Where to stay in London

[jordan2240]

The wife and I, an active couple in our 60s, plan to visit London mid to late May this year if some other variant of Covid doesn't stop us, and it will be our first time.  We will do some additional travel in Great Britain, but will be in London for about 5 days, so we're wondering what is the best section to stay in for first-timers.  We've seen Notting Hill, Angel, Holborn, and Covent Garden suggested, but there doesn't seem to be a consensus.  Any ideas for the wrxers?

Edited January 5, 2022 by jordan2240

[scruffynick]

On 1/5/2022 at 3:12 AM, jordan2240 said:

The wife and I, an active couple in our 60s, plan to visit London mid to late May this year if some other variant of Covid doesn't stop us, and it will be our first time.  We will do some additional travel in Great Britain, but will be in London for about 5 days, so we're wondering what is the best section to stay in for first-timers.  We've seen Notting Hill, Angel, Holborn, and Covent Garden suggested, but there doesn't seem to be a consensus.  Any ideas for the wrxers?

Covent garden is as good as it gets, decent hotels and places to eat etc. Very close to the underground and walking distance to a few museums, mainly British museum. You'll get your bearings quite quickly if you're in London for 4-5 days. Went London with family before COVID hit and covent gardens was a very good place to stay.

But being a northern lad, you must come up north and see the Lake District, North Wales, North Yorkshire..... breathtaking scenery. And of course have a visit to Manchester 😉 my home town did get into New York times top ten cities to visit....and were much more friendly up here too 😀

 

[uitar9]

My wife and I visited London a few years back. We stayed in Kensington. The wife did all the planning so no idea why she picked Kensington.

 

Very close to the tube and Kensington palace. 

 

Best deal we got was the hop on-hop off double decker. Bought it around 10AM and ended up being able to use it for three days. We took a circuit around London.

 

The history blew us away. 

 

The most surprising time was a dinner at a pub close to our hotel. The server  discovered we were from Calgary and told us he followed the flames on TV. Crazy.

 

One of the things we got to do was lie inside the stones , at Stonehenge, as the sun came up.It was probably all in my head, but I felt vibration as the sun hit the stones. Pretty cool stuff.

[scruffynick]

6 hours ago, uitar9 said:

My wife and I visited London a few years back. We stayed in Kensington. The wife did all the planning so no idea why she picked Kensington.

 

Very close to the tube and Kensington palace. 

 

Best deal we got was the hop on-hop off double decker. Bought it around 10AM and ended up being able to use it for three days. We took a circuit around London.

 

The history blew us away. 

 

The most surprising time was a dinner at a pub close to our hotel. The server  discovered we were from Calgary and told us he followed the flames on TV. Crazy.

 

One of the things we got to do was lie inside the stones , at Stonehenge, as the sun came up.It was probably all in my head, but I felt vibration as the sun hit the stones. Pretty cool stuff.

You know I've never been Stonehenge, which is in truth criminal considering I've drove past it as good number of times. Must get a trip there done, my daughter who loves history would love it. 

[uitar9]

13 hours ago, uitar9 said:

My wife and I visited London a few years back. We stayed in Kensington. The wife did all the planning so no idea why she picked Kensington.

 

Very close to the tube and Kensington palace. 

 

Best deal we got was the hop on-hop off double decker. Bought it around 10AM and ended up being able to use it for three days. We took a circuit around London.

 

The history blew us away. 

 

The most surprising time was a dinner at a pub close to our hotel. The server  discovered we were from Calgary and told us he followed the flames on TV. Crazy.

 

One of the things we got to do was lie inside the stones , at Stonehenge, as the sun came up.It was probably all in my head, but I felt vibration as the sun hit the stones. Pretty cool stuff.

Stonehenge was a one day tour my wife organized. It included being at the circle before sun rise (did I mention the vibrations, lol) and then a stop in a small village where some Harry Potter had been shot, then a stop at a small local for lunch and then a stop at Bath. The Roman history at Bath was amazing.

 

The other day trip was to Windsor. Touring that castle, the grounds and the village of Windsor was amazing.

 

There is so much stuff to see in London. Its huge and old. So much history. And the volume of people. The area around Big Ben, Parliament, Trafalgar, #10 was mobbed. 

 

We went across the Pond to celebrate our 40th anniversary and to visit where "our people" originated from. We started in Ireland as her people are from the Waterford area. That was a 9 day tour. Unbelievable. Then we stayed in London as I'm a wasp. I later learned my people are from somewhere in the SW coast but London was close enough for me. 

 

We really got to understand our heritage. 

 

The other cool thing was during any down time, the Open was playing on TV.

 

 

[vandyfan]

I lived in Islington for several years and I think it is rather convenient to most of London. If you stay on Upper St, you are right between Angel (Northern Line, one stop from Kings Cross) and Highbury & Islington (has both underground lines and overground). But still a bit quiet compared to places like Oxford Circus and Kings Cross. As mentioned above, the nicest part of london is Kensington/Belgravia. 

[jholz]

3 minutes ago, blackbdmillsaps said:

I lived in Islington for several years and I think it is rather convenient to most of London. If you stay on Upper St, you are right between Angel (Northern Line, one stop from Kings Cross) and Highbury & Islington (has both underground lines and overground). But still a bit quiet compared to places like Oxford Circus and Kings Cross. As mentioned above, the nicest part of london is Kensington/Belgravia. 

