London on a Bad Exchange Rate

London is one of those cities where you could literally spend a couple of days walking around just trying to see all the monuments in person that you've seen broadcasted on tv screens and in movies for your whole life. This turned out to be a good thing given that doing anything in London these days in astronomically expensive. If we hadn't been able to devote the majority of our time in the city to walking around sightseeing (for free) we would have either wound up very broke or very bored.

Quick Tips:

Be prepared to spend a lot of money while you are in London. Everything is expensive down to basic needs/services and public transportation. If you are travelling on a budget I would recommend spending no more then a few days here tops. A lot of what the city has to offer can only be experienced if you are willing and able to drop some serious cash. I am glad I saw all the sights but this is a city that I don't plan on returning to until I am older and do not need to worry so much about what I spend.

You can easily spend a whole day or more just walking up and down the bank of the Thames in the heart of town. A large marjority of top tourist attractions line the riverbank. London grew up along the Thames and as a result much of the historic core of the city borders the banks. Be sure to stop by the river at night as well and walk out onto one of the bridges in order to get a great view of the city lights.

Food in London is extremely expensive (surprise) and most restaurants close relatively early, actual surprise. London was the first place we arrived in Europe and it was our understanding that people in Europe generally ate dinner later...needless to say that the first night we tried to go eat around 11PM and nothing was open. We ended up spending our first dinner at a grocery store stocking up on string cheese and deli meats. One problem I had in London was ever getting full. Being used to American portions and prices I was pretty much constantly shocked having to pay around (7 pounds) for a small square sandwich and a tiny portion of salad. Portions in general in London are very small. That combined with the fact of walking around all day seemed to leave me constantly starving but unwilling to eat three portions of food just to get full.

Best Way To Get Around:

Surprisingly we found that because public transportation costs could be so high it was actually often cheaper to take a cab when we were splitting it between the three of us. It cost us each over to take public transportation from Heathrow into the city. We had to take a transport from the airport to a commuter train and then to the tube. We were later told that we could have taken a flat rate cab from the airport for . The tube is very expensive to buy individual tickets. It is really only worth it for people using it daily or enough times to buy like a 10 pack of tickets. To ride it once cost us each about or but being there only a few days it did not make any sort of sense to buy a more expensive pass. On the flipside, had we taken a cab from our hostel to where we were going cost about to and took way less time so after one ride on the tube we essentially discovered that walking or taxis were the way to go.

The other trick about London as that because the city is so old the streets go off in all directions and finding things can be quite confusing. We were staying at one of the two main hostels in town and not ONCE did a taxi ever drop us off in the right place. Finding the place at night was always a huge hassle so I would recommend trying to stay in a hostel that is directly proximate to a well known monument or intersection.

The Generator is a fairly decent place as far as hostels go. As far as I know it is one of the two largest hostels in London along with Piccadilly Backpackers over by Piccadilly Square. There are over 800 beds located on multiple floors and they have all different accomodation configurations. Like most hostels they have your typical shared rooms available but also offer a selection of private singles, doubles, triples and so on. We got a private triple room just for the peace of mind it provides with the added security for 75 pounds per night which essentially ended up being approximately $50-55 USD per night per person. Considering how pricey London is, this was not a bad deal at all. The room is simple and actually had two sets of bunk beds in it so we had an extra bed on which to store a bunch of our stuff. The room also had a private sink which was a nice added bonus.

The hostel itself is located on Tavistock Place proximate to the King's Cross/St. Pancras Tube station which is one of the main transportation hubs in the city. It is also close the the Russell Square stop on the blue line which goes all the way to Heathrow Airport. We were unaware of this when we arrived and it would have saved us a lot of hassle. Despite being such a large hostel the place was VERY difficult to find. Tavistock Place is not a well known street and hard to find on most maps. In addition, to get to the hostel off Tavistock you have to walk under a small brick tunnel that goes off the side of the street. Once you get through the tunnel you will be in a small courtyard and see the staircase into the hostel off to your right. I don't know if it's because most people staying in hostels don't usually take cabs or what the deal was but no cab throughout our whole stay ever dropped us off in the right spot or knew where the place was when we were trying to get home. We got completely lost at least three or four times. Considering it is such a large hostel you'd think cab drivers would know where it is but none of them did, nor could any of them find Tavistock Place. Often they would dump us out at Tavistock Square which is sort of nearby but very hard to locate the hostel from at night if you don't have a map (or even if you do). The cabs would literlly drop us off like three or four blocks away and it would be SO HARD to find little Tavistock Place. We even had a crew of firemen pull out a detailed map from their truck and they couldn't find it. (Good thing there was no emergency at the hostel because even the ambulance driver couldn't find the damn street even though we were only four blocks away)

