London Vacation | Imamother

amother

Floralwhite

Thu, May 19 2016, 5:00 am

What are the pros and cons of staying in a hotel in Golders Green vs a hotel in the West End near Western Marble Arch Shul for during the week? I was never in London before. Also do you have any good day trip ideas where to go.

Mrs Bissli

Thu, May 19 2016, 3:49 pm

GG
Pro : kosher foods and restaurants, if relevant many choice of miniyanim, less expensive to stay.
Con: to be honest they are better called B&Bs rather than proper hotels, they mostly old with tiny rooms (except for the Pillar in Hendon).takes 30-45 min one way to get to most destinations, hard to come back during the day for a quick rest, zone 3 so costs more to travel.

There are other choices aside from Marbled Arch (which certainly is central but turns into Little Lebanon or Little Riyad during summer ) if you want to be near a synagogue. St John's Wood is quite central and near Baker Street and Regents Park, direct bus to GG. Also many more hotels nearly Central Synagogue or Bevis Marks both in central London. choose a place with direct access to Northern Line Edgware Branch so you can get to GG easily.

amother

Floralwhite

Sat, May 21 2016, 9:54 pm

Mrs Bissli wrote:

I found several hotels near Bevis Marks shul. I'm going during the week? Is it safe there? How convenient is it for touring?

amother

Seafoam

Sun, May 22 2016, 12:00 am

I need ideas of Itinerary for london trip;
I have 3 days to fill, a bunch of adults and a few teenagers
not intrested in lego land
have in plan:
changin of the guards, ride on thames river, london Eye and Imax,
anything else really interesting? We don't want to travel far out, and are being based in stamford hill and golders green.

Mrs Bissli

Wed, May 25 2016, 4:54 pm

amother wrote:

I found several hotels near Bevis Marks shul. I'm going during the week? Is it safe there? How convenient is it for touring?

Bevis Marks is right in the middle of the City (office and financial district ) in central London. It is certainly safe but does get quiet in the evenings. Quite convenient to attraction. The synagogue (don't call it shul, rather its esnoga if you must!) has weekday and shabbat miniyanim and it's the oldest synagogue in UK. Nearby Liverpool Street Station has a statue commemorating kindertransport. There are walking tours including ones on Jewish East end.

Mrs Bissli

Wed, May 25 2016, 5:11 pm

amother wrote:

To be honest, it's hard to recommend not knowing what teenagers are interested in but here are my guesses. Definitely Tower of London as well as Greenwich Observatory and Cuttysark (old teaclipper turned museum), many walking tours from London Walk company, British Museum, Royal Academy of Arts esp during summer exhibition, the Globe theatre, if visiting over the summer a part of Buckingham Palace is open to public. You can't go inside but a good look of House of Parliament and Big Ben. Covent Garden, Cabinet War room. Harrods. Victoria and Albert Museum, proms concert in summer, Regents Park rose garden. Just outside of London, I recommend Hampton Court Palace. Bletchley Park (where they broke Enigma code), Harry Potter world in Watford.

Buy tickets online in advance (London Eye, imax, tower of london). Museums are free.