- London
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United Kingdom
Fancy a swim? Believe it or not, you can swim outside in London. Shoreditch House – owned by Nick Jones, the man who brought us Soho House – is situated in east London and has a heated rooftop pool.
It also has a fabulous set of places to drink inside, an onsite bowling alley and a Cowshed spa. Very possibly the best place to chill out in the capital.
For those who love variety and nature, R. B. Gardens at Kew may be the most pleasant destination in London. There's a Travelodge near the garden with great pre-booking offers, which can be booked via online, usually a few weeks in advance.
Book at: www.travelodge.co.uk
Directions from: www.kew.org
Need to travel outside of London to a regional office or just to see a little of England? Don't just rush to the airport. Direct trains from London Euston take you to Manchester (and other northern cities) in less than 2.5 hours which, by the time you've got to the airport, checked in and got through security, is longer than your one-hour flight actually takes!
Virgin trains offer a great first class service with very attentive staff. When making this journey I often plug my laptop in to the socket at my seat and catch up on some work or just sit back and enjoy the English countryside. A much more stress-free trip than a visit to Heathrow for a one-hour flight!
If you are a solo traveller staying in London for a few days, taxis will prove very expensive. Buy an Oyster card and top it up with some money, then use it on any bus or tube/subway journey for half the price of paying cash. Cost is £3 (refundable deposit).
Any subway/tube station
London's top food market, with organic and gourmet foodstuffs from around the country - and further afield. Open every Friday and Saturday.
Take the Borough High St exit from London Bridge tube station.
Turkish Food Centre (also known as TFC) has a huge selection of Turkish and Mediterranean food that's high quality but at amazingly low prices. You get exotic fruits and vegetables at road market prices but at qualities comparable to major supermarkets. It also has a huge selection of chilled foods, tinned foods, herbs and spices, pulses, fresh Turkish breads, and even a butcher! You can get Filo pastry, stuffed olives, coriander, etc.
89 Ridley Road London, E8 2NH
Telephone: 020 72546754.
Nearest station: Dalston/Kingsland
Or bus 242 from Liverpool St station to Dalston Junction.
If you need to travel between the West End and Canary Wharf then using the Thames Clipper boat is a great way to travel and do some sightseeing en route. Regular services run from Embankment and Waterloo among others to Docklands and Canary Wharf.
JD Wetherspoons pubs and bars offer free wi-fi connection to their customers. Just enter username 'Spnsored' and password 'Service' when asked.
If you're travelling from Heathrow into Central London or across London then opt for the Piccadilly Line as it's often quicker than the Heathrow Express, and cheaper too!
It is often quicker to walk from one place to another than sit in a traffic jam in a taxi. It is healthier too. Avoid crowded shopping streets in favour of almost deserted side streets which run in parallel, eg. Wigmore St rather than Oxford St.
Book trains a few weeks in advance and it's much cheaper - also, you often find that first class is actually cheaper than normal carriages.
National rail is a good site for this: www.nationalrail.co.uk/
If you are in London for the spring/summer or even autumn months, then be sure to check out the numerous Royal parks that dot the capital. Hyde Park - the city's largest, covers a vast area from Marble Arch to South Kensington and adjoins with other parks in the city. Explore the Princess Diana memorial or row a boat on the Serpentine.
My other recommendation would be Green Park, it has a better location right next to Buckingham Palace. Deck chairs are available to rent (£2 for 4 hours) and many food shops nearby mean that you won't go hungry. Great for running or relaxing - take advantage of London's green parks.
Air travel today is increasingly associated with long queues, dire customer service and delays on the ground and in the air. There is one airport that seems to consistently dispel this every time I travel there. That is, London City Airport. 22 minutes from Bank and about 12 minutes from Canary Wharf on the DLR, London City airport has flights to numerous European and domestic destinations. In addition, BA will be starting transatlantic flights (business class only) from London city in the summer!
Check-in (with luggage) can be done an hour before the flight and I've even managed it 20 minutes before the flight! Security queues are short and efficient. The airport does not have all of the facilities you would find at the larger airports such as numerous shops, lounges, etc, but at the end of the day it does what you want - helps you to get from A to B.
London benefits from a host of world-class museums. The UK benefits from free access to most museums so you can pop in whenever you want, however, you may also want to arrange to have your corporate event there to provide entertainment at the same time.
A number of the hotels surrounding Heathrow Airport offer good deals on car parking. This means that should you want to park your car at Heathrow - it can be a similar cost to get a night in the hotel and parking as just parking on its own! Contact the hotels directly for further deals and details.
Hotels surrounding Heathrow airport (and other airports around the country)
Travelling to Manchester? Don't necessarily head to the airport. Train connections are frequent from London Euston and if you are already in the city, then try heading up to Euston for regular (every 30 minites) connections to Manchester. Journey times are 2hrs 10mins and you can buy a ticket before you board on www.virgintrains.co.uk.
Money saving tip one - don't buy a fully flexible ticket. Instead, go to the ticket counter at Euston and buy a saver single or return for your journey. It's unlikely the train will be full (especially 1st class) and you will save a lot of money on your saver return.
Fuzzy's Grub on Fleet Street, London, offers the most satisfying lunch you can imagine - just don't have too many meetings in the afternoon (in case you fall asleep). Fuzzys Grup offers you Sunday roast (even including the Yorkshire pud) for a very reasonable GBP4-5 and the packed queue each lunchtime attests to its quality and taste. Opened in 2002, this place has quickly become a London city worker institution and is often frequented by bankers, lawyers and other professionals on the lunch break. Service is quick and with a smile. It's close to the offices and therefore sets a good challenge to the also delightful Borough market situated south of the river by London bridge.
Fuzzys Grub can be found on Fleet Street, London, EC3V 3PD, 020 7621 0555
www.fuzzysgrub.com/
Take one booking reference, one surname and pop over to www.checkmytrip.com. Here you can check your flights, e-ticket number and even the seat you are going to have.
In the peak hours of arrival, the taxi queue at Paddington (connecting for the Heathrow Express) can be quite sizable. Don't forget that there is a taxi share service that runs from the station so you can get to where you are going and save money if you share a taxi. London is split into different zones and there should be an agent at the station to help you.
Good food can be quite hard to come by in London (particularly when comparing to Asia), however, one gem famed for both celebrity spotting and for its delightful high tea and breakfast is the Wolseley at Green Park. Located next to the Ritz, this restaurant is the premier destination for anyone who wants to enjoy good quality food as reasonable (around £50 a head) food.
One great tip is to start your business day off here with a meeting. Breakfast is sublime with excellent bakery from the kitchen. Its central location makes it great for anyone staying in the city. High tea is also a great treat. Speciality teas, fine finger sandwiches, moist scones and the most delicate pastries found this side of Paris.
Green Park, London
www.thewolseley.com
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