London!

Casual Eddy

So I'm studying abroad for a month in London starting tuesday next week. The trip has scheduled some pretty nifty stuff to look at already, but I want to make sure I don't miss anything. I'll apparently be staying at a hotel in Bloomsbury, which I have been told is right in the heart of the city.

We have two long weekends as well with which to do our own thing, and many people go to nearby places. I've been toying with traveling to Paris or Amsterdam or maybe Ireland. What's the best way to travel? Where should I go outside of London and what attractions in the city are must see? I'm willing to go to touristy stuff as long as its fun (Like the eye!).

I'm also a gay dude I wanted to try and go to some gay clubs. What are the non-sleezey ones in London? I'm looking for a good place with hot british dudes, not a sketchy ass place.

I'm up for pretty much anything, let me know what the city has to offer!

RMS Oceanic

The London Eye is pricey, but you do get a pretty cool view of everything.

And go to Earls Court Underground Station to see a Doctor Who style Police Box.

There are lots of famous places you can go to like Westminster Abbey, the Churchill War Rooms or the Tower of London. Unfortunately they are all like £15 to get in. What you see is fascinating though.

My tl;dr advice is for attractions, expect to pay a lot.

Mojo_Jojo

If you're in London, then you should use the Eurostar to visit Paris. Book as far ahead in advance as you can and it won't be too expensive. That said, Paris is the most expensive city in the world and I don't think London is far behind it, so expect to be very poor after this.

Technicality

Brighton is about an hour from London by car/train, and worth a visit IMO.

The fringe festival is on there until the 23rd: http://www.brightonfestivalfringe.org.uk/ So there is quite a bit to see.

Brighton is a pretty gay friendly place, there are several clubs in the kemptown area, and other clubs sometimes have a special night. I used to know a few gay people when I lived there who went out a lot, but I cant remember if there was anywhere they preferred/avoided. The internet probably has much more information than I can recall:
http://www.realbrighton.com/

Coinage

I only have one piece of advice for you: sticky toffee pudding. There is nothing like it in America and it is wonderful. I don't remember if I had it in London (I was staying in Oxford for most of my trip), so I can't recommend any specific places, but most of the food I had in London was pretty good so you're probably OK. Oh, and DO NOT go to the Cafe Churchill by the Churchill War Rooms. I was drawn in by their silly name and relatively cheap prices compared to some of the other places around, but it was horrible, one of the few really bad meals I had in England (and I ate at pubs most of the time).

And don't arrive at the Changing of the Guard too early: they stop letting people walk on the street at all, and I was stuck on the island with the Victoria statue for 45 minutes before the ceremony started.

HMS is right, they gouge you on the tourist attractions, I'm particularly bitter about Westminster Abbey, since that used to be a Catholic church (and Benedictine at that!). It's worth seeing, although I feel like they should have stopped decorating it about 500 years ago. If you like churches, Westminster Cathedral is also very nice, and that's free because Catholics>Anglicans. I thought St. Paul's was overrated, but I also didn't get a chance to tour the whole thing because they were technically closed at the time, I just snuck in the nave because they were in the middle of a service, so at least it was free. If you really like churches, Canterbury Cathedral (and their choir) is one of the most amazing things I've ever seen, but it's a couple hour train ride from London, so it may not be worth it for you, since there's not much else in Canterbury besides the Cathedral and the grave of St Thomas More's head.

However, the British Museum is completely free, unlike the frickin Metropolitan Museum of Art, and it's fantastic.

Anarchy Rules!

I have to disagree in that at least in London, the major museums are all free, and for the most part excellent. The British Museum is extremely good and definitely worth a look - lots of Greek, Egyptian, Babylonian antiquities.

Amsterdam's a pretty awesome place, and easy to get to either by train, or by a budget airline. Perhaps visit another region of the UK? Edinburgh's quite nice, as is Oxford or Cambridge

ASimPerson

Anarchy Rules! wrote: »

I have to disagree in that at least in London, the major museums are all free, and for the most part excellent. The British Museum is extremely good and definitely worth a look - lots of Greek, Egyptian, Babylonian antiquities.

Not only is the British Museum free, it's also huge. You could make multiple trips of it, there's just no way to see everything there in one day.

Also, London is expensive. If you see something for 10 pounds that's like $15 before any fees your bank charges.

Kalkino

For travel - train is pretty cool if you are able to book ahead, but given how much time you have it is probably only going to be of use to you if you visit Paris or Brussels. Anywhere else go for the budget airlines. Flying to Amsterdam from London will take you less time than security or border control at both ends!

The area you are staying in is pretty dammed central, so you will be able to easily walk into places like Soho, or town generally. Soho is the red light district but also has a lot of great food or coffee recommendations. There are gay clubs there but I have no idea if they are acceptable or not. I'm sure there are heaps of good review sites out there for clubs or bars though.

