{"id":6117,"date":"2017-08-26T05:09:22","date_gmt":"2017-08-26T09:09:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hiddenmesa.com\/?p=6117"},"modified":"2020-05-17T07:01:56","modified_gmt":"2020-05-17T11:01:56","slug":"visiting-london","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hiddenmesa.com\/index.php\/visiting-london\/","title":{"rendered":"Visiting London"},"content":{"rendered":"

We’ve spent the last few days wandering around London, playing American Tourist. For us that means seeking out the Starbucks stores\u2014of which there are many\u2014watching the Changing of the Guards, hanging with the street performers at Trafalgar Square, and so on. Mostly for us, we’ve just been staring at the buildings. Weather has been excellent this trip, so it was a good time to be outside.<\/p>\n

London is a busy place. There’s traffic and pedestrians in nearly every square inch of its surface, except possibly the parks, and everything seems to be precisely choreographed and timed. Apparently they are used to foreigners visiting their city because many of the streets even have signs on the pavement telling you which way to look before crossing the street. We found that, like most big cities, ignoring the pedestrian traffic signals could put you in serious peril very quickly if you didn’t understand the flow of traffic. While some folks seemed to be able to judge when to cross the streets, we seemed to have better luck just following the rules.<\/p>\n

Since this is our third trip to this vibrant city, we thought we would pass along a few things we’ve learned and observed for those who might be considering a trip to England at some point in the future.<\/p>\n

Seeing London for the First Time<\/h4>\n
\"London<\/a>

The London Eye. The building behind the London Eye holds gift stores, food courts, the Shrek Adventure, and many more. Photo by Bonnie Fink.<\/p><\/div>\n

If you’re seeing London for the first time, you might want to stick to the big tourist items: Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, and so on. You could pick a tour operator that can take you to these places, or you can simply go, using available transportation, at your own leisure. We’ve done it both ways, and had a good time in each case.<\/p>\n

One advantage to using a guided tours is that you don’t need to do your own research to understand what you’re looking at. Also, you have quicker access to places that often require you to stand in line. Windsor Castle comes to mind in particular. You also have access to places out of town, like Stonehenge, or Bath.<\/p>\n

Doing your own thing has its advantages too. First, you can do your own research to know what you’re looking at. This often means simply that you slow down a bit and read the signs along the way. If you’re like us and like to take a lot of pictures, doing your own tour means you can spend as much time as you need to get the shot you want. We’ve actually been left behind by tours because we had a lapse in attention while trying to get a good shot. Doing your own thing also means that you can change plans at your whim. You may plan to ride the London Eye today, but it’s overcast, so you go to the Tower of London instead and save the Eye for another day.<\/p>\n

Moving around London for us Americans is easy. They speak English. They’re polite. They answer questions. Never despair. Moving around this city is easy and we’ve found it to be a pleasant experience.<\/p>\n

Ways to Get Around London<\/h4>\n

The one way to NOT get around London is to rent a car and try to drive yourself. This is a big city, and it has big city traffic. It also has big city lack of parking. In fact, one thing we see a conspicuous lack of while walking around all the tourist parts of London is parking garages. Not one garage. Nowhere.<\/p>\n

There are several effective ways to travel the streets of London:<\/h5>\n

If you’re reasonably fit, walking is the best way. We spend most of our time walking. Of course, one strategy is to walk till you drop then hail a cab to get back to your hotel. We’ve done that a couple of times, but if you’re planning to hit the main tourist attractions centered around Big Ben, for example, walking is very effective. We carried a good mapping app in our phones, complete with a good data package, and used it on more than one occasion to figure out where we were trying to go.<\/p>\n

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