VN Boards Archive

[VN Boards Archive]

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Topic: Anyone real familiar with London?

Turric Posts: 5,122 Registered: Jun 9, '03 Extended Info (if available) Real Post Cnt: 4,944 User ID: 810,129	Subject: Anyone real familiar with London?
	I have a 12 hour layover at Heathrow and I want to know how feasible it is to take the tube/subway into downtown and take a double decker bus ride around the city. See the sights and all that. I move quick, just wondering if the train will take me to and from the airport, how long it takes and so on. -----signature----- Who wants to play glow in the dark boner tag?
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Bluejaye_Wayfarer Posts: 2,789 Registered: Jun 3, '02 Extended Info (if available) Real Post Cnt: 2,739 User ID: 685,179	Subject: Anyone real familiar with London?
	What else are you going to do for 12 hours, besides sit bored to death at the airport? I can't speak for London, but I've done that sort of thing in Amsterdam, Munich, and Boston. Never had a problem. -----signature----- Provehito in Altum
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Guud Posts: 8,261 Registered: May 20, '02 Extended Info (if available) Real Post Cnt: 8,138 User ID: 681,012	Subject: Anyone real familiar with London?
	In 12 hours? Yes, it is entirely feasible. It took me less than an hour to get from heathrow to London. I'd suggest starting off in piccadilly circus (which is like the times square of london) and going from there. I would just make it a point to be back at least 3-4 hours before your next flight though. -----signature----- - Guud Basher - http://na.aiononline.com/livestatus/character-legion/search?serverName=Triniel&charName=Guud RR10+ LW Hero - Raven Guard - The stuff that legends are made of! Smizzle - RR35 Sorc - REM - Dark Oct (Retired)
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Charnley123 Posts: 3,910 Registered: Jan 5, '02 Extended Info (if available) Real Post Cnt: 3,826 User ID: 595,054	Subject: Anyone real familiar with London?
	worst airport I've ever been in is Heathrow (apart from maybe Manila) depite this, 12 hours is plenty to run around London for a few hours -----signature----- UPTIGHT SNOB seeks narrow-minded, idiotic, trigger-happy bigot for enormous offensive argument. Which I will win.
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Bahgoon Posts: 1,688 Registered: Apr 20, '04 Extended Info (if available) Real Post Cnt: 1,675 User ID: 916,242	Subject: Anyone real familiar with London?
	You will probably arrive from Heathrow at Victoria Station, which has access to most anywhere and, I think, has city bus tours available. Depending on time of day, etc., you could probably see one thing thoroughly or smile and wave at a bunch of things while blazing around town. Heritage sights that have no admission fee: British Museum Imperial War Museum National Gallery Portrait Gallery Victoria and Albert Museum Neat places that require monies: St. Paul's Cathedral (make sure to visit the crypts) Westminster Abbey Tower of London Uhhh . . . lots of pubs in Soho. Oh yeah, there are regimental museums for the Guards and the Household Cavalry if you are into medals and mess silver and the like. The Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace is a big touristy thing but not really special by my jaded view of pass in reviews. I'm sure I'm missing some obvious ones here. -----signature----- -Bahgoon
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vewdoou Posts: 11,508 Registered: Dec 8, '02 Extended Info (if available) Real Post Cnt: 7,298 User ID: 746,408	Subject: Anyone real familiar with London?
	You can get out and do a bus tour in that time. I'd recommend a tour of the tower of london with a beefeater, but you might be pinched for time on that. -----signature----- Grel http://gimpchimp.etilader.com/s.php?u=vewdoo Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.
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Turric Posts: 5,122 Registered: Jun 9, '03 Extended Info (if available) Real Post Cnt: 4,944 User ID: 810,129	Subject: Anyone real familiar with London?
	cool, good info. thanks -----signature----- Who wants to play glow in the dark boner tag?
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Bahgoon Posts: 1,688 Registered: Apr 20, '04 Extended Info (if available) Real Post Cnt: 1,675 User ID: 916,242	Subject: Anyone real familiar with London?
