Requesting advice for stay in London

[cathrowan]

Let's take it as a given that I should have sorted this out two months ago. That said, I'd be grateful for suggestions about finding accommodation in London (England). We plan to be there for a week at the end of August. We don't need anything fancy, and it does not have to be in central London so long as it's near some sort of transit. Any particular neighbourhoods I should look for, or avoid? Any other suggestions for a first-time visitor? oursin, cosmolinguist, got any advice for a clueless Canadian?

Comments

[cmcmck]

There's some reasonably decent places close to Victoria mainline station and underground which are not to pricey although August is a busy month tourist wise. Pimlico and that sort of area. Also decent eateries around there which aren't alarmingly pricey.

Worth paying for an oyster card for public transit.

[cosmolinguist]

I'd say it's only worth the Oyster card if you don't have contactless bank cards, smart watches, or the ability to pay on your phone. It's much easier to pay that way these days.

[cathrowan]

Thank you! I will look at that neighbourhood.

[cosmolinguist]

Everything is near transit in London, so you don't need to worry too much about location if you're not wanting to stay near anything particular. The budget hotel chains here are Premier Inn and Travelodge, I'd look for something like that.

[oursin]

There are parts which are Not On the Tube - I once had a dentist in Muswell Hill and it was Faff Almighty to get to him even though I live in North London - so I would very strongly advise to check for tube station adjacency.

[cathrowan]

Thanks for the hotel names!

[cathrowan]

I do want to go to the British Museum. It looks like the closest Travelodge is Covent Garden?

[cosmolinguist]

That seems like a very plausible place to stay, it's close to lots of things (and lots of transit!).

[melita66]

sorry! You don't know me; I saw this via James Nicoll's Reading list. American, traveled to London several times for personal and business trips.

I stay in one of the small hotels on Gower Street. They're across from UCL and several blocks from the British Museum. Euston is the closest train station but King's Cross is also close. You're a few blocks from Tottenham Court Rd, and within a few tube stops is Charing Cross, Oxford St/Circus, National Portrait Gallery, National Gallery, etc.

The hotels are inexpensive for London, usually, but no elevators, very small rooms, minimal furnishings. Usually rooms have a very small en suite bathroom with a shower. No AC. Free wi-fi. Ridgemount, where I've stayed a few times, has a full breakfast and they'll do your laundry for 10 pounds. Others incude Arosfa, Jesmond, Arran House

Occasionally some noise from students in the evenings.

Tube stations are Goodge Street (Northern), Euston Square (Circle), Russell Square (Picadilly), Warren Street (Northern, Victoria), Tottenham Court Rd (Elizabeth, Northern, Central). I've never used the buses, but there are stops on Euston rd, Tottenham Court Rd, etc.

I checked a couple of the hotels and they didn't have any available for a full week in the 2nd half of August unless you piece together different rooms.

[cathrowan]

Thank you! I will check out those hotels.

[cathrowan]

Also belated hello! I just subscribed to your journal.

[smokingboot]

I lived in London for about 38 years. I can't tell you much about hotels, but would recommend you work out the stuff that interests you most and find somewhere close to that then branch out, cos travelling around London can get a bit arcane. Buses are frequent but traffic is terrible, most stick to tubes and trains or even, if the weather is good, a boat down the Thames, though that's more for enjoyment than actually getting anywhere. Euston station and Kings Cross are useful hubs towards the northern part of the city, the latter used to have a rep as a pretty dodgy red light district after dark, but I think they have cleaned it up. Victoria's good for the southern part, and Charing X is good for the centre. In general, expect to pay more for accommodation as you go West.

[oursin]

However, re buses, if you are not going anywhere in a hurry, top deck, lefthand front seat, you do not need an expensive Bus Tour, there are plenty of tfl services going through the interesting parts!

[cathrowan]

Yes! On our first (and probably only) trip to New York City we took buses instead of the subway a couple of times. It was neat to see the different buildings going by, and helped me get a better sense of how Manhattan was laid out.

