Frommer''s London 2011

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CONTENTSCONTENTS
List of Maps

vi
1
THE BEST OF LONDON
1
The Most unforgettable Travel
Experiences 3
The Best Splurge Hotels 6
The Best Moderately Priced
Hotels 8
The Most Unforgettable Dining
Experiences 9
The Best Museums 10
The Best Activities for
Families 12
The Best Things to Do for Free
(or Almost) 14
2
LONDON IN DEPTH
16
London Today 17
DATELINE
 18
Looking Back at London 19
FUN FACTS: IMPRESSIONS
 27
Art & Architecture 29
London in Popular Culture: Books,
Film, TV & Music 36
Eating & Drinking in London 43
3
PLANNING YOUR TRIP TO LONDON
48
Visitor Information 49
Entry Requirements 50
When to Go 52
LONDON CALENDAR OF EVENTS
 53
Getting There & Getting Around 57
THE VALUE OF THE BRITISH POUND VS.
OTHER POPULAR CURRENCIES
 66
WHAT THINGS COST IN LONDON
 67
Money & Costs 67
Health 69
Safety 70
Specialized Travel Resources 71
Sustainable Tourism 75
IT’S EASY BEING GREEN
 76
Packages for the Independent
Traveler 77
Escorted Tours 78
FROMMERS.COM: THE COMPLETE
TRAVEL RESOURCE
 78
Staying Connected 79
ONLINE TRAVELER’S TOOLBOX
 81
Tips on Accommodations 81
Tips on Dining 83
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4
SUGGESTED LONDON ITINERARIES
84
Neighborhoods in Brief 85
The Best of London in 1 Day 103
The Best of London in 2 Days 108
The Best of London in 3 Days 111
5
WHERE TO STAY
116
Best Hotel Bets 120
In & Around the City 121
The West End 124
FAMILY-FRIENDLY HOTELS
129
Westminster & Victoria 138
Knightsbridge to South
Kensington 142
Marylebone to Holland Park 152
The South Bank 163
Near the Airports 164
6
WHERE TO DINE
167
Some Dining Notes 168
Best Dining Bets 169
Restaurants by Cuisine 171
In & Around the City 174
FAMILY-FRIENDLY RESTAURANTS
 184
The West End 184
Westminster & Victoria 207
Knightsbridge to South
Kensington 209
Marylebone to
Notting Hill Gate 219
A Bit Farther Afi eld 228
Teatime 230
7
EXPLORING LONDON
235
Sights & Attractions by
Neighborhood 236
The Top Attractions 238
TRAFALGAR: LONDON’S MOST
FAMOUS SQUARE
 246
More Central London
Attractions 262
A NEIGHBORHOOD OF ONE’S OWN: THE
HOMES OF VIRGINIA WOOLF
 282
A MONEY-SAVING PASS
 284
Exploring London by Boat 303
BIRD’S-“EYE” VIEW OF LONDON
 306
Attractions on the Outskirts 308
Especially for Kids 318
Organized Tours 323
London Lidos 324
Spectator Sports 325
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8
SHOPPING
327
Shopping in London 328
HOW TO GET YOUR VAT REFUND
 329
Central London Shopping 330
GST: GREENWICH SHOPPING TIME
 332
The Department Stores 333
Goods A to Z 335
GO EAST, ART LOVER
 338
SHOPPING IN "BANGLATOWN"
 340
THE COMEBACK OF CARNABY STREET
 347
Street & Flea Markets 355
9
LONDON AFTER DARK
359
The Play’s the Thing: London’s
Theater Scene 360
NEW VENUES FOR LONDON OPERA
LOVERS
362
Classical Music,
Dance & Opera 365
The Club & Music Scene 368
Dance, Disco & Eclectic 372
Bars & Cocktail Lounges 377
The Best of London’s Pubs: The
World’s Greatest Pub-Crawl 380
10
SIDE TRIPS FROM LONDON
388
Windsor & Eton 389
Oxford: The City of Dreaming
Spires 396
The Pursuit of Science:
Cambridge 407
Shakespeare’s Stratford-upon-
Avon 418
Salisbury & Stonehenge 431
11
FAST FACTS: LONDON
435
Airline, Hotel & Car-Rental
Websites 439
Index
442
Accommodations Index 451 Restaurants Index 452
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vi
Central London Neighborhoods86
Greater London Area104
Where to Stay in the West End126
Where to Stay in Westminster139
Where to Stay from Knightsbridge
to South Kensington144
Where to Stay from Marylebone to
Holland Park154
Where to Stay & Dine in & around
“The City”175
Where to Dine in the West End
& Theatre District186
Where to Dine in Westminster208
Where to Dine from Knightsbridge to
South Kensington210
Where to Dine from Marylebone to
Notting Hill220
Teatime in London231
The Top Attractions240
St. Paul’s Cathedral251
Tower of London257
Westminster Abbey261
“The City” Attractions263
West End Attractions264
Westminster Attractions267
Knightsbridge to Kensington
Attractions268
