Affordable Walking Tours of London

You want to tour London but all you worry about is the fact that the Pound is worth so much more than the Dollar and that guided tour you were looking at costs 50 Pounds! No worries, here are some walking tours of London that are much more affordable at 6 Pounds per person (children under 12 are free)!

Below are the different tours offered by the City of London for this price:

FLEET STREET AND ITS ALLEYWAYS: Fleet Street is the original home of the newspaper industry. Dr Johnson, Samuel Pepys and Sweeney Todd are among the colourful characters you will find out about on this walk.

SMITHFIELD – PAST AND PRESENT: Site of London’s oldest hospital,the place for public executions,the site of rebellion and home to John Betjeman, Smithfield is now famous for its meat market and a magnificent Norman church.

DISCOVERING WREN CHURCHES: This walk will show you the amazing variety of Wren’s churches with their glorious steeples, beautiful interiors and connections with great historical events and famous people.

EXPLORING THE HEART OF THE CITY: This takes you past the mediaeval Guildhall, the Bank of England, the Royal Exchange and the Lord Mayor’s home, the Mansion House,
before ending up in the City’s historic alleyways, featured in many of Dickens’s novels.

For more information, go here. Learn about London with the Londoners while taking these walking tours!

European Festivals in November

Throughout Europe, there are many festivals and celebrations of every sort all year 'round. Here are some of the more interesting ones in November:

On November 1st will be the Veteran Car Run in the UK (specifically London to Brighton). All the cars involved were made before 1905! While we could make this trip in minutes with no traffic, these cars take hours to do so. It's a long route, so plan where you can watch the show in advance! Click here for more:
http://www.vccofgb.co.uk/lontobri/



Le Feste de Tartufo is the Italian Festival for Truffles! It is celebrated every weekend in November starting the 14th in San Miniato. Click here for more: http://www.sanminiatotartufo.it/inglese/homeing.htm

The Santa Claus World Championships? Yes, it's true! On November 27-28th, go to Samnuan, Switzerland and watch the best Santas in the world compete in events such as skiing! Click here for more: http://www.clauwau.com/index_en.php

Crossing Borders is a giant tribute to all things artistic. "Crossing Borders is the festival where literature, music, film and the visual arts combine to take central stage. 18 - 21 November 2009, writers, poets, musicians, filmmakers and artists will reign over The Hague's cultural centre." This is one of Europe's giant festivals. Click here for more: http://www.crossingborder.nl/index.php?ID=1&lang=uk

There's so much more to sample so look around for a festival that appeals to you! Also, share with us your stories about festivals throughout Europe, November or not.

Excursions from London....Other Than Stonehenge

Many people go to London and think Stonehenge is the only place one needs to visit outside the city lines. If you believe that, you are missing some wonderfully unique British trips that many Americans and other tourists don’t know about. Shhhhhhh! Don’t tell them we told you……

First are the Cotswold Villages. This is a truly wonderful trip that can take days if you let it. If you do it as a single-day excursion, don’t worry, you will see a lot! The Cotswolds are simply this: amazingly picturesque villages and towns dotted along a gorgeous stretch of the English countryside. When you go to visit this place (these places) is take in the landscape as you walk from village to village. Check out the name of some of these towns! There’s Wotton-under-Edge, Stumblewold, Moreslaughter and Burton-on-the-Water. Two good home-bases for trips to the area are Chipping Campden and Stow-on-the-Wold. There are tourist centers with pamphlets suggesting which routes to take and we suggest you use these as guides if you don’t have one already.

For you Roman-lovers, don’t worry. They made it to Britain, too! In fact, a short excursion to Corinium might just be what the doctor ordered for you. Corinium was the second largest Roman city behind Londinium on the island and had everything you could ask for of a Roman city: aqueducts, and amphitheatre, palaces, forts and basilica. Unfortunately, the Dark Ages occurred and most of the city went to ruins. Don’t fret, though! There is a great museum featuring the site’s artifacts and the amphitheatre is still there in Earthly form (a giant grass bowl!). Check out this photo blog concerning the museum’s artifacts: http://photodelusions.wordpress.com/category/archaeology/corinium-museum/

Finally, there’s Stratford-upon-Avon. If you were listening in high school history class, you might remember this to be the home to Shakespeare himself. This is another unique experience that doesn’t cost you an arm and a leg. This town is in similarly picturesque countryside as the Cotswolds and has an extreme amount of culture attributed to it by William S. Here, you can view five different houses that were a part of Shakespeare’s life and even see a theatre production by the Royal Shakespeare Company which are one of the two most prestigious companies in the UK and specialize in William’s plays.


Expand your horizons and check out these wonderful places while in London and don’t forget, we didn’t tell you about the Cotswolds!

The Neighborhoods of London…. So Much to Choose From!

There are many areas in which to stay in London and most of the following I would recommend to anyone when it comes to safety and the general “niceness” of the area. However, these are very different neighborhoods that would be enjoyed more by different types of people so I’ve broken them down to two major areas of central London divided by many smaller districts.

First, there’s the West End. Most of this area is within walking distance of most sights and easily accessible by the tube. On the West (duh) side of the river, this area has many different personalities that are all entertaining in different ways:

1. Soho, the ever-popular district, has many bars, pubs, nightclubs and includes Chinatown. This area is also gay-friendly.
2. Picadilly Circus, Leicester Square and Charing Cross make up a large area that includes Theatreland (the Broadway of London) and Trafalgar Square. This area is highly-loved and very “touristy”.
3. Mayfair is a very rich and exclusive neighborhood with great shopping and luxurious hotels.
4. Bloomsbury is a district with many colleges and universities and also holds the British Museum right next to……
5. Maryleborne (pronounced Mar-le-bon by locals and a million other ways) is home to Madam Tussaud’s and the great investigator, Sherlock Holmes.
6. St. James and Westminster contain great parks, Westminster Abbey and Parliament and is about as central as you can get.
7. Belgravia, Victoria and Pimlico is a nice area with many embassies and aristocrats.




Next, Central London is a more developed, commercial area but just as convenient as far as distances to all the sights:

1. Knight’s Bridge and Chelsea are fashionable residential and shopping areas. Home to Harrod’s, these neighborhoods are artsy and trendy.
2. Kensington and South Kensington are residential but do have some hotels and restaurants. They also boast Hyde’s Park and multiple museums.
3. Earl’s Court is a great place to stay if you are a traveler on a budget. Also, this area is gay-friendly.
4. Bayswater and Paddington also have some budget hotels but are very commercialized.
5. Southbank has many sights like the London Eye, Globe Theatre and Tower Bridge, but no places to stay.
6. Shoreditch is an up-and-coming trendy zone. An interesting place to stay if you are adventurous.
7. “The City” doesn’t have accommodation either, but does have the Tower of London, the “Wall Street” of Europe and St. Paul’s Cathedral.


I know this sounds like there’s a lot of places to stay. That’s because THERE IS. What’s great about London is you can stay in one of these districts that suits your wants and needs and they’re all within a relatively small area. All are within a couple tube stops of everything else so don’t worry! Have fun in London and remember the Olympics are here in 2012!