Visiting London England, any suggestions?

[abaxas]

You'll tend to find that London itself is quite modern but the further north you get, the older things tend to have survived.

To define modern, I mean in the last 300-400 years

[SeanB]

Further north the less sunlight, so longer winters leading to needing to keep it in storage longer. Thus higher salt levels historically, and this has been carried down through time.

Tonight bacon wrapped mushrooms on the BBQ. Going to try a different variant. Last week the Porchini mushrooms were liked by everybody. I only got one.

[Bored@Work]

Tonight bacon wrapped mushrooms on the BBQ. Going to try a different variant. Last week the Porchini mushrooms were liked by everybody. I only got one.

Don't forget the potato salad :-)

[rolycat]

Avebury is most famous for its ancient stone circles. The main circle is roughly the same age as Stonehenge but much larger - the village is built in and around it and the main road runs right through it.

I was quite disappointed with Stonehenge. It's so massively touristy and roped off, it really spoils the whole thing.
Best part is driving over the hill on the country road, and bam, there it is.

My rating had nothing to do with my 40 hours of not sleeping and driving straight there after hoping off the plane.
I went back a 2nd time and it was just as bad.

They have recently finished a big revamp at Stonehenge, and in some ways it's better. The main road which ran right past it has been closed and grassed over and the original approach to the site has been restored. It's very much a pre-packaged visit, though, complete with a sleek new 'interactive experience centre'.

Avebury is a lot more informal and hands-on - literally. It's an old-fashioned English village which just happens to have a huge Neolithic stone circle running through and around it.

[david77]

Do not go anywhere near the City of London - really awful place

That's not quite true, there are lots of old, historic and interesting curiosities hidden around the Square Mile if you know where to look. It's not all banks and office buildings. The Museum of London on London Wall is a good starting place to get a sense of the area.

True, I've been to the museum and have seen the Wall and the Barbican Centre is also kind of interesting. As for the rest, that's positively meh. Maybe I didn't know where to look.

[electronics man]

when are you comming to london to see us?

When I'm in the mood to spend the 60 hours of travel time to get there and back...
Just turned down a trip to Finland, Estonia, and Latvia.

well wen u do tell us because we want to meet u in the flesh

[electronics man]

Avebury is most famous for its ancient stone circles. The main circle is roughly the same age as Stonehenge but much larger - the village is built in and around it and the main road runs right through it.

I was quite disappointed with Stonehenge. It's so massively touristy and roped off, it really spoils the whole thing.
Best part is driving over the hill on the country road, and bam, there it is.

My rating had nothing to do with my 40 hours of not sleeping and driving straight there after hoping off the plane.
I went back a 2nd time and it was just as bad.

York though is simply awesome, a must for anyone visiting the old dart.

yeah i agree

[nctnico]

Avebury is most famous for its ancient stone circles. The main circle is roughly the same age as Stonehenge but much larger - the village is built in and around it and the main road runs right through it.

I was quite disappointed with Stonehenge. It's so massively touristy and roped off, it really spoils the whole thing.
Best part is driving over the hill on the country road, and bam, there it is.

That sounds much like the tower of Pisa in Italy. I already looked at it using Google streetview and decided it's not worth visiting but my wife insisted we took the detour. Afterwards she admitted I was right though. Let's call that progress 

[EEVblog]

That sounds much like the tower of Pisa in Italy.

I liked the town of Pisa actually. But yeah, the tower is just a tower that leans, with a thousand tourists at the base.

[artag]

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. Nobody wants to together to bend an elbow somewhere?

Sure, come to the Hackspace as someone else suggested. Tuesday nights are open but if you can't make that I might be able to show you around it another night. And there are plenty of decent pubs, even if the electronics shops, sadly, are gone.

There is still Cricklewood Electronics, but it doesn't have the amazing scrap piles of the older places.
 

[electronics man]

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions. Nobody wants to together to bend an elbow somewhere?

Sure, come to the Hackspace as someone else suggested. Tuesday nights are open but if you can't make that I might be able to show you around it another night. And there are plenty of decent pubs, even if the electronics shops, sadly, are gone.

There is still Cricklewood Electronics, but it doesn't have the amazing scrap piles of the older places.
 

i was thinking of joining that hacker space

[bwat]

Hardly anyone eats traditional English food because it is incredibly bland and unappealing. It's mostly pretty unhealthy too.

Utter tosh!

Scottish food is just grim. Haggis and deep fried Mars bar.

I don't think you've ever tasted the chieftain o the puddin' race.

[Lightages]

Are you only going to London for the two weeks.
So much to see in England, would be a shame to spend all two weeks in London?

Actually I will only be there for one week. That is why I am trying to find things to do without a lot of travel. I saw many places in England the last time I was there but that was a long time ago.

[bwat]

Actually I will only be there for one week. That is why I am trying to find things to do without a lot of travel.

You're Canadian. Nowhere in the UK is "a lot of travel" from London.

Edit: I mean there's a huge difference in scale between the two countries, not that the quality of Canadianness means I have to spell things out for you.   