Hampstead Attractions309
Especially for Kids320
World’s Greatest Pub Crawl382
Side Trips from London391
Windsor & Eton395
Oxford397
Cambridge409
Stratford-upon-Avon419
LIST OF MAPSLIST OF MAPS
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vii
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
As a team of veteran travel writers, Darwin Porter and Danforth Prince have produced
numerous titles for Frommer’s, including guides to Italy, France, the Caribbean, Spain,
and Germany. Together they have covered Britain for Frommer’s with guides to Great
Britain, Scotland, and England. Danforth Prince was previously employed by the Paris
bureau of the New York Times and is currently the president of Blood Moon Productions
and works for other media-related fi rms. Darwin Porter is also a fi lm critic, columnist,
broadcaster, and Hollywood biographer.
HOW TO CONTACT US
In researching this book, we discovered many wonderful places—hotels, restaurants,
shops, and more. We’re sure you’ll fi nd others. Please tell us about them, so we can
share the information with your fellow travelers in upcoming editions. If you were
disappointed with a recommendation, we’d love to know that, too. Please write to:
Frommer’s London 2011
Wiley Publishing, Inc. • 111 River St. • Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774
frommersfeedback@wiley.com
AN ADDITIONAL NOTE
Please be advised that travel information is subject to change at any time—and this is
especially true of prices. We therefore suggest that you write or call ahead for
confi rmation when making your travel plans. The authors, editors, and publisher cannot
be held responsible for the experiences of readers while traveling. Your safety is
important to us, however, so we encourage you to stay alert and be aware of your
surroundings. Keep a close eye on cameras, purses, and wallets, all favorite targets of
thieves and pickpockets.
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viii
FROMMER’S STAR RATINGS, ICONS &
ABBREVIATIONS
Every hotel, restaurant, and attraction listing in this guide has been ranked for quality,
value, service, amenities, and special features using a star-rating system. In country, state,
and regional guides, we also rate towns and regions to help you narrow down your choices
and budget your time accordingly. Hotels and restaurants are rated on a scale of zero
(recommended) to three stars (exceptional). Attractions, shopping, nightlife, towns, and
regions are rated according to the following scale: zero stars (recommended), one star
(highly recommended), two stars (very highly recommended), and three stars (must-see).
In addition to the star-rating system, we also use seven feature icons that point
you to the great deals, in-the-know advice, and unique experiences that separate
travelers from tourists. Throughout the book, look for:
special fi nds—those places only insiders know about
fun facts—details that make travelers more informed and their trips more fun
kids—best bets for kids and advice for the whole family
special moments—those experiences that memories are made of
overrated—places or experiences not worth your time or money
insider tips—great ways to save time and money
great values—where to get the best deals
The following abbreviations are used for credit cards:
AEAmerican Express DISCDiscover VVisa
DCDiners Club MCMasterCard
TRAVEL RESOURCES AT FROMMERS.COM
Frommer’s travel resources don’t end with this guide. Frommer’s website, www.frommers.
com, has travel information on more than 4,000 destinations. We update features
regularly, giving you access to the most current trip-planning information and the best
airfare, lodging, and car-rental bargains. You can also listen to podcasts, connect with
other Frommers.com members through our active-reader forums, share your travel
photos, read blogs from guidebook editors and fellow travelers, and much more.
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1
THE THE
BEST OF BEST OF
LONDONLONDON
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2
1
THE BEST OF LONDON

