How long is a piece of string? It’s a very expensive place. Roughly, if you pay $1 for something at home, it will cost £1 in the UK I think. So nearly twice as expensive.</p>
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Just withdraw it from an ATM (“cash machine” in the UK). Try to remember your number, because UK ATMs often don’t have letters on the keypad. (so if you remember your number as a word, you’ll be stuck.) It’s a good idea to inform your bank at home that you will be travelling abroad. Just in case they suddenly see money withdrawn in London and block your card becqause they think it’s stolen.</p>
<p>
Why do all Americans believe every stereotype they’ve ever heard? Many American tourists in Oxford order things they certainly won’t like (eg steak and kidney pie, which does exist but isn’t all that common) which they have read is a typical and disgusting food. But most British people don’t eat these things! I’ve never even seen black pudding or haggis. There isn’t a really typical British food. My grandma always cooks “Sunday roast” which consists of roast meat with potatoes, vegetables and gravy. You can buy this in most pubs at the weekends (but pubs are generally quite smokey. So be aware of this.) But really the most common “fast food” is curry. There are 100s of Indian restaurants(or rather British-Indian. Most of these foods either don’t exist or are completely different in India) in Oxford alone. Probably 1000s in London. So that’s the “typical” thing I think you must try. You might like to visit a supermarket (the most common one is called “Tesco” and since it’s the biggest business in Europe they are everywhere. The one called “ASDA” is owned by WalMart) to see the different brands of things you could try. It also might be cheaper to make your own meals if you can, so the supermarket would be good for that.</p>
<p>If eating foreign food upsets you so much, you can eat every meal in McDonalds if you want. This is why Americans get such a bad press abroad. They go somewhere and complain about EVERYTHING. Hate the food, hate the weather, hate the accent etc etc. Funnily enough telling your hosts you hate everything about their country doesn’t endear you to the natives. It’s embarassing. Please try to be a considerate tourist! You don’t want to live up to THEIR stereotypes of rude Americans, do you? Things are going to be different in another country. If you can’t cope with that, it is better to stay at home.</p>
<p>European chocolate is completely different from American chocolate and once you taste it you will never go back. It’s so much nicer. Things like Cadburys you can buy in the US but they don’t taste the same if the are US made. You must try the imported stuff.</p>
<p>Wimbledon is last week of June, first week of July BTW. The queues are longest on the middle Saturday.</p>
<p>cupcake, I had to smile while reading your post. When we were in London last summer, we LOVED the food we had. However, we often would hear tourists at tables nearby complaining about how it was different than at home! We tried to find small, non-chain, restaurants and pubs and the food was excellent. One of our favorite spots was a little place we went for breakfast everyday which was run by a Greek family. The best scrambled eggs I’ve ever had and it was served ON toast, not WITH, which was fun. Another of our favorites was a small fish and chip place near the British Museum where we had the specialty with mushy peas, SO good! We also found a lovely little Italian spot near the Piccadilly Theatre where we had dinner two or three nights. We ate very well while we were in London, I think the old stereotype about British food is very exaggerated.</p>
<p>p.s. If you know anything about the Chunnel, I’d be appreciative. I found out last night that one of my Ds will be in the U.K. for a period of time this summer and she wants to travel to Paris at some point via the Chunnel. Thanks!</p>
<p>I was only asking about the food because I know my friends will be the type to just try anything on the menu for the heck of it. If you say the steak and kidney pie is not exactly good, even to the British, then that’s the recommendation we’re looking for. I did not appreciate being grilled, however, as a rude American. While most Americans can act the idiot, I don’t. I actually want to move to Britain, I just have never been. The accent does not bother me, in fact, I like it. And while your weather may be rainy all the time, I don’t care. I tend to like it. It’s better than where I live in the states. Funny you speak of stereotypes…Americans have their own of foreign countries, and foreign countries have their own of the Americans…how 'bout we all drop them one day and get along…?</p>
<p>Hi,
slightly off topic but I go to oxford so if anyone wants any information please do feel free to PM me. I’m not international so I don’t know about that side of things, but stuff about Oxford in general I’d be more than happy to help with.</p>
<p>mwbashful - are some people bothered by the accent? I didn’t know that.</p>
