- London
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United Kingdom
The 11 route takes commuters through the tourist heartland every 10 minutes or so. The route takes in Ludgate Hill, St Pauls, Bank of England, Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Victoria Street, the Strand and much more. The cost is 90 pence (with an Oystercard) so is far better value than the tour companies.
The 11 route runs between Liverpool street Street and Victoria Station. You can get hop on from the Strand, Trafalgar Square, Whitehall, Parliament Square and Ludgate Hill.
A bustling cafe in Soho. The best coffee in London (even better than Monmouth), plus superb snacks. Friendly antipodean staff.
17 Berwick Street, Soho. www.flat-white.co.uk
Great specialist market, with fresh flowers and plants... it feels like a pop-up garden centre in the street. Check out the shops behind, a little oasis. Treacle makes the best cup cakes in the world - fact!
Old Street Tube and a 10 minute walk
At a time when so many hotels no longer include breakfast, St. Martins in the Fields is truly a bargain. This church is slap bang in the centre right beside Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery. The cafe hidden in the crypt does a full English breakfast with tea/coffee for a mere £6.50. A bargain!
Right in the middle of Chelsea is a wonderful secret garden. Founded in 1673 by the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries, it continues to research the properties, origins and conservation of more than 5000 plant species. But the nicest thing is just to sit there with a book on a sunny day. The cafe also sells some gorgeous food, especially the salads and the cakes.
Note that it isn’t open every day, and it does cost to get in. Details on the website.
You can quite often get two-for-one entry offers from rail companies, e.g. www.southeasterndaysout.co.uk/Attractions.aspx?County=London&TOCID=8
www.chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk/
You can quite often get two-for-one entry offers from rail companies, e.g. www.southeasterndaysout.co.uk/Attractions.aspx?County=London&TOCID=8
If you travel on a budget, like I do, finding a place to eat in London can be a nightmare. That's why I recommend you take the tube to the nearest Ikea and dine in its restaurant.
Meals start at an amazing price of 1 pound and the prices almost never rise above 5 pounds! Breakfast starts at 95p (Sausage, bacon, scrambled egg, hash brown, beans, and tomato). Swedish meat balls start at 3.25 pounds, you can refill your drinks and coffee for free, they have special meals for kids etc.
One might forget about an option like this but Ikea restaurants are always a good place to eat when travelling on a budget.
Easy Hotels are my favorite way of staying in London - cheap but spotless. You can choose between a variety of rooms (small with no window, small with window, large with no window and large with a window), all of which have a private bathroom. Rooms start at 25 pounds per room per night and the hotels are centrally located, near underground stations.
If you like your meals healthy and are on a tight budget, Greens and Beans is the place for you. This small but friendly place offers fresh organic vegetarian meals at great prices!
A low-key bar in a basement behind an unmarked door, Lounge Bohemia manages to avoid the Hoxton Saturday night invasion and remain a calm and laid back place to drop in for a cocktail, a chat and complimentary canapes. Strictly retro decor, very friendly and beautuful staff, the place is absolutely tiny and perfect to impress a date and tuck them away in a cosy corner.
Delicious cocktails start at £5 and it's easy to lose track of time and work your way through the whole menu. Tea For Two (£10) comes served in a chunky pattered teapot with matching cups and saucers and - be warned - a generous amount of alcohol. The perfect way to start an evening, or begin the end of an evening, depending on how well your date went...
1e Great Eastern Street
London
EC2 3EJ
07720 707 000
www.loungebohemia.com
Old Street tube
Liverpool Street tube
Churchills has got to be the best value Thai kitchen in London, delicious menu at £6 a main, in a great traditional pub that is regularly voted the Capital's best.
Walk it off down nearby Portobello market then head to the funkiest, friendliest little space at NHAC - groovy Brasilian beats (after-carnival was great) in a really creative environment - top Saturday in Notting Hill!
Tube to Notting Hill Gate, NHAC directly opposite (go early) and Churchills on Kensington Church St, adjacent.
This is a great Mediterranean restaurant that is right beside Finchley Central tube. It does a great two-course deal for lunch (£7) and just £2 more for dinner. Great value with options for fish (tuna steak, salmon, seafood pasta), meat (eg lamb shank, spicy minced lamb) and veg (eg moussaka). It's run by Turkish people but there is more variety than your normal one. Wine isn't fantastic but beer is Efes.
There isn't a huge number of options in this area of Ballards Lane but this is definitely the best value (and actually the best food) around there.
Battasy, 26 Ballards Lane, London N3 2BJ, England
It's a pub/restaurant - the food is amazing, big servings of lush fresh food, and the pizzas will rock your world!
West Norwood
I'm definitely more of an urban type and enjoy a regular matinee screening at the Barbican cinema followed by noodles in Smithfield.