Introduction
T
he British capital is alive and well and culturally more
vibrant than it has been in years.
The sounds of the latest music pour out of Victo-
rian pubs, experimental theater is popping up on
stages built for Shakespeare’s plays, upstart chefs are
reinventing the bland dishes British mums have made for genera-
tions, and Brits are even running couture houses like Dior. In food,
fashion, fi lm, music, and just about everything else, London now
stands at the cutting edge, just as it did in the 1960s.
If this sea of change worries you more than it appeals to you, rest assured that
traditional London still exists, essentially intact under the veneer of hip. From
high tea almost anywhere to the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace,
the city still abounds with the tradition and charm of days gone by.
Discovering London and making it your own can be a bit of a challenge,
especially if you have limited time. Even in the 18th century, Daniel Defoe found
London “stretched out in buildings, straggling, confused, out of all shape,
PREVIOUS

PAGE
:
People sitting at a cafe in Neal’s Yard, Covent Garden.
Sunset over Houses of Parliament.
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3
1
THE BEST OF LONDON


The Most Unforgettable Travel Experiences
uncompact and unequal; neither long nor broad, round nor square.” The actual
City of London proper is 2.6 sq. km (1 sq. mile) of very expensive real estate
around the Bank of England. All of the gargantuan rest of the city is made up of
separate villages, boroughs, and corporations—each with its own mayor and
administration. Together, however, they add up to a mammoth metropolis.
Luckily, whether you’re looking for Dickens’s house or hot designer Vivienne
Westwood’s  agship store, only the heart of London’s huge territory need concern
you. The core of London is one of the most fascinating places on earth. With
every step, you’ll feel the tremendous in uence this city exerted over global cul-
ture back when it was the capital of an empire on which the sun never set.
London is a mass of contradictions. On the one hand, it’s a decidedly royal
city, studded with palaces, court gardens, coats of arms, and other regal parapher-
nalia; yet it’s also the home of the world’s second-oldest parliamentary democracy
(Iceland was the  rst).
Today London has grown less English and more international. The gent
with the bowler hat is long gone; today’s Londoner might have a turban, a
mohawk, or even a baseball cap. It’s becoming easier to  nd a café au lait and a
croissant than a scone and a cup of tea. The city is home to thousands of immi-
grants and refugees, both rich and poor, from all reaches of the world.
THE
most unforgettable

TRAVEL EXPERIENCES
W
Watching the Sunset at Waterloo Bridge:
This is the ideal place for watch-
ing the sun set over Westminster. You can see the last rays of light bounce off
the dome of St. Paul’s and the spires in the East End.
W
Enjoying a Traditional Afternoon Tea:
At the Ritz Hotel, 150 Piccadilly,
W1 (
&
 020/7493-8181; p. 137), the tea ritual carries on as it did in Brit-
ain’s heyday. You could invite the Queen of England herself here for a “cuppa.”
The pomp and circumstance of the British Empire live on at the Ritz—only
the Empire is missing. See p. 234.
W
Cruising London’s Waterways:
In addition to the Thames, London has an
antique canal system, with towpath walks, bridges, and wharves. Replaced by
the railroad as the prime means of transportation, the canal system was all but
forgotten until it was rediscovered by a new generation. Now undergoing a
process of urban renewal, the old system has been restored, with bridges
painted and repaired, and paths cleaned up, for you to enjoy. See “River
Cruises Along the Thames,” on p. 303.
W
Spending Sunday Morning at Speakers Corner:
At the northeast corner of
Hyde Park, a British tradition carries on. Speakers sound off on every imagin-
able subject, and “in-your-face” hecklers are part of the fun. You might hear
anything from denunciations of the monarchy to antigay rhetoric. Anyone can
get up and speak. The only rules: You can’t blaspheme, be obscene, or incite
a riot. The tradition began in 1855—before the legal right to assembly was
guaranteed in 1872—when a mob of 150,000 gathered to attack a proposed
Sunday Trading Bill. See p. 300.
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4
1
THE BEST OF LONDON

The Most Unforgettable Travel Experiences
W
Studying the Turners at the Tate Britain:
When he died in 1851, J. M. W.
Turner bequeathed his collection of 19,000 watercolors and some 300 paint-
ings to the people of Britain. He wanted his  nished works, about 100 paint-
ings, displayed under one roof. Today you see not only the paintings but also
glimpses of Turner’s beloved Thames through the museum’s windows. The
artist lived and died on the river’s banks and painted its many changing moods.
See p. 251.
W
Strolling Through Covent Garden:
George Bernard Shaw got his inspira-
tion for Pygmalion here, where the cockney lass who inspired the character of
Eliza Doolittle sold violets to wealthy operagoers. The old market, with its
cauli ower peddlers and butchers in blood-soaked aprons, is long gone.
What’s left is London’s best example of urban renewal and one of its hippest
shopping districts. There’s an antiques market on Monday and a crafts market
Tuesday through Saturday. See p.  357 for market details. When you’re
parched, there are plenty of pubs to quench your thirst, including the Nags
Head, 10 James St., WC2 (
&
 020/7836-4678; p. 381), an Edwardian pub
that’ll serve you a draft of Guinness and a plate of pork cooked in cider.
W
Rowing on the Serpentine:
When the weather’s right, head to Hyde Park’s
17-hectare (42-acre) man-made lake—the name derives from its winding,
snakelike shape—dating from 1730. At the Boathouse, you can rent boats by
the hour. It’s an idyllic way to spend a sunny afternoon. Renoir must have
agreed; he depicted the custom on canvas. See p. 299.
W
Making a Brass Rubbing:
Take home some costumed ladies and knights in
armor from England’s age of chivalry. Make your very own brass rubbing in the
crypt of St. Martin-in-the-Fields in Trafalgar Square; the staff there will be
happy to show you how. See p. 271.
Tea at the Ritz. Covent Garden.
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