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Wotcha. Can any of you knowledgable about London types help me out, please? I want to plan a weekend away (or maybe a mid week break or something, if that looks as though it will be easier) for my family in London, after Christmas but during a school holiday.
I already have a vague and limited idea on where to go/what to do. Basically, my son wants to go to the British Museum and my daughter wants to go to Top Shop on Oxford Street. As I don't particularly want to spend any more time on the tube than is strictly necessary, I'm thinking along the lines of finding a hotel somewhere around Bloomsbury, as both the British Museum and Top Shop will be within walking distance.
So, what I'm now thinking over and would like some help with is this:
Are there any good (but not expensive) hotels in Bloomsbury that cater for familes?
Are there any decent places to eat in that area that, again, cater for families?
Should I be more daring and visit places of interest further afield?
If so, where would you recommend?
Any top tips would be gratefully received.
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H1ppychick
We all prisoners, chickee-baby. We all locked in.
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(sindy: ben needs you on the other thread)
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Sidney, why not check out Time Out? The website isn't as good as getting an issue specifically relevant to your situation (ie. 'entertaining kids') but it'll give you some ideas - the city guide book might be worth getting hold of too; there should be a 'with kids' chapter.
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I'd drop in a trip to Greenwich if you feel up to it. It's not mind blowingly amazing or anything, but it is very pretty, has an okay Maritime museum which is free and has a great ship-bridge simulator - you have to get on tubes, but it'll be all the Docklands Light Railway lines, which are great, plus that area is no doubt going to be destroyed by Olympic crap in the coming years.
As for cheap places to eat - what kind of food you after. Gaby's by Leicester Square tube station is good, if a bit of a walk from where you'll be (though not that bad if near the Brit Museum) great falafals and decent salads.
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I would also heartily endorse the falafel at Gaby's.
The Eye? Other Museums or Art Galleries?
If it was the weekend, what about Borough Market just out of London Bridge? Loads of great food things to buy and eat on the move (Brindisa's Chorizo and rocket rolls are gurgle). Then it's a short walk down past The Globe to Tate Modern.
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Oh, Greenwich! I love Greenwich - that's an excellent idea, Benny. I'll definitely add that to the list.
Thanks for the tip, Ben - I didn't think to check Time Out, so will do that now.
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posted
Hi Sidney, I think there a few small hotels in Bloomsbury, which is fairly residential apart from the Museum.
Just a word of caution re Topshop and Oxford Street in general at weekends- absolute carnage, especially in Sales season. Not that you shouldn't take your daughter- just be prepared for crowds and half the clothes being on the floor.
I always plug South Ken- 3 of the world's finest museums (all free), lots of international restaurants, and Harrods and Hyde Park just round the corner. You could always laugh at Yank tourists shedding a tear at the Diana Memorial Gutter (fountain).
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Thanks, Vogon - I've toying with a half term weekdays visit, as I don't think I could tolerate TopShop on a Saturday. I'm kind of planning for it to be the first thing we do on day two, i.e. when the store opens and hopefully before it becomes too mobbed. I've stayed at a hotel in Bloomsbury before but it was 'very basic', shall we say (I didn't dare use the cupboard that masqueraded as a bathroom, as I reckoned I'd be cleaner for not showering in there) and I wasn't sure if there was much else available in that area.
I think I'[ll give South Kensington a go on the afternoon of day two, so at least my son gets to go somewhere he'll find exciting (he's already fit to burst with excitement at the prospect of going to the British Musuem).
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Sidney both Keef and I have stayed in this place before, although it's been a few years. Very nice from what I recall and they appear to have a few different special offers for the new year, discounted B&B rates and the like, might be worth a look.
I'd add my vote to the backing for Gaby's as well, fantastic falafel and houmus, and they do these little 'chocolate crunch' cake things which are also drool-worthy.
If you're round that way though you've also got the fantastic (and BM endorsed) Bodeans nearby for all your grilled meat needs, Chiquito's mexican restaurant in Leicester Square is pretty good too and very family friendly.
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quote:Originally posted by Bandy: The Imperial War Museum is fucking brilliant. Fact.
I've been here! It is excellent. The V&A was also nice. The Eye is cool for getting a perspective on how sprawling London is (and how many cranes there seemed to be). I forget which park we went to...Ringers, do you remember? I think it was Hyde Park, (lots of mansions on the outside?)...
Ate in a good Iranian restaurant with Ko, Imogen, Omikin and Bel, but I'm not sure of the name. Food was good. Also ate in a chinese place that was good...might've been China China. Crispy duck pancakes were excellent.
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quote:Originally posted by Bandy: The Imperial War Museum is fucking brilliant. Fact.
I tell you what is good and that's the RAF museum. Free entry, loads of space, millions of cool planes you can get really close to, and best of all a genuine Sunderland Flying Boat which you can walk around inside. If I was in the War I would have volunteered for flying boats I reckon. They'd probably have said no, but no harm in asking is there.
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quote:Originally posted by Bandy: The Imperial War Museum is fucking brilliant. Fact.
Absolutely! I spent hours in there a few years ago - I had been as a kid but really appreciated it more as an adult. The most amazing exhibit for me was seeing the actual fag packet that John Nichol had used to record his moods whilst in captivity in Iraq - I had only just read Tornado Down a few months before, adn was very moved by it, and just seeing this simple thing made it worthwhile. I may even re-visit when I am over at the end of the month.
quote:Originally posted by dang65: I tell you what is good and that's the RAF museum.