[oursin]

Transport is so expeditious that you do not need to be terribly central (providing you avoid areas which are Tube black holes, as I have already mentioned). We used to recommend researchers coming to visit my former workplace (on Euston Road) the hotels in Cartwright Gardens, Bloomsbury, as cheap and convenient to mainline stations, public transport, many sights, as well BL and our place, but I'm not sure what they're like these days

[rmc28]

I agree with everything cosmolinguist wrote (I don't live in London but Cambridge is pretty close, under an hour by train, and I go there often enough).

https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/ has info about how to pay for transit and what fares are likely to be.

https://tfl.gov.uk/plan-a-journey/ is very useful for figuring out how to get from A to B. Google Maps isn't bad either.

Travelodge/Premier Inn have lots of hotels across the city. They usually have basic furnishings (bed, ensuite probably with bath and shower over, desk and chair), lifts above the ground floor, and optional breakfast. They don't tend to have laundry.

[cathrowan]

Thank you! At the end of our trip we want to go to Kettering to visit K's cousin. His father and one aunt emigrated to the Canadian prairies, and the other siblings stayed in the UK. K and cousin connected on Facebook and he'd like to meet her in person. As I look at a map...hmm, maybe K and I could head north and visit Cambridge for a couple of days before that...

I have read descriptions of Cambridge in August as "heaving with tourists" so am prepared for it to be crowded. I am guessing it would be easier to find place to stay that is not in the centre of town, and take transit for day trips.

[rmc28]

Kettering is inconvenient for Cambridge by public transport, the kind of thing where going via London between the two is actually the quickest route (and driving direct takes about half the time). Cambridge is heaving with tourists for a reason, there are many lovely and historic sights to see, and some decent theatre and live music too (the Shakespeare Festival runs until 24 August, if that meets your dates). You can also reasonably do a day trip to Cambridge from a London base, much as I do the reverse, the rail station is about 20 minutes walk from the historic centre, but there are a bunch of buses will take you the distance, and there's a bus tour with audio guide that has a stop at the station.

Cambridge itself has less good public transport than London: we don't have the equivalent of Transport for London, so the buses are all run by private companies for profit and thus expensive, often crowded, and often late. Most of them are run by Stagecoach, but some by Whippet. They all go via the city centre (which is sometimes part of the problem with them being late, because Cambridge traffic snarls up at the mildest provocation). There are local taxi firms and also Uber. You could do worse than check out the Travelodge/Premier Inn options, there's definitely also airbnbs galore, and the tourist info have accommodation listings

If you do come to Cambridge and would like to meet up, let me know. I'm working throughout August, but I do a standard Mon-Fri and have some flexibility over my hours so might be able to e.g. take a long lunch or finish a bit early and make up the hours another day that week.

[cathrowan]

I did some playing around with Google maps; I did not comprehend how heavily radial the train system is. You are right, a day trip from London makes much more sense, and that way we wouldn't be hauling luggage around. I'm interested in early music - I will have to look and see if there are concerts alongside the Shakespeare Festival.

If we do make it up for a day, I'd love to meet up! I'll get back in touch if that looks like a go-ahead.

[rebeccmeister]

Just in case it winds up being helpful somehow, don't forget to look at youth hostel options. Usually budget accommodations, can often be booked on pretty short notice, typically close enough to transportation, full of advice on things to see and do, often with the ability to cook your own food to keep costs down if that's a factor and of interest.

They work for and appeal to certain tastes, of course. :^)

[cathrowan]

Thank you for the comment! K and I are plus sized couch potatoes, though, so we'll be looking for something comfier than a hostel if we can. But it's good to know that's a fallback option.

[rebeccmeister]

Altogether, I hope it is a wonderful trip and adventure! I've only been to London once, and barely scratched the surface of the possibilities there.

[watervole]

If you have time, and like naval stuff, the Maritime Museum at Grenwich is amazing (also the British Museum, of course)

We enjoyed the Maritime Museum so much that we want back for a second day!

But it's out of the city centre, and if your time is limited, you've got to allow for that.

[cathrowan]

Sorry, I've been offline for a week. We do both like naval stuff. Our itinerary included a visit to Portsmouth, before going to London. Tall ships for K and the Mary Rose for me. But unfortunately K broke his ankle last week. We've had to cancel everything. Hopefully next spring instead!