[Lightages]

No all English food is crap. Unfortunately most of it now is off my list to eat. I am a Pescatarian (Vegetarian who will eat fish and seafood), and also now have found out I have allergies to tomato and a lactose intolerance.

I will see if I can drop by the maker shop mentioned. I will be able to firm up times and days to meet people next month. One other thing...

If I bring my cell phone, can I pick up a pay as you go sim card easily, and with data? What cost?

[Lightages]

Actually I will only be there for one week. That is why I am trying to find things to do without a lot of travel.

You're Canadian. Nowhere in the UK is "a lot of travel" from London.

Hmm you may be right.    Let's just say I want to not spend my time doing touristy things.

[mikeselectricstuff]

I saw many places in England the last time I was there but that was a long time ago.

No all English food is crap.

You may find things have changed somewhat since your last visit.
In London especially, there is probably a wider variety of food than anywhere else in the world, mostly because there are people from most parts of the world living here.

[IanB]

If I bring my cell phone, can I pick up a pay as you go sim card easily, and with data? What cost?

If I remember correctly, last time I arrived at Heathrow there were shops and kiosks and vending machines advertising pre-paid sim cards. However, you will get the "tourist deal" if you buy at the airport (i.e. a rip-off).

Best thing is to get into town and go to a regular cell phone shop, or just find a newsagent selling pay as you go and top-up services (most of them do this). Most of the network providers have their own shops in busy retail areas and they will give you the best deal.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/u-k-ireland/1256425-buying-sim-card-heathrow.html

[mtdoc]

I have to say - if you have any interest in human history- the British Museum is not to be missed.  500 years of empire allowed them to pilfer collect an amazing variety of artifacts from all of the major civilizations. 

Years ago I spent 8 months traveling around Great Britain and Europe and of all the many museum's I visited, the British museum was a stand out.

[Lightages]

I saw many places in England the last time I was there but that was a long time ago.

No all English food is crap.

You may find things have changed somewhat since your last visit.
In London especially, there is probably a wider variety of food than anywhere else in the world, mostly because there are people from most parts of the world living here.

I am sure things have changed quite a bit. The things that I did see last time have not. The Abbey, Cathedrals, Crypts and tombs....


Actually I am looking forward to eating some good Indian food again. They have lots of veggie dishes. I am also looking forward to a good plate of fish and chips with some strong malt vinegar.

To the others who have responded in regards to phone cards, thanks for the heads up.

As far as not finding any technology in England worth dragging back with me, well the prices and availability here are ridiculous. For example they sell notebook computers here with last years technology at twice the price for the latest. So it may be worth my while to nose around a bit.

[Monkeh]

If you really want to try it I recommend starting with a Cornish pasty.

I can't disagree with that.. but you need to get a real one. Which means coming to Cornwall.

Lovely place we have down here, but there's not much interesting going on.

Scottish food is just grim. Haggis and deep fried Mars bar.

Haggis is fabulous. The deep-fried Mars bar is a modern and terrifying creation.

As far as not finding any technology in England worth dragging back with me, well the prices and availability here are ridiculous. For example they sell notebook computers here with last years technology at twice the price for the latest. So it may be worth my while to nose around a bit.

I wouldn't bank on it. Pretty much everything here has the price hiked by 5-10%.. before you add the 20% VAT. Interesting stuff is regularly 200% more expensive than the US. Coming to the UK to shop for electronics is like going to China for clean air.

[mikeselectricstuff]

Actually I am looking forward to eating some good Indian food again. They have lots of veggie dishes.

For awesome veggie Indian, head for Drummond St, near Euston station - Diwanas or Ravi Shankars
I'm far from being a vegetarian but this is one place I don't miss the meat!
 

[mikeselectricstuff]

If you really want to try it I recommend starting with a Cornish pasty.

I can't disagree with that.. but you need to get a real one. Which means coming to Cornwall.

Lovely place we have down here, but there's not much interesting going on.

Well there is this http://www.porthcurno.org.uk/

[nctnico]

BTW the English food isn't as bad as they say it is. You can get a decent meal in a pub for a decent price.

you really want to try it I recommend starting with a Cornish pasty.

According to the description on Wikipedia that doesn't seem bad to me. I'm not really into salty or overspiced food anyway.

Time for a funny story: In my early twenties I visited London with a friend of mine. Being both picky with food we stuck to what we knew: McDonalds for lunch and dinner for 9 days. I have not eaten any (regular) burger from McDonalds ever since 

[IanB]

Foods imported from Britain that I enjoy in America:

• Tea (English tea blends are vastly better than what is available in America)
• Biscuits (dark chocolate HobNobs, Rich Tea, all butter shortbread)
• Pickled onions (believe it or not, pickled onions are not found in America)
• Marmite
• Butter (American butter is oh so bland and tasteless)
• Real cheddar cheese (West Country, Welsh, Irish, ...)

Some of them will be hard to get through customs as a personal import, but definitely put some dark chocolate HobNobs in your suitcase if you have any taste for crunchy, oaty, chocolatey snacks whatsoever...