Sometimes though, I enjoy a trip to Harrow-on-the-Hill, especially in the autumn.
My partner, who lives there, gave me a guided tour one weekend. We strolled upwards about 10 minutes from the tube (Metropolitan Line), past the famous Harrow school, to St Mary's Church on Church Hill. The atmospheric churchyard is where Lord Byron sought inspiration. We cut down a dark passage through the trees leading from the gravestones into an open area which had amazing views across London.
Another short walk back to the church and down the High Street and we were at The Castle Inn pub. We had lunch on the lovely garden terrace, where some windfall apples had fallen on the ground around our feet.
Castle Inn pub on 30 West Street (020 8422 3155)
This is a great gastropub for a number of reasons. Decor-wise it's like any other gastropub with wooden tables and chairs and a general unpretentious feel to it, yet it offers imaginative food at a decent price. Starters range from seared chicken livers, roast onion and black pudding (£5) to oysters (£6) and mains are also varied, my favourite being the salt marsh lamb with curly kale, minted chick pea and cauliflower puree (£15.95).
The kitchen is at one end of the room creating a warm and engaging atmosphere, and the service is unobtrusive. By far the best on the menu is the death by chocolate pudding - perhaps shared between two to avoid the death bit. Highly recommended, especially if you happen to be in the Ealing/Chiswick area.
222 South Ealing Road, W5 4RL
www.ealingparktavern.com
020 8758 1879
Nearest tube South Ealing
Stay in this wonderful three-storey home of a Huguenot weaver in a quiet street between Brick Lane and Spitalfields market. Furnished in a comfortable, practical way the true character of the home is retained... wonkey staircase, oak panelling and solid ancient floors. The absence of a TV inspires sketches and great tips in best handwriting on the vellum pages of the green linen bound logbook. Learn about who lived there over the years and sit out under the raspberry pink camellia in the garden with a glass of wine and a plate of cheese from the nearby deli.
After a quiet night's rest in heavenly beds stroll through the Sunday market for a feast of food from stallholders across the world. Cross over to Spitalfields market for the up-and-coming designers or find a sweet vintage brooch or bag. Five minutes to the Caledonian flower market for an armful of fragrant blooms.
Brick Lane is great for a cheap curry... have a takeaway in the garden!
Come at Christmas and watch the neighbours peel back their shutters to outdo each other in Christmas decorations. Better than a hotel any day!
Princelet St Spitalfields
www.landmarktrust.co.uk
PJs is a restaurant in Covent Garden. The food is always outstanding and the crowd of theatre patrons and West End/Theatreland insiders makes the people-watching and eavesdropping great. The staff of the restaurant is always kind, charming and attentive. A big plus is that it is also within a five minute walk of about half a dozen theatres. PJs also has late night jazz live music on weekends.
PJ's is at 30 Wellington Street WC2E, Covent Garden is the nearest station.
The community narrowboat called Angel II takes either community groups or private groups on tours of the canal. You can sleep up to twelve but it's nicer with less. It's based in Angel, near the tube. The skipper will take you either west through the Islington tunnel up to Camden and through London Zoo and Little Venice, or east to Broadway Market, Victoria Park, The Palm Tree pub in Bow and so on. You can turn up the Hertford Canal and go up to Hackney Marshes too.
There is a great wealth of history in terms of the industrial revolution and the various types of architecture but also the canal provides a welcome corridor of nature right through the centre of London. At 2mph it's an easy pace and you will learn how to do the locks and steer the boat. You can do an evening, a day or a week. It's self-catering.
Along the way is the London Canal Museum and various lovely old pubs. The Islington tunnel is 886 metres long - it's very impressive. Bring a nice bottle of wine and cruise through some of London's finest history. It's so peaceful.
www.acct.org.uk/
just off Graham Street N1, by the City Road Basin, it's just down from Angel Tube.
A great backstreet pub, with fantastic food and lovely staff. Has a brilliant circular bar to sit around, drink, eat and chat. Just around the corner from The Hoxton Urban Lodge too.
28 Paul Street, Shoreditch, EC2A 4LB
www.thefoxpublichouse.co.uk/contact_us.php
Set in the former Sierra Leone embassy (think shabby chic, imagine the history of this august building), every week tangueros turn up to roll back the rugs, exposing the wooden floors, and dance the night away.
There's a 1.5-2 hour beginners' class at 6:30pm, followed by a social dancing milonga until 11:30pm. The whole lot costs just £10 and there are snacks and drinks.
Great for a romantic evening, learning a new skill, meeting a diverse set of people with something in common, and exploring a new part of London. Who could ask for more?!
33 Portland Place; nearest Tube Great Portland Street or Warren Street.
They serve the best fish and chips in London. The beer is always served cold. Plus, it's close to several major Tube stations and the Embankment.
10 Northumberland St
Near Charing Cross station
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