London Master Thread

[sprint]

ok - searched the forums - dont see anything except super's german site...anyone know the best option for sim or cell phone rental for great britain?

[Yordai Dooma]

We are flying VCE-LHR-CDG on BA...

If we have a Layover in LHR for exactly 3 hours (bags should be checked through), would there be enough time to leave the airport and get something to eat or go see something?
How much time would one recommend to be there for if we wanted to leave, see/eat something before our next flight?

[yid]

ok - searched the forums - dont see anything except super's german site...anyone know the best option for sim or cell phone rental for great britain?

you can buy a prepaid sim card at many stores in the uk and put it into an unlocked phone. or you can go to carphonewarehouse or a similar cellphone store in london and buy a phone and a prepaid sim card for as little as 5 or 10 pounds.

[Chaikel]

We are flying VCE-LHR-CDG on BA...

If we have a Layover in LHR for exactly 3 hours (bags should be checked through), would there be enough time to leave the airport and get something to eat or go see something?
How much time would one recommend to be there for if we wanted to leave, see/eat something before our next flight?

There is a coffere shop in the terminal that sells kosher sandwiches

[moish]

sometimes, it takes an hour just to clear customs

[ChAiM'l]

There is a coffere shop in the terminal that sells kosher sandwiches

http://www.ddsandwiches.com/heathrow.htm

[Yisha]

anything affiliated with DD forums? 

[ChAiM'l]

anything affiliated with DD forums? 

Never thought of that ... Maybe Dan could get a coupon for us DD'ers...

[AsherO]

http://www.ddsandwiches.com/heathrow.htm

Approximate cost please?

[ChAiM'l]

Approximate cost please?

I think they range between £2 to about £5 depending if it's fish, meat etc.

[Chaikel]

Just ate by White House in Hendon. Shwarma was probably the best I've ever had out of Israel, and better than a lot of Israeli joints. Service was excellent.

[YudiG]

Just ate by White House in Hendon. Shwarma was probably the best I've ever had out of Israel, and better than a lot of Israeli joints. Service was excellent.

+1

[moish]

Just ate by White House in Hendon. Shwarma was probably the best I've ever had out of Israel, and better than a lot of Israeli joints. Service was excellent.

whats the hashgacha? on shamash it says its self supervised

[ChAiM'l]

whats the hashgacha? on shamash it says its self supervised

It's under KLBD (Glatt). Most people I know would eat there.

[westman812]

Getting conflicting info; Flying TLV-LHR-JFK; will a cancelled AMEX platinum(and corresponding Priority Pass card) get me into the AA club in Terminal 3 LHR when flying AA economy LHR-JFK? I've heard the AMEX plat only works in domestic clubs if flying Economy(and I don't wanna rely on priority pass because it seems to be 50/50 chance on other forums)...would anyone know

[aussiebochur]

Read through the whole thread and lots of info, thanks!
And a blast from the past from Steve2, always entertaining...

I'm going to be in London for half a day, 10:45am-9:35pm and am thinking of doing something similar to LAXtraveler (thanks for your short but informative post!)

I had a 12 hr layover there in the fall and had a great time exploring the city. We did tons in a short amount of time and enjoyed it immensely. We took the HeathrowExpress to save time (yes it is very expensive) to get to the city.

Some highlights:

London Eye
British Museum (for only a short time, its massive)
Walk by of Westminster Abbey and Big Ben/Parliament
Trafalgar Square
Buckingham Palace gates/guards view
Selfridges (kosher food inside as well - picked up for lunch)
Marble Arch/Speaker's Corner

My question is with regard to transportation.
It seems the Heathrow Express is the fastest way to get into town.
With such little time I'd probably pay the extra dollars.
It costs £32 from LHR-Paddington return.

But then getting around London itself, seems like you can walk mostly but I presume at one point or another ill need the underground. Does that get expensive?

Or, how about one of the open top tour buses? I usually don't like them as i prefer to do things my own way but with such a short time, could this be the best way to see London?

Alternatively I can rent a car for ~£25.
Is it hard to get around in London? Parking?
I do know how to drive on the wrong (left) side of the road.

So, what would you do?

Any tips are appreciated!

[LAXtraveler]

Read through the whole thread and lots of info, thanks!
And a blast from the past from Steve2, always entertaining...