 

A good friend of mine lives just south east of the Angel tube station. Lovely area with the canals and such. Convenient to the tube and shops.

 

I would also recommend the area around Russell Square and University College London.

[jordan2240]

Thanks all for the responses.  We'd made our booking prior to me seeing them, but seems like we did ok.  We will be staying in the 'Thistle Trafalgar Square', which is right near the National Gallery, a must see for my wife.  Our plan is to fly into Heathrow then train up to York, where we plan to stay for 2 nights.  From there, train over to Edinburgh for another 2-night stay, and hopefully a visit to St. Andrews on a Sunday so we can walk the course (if I understand things correctly).  From Edinburgh, we'll train down to London where we'll finish our stay.  We haven't made any definite touring plans yet, but definitely want to see Bath and Stonehenge.  We'll also be in Cardiff Wales one day for an Ed Sheeran concert, which is basically what lead us on this trip.  The hop-on-hop-off bus in London is something we'll likely do.  We also want to get to Dover to see the cliffs, which we also plan on doing by train.

 

If anyone has additional suggestions, feel free to toss them at us.

[jordan2240]

On 1/17/2022 at 2:57 PM, scruffynick said:

Covent garden is as good as it gets, decent hotels and places to eat etc. Very close to the underground and walking distance to a few museums, mainly British museum. You'll get your bearings quite quickly if you're in London for 4-5 days. Went London with family before COVID hit and covent gardens was a very good place to stay.

But being a northern lad, you must come up north and see the Lake District, North Wales, North Yorkshire..... breathtaking scenery. And of course have a visit to Manchester 😉 my home town did get into New York times top ten cities to visit....and were much more friendly up here too 😀

 

Thanks much.  Not sure we'll have time to get to all those places, but we'll have to consider hitting Manchester from York.  Still much to be determined regarding daily itinerary.

[jordan2240]

23 hours ago, uitar9 said:

Best deal we got was the hop on-hop off double decker.

Thanks much.  Definitely plan on that.  Not sure Stonehenge before sunrise is on the docket, but we'll see what tours are available.    The strangest 'small-world' experience we had was when we went to Ireland in 2016 (we live in Pennsylvania) and ran into a couple in Dingle whose daughter was going to college about 20 minutes from where we lived (and a town I often golfed in).  We ran into them again in a different pub in Dingle the next night, then ran into them again in a pub in Galway 2 or 3 days later.  Probably should have gotten their names and became pen pals (they lived in Virginia), but we didn't for whatever reason.

[jholz]

18 minutes ago, jordan2240 said:

Thanks all for the responses.  We'd made our booking prior to me seeing them, but seems like we did ok.  We will be staying in the 'Thistle Trafalgar Square', which is right near the National Gallery, a must see for my wife.  Our plan is to fly into Heathrow then train up to York, where we plan to stay for 2 nights.  From there, train over to Edinburgh for another 2-night stay, and hopefully a visit to St. Andrews on a Sunday so we can walk the course (if I understand things correctly).  From Edinburgh, we'll train down to London where we'll finish our stay.  We haven't made any definite touring plans yet, but definitely want to see Bath and Stonehenge.  We'll also be in Cardiff Wales one day for an Ed Sheeran concert, which is basically what lead us on this trip.  The hop-on-hop-off bus in London is something we'll likely do.  We also want to get to Dover to see the cliffs, which we also plan on doing by train.

 

If anyone has additional suggestions, feel free to toss them at us.

 

Sounds like a very memorable trip! I hope the weather cooperates for you.

 

With London, you will obviously see very little of it. I lived there for over a year and know just a sliver of the city.

 

I got to travel in the hinterland just a bit - stayed with a family in Gloucester for a few days, visited a friend in Swansea, and hung out in Northhampden and Milton Keynes a bit. But, most of my time was in north and east central London.

 

I loved my time there.

[uitar9]

15 minutes ago, jordan2240 said:

Thanks much.  Definitely plan on that.  Not sure Stonehenge before sunrise is on the docket, but we'll see what tours are available.    The strangest 'small-world' experience we had was when we went to Ireland in 2016 (we live in Pennsylvania) and ran into a couple in Dingle whose daughter was going to college about 20 minutes from where we lived (and a town I often golfed in).  We ran into them again in a different pub in Dingle the next night, then ran into them again in a pub in Galway 2 or 3 days later.  Probably should have gotten their names and became pen pals (they lived in Virginia), but we didn't for whatever reason.

We friended up a couple of ladies from Oregon who were on the coach tour . While drinking our Guiness on the top level of the brewery we sat with a guy and started chatting. He was from their hometown. Crazy small world.

[jordan2240]

12 minutes ago, jholz said:

I hope the weather cooperates for you.

We're preparing for rain.  We do realize we're likely to see a mere sliver of London, and an even much smaller sliver of the U.K., but we'll do our best to take advantage of the time we're there.  Appreciate your input.

[scruffynick]

11 hours ago, jordan2240 said:

Thanks much.  Not sure we'll have time to get to all those places, but we'll have to consider hitting Manchester from York.  Still much to be determined regarding daily itinerary.

York is a stunning old city, you must go in the very old pubs in centre.....but if you're tall you'll be hunching 🤣 people were really small way back then ha 

[jholz]

I forgot that I also went through Warrick and Stratford one afternoon. That is a pretty area as well. 

 

I would love to go back again!