There are enough museums that are free in town that you could fill in your weekends quite easily, if you wish to avoid tourist gouging. The obvious ones would be the British Museum, the Royal Academy, the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, the Tates (2), the Victoria and Albert, the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum. If I was going to pick just two I'd go for the British and V&A Museums. Both are pretty huge. There are also many smaller museums and galleries that you could go to for a small fee or for free.

I would also suggest you pick up a Time Out London, or troll through their website, as they are a pretty good starting point for what is on.

If you want to get any coffee recommendations say the word, although the pub scene is really the main thing in this town.

So far as outside of London trips - Oxford and Cambridge are rather cliched suggestions, but when you go there you will see that it was probably worth it all the same. There are a bunch of towns within an hour or so that are worth visiting too - like Brighton or any number of smaller seaside towns around London. Alternatively you could head further up North, which is what I'd recommend. Manchester is pretty neat and has a lively gay district by all accounts. If you really want to weird yourself out you could visit Blackpool - then you will know the true heart of Britain!

Mojo_Jojo

Kalkino has gone insane. Do not go to Blackpool. There is nothing there for anybody.

corcorigan

You should have a great time. From Bloomsbury you can walk all over the bit of the city where things happen at night (either down to Soho or up to Camden), and get to a lot of the city on foot during the day. Living in the centre of London is awesome. Make sure you go out and get amusingly drunk and explore.

Regardless of what everyone has said, most the museums in London are free (more so than anywhere else I've been) and are definitely worth visiting. The Natural History Museum and British Museum especially. See the wonder of 19th century Britain (e.g. science and the rest of the world's looted artefacts)!

I'd consider flying to Dublin and getting the Eurostar to Paris. Eurostar is incredibly convenient, especially from Bloomsbury. I'd be wary actually flying out on weekends because getting to the airports can be tricky - half the tube system is being ripped up at weekends at the moment.

Also, get an Oyster card and tube map. A travel pass is probably unnecessary from Bloomsbury though.

Random other thoughts: Wander up Primrose Hill early one evening, you get a good view of London (then can go to the pub in Camden). Random walking about can find you nice places. And drink enough to have fun. London is full of pubs for a reason.

I'd probably not bother visiting other places in the UK. Yeah, they have some fun things, but they are all a bit small in comparison to London. 4 weeks is not long enough to see a small fraction of what London has to offer, don't eat into your time here by spending it all on coaches all over the UK.

Kalkino

Mojo_Jojo wrote: »

Kalkino has gone insane. Do not go to Blackpool. There is nothing there for anybody.

Blackpool was awesome! We wandered around for ages, huddled from the wind in run down piers, amusement arcades and had dinner in a Pirate themed restaurant because that was the least crap place in town.

Also, all of the museums in my list are free

Mojo_Jojo

corcorigan wrote: »

I'd probably not bother visiting other places in the UK. Yeah, they have some fun things, but they are all a bit small in comparison to London. 4 weeks is not long enough to see a small fraction of what London has to offer, don't eat into your time here by spending it all on coaches all over the UK.

London, like all capital cities, doesn't really represent the country as a whole. Capitals are very similar to one another. Paris, Tokyo, London, whatever. Interesting places, yes, but you'll get a weird impression of the country from them.

It's worth venturing out, even just to somewhere like Cambridge for a day or Brighton for a night, as they are both a short train journey away.

corcorigan

Mojo_Jojo wrote: »

corcorigan wrote: »

I'd probably not bother visiting other places in the UK. Yeah, they have some fun things, but they are all a bit small in comparison to London. 4 weeks is not long enough to see a small fraction of what London has to offer, don't eat into your time here by spending it all on coaches all over the UK.

London, like all capital cities, doesn't really represent the country as a whole. Capitals are very similar to one another. Paris, Tokyo, London, whatever. Interesting places, yes, but you'll get a weird impression of the country from them.

It's worth venturing out, even just to somewhere like Cambridge for a day or Brighton for a night, as they are both a short train journey away.

To be fair, Brighton and Cambridge don't exactly represent the UK as a whole either...

poshniallo

Soho gay clubs range from skanky to classy. I'm pretty sure Time Out (an excellent listings magazine) has a GLBT section that will help you choose.

Mojo_Jojo

corcorigan wrote: »

Mojo_Jojo wrote: »

corcorigan wrote: »

I'd probably not bother visiting other places in the UK. Yeah, they have some fun things, but they are all a bit small in comparison to London. 4 weeks is not long enough to see a small fraction of what London has to offer, don't eat into your time here by spending it all on coaches all over the UK.

London, like all capital cities, doesn't really represent the country as a whole. Capitals are very similar to one another. Paris, Tokyo, London, whatever. Interesting places, yes, but you'll get a weird impression of the country from them.