I'm going to be in London for half a day, 10:45am-9:35pm and am thinking of doing something similar to LAXtraveler (thanks for your short but informative post!)My question is with regard to transportation.
It seems the Heathrow Express is the fastest way to get into town.
With such little time I'd probably pay the extra dollars.
It costs £32 from LHR-Paddington return.

But then getting around London itself, seems like you can walk mostly but I presume at one point or another ill need the underground. Does that get expensive?

Or, how about one of the open top tour buses? I usually don't like them as i prefer to do things my own way but with such a short time, could this be the best way to see London?

Alternatively I can rent a car for ~£25.
Is it hard to get around in London? Parking?
I do know how to drive on the wrong (left) side of the road.

So, what would you do?

Any tips are appreciated!

Have fun! It was a blast (although very tiring). Pay for the Heathrow Express... its worth the few dollars to save you tons of time. Also, when you're there we used the underground. We bought a pass for the day IIRC (but I'm not 100% sure about that). Otherwise we did a lot of walking and enjoyed the day.

Definitely do not get a car. London is infamous for bad traffic and there is a "city tax" imposed on cars going into the main center of town when you enter.

If you need anything else I can try to be more specific.

[westman812]

Read through the whole thread and lots of info, thanks!
And a blast from the past from Steve2, always entertaining...

I'm going to be in London for half a day, 10:45am-9:35pm and am thinking of doing something similar to LAXtraveler (thanks for your short but informative post!)My question is with regard to transportation.
It seems the Heathrow Express is the fastest way to get into town.
With such little time I'd probably pay the extra dollars.
It costs £32 from LHR-Paddington return.

But then getting around London itself, seems like you can walk mostly but I presume at one point or another ill need the underground. Does that get expensive?

Or, how about one of the open top tour buses? I usually don't like them as i prefer to do things my own way but with such a short time, could this be the best way to see London?

Alternatively I can rent a car for ~£25.
Is it hard to get around in London? Parking?
I do know how to drive on the wrong (left) side of the road.

So, what would you do?

Any tips are appreciated!

Just did this 2 weeks ago...it was a ton of fun. Transportation- we hired a mini cab which was excellent and much cheaper than heathrow express but we did that on a sunday, with a lot less traffic so the trip was quick. If you are going on a weekday, I'd def say use the heathrow express and tube from there. We went on the original double decker tour bus, yellow line, which really gave us a nice overview of the city in just 2.5 hours. Of course you could hop on and off and they give you a whole bunch of extras with the ticket, but we were way to tired to start running around. It can be expensive if going with the family, but everything in London is soo expensive, including Reubens which was very good as well. I'm a New Yorker and drive like one but even i would think twice about driving in London(we almost got hit a few times walking- the drivers are hazardous). But the tour is def the way to go! PM me with any questions!

[LAXtraveler]

Just did this 2 weeks ago...it was a ton of fun. Transportation- we hired a mini cab which was excellent and much cheaper than heathrow express but we did that on a sunday, with a lot less traffic so the trip was quick. If you are going on a weekday, I'd def say use the heathrow express and tube from there. We went on the original double decker tour bus, yellow line, which really gave us a nice overview of the city in just 2.5 hours. Of course you could hop on and off and they give you a whole bunch of extras with the ticket, but we were way to tired to start running around. It can be expensive if going with the family, but everything in London is soo expensive, including Reubens which was very good as well. I'm a New Yorker and drive like one but even i would think twice about driving in London(we almost got hit a few times walking- the drivers are hazardous). But the tour is def the way to go! PM me with any questions!

Interesting you said you liked the tour. I have some family that did a day like we did with the bus and were really upset because it was very expensive and the traffic made it so hard to get from place to place. That is why we used the tube instead. It was cheaper and faster to get to more places. Maybe because it was a Sunday you had a better experience.

[ChAiM'l]

Have fun! It was a blast (although very tiring). Pay for the Heathrow Express... its worth the few dollars to save you tons of time. Also, when you're there we used the underground. We bought a pass for the day IIRC (but I'm not 100% sure about that). Otherwise we did a lot of walking and enjoyed the day.

Definitely do not get a car. London is infamous for bad traffic and there is a "city tax" imposed on cars going into the main center of town when you enter.

If you need anything else I can try to be more specific.

+1. The underground is your best bet, as the congestion charge will add another £10 to your expenses and traffic is pretty heavy in all the tourist areas, plus parking is very difficult to find.

A one-day travelcard will cost you around £8.00, and yo could use it for buses or for the underground. You can find more information here.