It's a bit of a schlep out of town but, yes, it is good. For boys. If you do go all the way out to Colindale the other attractions are the British Library's newspaper collection (Mmmmm... nice) and the police training college, where you can stand outside the chainlink fence and watch thin-necked bullying-victims being transformed into mindless, racist thugs. If eating in Colindale make your way to Oriental City (ask a local), it's a colossal collection of supermarkets, shops and arcades under one roof. They have a food court that has a bewildering array of oriental foods on offer. All of which look superb and all of those I've tried (Sri Lankan, Vietnamese, Szechuan) were superb. The arcade is worth a visit, too. They have a few unusual video games that you're unlikely to see outside of Hong Kong/Tokyo.
quote:Originally posted by Sidney: Oh, Greenwich! I love Greenwich - that's an excellent idea, Benny.
If you are going to Greenwich on the DLR, go from Tower Hill (more about Tower Hill, later...) and make sure you're right at the far end of the platform. That way the kids can sit right at the front of the driverless train. Coolness. There's an ancient pie & mash shop right by the tube station, good place for lunch. Don't take the kids anywhere near the gift shop at the otherwise excellent Maritime museum, it's the biggest stitch up in London. And that's saying something. Go into the college grounds and check out the King's Chapel, stunning. The Queen's House is worth a look and do walk up to the observatory for a brilliant view of Lahndahn. On your way home go through the foot tunnel under the Thames and from the other bank take a look at the impeccable symmetry of the Queen's house and the old palace buildings. That view, from Island Gardens, is one of the best in London. You can get the DLR from the Island Gardens station just across the road from the gardens.
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Ooh. Around the corner from the British Museum is the far superior Cartoon Museum that has a collection of fine British cartoons and comic books stretching from Hogarth to Tharg. Phone in advance to plan your trip as they often have activity days and cartooning/comic-art masterclasses for kids.
quote:Originally posted by dang65: I tell you what is good and that's the RAF museum. Free entry, loads of space, millions of cool planes you can get really close to, and best of all a genuine Sunderland Flying Boat which you can walk around inside. If I was in the War I would have volunteered for flying boats I reckon. They'd probably have said no, but no harm in asking is there.
Ooh Hendon - now I haven't been there since I was a kid - I may go and check that out. I remember the Sunderland - bloody huge monster - they had a little Westland Lysander parked next to it which gave an immense idea of the size of the thing.
Actually Dang, my colleague from the RBL was an air gunner on Flying Boats in WWII, but he was on Catalina's.
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No idea. He was a miserbale bastard. I tended to avoid him. All I know is that he was the poor bastard that had to drag dead bodies out and mop up the gore.
[ 10.11.2006, 05:39: Message edited by: Jimmy Big Nuts ]
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These are all excellent suggestions - thank you so much. That Cartoon Museum is going to be a surefire winner, I think. Man alive, we're probably going to have to come down for a week at this rate.
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There are some wicked cool slides at the Tate Modern at the moment (and there till April, I believe) which the kids will love. And they are free.
If you're there mid week then you shouldn't have to queue up for too long either. bear in mind you have to book a time slot, though.
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I went on one of them. Unfortunately it was only from the ground floor to the basement (or Level 2 to Level 1 as they confusingly label their floors in an arty sort of way). All the proper big slides were completely booked up and we had to queue for about an hour for the small slides, but we couldn't go all that way and not go on one at all so we queued. Anyway, even that little slide was scary enough.
[That was in the style of a very dull person with absolutely nothing interesting to say at all. I won't name names. That's the quickest way to make everyone paranoid, including myself.]
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Only the Tate Modern has the punching power to offer a series of slides with truly great production values and while they are diverting they suffer somewhat from their first-of-the-trilogy status, being pretty much all set-up and no resolution. The approach to the slides is reasonably entertaining, and very pretty in a Cyndi Lauper video/Pirates-of-the-Caribbean-on-fast-forward sort of a way. However whilst it's constant spatial pyrotechnics may convincingly convey the sensory overload of being airborn they don't really have any space between them for the audience to come down and gather themselves from the last set-piece. What lulls in the chaos there are, are too brief at best. I did like the way the biggest slide plays with the concept of loss and redemption, particularly in the context of the times of it's production and the final two loops are completely valid. As flawed as they may be, particularly from today's perspective, I'm still a fan of the sleazily pessimistic atmosphere that really affected me with these slides - although perhaps that's because I was quite young when I went on a slide for the first time. For such a self-referential attraction it's extremely restrained and about as far from up its own up it's own arse as possible. In all these senses the comparisons to an almost Lynchian darkness and a pre-steam-punk aesthetic are valid.
All in all, Jonesy, I really enjoyed these slides and if you could recommend something else as remotely fun that'd be great fella.
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Hey Sidney - Scrawny here. Not sure when you're coming down but this starts in a couple of weeks, and should be quite near you.
Should be great for the kids, as it's free and all about playing in light and sound and stuff. Of course, it might be shit, as it also features a contribution from the loser responsible for this. United Visual Artists are normally fairly reliable though. Hope this is the sort of thing you were looking for xxx
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Thanks again, everyone! Excellent suggestions from everyone - now I've just got to organise a trip with military precision to make sure we fit it all in. I will be sure to post a picture of my childers doing a Gary style 'thumbs up' afterwards.
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