It's worth venturing out, even just to somewhere like Cambridge for a day or Brighton for a night, as they are both a short train journey away.

To be fair, Brighton and Cambridge don't exactly represent the UK as a whole either...

No one location represents an entire country, but capitals are anomalous points.

Kalkino

As a foreign resident, London does seem pretty damn differently from the rest of the UK or England. While you will have a great time just focusing on London you will not get a good idea of what England is like. Perhaps you cannot not in the time you have, but I think you should at least have a go at doing so. Perhaps try for a day trip down to Kent - go to Canterbury then out to the countryside to see some of the local villages.

corcorigan

You could try St Albans. It's only 20 mins away on the train and has a pretty cathedral and loads of bits of Roman stuff in a big park.

Casual Eddy

the trip we're on has plenty of planned things, and I think one of them is to either oxford or cambridge.

thanks for all the suggestions so far!

eatmosushi

Hi there.

If you're into the rave scene, monday nights right near oxford circus tube station is a huge club called Heaven.


It's.... well it's awesome.

Rainbulimic

Camden! You've got to have a look around there. Some things are expensive, but the whole area is very cool.

I second the British Museum. I never get tired of going there.

You can also check out http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/ for some good print-out vouchers for food, travel and just some tips for saving cash. It might look a little weird, but the site is totally legit. I also just plain recommend the site for anyone in the UK...

Fallingman

I know that this might not seem as helpful, but as someone who's travelled and lived in London and around Europe... Don't try and see everything. Pick a few things athat are important to you and do them well. As has been mentioned some to the museums are so big that they require multiple trips.

kaliyama

Mojo_Jojo wrote: »

corcorigan wrote: »

Mojo_Jojo wrote: »

corcorigan wrote: »

I'd probably not bother visiting other places in the UK. Yeah, they have some fun things, but they are all a bit small in comparison to London. 4 weeks is not long enough to see a small fraction of what London has to offer, don't eat into your time here by spending it all on coaches all over the UK.

London, like all capital cities, doesn't really represent the country as a whole. Capitals are very similar to one another. Paris, Tokyo, London, whatever. Interesting places, yes, but you'll get a weird impression of the country from them.

It's worth venturing out, even just to somewhere like Cambridge for a day or Brighton for a night, as they are both a short train journey away.

To be fair, Brighton and Cambridge don't exactly represent the UK as a whole either...

No one location represents an entire country, but capitals are anomalous points.

yes, he should go buy a burberry wife-beater and wander around council housing pushing a pram while under video surveillance to get a real sense of the UK.

riz

Things I wasn't sure about but turned out to be awesome: Tower of London, and the damn library. The former was just cool, and yes very touristy but still historical and one of those things that made me feel like I saw something rare, but it also snowed the day I was there, which made it extra awesome. And the latter, well, you have to be a huge nerd, but they have this small museum of rare books in there. I got lost and it was far out of my way and I barely got there before it closed on my only available evening, but it was so worth it.

jackisreal

I've never been, but the place all my gay friends (british and american) talk about is G.A.Y. Heaven.

The london eye is having a big discount too depending on when you go.

There's great food on charlotte street, including some semi-famous locations. My favorite pub, the carpenter's arms, is on Howland Street right around tottenham court road.

corcorigan

jackisreal wrote: »

I've never been, but the place all my gay friends (british and american) talk about is G.A.Y. Heaven.

The london eye is having a big discount too depending on when you go.

There's great food on charlotte street, including some semi-famous locations. My favorite pub, the carpenter's arms, is on Howland Street right around tottenham court road.

I walk past there most days and have never been in. I like the Fitzroy Tavern when it isn't insanely busy. Fitzrovia is a good area, although totally packed on nice evenings after work.

Anarchy Rules!

Walking round Westminster is a nice way to spend an afternoon - there aren't really any 'attractions' but there's the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben etc.

perspexacity

Completely agree with Anarchy.
While you're here, check out Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park, just for fun.
Before you head out, remember to check tfl.gov.uk for any tube lines that have decided to thwart your journey.
If you go on the Eye, try to go at dusk/dark. London looks gorgeous all lit up.
Have fun.

Coinage

Casual Eddy wrote: »

the trip we're on has plenty of planned things, and I think one of them is to either oxford or cambridge.

thanks for all the suggestions so far!

If you go to Oxford (and I know I'm going to sound bloody singleminded here), get the sticky toffee pudding at the White Horse pub. It's on High St by the Blackwell's, you can't miss it. it's also one of the better pubs around Oxford, if maybe a tad more expensive. Also, the Oxford colleges themselves are very nice, although visiting them is a tremendous pain because they cost 5-10 pounds and they're open at unpredictable hours. When I was visiting I only managed to get a few in because of that, but it was still cool.