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Author Topic: Travel Advice - London & Netherlands  (Read 777 times)

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Offline Foxtale

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Travel Advice - London & Netherlands
« on: April 26, 2017, 01:00:28 PM »
I would love to hear tips from natives and tourists alike!

I will be going to London for the weekend (and Monday) and then heading to the Netherlands. My hotel is Amsterdam but I want to travel all over outside of that because i have a few days. :D

I am a very paranoid person so I want to know where is safe and not safe to go. What public transportation is best/safest. Etc.

Also looking for must sees or must dos :D

Any pony shopping or other shopping advice?

Food? (I love things you cant get anywhere else).

I would love to go to a Boot Sale but don't have a car. Anything I can do. Any flea markets or the like on Sundays or Saturdays in London?

Any and all advice to a nerdy collector that loves food is appreciated.

Thanks all <3 <3
~Foxtale~

Online Taffeta

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Re: Travel Advice - London & Netherlands
« Reply #1 on: April 26, 2017, 08:56:33 PM »
Hey :)
I just got back to London. It's cold and cloudy and sometimes wet here at the moment. This is typical because this weekend is a Bank Holiday weekend.

That is possibly good news for you if you want to do carboot sales and such, because there are some that only run on bank holidays. I know an amazing bank holiday carboot that is probably running this weekend/monday, weather permitting, but getting to it requires getting up very early, getting a train and then walking for 15 minutes.

It depends where in the city you are staying, though, as to how easily you can get to a carboot sale. There are some in the city on a Sunday which run every week regardless of the weather. I have two that I go to on and off, both of which can be reached by bus or possibly tube but it depends where you are coming from. If you want to PM me I can try and give you more details about those. You don't need a car to get to them. In fact, in central London, having a car is a hindrance, not a help.

London transport tips:

There are two types of Oyster Card (travel card) you can get here. One is unlimited travel over a short period, the other is pay as you go. You can probably get this at the airport, but I am not 100%. Big rail stations also carry them. I don't know if you are coming into Heathrow or Gatwick (I'm assuming one of those).

Heathrow to central London - there's the Heathrow express (Most expensive option, also quickest, 15 mins) which is a direct train into Paddington Station in the (sort of) centre of London.
THere are also local trains that run the same route with a few more stops so takes a bit longer but costs a bit less. You can get tickets for both of the above at the airport.
Thirdly there is the tube (the underground/subway). I did this yesterday from Heathrow home and the train was packed, because they had an issue, but most of the time it works. The only thing you have to look out for with the tube is that on weekends sometimes they suspend part of the service for maintenance. The line that runs from Heathrow (all terminals) is the Piccadilly Line (dark blue) and it goes right through the middle of London - Leicester Square, Piccadilly, Covent Garden, etc, to King's Cross/St Pancras and then beyond. You can change lines at some stops along the way. That is probably the cheapest route but it can take 45mins to an hour depending on your destination.

Gatwick is further out - there are trains (Gatwick Express is the quickest and most expensive, about 40 minutes though?) and Southern Rail run local services that stop more and so take longer but are cheaper. There are no tubes from Gatwick.

There may also be buses from the airport.I don't know about these.

Is the tube safe? As safe as any transport anywhere in Europe can claim to be at the current time. If you are travelling at rush hour, it's not the friendliest of services. But the tubes do operate a good part of London, especially in Zone 1. If you are using the tube, try and get in the front or the last carriage. Avoid the middle carriages, at busy times you will get squashed.

I personally prefer the buses, though, because they are cheaper, and they go to more places. They do take a little longer in some cases, but you get to see the city as well, which you don't get with the tube. There are a lot of London buses, some run up to every 3 minutes, and most are doubledecker buses. Again, which buses are most useful to you will depend on where you are staying.

Touristy sites - depends somewhat on the weather, for example the parks are pretty but if it rains, they're not so pleasant to visit! I haven't been a tourist in London for a long time, but some options include:
Tower of London (possible in rain or shine) - tube to Tower Hill, or bus.
Westminster (very busy at this time of year. This is the area where there was the recent attack, but it is a very busy place for tourists and (touch wood) that is the first time something like that has happened there. Tube to Westminster or bus...
Museums - British Museum (Tube: Russell Square, Bus: British Museum, route 10). Natural History Museum and V&A Museums - (Tube - South Kensington. Can't remember which bus route off the top of my head)
Trafalgar Square (tube to Charing Cross, or bus - I know routes 91 and 29 go there, there's another one that also goes through Westminster but I can't remember it right now)
There's also Harrods (Tube to Knightsbridge) or Hamleys (Tube to Piccadilly I guess, buses stop right outside it though). Hamleys is a toy store worth visiting, though very expensive to buy!

I am sure I have forgotten lots of stuff, I've been in Japan for three months and like I said, I haven't been a tourist here for ages xD.

