South bank around Tower bridge / London bridge is an interesting place to wander around. Design Musuem, HMS Belfast, Borough High Street (great old coaching inns), Borough market, Southwark cathedral, Tate Modern - all in walking distance of each other. It just south of the City, historic centre of London. Lots of the streets have really old names, indicative of what used to go on there. If the tide is out you can get down to the river shore in places and go mudlarking (Thames equivalent of beach combing). I found an old clay pipe down there one time. If you want to get out of London on day trips - Oxford, Cambridge and Bath are all historic cities. Bath has a lot of Roman stuff. If you like the sea, Brighton is interesting. Has the Pavilion (sort of royal folly), and The Lanes are good for junk/antiques. All of these are within 1-2 hour train ride. Prices will vary but are usually cheaper if you book in advance and don't travel at rush hour.
At least neither was from Cygan. Double shots! There are a couple bars/cafes in London with spectacular views. One at the top of the Tate Modern, overlooking the river and St. Paul's, the other at the top of Waterstone's book store on Piccadilly overlooking the city.
I did the Musuem but not the Cutty Sark. The Museum had two highlights--the 'Longitude Clocks' which were built in the 1700s (read the book--amazing) and the model ship collection, which was kind of neat.
Oh so many things to do...where to start. 1) London Eye. It's one of the few tourist attractions that attracts just as many locals as tourist, I think. You get a great view, but not for those afraid of heights. Along with that, I'd recommend and evening walk on the Thames. Start at Big Ben, over to the Eye, down to the Diana Bridges at Charring Cross. You'll get a good view of St. Pauls. 2) Just past Harrods is a street called Beauchamp place (about two blocks away).This is a great little street of stores and restaurants for the locals in Knightsbridge. There is a great pizza place there (downstairs) called Ginos or Pizza Pomedero or something, and there is an excellent Lebanese place down the end of the street (eat at the bar, save a few bucks). 3) See a lower division game. I like QPR and attend matches at Loftus Road whenever I can, but you can also go to West Ham, Millwall, Leyton Orient, Brentford, Crystal Palace, etc. Kind of neat to get out to other places. 4) Get out of London. Every hour--express train to Cambridge from Platform 9 (not 3/4) at Kings Cross (goes past Highbury too). Take the Oxford Tube (bus) from Hyde Park to Oxford, also every hour, about an hour ride. Bath is nice too. If doing Bath, I'd recommend a rental car. Hit Bath and Stonehenge and Oxford all in one shebang. 5) Tube Museum, Imperial War, Maritime Museum--good guy museums. I also once went down to Portsmouth to see the HMS Victory, which was kind of neat. 6) Notting Hill, Camden, Grenwich markets. All kind of neat. If off to Grenwich and the Observatory, take a boat down the river. Kind of fun. 7) Hotels--LASTMINUTE.COM. They are contractually the lowest price for many major hotels, even lower than that which the hotel can offer. I was renting hotels as often as every three weeks awhile back and that was the place that always saved me money. Related to this: tripadvisor.com. AWESOME reviews of hotels from real people, not corporate shill-type travel advisors.
I went to Loftus Road a few years ago when Fulham were temporarily playing there and it was a great experience-I'm sure it's much of the same for a QPR game. I also went to the New Den for Millwall-Palace and it was another great experience. I made the mistake of taking the tube to the game though and you have to go through some shady neighboorhoods to get to the ground If you're going to Millwall take the train to the South Bermondsey station. Both amazing experiences.
This would be a good thread to move to the tickets and travel sub forum. Lots of good advice in here.
I've got a hotel review and some trip reports at tripadvisor, as well. Same name. I enjoyed all the museums, Victoria and Albert in particular. Cabinet War Rooms is worth the price of admission (also has the Churchill Museum).
Besides Arsenal, What to do in London? Women Thats a pretty obvious joke - i hope nobody mentioned it earlier in the thread.
Well then don't let Rick choose the spot, or you'll end up in a gay bar. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Tuesday, Feb. 6th, the night before the second leg of the Champions League at the Grove, The Rifles are playing at the Astoria. They're a young, up and coming band, reminiscent of The Jam. I'm going and I heartily recommend them. http://www.therifles.co.uk/
The Astoria is a great venue. Been there so many times when I was a teenager. It's a pretty simple venue but its one of the best one of its size. Not a huge fan of Brixton Academy.