The hostel itself has a fair number of amenities. Bathrooms on each floor are communal but you are allowed unlimited hot water and they were never crowded despite the place being so large. There is a 24 hour internet cafe downstairs that is reasonably priced. There is a restaurant that serves meals (we never ate there as we preferred to get out and experience the city) and a bar that has game and theme nights most days of the week. Although the drinks in the bar are probably some of the cheapest in town we never set foot in the place becuase the whole room was blanketed in a choking clowd of cigarette smoke. The internet cafe was very smoky too. There is also a little store that sells toiletries and other essentials. If you want a pretty good, reasonably priced sandwich go right on Tavistock Place and take your first left. It will be on your right a few doors down opposite a small bookstore. Good paninis.

This place has no frills but considering hotel rooms in London start at about $300 a night this was a pretty good deal.

Absolut Ice Bar was one of the highlights of our time in London. We didn't do too many activities in the city because everything is so expensive so we tried to pick and choose things that seemed really interesting to spend our money on. This was one of them and it was very worth the price. Admission to the Ice Bar is 15 pounds which is approximately $30 USD. You definately need to make reservations for this place and you can do so by either calling or going onto their website and reserving a spot through opentable.com. If you know in advance of your trip when you are going to be in London I would recommend reserving a time before you go as they only let so many people in and time slots fill up fast.

The Ice Bar is located on Heddon Street. It is a little tricky to find but if you pay attention to the street signs you'll be fine. From Piccadilly Circus just head up Regent Street. After about a 10 minute walk you will see Heddon Street on your left. The street makes an L shape and parallels Savile Row. The only reason it is difficult to find is that Heddon is a fairly narrow and small street and easy to miss if you are taking in the sights of Regent Street. (This is also the shopping hub of the city if you are looking for clothes give yourself some extra time here) Y

ou should show up about 15 minutes or so before your reservation time. They will check you in give you a polar cloak and hood to wear inside the bar (this is included in the price). At your designated time they will let your group inside the bar. Everything on the interior is made or carved out of solid blocks of ice and designed by the people who create the Ice Hotel every year. Every three months or so they let the place completely melt down and start over with an entirely different design scheme so if you go two years in a row it will never look the same. When you get inside go up to the bar and they will give you a freshly made glass made entirely of ice. There is a menu (also made of ice) and you get to pick from a list of 16 or so cocktails featuring different kinds of Absolut vodka. Your first drink is included in the price and then each additional drink is around 6 pounds which is cheaper then most places in the city.

Your reservation will get you about 40 minutes inside which doesn't seem like a very long time but it really is VERY cold inside and after 40 minutes you will honestly be ready to leave. It is definately worth the money just to see this place and have a couple of drinks. Don't forget your camera...the inside of the bar is definately something you will want to take pictures of. If you are willing to throw down some serious money there is a very nice restaurant attached to the bar that you can have dinner at either before or after your reservation called Wolf Lounge.

Nearly all of the main attractions and historic sights of London are concentrated on or immediately surrounding the Thames River. Hundreds of years ago this waterway was the lifeline for the city and as a result is home the London's central core. If you are visiting in the summer months there will literally be hordes of tourists everywhere...we're talking thousands and thousands. You will probably see more American and Japanese tourists along the riverfront than Londoners. The crowds are immense.

Although slightly removed from the River Buckingham Palace is probably the most popular sight in the city and a convenient place to start the walk. Hang out is the large square for a while and take some pictures in front of the famous gates. Don't forget to check out the huge fountain in the center of the plaza. Most of the time there is not a whole lot of activity actually going on at Buckingham Palace but it is still interesting to look through the gates and just experience the sheer size of the structure in person. From Buckingham Palace head down The Mall to Trafalgar Square, a large open Plaza home to Nelson's Column and adjacent to The National Gallery. Trafalgar Square is a good place to cut down to the Riverbank. Northumberland Street will take you straight to the River from the Square.