<p>saintjude—I was just responding to what I thought cupcake (first post on this page) was directing to me; I had asked, rather jokingly, if there was any food I should stay away from. I’ve heard some things on the menu even the Brits won’t touch, and I wanted to know which ones. While the question was answered, I got extra info that I thought was more a lecture from a Brit who thinks all Americans are going to stomp on their homeland. Such as this comment:</p>
<p>—This is why Americans get such a bad press abroad. They go somewhere and complain about EVERYTHING. Hate the food, hate the weather, hate the accent etc etc. Funnily enough telling your hosts you hate everything about their country doesn’t endear you to the natives. It’s embarassing. Please try to be a considerate tourist! You don’t want to live up to THEIR stereotypes of rude Americans, do you? Things are going to be different in another country. If you can’t cope with that, it is better to stay at home."—</p>
<p>I felt rather annoyed since this seemed directed to me. Does it bother the Brits that we have our own sterotype of them–that they’re stodgy and pompous? It’s just lucky that I want to live in the UK because I don’t much like the US.</p>
<p>There are two ways to use the chunnel. As a foot passenger you go to Waterloo station in London and it takes about 3 horus to get to Gare du Nord in the centre of Paris. It also stops in other places in France. One of them is right by EuroDisney, judging from all the excited kids on the train! The company which runs this is called “Eurostar”. they also go to Belgium and Holland I think. I went to Brussels once. The other way you can use the chunnel is to take your car on the train. I’ve never actually done this (the company is called “le Shuttle”) but I believe you have to drive to a place called Ashford, which is in kent, south of London. Then at the other side the cars disembark in Calais, so you would then have to drive into Paris. </p>
<p>
I’m not British. I’m just giving you my opinion as a foreign student here.</p>
<p>
So you have some strange romantic notion of what it is like from movies? You haven’t got a clue have you?</p>
<p>
There are hundreds of accents. 99% of which you have never heard. Almost no-one speaks “RP” like the queen. It’s the sort of accent which is actually taught at boarding school.</p>
This is exactly what I hear every day. I used to work as a waitress in a tea room and all the staff tried to avoid serving Americans because about 50% of the time they got lots of complaining and verbal abuse. Sad but true. I hate being associated with such people because 99% of Americans are nice. It just seems to be the horrible ones who holiday abroad. Or something about being away from home that makes them horrible?</p>
<p>H and I just returned from 9 days in London. We stayed at the Luna and Simone Hotel on Belgrave Road, a wonderful little place, exceptionally clean, only GBP 60 a night. It’s a five minute walk to the Pimlico tube stop and the neighborhood is very safe. We found the hotel through TripAdvisor reviews. It may not be suitable for the OP, but I recommend it to anyone else.</p>
<p>Does anyone have opinions on which are the best neighborhoods to stay in in Central London? I am looking at hotels in Kensington and the Marble Arch area - hotels for families are extremely limited and most places with family rooms are booked. My 20 year old now counts as an adult which makes everything that much more difficult. I have read on Tripadvisor that the Marble Arch area is not safe - can’t quite get a handle if they are American suburbanites ( which I am but have lived in city, if you count Minneapolis) or if the area is truly unsafe. I’m also still trying to find short term apartment rentals so if anyone has a company they have had good luck with, please let me know.</p>
<p>lizschup, last summer we stayed in the Piccadilly Circus area and it was perfect! It’s in the theatre district and we could walk almost anywhere. Close to Buckingham Palace, St. James Park, Westminster Abbey, Parliament Bldgs., the London Eye, British Museum, Harrod’s, Hyde Park, Trafalgar Square, Bond St. and Oxford St. which are the great shopping areas of London. The only time we took a taxi was the day we went to the Tower of London (didn’t use the tube because we were there a week after the bombings!) It was a great area, always felt safe, it’s bustling with people til very late at night. </p>
<p>Sorry I don’t know about apartments in the area as we stayed in a hotel but the area itself is a great one!</p>
<p>I hit this thing on my very first day of driving in the UK, with no advance warning at the peak of rush hour. Miraculously, I made it through without either causing or suffering a collision. I had to pull of the road immediately after exiting the roundabout until the shaking stopped.</p>
<p>Speaking of the MA area, when my son was around 8 and we had spent the night in a local hotel in that area and were out on the street walking around looking for a place to eat. My son pulled my hand and whispered in my ear, “mommy, where are the English?”</p>
