London Master Thread

[shlonx]

They closed ? I wasn't impressed with the place at all.

No, they're still open.

[Let3]

They are open, and that the place I went to for some take out food that was pretty good (on take-out standards)

[eliraps]

Would love to see a proposed Thursday morning-Tuesday morning itinerary doable with a 2 and 4 year old

Just to add to previous responses...

Windsor Castle is very nice (pretty) and a lot of outdoors in and near the castle so that's good for kids. even walking through certain parts of the inside of the palace i would imagine that kids would appreciate. when there are lines to get into certain sections, go to the side to drop off your stroller and they'll probably let you straight in. You may want to do that on Thursday as Windsor is near LHR (unless you're going to LCY). not sure if it's a good idea to go on the weekend as that's when the queen is usually there - not sure if that makes a difference. Buy tickets in advance online [365tickets.co.uk]- will save you time and money if you buy in conjunction with other attractions. If you do go, it is definitely worth the extra few pounds to go see the kitchen and how they make the food etc.

Greenwich is a nice boat ride to get there and there is a kid's museum there - but you may find it boring.

GTG now, will post more later hopefully.

 

[Dan]

Debating between the Andaz and the Park Tower Knightsbridge still.

Schedule is looking pretty spartan. Maybe we should fly somewhere else for Sunday-Tuesday? AMS?
Or what should I be filling in the blanks?

Thursday: Arriving Thursday at 7:50am into LHR. Tower of London.
Friday: Find shabbos food.
Shabbos:
Sunday: Matt's Changing of the Guards tour. London Eye.
Monday: Windsor Castle
Tuesday: Departing 10:15am from LHR.

[eliraps]

Debating between the Andaz and the Park Tower Knightsbridge still.

Schedule is looking pretty spartan. Maybe we should fly somewhere else for Sunday-Tuesday? AMS?
Or what should I be filling in the blanks?

Thursday: Arriving Thursday at 7:50am into LHR. Tower of London.
Friday: Find shabbos food.
Shabbos:
Sunday: Matt's Changing of the Guards tour. London Eye.
Monday: Windsor Castle
Tuesday: Departing 10:15am from LHR.

Spending a whole day getting food? just preorder from Riech's?
You planning to be in frum neighborhood for shabbos?

Fly up to the north of the country for a day? see York?

[eli1571]

They are open, and that the place I went to for some take out food that was pretty good (on take-out standards)

You won't get anything close to USA standards in Stamford hill but there  are two restaurants/take out one is kadima on Clapton common and deli 98 on Stamford hill

[Dan]

Spending a whole day getting food? just preorder from Riech's?
You planning to be in frum neighborhood for shabbos?

Fly up to the north of the country for a day? see York?

No, that's why I'm looking for suggestions to fill the schedule or decide if we should fly somewhere else from Sun-Tues and consolidate London into Thurs/Fri.

Is Riech the way to go for shabbos take-out?
Probably will just stay in the same hotel rather than stay in 3 hotels in 5 days.

[yitzy93]

No, that's why I'm looking for suggestions to fill the schedule or decide if we should fly somewhere else from Sun-Tues and consolidate London into Thurs/Fri.

Edinburgh, Scotland is pretty interesting!

[eliraps]

No, that's why I'm looking for suggestions to fill the schedule or decide if we should fly somewhere else from Sun-Tues and consolidate London into Thurs/Fri.

Is Riech the way to go for shabbos take-out?
Probably will just stay in the same hotel rather than stay in 3 hotels in 5 days.

I've never done a shabbos take out here, but riech's are popular and have had good food at all the kidushim that I have seen them cater.
I'd invite you for shabbos but only have a 2 BR apartment...
If there is a changing of the guards on the Sunday that you're here, there will also be on Friday - both even or odd dates... so you could change that to Friday and go to AMS, Paris, Spain Gibraltar etc for the other 2 days. Or anywhere in the north of UK.
There are lots of nice 'country side-ish' places not far from London if you rent a car for a day. Does seeing the English countryside interest you?

[MosheD]

Edinburgh, Scotland is pretty interesting!

Was going to be my suggestion. It's on my bucket list. Although I'd go in summer when it's nice. Also, Dublin.

[yitzy93]

I'd invite you for shabbos but only have a 2 BR apartment...

Not that Dan would give up a 5* hotel stay so quickly...

[yitzy93]

Was going to be my suggestion. It's on my bucket list. Although I'd go in summer when it's nice.

+1
Been there twice in the summer. Lots to do/see then.

[Dan]

Was going to be my suggestion. It's on my bucket list. Although I'd go in summer when it's nice. Also, Dublin.

Right, seems pointless in November.

[MosheD]

Right, seems pointless in November.

Ehh, the scotch will want you up

[Dan]

Scotch trip is going to be a DD DO, not a family trip.

Anyway, am I missing kid-friendly activities in LHR or should I seriously be considering 2 days in AMS?

[yitzy93]

Scotch trip is going to be a DD DO, not a family trip.

Lol. When's that gonna happen??

[Yehoshua]

Debating between the Andaz and the Park Tower Knightsbridge still.

Schedule is looking pretty spartan. Maybe we should fly somewhere else for Sunday-Tuesday? AMS?
Or what should I be filling in the blanks?

Thursday: Arriving Thursday at 7:50am into LHR. Tower of London.
Friday: Find shabbos food.
Shabbos:
Sunday: Matt's Changing of the Guards tour. London Eye.
Monday: Windsor Castle
Tuesday: Departing 10:15am from LHR.

The benefit of the PTN is that it's walkable to the Marble Arch Shul on Shabbos. The Andaz isn't near any shuls.  While the PTN ultimately was a little underwhelming physically, it was a nice room and great staff. Ok, granted they did mess up royally and let our food spoil, but they did go out at 10:30pm with my grocery receipt and bought everything on the list again for us, delivering it to our room at 11:30pm. I found the location very nice. It's near Hyde Park (so you can walk around on shabbos) and Harrods (where you can look around during the week. The Tube station (Knightsbridge) is on the Piccadilly like which goes to LHR should you decided to take the tube to the hotel. Besides for a car, it's the quickest way to get from LHR to the PTN. If you take the Heathrow express to Paddington you then have to take a cab to the hotel since there are no direct trains.

Friday you can do things like the London Eye, Parliament (just look at it), possibly Harrods right near the hotel if you have time, and get food for shabbos, leaving Sunday afternoon open to do something outside of the city center.

How are you getting to Windsor Castle? If you're going that way anyway, it may be worth stopping by Stonehenge to see it, and possible Oxford of Bath. I know Golden Tours has a few day tours to all three locations leaving from Victoria Station, a quick 1 mile walk from the PTN.

Alternatively, you can do the Changing of the Guard tour on Friday (if it's available on Sunday it'll be available on Friday since it's every other day most of the year), hop over to the London Eye (and view Parliament from the Eye), find food (some places deliver for a small fee which can be super convenient for you if you don't want to schlep everyone around), and possible go to Harrods.  This way on Sunday you can go out of the city for a day (possible Greenwich).

If you wanted to skip Windsor castle, you can go up to Scotland/Ireland/York/etc for Sunday-Monday and fly back from there on Tuesday.

[MeirS]

The London transport museum is geared for kids (IIRC)
The science museum has a kids section.
Hamley's is a massive toy store somewhere in central London where they have many people (Israelis) demonstrating how to use many of the toys. That can be a full day trip on itself, just watching.

[yitzy93]

Madame Tussaud's

[Yehoshua]

Madame Tussaud's

You can do that in many places.