	Get a good streetmap and then learn how it maps up with the underground station map. Do a little research on what you want to do or where you want to go beforehand to make things smoother. You can buy day-long passes for the underground, which come in quite handy. Looks like the Heathrow train may connect to Paddington Station rather than Victoria. The idea is the same, though. Once you get to a major hub like Victoria, Waterloo, Kings Cross, Paddington or the like you should be able to get underground connections to wherever you want. http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/ http://www.mylondonmap.com/ http://www.bbraun-eurofoot.co.uk/docs/2007/london-underground-map.gif Edit - also factor in if the school children are on holidays. The heritage trust sites become oppressive when the parents use them as no entry fee babysitting facilities. Edit edit - also recall that Great Britain is the land of George Orwell and that you will probably be on one or more surveillance cameras from the moment you leave the airplane until you reboard. Not that you should be paranoid or anything. Edit edit edit - also be aware that most terminals, and I'm guessing Heathrow would be included, have storage places for luggage if you want to spend a pound or two to stash things rather than carry stuff around all day. -----signature----- -Bahgoon
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Bahgoon Posts: 1,688 Registered: Apr 20, '04 Extended Info (if available) Real Post Cnt: 1,675 User ID: 916,242	Subject: Anyone real familiar with London?
	Will double post with something approaching real advice. The first hurdle you will have is that you will need to clear customs before they let you run amok in London. Usually, if you are polite, explain what you are trying to do, show you have a plane ticket out, etc., you won't have many hassles. What will be a potential hassle is the time needed to actually get to a customs agent. This is somewhat random and depends on how many other foreign jets landed at approximately the same time as you. I (this was at Gatwick) once went through on a Wednesday afternoon and it took me about 30 minutes. Another time, on a Monday morning, it was nearly four hours. Your mileage may vary but this might be the first go/no-go decider. Next decision, once you make it through customs, is to exchange any money. Britain still uses pounds as currency rather than Euros like the rest of the EU. If you are adventurous, you can probably get by using only an international credit card like Visa or Mastercard. (Make sure you give your credit card company a heads up as they can deny charges if they think the charges are 'suspicious', that is suddenly appearing in London when you were just in Indiana. Usually a call to their customer support is sufficient.) If you do decide to exchange money, you can sell back what you don't use. Just be aware that you will probably lose juice on the exchange both ways. Now, through customs and money problems decided, next decision is if you want to tote all of your carry-on crap with you. If you want to stash some things for the day, look for a 'Left Luggage' place for storage. Remember to allow time to retrieve your stuff on the return leg. To get from Heathrow into the London metropolitan area you will need to use the British Rail system. There are express trains from Heathrow to London Paddington and I would recommend them if you are on a 'time is of the essence' mission. The local trains will cost less but take much longer to get you there and back. The train terminal at Heathrow should be easy to locate by reading the signs, but may be a semi-hefty walk. Once you are at Paddington you have access to most everywhere through either the underground trains or buses topside. You will have to check, but I would guess that city tours start from either Paddington, Victoria, or Waterloo stations. Possibly all three, but you will need to do the research on that. If you decide to go to a location rather than just tour about you need to figure out if you want to go by bus or underground. The underground, in general, is all sorts of convenient. The problem is that your view of London is a series of tunnels until you reach your destination. Travelling by bus gives you more chance to see the city, but London street traffic can be brutal and delays are quite possible. Remember to allow sufficient time to get back to Paddington, get from Paddington to Heathrow, collect your luggage, get through security, get through outbound customs and get to your gate. Hope this is somewhat lucid and helpful. -----signature----- -Bahgoon
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Altra_Shadowstalker Posts: 17,553 Registered: Jan 17, '02 Extended Info (if available) Real Post Cnt: 16,076 User ID: 616,837	Subject: Anyone real familiar with London?
	Charnley123 posted: worst airport I've ever been in is Heathrow (apart from maybe Manila) depite this, 12 hours is plenty to run around London for a few hours Really, this is the best Charnley response you can come up with? I've come to expect so much more. -----signature----- "Goddammit, Swearengen, I don't trust you as far as I could th'ow you, but I enjoy the way you lie." I don't typo often, but when I do, I blame Swype.
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kaburn Posts: 1,762 Registered: Sep 23, '02 Extended Info (if available) Real Post Cnt: 1,749 User ID: 719,539	Subject: Anyone real familiar with London?
	@@ -----signature----- http://gimpchimp.etilader.com/s.php?u=kaburn Is Back
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