A Day in London

[ChromePony]

So I'm flying into Heathrow this Sunday at 7AM and I have a flight out of Stansted at 5PM. This leaves me more than enough time to spend a nice quick day in the city. I'm looking for ideas on how I might entertain myself, keeping the time restrictions in mind. I've been to London before, saw the Tower, Big Ben the Bridge all that good stuff, as well as the Tate Modern and some of the main touristy areas. Since I'll probably be a little jetlagged, I'm thinking it might be nice to catch another museum or maybe just stroll around some nice but less touristy neighborhoods. I'd also like to keep things cheap and avoid even taking cash out if at all possible since the pound kicks our ass so hard.

I've already done some research and I know there are plenty of resources out there, but seeing as how so many londoners hang out around here I thought it would be nice to get some inside input. I can come up with plenty of things to do, but the hard part is deciding whats reasonable in such a short period. Also, geography and transportation is kinda key cause I dont want to waste my whole time sitting on the tube. Thoughts?

[neuroman]

Imperial War Museum is super cool if it's a museum you want.

[Shitabyss]

A very chill but still do alot in six hours way of spending a sunday is going to East-London - It's a great part of town. Get yourself on a tube to Bethnal Green and ask for the flower-market. Go there, it's neat.

You're in Shoreditch now which is the heart of the night-scene in perhaps all of London, walking around anywhere and stopping for a coffee should easily break a few hours. Then walk down brick lane, if you're into it most universities are finishing up right around now so there should be quite a few final-years exhibiting their work all around there, quality is often high and you can buy pretty sweet stuff for fair money. Also eat a curry for lunch even if that's a bit disgusting cause you are in the east and curries rule the food.

At the bottom of brick lane to your right is whitechapel gallery, check out their website i guess, typically good. If you find yourself with spare-time or want to relax victoria-park is close and an excellent park which is way less crowded than inner-city ones.

[mctommy015]

I can't second the Imperial War Museum suggestion enough. I went not expecting much and ended up spending about 4 hours there. They had an amazing holocaust exhibit at the time although I'm not sure if its still there.

[brianr]

imperial war museum in sem-close proximity to restored globe theater, you could do those in the AM, catch lunch at a pub on the south side of the river, then walk across tower bridge and hit the tower of london.

or, if you want to do more central london-based stuff, hit the cabinet war rooms. under / behind ten downing street, this is the bunker churchill lived and worked in during the blitz. really cool, and do-able in less than an hour.

[kimchi]

Most things in London require plenty of cash. Many museums are free, but I'd also suggest a walking tour (unless it's drizzling - highly likely).

You can search the internet for specific maps and itineraries and just plod along the route yourself. I'd have a look around Camden Town (Get off a Morington Crescent tube ststion and head north (uphill)), just north of Euston Station. I used to live there and it's a kind of retro/prog hang-out with a big alternative scene (if that makes sense) Lots of markets, bars and a nice canal you can walk/take a boat trip along.

[pearl6]

The Globe Theatre's cool if you're into Shakespeare, got some good memorabilia in there, but you've got to be interested in it to start with.

Museums such as the National History Museum and the National Science Museum are both worth a visit as well. London Eye will give you a good look at the city from a ferris wheel type ride. Madame Tussauds has a bunch of waxworks of famous people and the London Dungeons will make you change your pants. However, these things will cost you money, so you may be wanting to avoid them.

[MaxPower]

The British Museum is free and a must see. Another cool place in London is the Sir John Soane Museum. You can take the Heathrow Expres to Paddington Station. You can take the tube to Holborn or Tottenhem Court Road for the British Museum. The Sir John Soane Museum is near the Holborn tube.

Where is Stansted?

[Peter Harris]

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Where is Stansted?

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it's about 45mins north of london by train, in Essex, innit. I lived a few stops further north for the last 10 months.

To get there you hit up the stansted express from Liverpool St. or the NX bus from Victoria.