Pony shopping - if you want newer pony stuff, I would advise you to avoid any shops in central London whatsoever. It does depend on your location, but stores like Smyths and the Entertainer are not right in the heart of the tourist area. There is a very odd TRU at Queensway, but it is odd, so. Entertainer has a branch in Shepherd's Bush (tube/bus will get you there, bus will take a long time though) and one in Stratford (both in Westfields shopping centres I think). In terms of Smyths, the other best place in my experience - those are out of the city and you'd need to get a bus to the wider zones to reach one. I only know of the one near me, and I live in zone 2, and it's a 45 minute trip for me...so keep that in mind.

Second hand pony stuff - aside the carboot sales, very rarely, I've never seen any G1 stuff here.

Food...I don't do restaurants, so can't help you there. :)
« Last Edit: April 26, 2017, 08:59:19 PM by Taffeta »
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Offline Foxtale

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Re: Travel Advice - London & Netherlands
« Reply #2 on: April 27, 2017, 06:30:16 AM »
*hugs*  Thank you Taffeta this is extremely helpful!!!  Also welcome back from Japan (I love Japan lol).

I am going to add all this stuff to my list. I also realized my original post is misleading as I will be in London in June... but just for a long weekend. XD

It appears the hotel my friend booked is close to the river in between the City of London and Temple.

Reading this  also makes me feel a lot better. Being across the pond sometimes you don't hear the whole story and paranoia gets you. My friends keep sending me articles about excessive crimes against women and other such attacks and it was starting to really get to me. >.< 

Now I'm excited again. :D
~Foxtale~

Offline Barnacle_lady

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Re: Travel Advice - London & Netherlands
« Reply #3 on: April 27, 2017, 07:16:00 AM »
I can help you on the Amsterdam part because I live over here. I assume that Amsterdam after London is also in June?
Foodwise we have almost every kitchen in the area near the central station. And for every budget. Public transport is very good over here, almost 24 hours a day to move around town.
Ponyshopping over here sucks because its way expensive and behind on current releases. But you might want to check out Claires and Primark. They don't sell ponies but have merch. Primark has the g1 retro things you read in the corral topics. In weekends there is a chance for flea markets.
As for sight seeing it depends what you like. A canal tour is nice to see. You can take the train to other cities. And there are events with the summer season coming.

Offline Foxtale

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Re: Travel Advice - London & Netherlands
« Reply #4 on: May 01, 2017, 12:55:59 PM »
Thank you Barnacle_Lady! That is very helpful as well. :D

Yes, Amsterdam will also be in June.  I will be there on a Saturday so any markets (like flea market recommendations would be great)

Any recommendations in terms of taking the train or other public transportation advice?
~Foxtale~

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Re: Travel Advice - London & Netherlands
« Reply #5 on: May 09, 2017, 01:04:33 PM »
*hugs*  Thank you Taffeta this is extremely helpful!!!  Also welcome back from Japan (I love Japan lol).

I am going to add all this stuff to my list. I also realized my original post is misleading as I will be in London in June... but just for a long weekend. XD

Glad it was helpful! LOL and if it's June, then you have even more time to plan and work things out. Weekend carboot sales on Saturdays and Sundays go on all year round. I would suggest doing a google search for London carboot sales in zone 1. The City has a lot of bus services and a pretty good tube connection so you can get to most places from there. St Paul's Cathedral is also there. I admit, I refuse to go in St Paul's because it costs a lot of money and I consider it a 'new' cathedral because it was rebuilt after the fire in the 16th century (I'm a mediaevalist) but it is really popular with visitors. There's also a couple of museums around there and Fleet Street and Chancery Lane are quite pretty, some old buildings.

There's also Oxford Street for shopping but on a weekend in the summery months it is very very busy. And that is probably an understatement.

I think London is as safe as any big city is in the modern world. I also don't know what articles your friends have been sending you, but I don't know of anything of that nature happening anywhere in the UK. I know that there were some orchestrated terror attacks against women in some of Europe a year or more ago but that was not the UK. There *is* a terror alert here, because it's Europe and because it's London, and that's par for the course. But I think so long as you are sensible in what you do and where you go, it's as safe as anywhere else. I would say if there's something you wouldn't do in your own city back home in terms of personal safety, probably don't do it in London, and you'll be fine.

I know one US TV channel reported a bunch of scaremongering stories about the UK and cities here being uncontrollable terror hotbeds a while back, but they ultimately were forced to apologise because it was entirely debunked by people here. One of the cities they cited for this is my city of birth and I travel through it regularly. My 94 year old great aunt also lives there, and I think she would have noticed! Basically it seemed like they wanted US travellers to be afraid to come to Europe for whatever reason. There's no more risk or less risk here of violence or terrorism as there is in the US at present, and that is everywhere, because that is the world we unfortunately currently live in.

In any case, if you want the carboot sale details, drop me a PM and I'll let you know :)
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Re: Travel Advice - London & Netherlands
« Reply #6 on: May 11, 2017, 10:22:27 AM »
Ah topic found again.
If you go the 1st weekend of June there is a huge fleamarket in Amsterdam which I might attend too. And there is a free food truck festival in a park(Oosterpark).
Traveling in Amsterdam itself is mostly made by tram or bus. We also have a subway if you go out of the city center. As I said to other cities you take the train. It's a small country :)
Maybe there are fleamarkets is other places because its a "long weekend".

 

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