8 hours in London

[john_valjean]

<p>Hello, looking for some advice, I am landing in Heathrow at 7:30AM, and I will have until 4/5PM. Can someone give me some tips on where to go to take some pictures, I am taking my camera with me on this trip and I don't mind walking around and taking some shots. Thanks ...</p>

[Spearhead]

<p>Depends on what you want to shoot, what day it is. I would count on at least two hours from landing until you hit the city, given immigration, navigating the airport and taking the train in. That's been my experience over numerous trips. You should also be aware that the tube seems to have constant shutdowns and plan to leave some time in your return plans. Tell us what you want to shoot and we can help you figure out where to go.</p>

[john_valjean]

<p>thanks Jeff for the quick reply. I have only been to London once long time ago. So what I like to see is the major landmarks like the Big Ben etc. I don't have time to spend inside the museums or indoors, so I like to walk the streets and look for historical buildings monuments etc. By the way, what train should I take from Heathrow to downtown. Also I am renting a car, but I figured to leave it at airport until I am ready to leave London, I can take the train back. My final destination is Sunderland, so I figured I would drive by 4/5PM and spend My Monday in London.</p>

[Spearhead]

<p>You sure don't want to drive in London. There's a train from the airport that takes you into the city, it's right there at the airport. If you're into the big landmarks, I would go to Westminster Abbey and spend some time inside. I know you said you wanted to walk around, but I thought it was the most interesting tourist site in London. Also, Fleet Street is pretty interesting. There's the whole palace thing, but I thought it was not nearly as interesting as the churches. The river, the bridges, those are photo choices too.</p>

[michaelging]

<p>The Heathrow express will take you from the airport to Paddington station in about a 1/2 hour. If you wanted to see quite a bit from the street, take the tube to the Marble arch station and go out and get on of of the Red site seeing buses that leave and return to marble arch. They will take you all over the best parts of the city, you can get off or get on at any stop. When you buy the Heathrow express ticket, get it return and you will save a few bucks. Leave yourself plenty of time to get back to the airport, it can take a while to get though customs and security on your outbound flight. The tours will drive you by all the famous places, Tower of london, London Eye, Westminster, houses of parlement , Tower bridge, west bank. You will not have a lot of time, but you will get a flavor of the city. </p>

[Spearhead]

<p>I don't know how you can get the flavor of any city (OK, maybe Toledo Ohio) in the four hours that he will end up with. I even think the tourist bus won't be that good, I'd pick one part of the city and see it in detail.</p>

[Gup]

<p>Two weeks ago I was faced with something similar. I had five hours to walk a circle of London from Waterloo station. I was able to cross the river at the Eye, proceed past Big Ben and the Parliament Buildings, Westminster Abbey, into St. James Park, up to Buckingham Palace, back up The Mall, through the Arch, to Trafalgar Square and St. Paul's Cathedral, then a half hour at a good pace to Tower Hill, all around the Tower of London, over the Tower Bridge and back to Waterloo with a quick trip onto London Bridge for a couple of shots up and down the river. I made it back to Waterloo with 10 minutes to spare. Keep in mind that you can hop on the tube and then back off again very easily if needed. I had the added enjoyment of 3" of wet snow and slush that had fallen the night before! I can't wait to do it again sometime.</p>

 

[david_brown29]

<p>Completely different - but what about going to the Queens Gallery at Buckingham Palace for the Antarctica Pictures from Scots expedition to the South Pole and Shackletons polar expedition. I saw them at Edinburgh and they were really good - lovely prints, some iconic ones you know but seeing the for real is really good. You can book online tickets and for more info click here http://www.royalcollection.org.uk/default.asp?action=article&ID=32</p>

[andrew_gardiner]

<p>London is a big,busy,tiring city as I'm sure you know and the worst thing IMO is trying to do too much is such a short period, it'll just be one big stressful blurr (also you say you are landing at 7.30am, so you're probably on a red eye too and be feeling fairly ropey).<br>

How about seeing just one thing combined with a nice lunch? My advice would be to visit Trafalgar Square ( sights galore!) and then a short walk to SoHo (lively, metropolitan, loads of trendy restaurants) for lunch.<br>

P.S. Its absolutley mad to be renting a car, no one drives to or from Heathrow if they can help it - cancel it and take the train.</p>

[david_henderson]

<p>I think Gup Jeffries' walk represents about the best you can do in terms of major landmarks. You will though need a good street map to make that happen. Some of your walk should follow the riverside walkway that exists along most of both banks of the Thames. Additionally you could squeeze in the Bank of England between St Pauls and the Tower. </p>