<p>I agree with Cupcake about informing your bank that you will be using your ATM card overseas. You also need to inform your credit card companies–(limit yourself to 2, if possible!). When I went to visit DD in November, DH stayed home with S2–so we had to make sure the banks knew that the cards might be used in US and overseas on the same day!!</p>
<p>When in England you have to try the scones with clotted cream–preferably at tea time! Many places have this wonderful treat, but one of the very best is at the Orangerie, which is the beautiful, high ceilinged cafe next door to Kensington Palace–their hot chocolate is terrific, too!!</p>
<p>Strangely enough, when I worked as a waitress I always enjoyed serving Americans - they were always nice, chatty and interested.</p>
<p>On the food note - Is there some stereotype about British food being disgusting or something? Haggis and black pudding are the two usually trotted out, but they’re mainly Scottish (and are absolutely delicious incidentally - I’ve currently got a haggis in my freezer :)) There’s plenty of italian, indian, chinese, etc. restaurants around usually, and in London there would be a huge choice. Do remember that in Britain fries=chips and chips=crisps :D</p>
<p>We used <a href=“http://www.gotoday.com%5B/url%5D”>www.gotoday.com</a> and got great rates (about four years ago) for the Thistle Kensington Gardens. Flew over on Virgin Airlines (for much less than a VA trip would have cost) and spent about $2800 for nine days/eight nights for H, D, and myself (including airfare, taxes, and free breakfast each morning). Requested and received a room high above the trees facing Hyde Park. Hotel was well situated because it was near two Tube stops (helpful when one line is experiencing problems).</p>
<p>We did not rent a car but took the train/bus up to Stratford-on-Avon (Royal Shakespeare Company) and Greenwich. Good and inexpensive restaurants that we found included The Stockpot near Piccadilly Circus–three-course prix fixe for L6.40 (can’t do a pound sign)–and the Wagamama noodle chain. Ye Olde Cheddar Cheese is nice and fun for a bit of historical value. Even more of a culture shock were the movie theatres where you can reserve a specific seat–they’re also much wider and less deep than American theatres (also more expensive). We saw “Johnny English” with Rowan Atkinson.</p>
where’s that Myers-Briggs indicator string … short notice is spending late February planning a trip planned for mid April? … he, he … that is what the 6 hour flight to London was designed for!</p>
<p>(PS - London (and England) is a terrific place to visit … have a ball!)</p>
<p>INFP here. Actually with a family of four in Europe it is short notice since there are a dearth of hotels that allow 4 to a room. I read a funny post on tripadvisor today about that - someone said imagine your whole family in your master bedroom suite for a week and that will give you a good idea of what it’s like. I’ve got several hotels booked and some apartment rentals in the works so I’ve got it covered. I even ventured on to Priceline for a bid but didn’t land one- trying to get two rooms in a five star in Kensington for $100 each. I’ll be sleeping on our 8 1/2 hour flight I hope.</p>
<p>I think Tripadvisor is the CollegeConfidential of travel - I just discovered their forums last week and am just reading for now - amazing information.</p>
<p>Has anyone seen Avenue Q? It’s one of the shows playing in London. My son sent me a couple songs this morning. “I want to go back to college” should be the theme song for the Parents Forum - it is hilarious.</p>
<p>liz, I’ve seen Avenue Q a couple of times in NYC and it’s a great show. Granted I did see it with John Tartaglia who was part of the original cast, and Barrett Foa, who replaced him. Both were excellent and I have no idea who will be cast in the London run so can’t comment that way. It’s a unique show in that the ability to handle puppets is not a common talent, one which John had for many years prior to being cast, and one which Barrett had also studied and understudied so I’m hoping that they cast someone who has that talent in London as well. But yes, I’d highly recommend the show! It’s funny, poignant, risque, and unique, all ingredients which make for a good musical. Having said all that, if I were going to see one show in London, though, I’d be much more likely to recommend Billy Elliot than Avenue Q.</p>
However, we often would hear tourists at tables nearby complaining about how it was different than at home! We tried to find small, non-chain, restaurants and pubs and the food was excellent. One of our favorite spots was a little place we went for breakfast everyday which was run by a Greek family. The best scrambled eggs I’ve ever had and it was served ON toast, not WITH, which was fun. Another of our favorites was a small fish and chip place near the British Museum where we had the specialty with mushy peas, SO good! We also found a lovely little Italian spot near the Piccadilly Theatre where we had dinner two or three nights. We ate very well while we were in London, I think the old stereotype about British food is very exaggerated.</p>