Opportunity of a lifetime!

[madkat2618]

DH was selected to go to the UK to do an exchange with the British Army. He is teaching at one of their Infantry Training Schools. He left January 2nd, and his course goes until the end of February. His official date to come home is March 9.
Because of the length of this tour, the Canadian military will pay my airfare to travel to London. The end of the course coincides with the kid's March break. We have decided to take out some (more like half!) of our retirement savings, and fly the kids over with me. So, it looks like we are going to London in March!!
I can't even begin to tell how excited I am to be doing this. I have never been overseas, although I have wanted to for as long as I can remember! Every other time DH has been in Europe, I haven't been able to take advantage of the free airfare, either because of the timing, or the kids were just too small. This time they're older, and they will only miss a couple of days of school.
I have been feeling bad about taking out of our retirement, but this just seemed like too good of an opportunity to pass up! Who knows when something like this will come up again. I have been doing a lot of research on the internet, and have realized that London is very, very expensive!
Would you have done the same?

[Englishlady]

Tracy,
Buy yourself a money belt.............Sadly London is full of Eastern Europeans criminals who are pick-pocketing/mugging even in broad daylight in Oxford street

I am NOT trying to scare you, rather to suggest that you take enough precautions to ensure that you don't end up a victim.

It's like New york was before they got Zero Tolerance, but to be fair they ARE trying and there are often quite a few police about in Oxford street.

London had bad rep these days and they DO rip off gullible tourists
Avoid taking taxi's and take train/tube and bus where possible it will give you the "everyday people's" experience and North American accent is very vulnerable............( in a taxi)
Prepare for the worst, but hope for the best!

If you do go down Oxford Street check out "John Lewis's" dept store its my favourite store and we don't have one where I live so we only get to go once or twice a year! Classy stuff!

One thing I DO know is the Madam T waxworks always has LONG que's so you might want to go about 90 mins before they close? ( most people tend to try and go early morning or just after lunch.)
Eating in London is VERY, VERY expensive

But you could save a little money by buying a sandwich and drink from a Tesco Metro/Boot's store and eating al fresco ( weather permitting )
Pubs often do reasonable bar snacks & meals and will accomodate children early in the evening. & lunchtimes.............this would cost a LOT less than a restaurant.

Witherspoons is a good chain of Pubs they do very good priced bar meals and have a "No smoking area", and they don't have noisy juke boxes and stuff so you can hear yourself think!

I would check them out for sure it would save you a bundle and if it rains you could have lunch there too.
Credit cards & Debit cards are ALL chip and pin from 14 fFebruary so you would need to know your 4 digit pin number to use it in a store.( after 14 the February signatures won't be allowed!)
I am sure I will think of other stuff but feel free to PM me if you want any more info.

[homesteadmamma]

Have a nice trip.

[Michele Annette]

Sounds awesome!! Have a great time!

[FrugalMomof3]

Have a fun and safe trip!

[leeleeaub]

Have fun and be careful. I did enough traveling with my husbands work to not want to travel anywhere for a VERY long time lol

[canadian gardener]

Tracy I'd do the same as you in a heartbeat!

[Emerald_Mommy]

Have a great time! I'd definitely go if such an opportunity presented itself.

[madkat2618]

I'm glad to hear others would do this too!
I'm getting so excited! We got our passports in the mail the other day--I've never had one before.

I booked our hotel online, it's one of the less expensive ones we found, but it has a bathroom in the room, which is a bonus!

Englishlady, it's on Argyle St., by King's Cross Station. DH heard that wasn't a very good part of town--should we be worried??

I also bought what is called a 'London Pass' which gets us admission into many different attractions, as well as pays for all our transportation on the buses, trains, and subways. I'm thinking that will pay for itself in no time.

We've been making a list of 'must see' attractions, and trying to group them together, so that we make optimal use of our time.

As well, I just found out that my cousin and her husband from Winnipeg are flying to London the day after me. I'm hoping that we'll be able to get together with them at least once while we're there.

[Vannie]

Originally posted by canadian gardener
Tracy I'd do the same as you in a heartbeat!

Enjoy, with no regrets.

[Englishlady]

Tracy,
I think Kings Cross is not as bad as it used to be,( there is a lot of regeneration and building going on arund there supposedly) but if I were staying at a hotel around there, I would be thinking of getting back to the hotel no later than 7.30 8pm ish.

