurostar
or.........
http://www.eurostar.com/UK/uk/leisure/travel_information.jsp

One little thing you should look out for, is a book called "The Guinness Superlative Guide to London."
It's probably out of print now (why oh why?) as it came out in the 80's(?) and they never carried on with it.
I read the entire book from cover to cover, and found it absolutely fascinating.
Done as a guide for tourists, it lists possibly two hundred locations which are off the beaten track, and most of them are amazing! I never knew that these little places of interest existed until I read that book.
It is brilliant for when you are going to a major tourist attraction, and pass by a little side road on the way that has one of these gems lurking in the shadow.
Personally, I find them far more interesting than the usual London tourist traps.
I'll see if I can find a used bookshop in the USA that has one in stock.

Oh, and go have a ride on the London Eye. If you're OK with heights, it's well worth it. Pick a clear day, and expect to queue for a short while.

Back later.

Here is a mini map of the area adjacent to where you are staying. The expertly drawn black arrow indicates roughly where you'll be.
If you pop across the road at about 11am, and follow either bank of the Serpentine (the long skinny lake in the park) to the other end, and then carry on in a straight line for a hundred yards or so, you can then shout "Morning, Lizzie", as you will be at the far end of the Queen's back garden (near the royal washing line), and she tends to hang out her laundry at that time of the morning.

...........

London:
Go into Whiteleys on Queensway and say hello to all my old colleagues.
Buy yourself some chocolate hobnobs and penguins.
Have some cream tea in one of the posh hotels.
Go to the British Museum.
Go to Portobello Rd Market on Saturday.
See Covent Garden Market.
.
.

I am jealous, has been more than nine months since I have been there...
(

OOH! Found one of your Yankee shops that has one!.....and only about $6 plus P+P.

http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=439626772&searchurl=y%3D10%26kn%3DGuinness%2BGuide%2Bto%2BSuperlative%2BLondon%26tn%3Dthe%2Bguinness%2Bsuperlative%2Bguide%2Bto%2Blondon%26x%3D64%26sortby%3D3

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! A fascinating read......

If you get it now, by the time you come to London you'll be more of an expert than us locals.

WOW, thanks for all the great info. Will look into buying that book, free shipping too!
How could I possibly pass up chocolate hobnobs and penguins. Are these actually shaped like penguins? If so I'm bringing some home for my kids.

Lord E.,
Can't wait to get my book in the mail. Great price, Amazon wanted 90.00 USD for it.

I read up on some other travel threads and it looks like Parma might be a good choice between Cinque Terra and Lake Como.

Oh, yeah.... that was me going on and on about Parma. Fbaezer, who knows all that area far better than I, liked some other cities better a little further east. But, hey, I liked it a lot, including Hotel Button - at least in 1999.

There's another area I haven't been to but might make sense for you, in Piemonte (Piedmont) - famous for wonderful food and wonderful wine, if that is an interest. I'll have to dig up a recent article on it for specific places. Back in a bit.

I don't want to copy both of these as they are now in the NYTimes archives, I think, which, if so, means you have to pay to access them. Besides, there are lots of photos and so on to go with the articles, so cutting and pasting a little bit of them won't give you the full sense of it.


"Just How Good Can Italy Get?" by Frank Bruni
This is on the food and wine of the Emilia-Romagna area and the Piedmont area -
http://travel2.nytimes.com/2006/10/25/dining/25ital.html?fta=y

"In Northern Italy, a Crossroads of Culinary Art"
by Mark Bittman
This one makes me want to go to Genova (Genoa), which is near the Cinque Terre --
http://travel2.nytimes.com/2006/07/23/travel/23choice.html


On what to see in Parma - one little thing not to miss is a ceiling by Corregio - well, I'll write a little list, but not tonight.

Thanks Osso!

Marty, here is part of my diary from my last trip. There's a descriptions of the days in Parma.
http://www.able2know.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=55873&highlight=italy+1999

Wow, 660.oo RT! Now its up to 860.00 to London but more to Rome. We are going to be brave and rent a car in Milan and drive our tour of Northern Italy.

Yes, pizza in Italy is sooo good. I especially liked eggplant or fresh mozzerella and tomato. One of my favorite meals though was bought at a local market in Sienna and taken back to our room for an afternoon rest period. It was cute, my friend and I traveled at the time with our daughters who were 12, there was a small group of local girls of similar age. They just watched us wide eyed while we did our best to order items from the fresh deli case in our very poor Italian.

Dollar weak. Pound Sterling strong like bull.

Sorry.

Dammit, you better be sorry!

[quote="martybarker"]WOW, thanks for all the great info. Will look into buying that book, free shipping too!
How could I possibly pass up chocolate hobnobs and penguins. Are these actually shaped like penguins? If so I'm bringing some home for my kids.[/quote]

No, they are rectangular, but there are funny looking penguins on the wrapper. And a joke, riddle or funny fact.

Friend of mine was going to bring me some last time he was in England.
Ended up being addicted to them himself.

No, they are rectangular, but there are funny looking penguins on the wrapper. And a joke, riddle or funny fact.

Friend of mine was going to bring me some last time he was in England.
Ended up being addicted to them himself.[/color][/quote]

Tagline from the song on the Penguin TV advert........

"When you're feeling p-p-p- peckish, p-p-p-pick up a Penguin"

Hello,
Reviving an old post. My trip is in less than a month. I'm so excited! We decided to fly Ryan air from Paris to Milan where we'll take a bus or train to Bellagio. Things left to do before we go though is to buy our Chunnel tickets and book a night back in London before our flight home.
Questions...Should we buy our Chunnel tickets in advance or in London? We fly into Gatwick on a friday evening and then fly home from Heathrow Saturday around 5pm. Wondering if we should stay friday night in town or near an airport.
Thank you!!

Take the bus from Milan to Lake Como, it's a beautiful ride, a bit nerve-racking at times, as the road is narrow, but nonetheless beautiful.
The bus will take you right up to the ferry crossing over to Bellagio.
Have you got a hotel there?

We stayed here http://www.bellagiohoteldulac.com/ right at the
waterfront and it was so nice.