The walk along the River is a really great way to get a feel for London. There is a pedestrian path that goes most of the way along the waterfront although when we were there there were a few points of construction where you had to take a slight detour inland away from the water and then cut back down again but everything is easy to navigate. When you get to a street on your left called St. Peter's Hill follow it up and it will take you straight to St. Paul's Cathedral. The cathedral is huge and definately worth taking a quick look inside. Walk around to the back side of the cathedral as well as the architecture is quite impressive all the way around. After seeing the cathedral head back down to the River and keep walking along the bank. After another 15 minutes or so you will approach the original Tower of London which has been preserved as best as possible. It's impossible to miss as the stone buildings and open fields are in stark contrast to all of the modern urban development in the surrounding area. There is a pedestrian plaza off to the side of the monument and the usual vendors selling ice cream, drinks and light snacks for tourists. This is a good spot to grab a quick drink before heading to the Tower Bridge and crossing over to the other side of the River.

Directly past the Tower of London is the Tower Bridge, one of the most iconic structures in London. This is an ideal place to cross the River and start walking back the way you came along the south bank. The bridge is open to traffic but has quite a wide pedestrian walkway. It also provides a great backdrop for pictures.

The whole walk is about 3 miles and will probably take about 3 hours or so when factoring in all the stops and sightseeing opportunities. About the same amount of time should be allocated for the return walk down the other side of the River.

This is the second half of the walk to see many of London's historic sights along the Thames River. I split it into two halves as the entire walk (about 6 or 7 miles) will take the solid majority of an entire day and may be too long with families with small children or those not in great physical shape. I am in my early twenties and was exhausted by the end having gone all the way up the north bank on one side and then down the south bank in the other direction all in one afternoon.

Continuing from where my previous review "North Bank of the Thames" left off you will be starting your walk at the Tower Bridge. If you already did the first half of the walk this is a good point at which to stop and grab some lunch and a beer in one of the nearby cafes. There are some cheap sit down places in this area where you can get a sandwich or a burger.

There are a lot of interesting boats to look at docked along the River in this area, both naval ships and very old wooden ships...some of which are open as tourist attractions for a couple of dollars (of course). If you keep heading along the bank you will hit the Tate Modern. We were strapped for time and didn't have a chance to visit but I have a number of friends who studied abroad in London that all said it was an amazing museum. We wanted to go but just didn't have the time if we wanted to see all the main sights.

There are some lesser known attractions on this side of the Thames that are worth taking a quick look at. Look out for signs or consult a tourist map or you'll probably miss them. The first is Shakespeares Globe Theater. Again we did not go inside becuase it was something like 7 pounds (15 dollars) just to take a tour but we peeked in and walked around the outside a bit. Apparently it is the theater where Shakespeare actually had many of his plays performed while he was still alive. They still have plays there I believe on an almost daily basis with different performances depending on the year and season so just go to their website in advance if you feel like checking out a show. The other interesting place we found was the Clink Prison. It's below street level and one of the most reasonably priced (albeit least famous) attractions we passed so we decided to check it out. It's not too exciting but it was interesting. It consists of a bunch of rooms containing artifacts and torturing devices from Britain's early days. The devices range from cruel to almost humerous. Don't miss the "Scold's bridle" - a wood and metal binding they used to strap to the heads of gossiping women so they couldn't speak. haha.

If you keep wandering down the riverbank you will arrive at the London Eye. The London Eye is the giant ferris wheel opposite Big Ben and the Parliament buildings. We really wanted to ride it but it cost 15 pounds per person (about $34) and there was no way we felt that worth it so maybe next time...

After you pass the London Eye cross the Westminster Bridge. While crossing the bridge you will have an excellent view of Big Ben and Parliament from the River. Snap some pictures and then walk around the backside of the parliament buildings. The intricacy of the architecture on these buildings is very impressive in person...you can't quite pick everything up just seeing them on tv and in movies. Directly across from the Parliament buidings is Westminster Abbey where most of the royal family weddings are held. The abbey is enormous and getting the whole thing in one photo is nearly impossible.

At this point you will have seen most of London's most iconic monuments. Get a cold beer and go relax somewhere before dinner...if you do the whole walk in one day you will probably be pretty wiped out.