London and Paris...coming soon...

In just 17 days I'll be winging my way to London and Paris. Here is an email I sent to my niece today to further the discussion of what we'll do while we're in London:

Our London Hotel:
http://www.starwoodhotels.com/lemeridien/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1925

I've been reading my London book and am asking you to consider the following:

(The Unofficial Guide to London rates attractions based on a scale of 5 stars and they break it down by age group. I think you would qualify for the "Young Adult" category and I, sadly, qualify for the "Over 30" group)

1. The British Museum
http://www.britishmuseum.org/default.aspx
Admission is free (always good) and it is rated 5 stars for both of our categories

2. Changing of the Guard
http://www.changing-the-guard.com/
It is free (of course) we didn't see it last time. It is a quintessentially London sort of thing to do..however it is only 2 stars for each of our age groups. I don't feel strongly about it....to get a good viewing spot would require hanging out well ahead of time and might eat up half of one of our days. But if you feel strongly about it we can certainly do it.

3. Houses of Parlament
http://www.parliament.uk/
This is 12 Pound Sterling...($25.00US). I saw it one one of my prior trips. It is rated three stars for young adults and four stars for my age group. The main reason I mention it is because you mentioned wanting to see Buckingham Palace and since that is not available I thought I'd mention this.

4. London Zoo
http://www.zsl.org/zsl-london-zoo/
14.50 Pound Sterling (US$30). Rated 4 stars for both age groups. Just sounded a little cool...thought I'd mention it.

5. Museum of London
http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/English/
Free (YAY!). 5 Stars for both. This museum is about the history of London which sounds cool. Another good part is that since it is free if we get there and hate it we can leave. :-)

6. Tower of London
http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/
16 Pound Stering (US$35ish) Kind of expensive. They do have a 45 pound sterling admission for families..so maybe we could do that. I have never seen this and it is rated 5 stars for both. I would really like to see this.

On second thought:
http://www.hrp.org.uk/supportus/membership/default.aspx

I think I'm going to buy us a joint annual membership. It's only a few pounds more than it would take to get us into the tower of London and it also gets us into 4 other palaces one of which is Kensington Palace which has a display of some of Diana's dresses...so I'd like to do that too.
http://www.hrp.org.uk/KensingtonPalace/stories/dianasdresses.aspx

7. Victoria and Albert Museum
http://www.vam.ac.uk/

Free and rated 5 stars for both age groups...it is, however another museum

8. Gastropubs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastropub

I think we need to hit at least one of them...they sound like a good inexpensive good quality place to eat...

9. Half Price Ticket Booth
http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/tkts/

I don't see anything I care enough about to buy in advance...half price is our friend.

10. The Comedy Store
http://www.thecomedystore.co.uk/index.php
Near our hotel 15 pound sterling..might be fun..

11. How much of a shopper are you? There are outdoor markets on various days of the week. Portobello Road Market...Camden Market...street vendors...kind of fun. Tell me how you feel about it.

http://www.portobelloroad.co.uk/
http://www.camdenlock.net/


Here is a link to a google map I've prepared with all of these things indicated.

Take a look and tell me what you think.

Love, Sass