<p>You do need to understand though that by the time you've disembarked at LHR, waited for your bags (LHR baggage handling is often downright slow), found your way to the Heathrow Express train, and caught a tube from its terminus at Paddington to your first stop, you can lose up to three hours. <br>

Also if you're driving to Sunderland , bear in mind that the M25 orbital motorway (that you'll need to use to get onto the M1 motorway north) will be busy northbound in the afternoon and whilst its possible to drive from LHR to Sunderland in little over 4 hrs a more realistic expectation including a stop for coffee would be 6 hours. </p>

[aplumpton]

<p>I would think about taking a taxi from Paddington to say Victoria Station, and then walk back with a London street/sites map. Tell the driver that you are a photographer, want to lower the window and shoot during that short ride. Not cheap, probable cost of 12 to 15 pounds with tip, but it will get you to see and photograph lots of street life and architecture (a fast wide angle is probably best as you will want to shoot at higher speeds than 1/125 sec.) from an interesting vantage point facing the sidewalks and buildings (and check places you may want to re-visit on the way back on foot) as he makes his way between the two stations. I wouldn't worry about the big tourist sites (everybody photographs them, ho-hum) if you simply want to get the pulse and essence of the town, and of its citizens. Don't forget to request/get a shot of the cabby in his black tank, with the bustling world behind him. I spent four years there and love the place.</p>

[colin carron]

<p>I agree with Gup and David about the London walk.</p>

<p>As for Sunderland remember that north up the coast is Northumbria with superb coastline, fishing villages and more castles thatn you can shake a stick at. For me Dunstanburgh Castle is the best located for drama and Alnwick (pronounced 'Annick') for history. If you like wildlife don't miss the seabirds on the Farne Islands.</p>

[john_valjean]

<p>HI guys and thanks for all your inputs they really helped.<br>

I did take the trip and I like to share with you what I did, hopefully it will help someone else planning such an adventure. Please remember what I will say is from a pure personal perspective and it is not meant to offend anyone.<br>

London is an awesome city and there are so many things to see and do, I was really impressed, but it was also very expensive even compared to the European standards.<br>

OK so here my timeline:<br>

* landed at 6:45 and cleared the customs by 7:30 (yes it takes a while to clear the customs due to the long line). I did not have any bags to claim, I only had carry on.<br>

* put my luggage at a storage place in the terminal. the cost was about 10 pounds for the whole day.<br>

* Talked to the transportation/information desk and I was advised to take the tube instead of the train, since both ladies said at the end the time will be the same. Big mistake, I bought an all day pass cost about 18 pounds (it would have been cheaper if I ordered after 9 or 10AM). The train stopped at a million places and it was packed since everyone was heading to work. it took me about an hour and fifteen minutes to get to Picaddeli Circus.<br>

* I started with the Picaddeli square, I was so disapointed because I though I was in chicago or new york with all the american stores around.<br>

* I walked to Trafalgar Sq spend about 20 min or so, did not go into the gallery. continued on Strand street all the way to St Paul. In the way I stopped at multiple monuments and buildings etc, one of them was the court of justice.<br>

* next I went inside the St Paul and spent about 30 min or so, the most upstairs was closed but I was able to go up to the middle circle floor, the grotto etc<br>

* next I headed toward the Tower of London and along the way I stopped by the monument tower and multiple buildings etc.<br>

* got to the London bridge and walked around, then visited the bridge (it was a long walk), I did not go to the top. Then I went in the subway and took it to Westminster station.<br>

* got out and saw the victoria tower, parliament, etc, I kept walking next to the parliament to the other end.<br>

* next I went to the park and the mall, took it all the way to the arch, then headed back from the other side to the Palace. Walked around the palace, then went back to Victoria Station.<br>

* by now it was already 3:15PM so I headed back to the airport got my car and drove to Birmingham.<br>

couple of notes: I ate mostly while walking I bought a sandwish and chocolate bars. There was construction everywhere, some squares were ropped off or the building covered with plastic. again Leicester could not be toured due to this. Some streets were roped off so you had to make detours. Red buses all over the place and hinder you from taking clean shots. All in all I took probably around 400 pictures total. I can post in Picasa and provide a link but I am not sure if this is allowed on this site.<br>

Again thanks all for your help. Next time I go to London, I will section it off, meaning since now I have seen the global overview, next time I will pick a section and stick with it.</p>