London bound

[Ninot]

Cort, do any of the tubes go to Camden?

edit: does the Camden Town stop cover it pretty well?

[Cort Haus]

Yes, though at weekends during the day Camden Town tube is very busy because of the markets (I didn't mention them) and Chalk Farm station 10 mins walk to the north has to be used to embark. You can get off at Camden Town though. Mornington Crescent is also a few minutes south of CT.

There are buses to Camden every few minutes from Tottenham Court Road at the corner of Oxford Street, by Centre Point tower.

[Ninot]

Any parts of town I should avoid like the plague?

[Cort Haus]

Yeah, south of the river. Well scary down there.

[Cort Haus]

To elaborate - there are a few attractions on the south bank like the London Eye and some museums and galleries, but much further south and you're into the badlands. There are some nice parts of south London - Clapham and Battersea aren't too bad, and some very affluent areas like Blackheath and Dulwich, but for visiting purposes I'd recommend north of the river. Greenwich is one place worth trecking out to - even with the Cutty Sark burning down - there's a good park, an old observatory and a maritime museum.

[DrSpike]

Originally posted by Cort Haus
It depends what you like doing. Camden is good for nightlife and I prefer it to the West End but then I'm biased because I live here. Not that I have much money for nightlife these days, but that's my problem. I'll take you round a few places if you buy me a drink or two. My recommendations are biased towards North London - Molly can doubtless advertise the East for you.

I'd say visit Parliament Square & Trafalgar Square, but if you like walking and architecture then Bloomsbury, where the British Museum is, is worth a stroll round the Georgian squares. Visit the City for St Pauls, London Wall, the Museum of London, and lots of little hidden nooks and crannies down alleyways of ancient streets, and visit Kensington for the Science & Natural History Museums.

The parks are nice - St James's Park in Westminster, Hyde Park in Knightsbridge, and my local - Regent's Park (with London Zoo) between the West End and Camden. Primrose Hill - just north of Regent's Park has a good view, and nearby Primrose Hill 'village' is beatiful to walk around near Chalcot Square. There's a Russian restaurant called Trojka on Regent's Park Road in Primrose Hill that does amazing goulash and also has great live music most weekends.

Upper Street, Islington has lots of pubs and restaurants, and if you like Douglas Adams you should certainly go there. And St Pancras station has a huge neo-gothic frontage - the Midland Grand Hotel, which also starred in a Douglas Adams book.

Hampstead and Highgate, with the Heath between them are good to walk around, and Parliament Hill on Hampstead Heath offers fine views.

Don't go to Buckingham Palace. They need their heads chopping, that lot.

A pretty good list.

But it depends what you are after - there are endless potential tourist attractions here.

[Provost Harrison]

Originally posted by Cort Haus
Yeah, south of the river. Well scary down there.

Ignore him, obviously the man is hydrophobic and won't cross the river

[Dauphin]

He's right though, you do live in south London.

[Cort Haus]

I see now that the Jumbo that died at St Thomas in Canada is the same Jumbo from London Zoo. I didn't realise that when I looked up St Thomas earlier.

So I did know what Jumbo was - but I didn't know where and how he met his tragic end - saving another elephant according to one source.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumbo

[Provost Harrison]

Oh who sodding cares?

[Cort Haus]

Me.

[Solver]

and visit Kensington for the Science & Natural History Museums

The Science Museum deserves about a week alone

[Cort Haus]

Oh I forgot - Tower Bridge and the Tower of London.

[Asher]

The torture museum is fun too. Legend has it they've given DanQ a booth to air polycasts there.

[LordShiva]

Re: London bound

Originally posted by Ninot
I'm going to London and its surrounding areas for the first two weeks of August. I've never been, and I really don't know what is worth seeing.

What are worthwhile tourist attractions and hip happening pubs?

Ministry of Sound

Elysium (Piccadilly Circus)

Purple Night Club (Chelsea)