There are bound to be "unsavoury" people around the stations, but I don't think this will be a problem until the "working masses" have left the area for the evening.

I wear a money belt in ANY big city(including my own) and I would suggest you do too.
All the tourist areas are prime targets for pick pockets etc.
Wear your handbag ACROSS and IN FRONT of your body and if any of you use a backpack outside at any time do NOT ever have anything in it you would be upset about having nicked!
So that's no music thingys/cell phones/wallets ?passports etc.

I don't want you to think it is very scary, I just want you to realise that there are a lot of Eastern European gangs of pick pockets and such who have truly found the streets of London paved with gold .
If you take precautions with your stuff before hand, you should be fine, really!

Something I forgot to mention was that to reduce the cost of eating out which is mega expensive in London

You could eat lunch /breakfast at any of the Deptartment stores Restaurants/Cafe they are not too bad price wise.

Tip: mealtimes to beat the crowds-London is NEVER quiet!) breakfast not really a problem, Morning coffee well you would want to get a seat about 10.30 am
Lunch: to beat the crowds sit down at your chosen venue no later than 11.45 ( to beat the office workers ) OR look to eat lunch AFTER about 1.30pm ( when the office workers are thinking about going back to work). ( lunch times generally for the workers are either 12-1pm or 1-2pm)
Evenings, I still think to save money ( and soak up a bit of the atmostphere) you should try and find a Witherspoons pub....or failing that look for pubs that do meals, you will get genuine English pub grub and you will find it amusing to listen to the voices around you
One thing I would ask is that you don't judge England by London! it is in a catagory of it's own!

If you are willing to take a trip on a train you can go from Kings Cross Station to YORK ( about 2 hours by train) it is a whole world away from London and it a wonderful place to visit! I hope to post some pics of it very soon so keep an eye out for that!

Its a very old place with Roman Walls and cobbled streets and more old churches than you can shake a stick at! ( average age of churches 8-900 years old )
back to London................
If you get lost, I would be inclined to go to the nearest shop and ask an assistant ( they live in and around London and that way you are only identifying yourself as a tourist to someone who is safe).
As I said I am really just trying to instil into you the notion that whilst you shouldn't be scared you SHOULD be wary and alert.

Good idea about grouping things together, that will save you time, energy and money
If you need the toilet, please go into any dept store and use their free facilities.............public toilets ( unless an emergency) often cost 20pence each! ( hang on to any 20 pences you come across just in case).
Always use the toilet when you have had a meal/coffee etc.
If you can't find a toilet please ask, but call it a toilet not a restroom!
As a seasoned traveller, may I make a suggestion?
make a list of what you want to see in order of prority!
This way you and your family can see the things that you decide are "must sees" and then move on to the "would like to see's"
then you can finish off with the "would-like-to-see-if-we-have-the-time stuff"

The red London bus tour ( I am sure there are loads of them) whilst not cheap, will give you some idea of where things are and you might find that the things you thought you wanted to see are not really that impressive!
Have a great time and I do hope you will condsider a trip away from London to see a bit of England ( you will be staying at the hub of the trains right there at Kings cross )

London is good for a few days but it really isn't any kind of representation of England as a whole...........I am sure that rings true for most countries.

I suggest you photocopy your passport front and back ( your photo's and the personal details) take them with you but keep them seperate from the actual passport, it will be a huge help if the worst happens.)

If you feel I can help with any more ideas/suggestions feel free to pm me

[Katybird]

Have a great time. It sounds like a wonderful time.

[Dixie]

How exciting! I hope you and your family have a wonderful time. Of course, we'll want to see pics!

[Scattymum]

Have a fantastic Time!
Karen had some great tips! , My SIL lives in London and we visit quite often. I lived there myself for quite a few years.

The bus tour is a great idea and you can hop on and off as you want.

If you look around there are lots of free activities, watching the changing of the guards at Buckingham palace is fun, Covent Garden has lots of street entertainers but be careful with your possesions while you watch them!!

you could check out the London eye while you are there, we went on it during the summer and it was amazing! .

When going on the tube buy a pass so you can use it as many times as you want during the day ( can also use it on the buses too) - it can work out expensive if you pay for each separate journey!
Have a fantastic time!

[Scattymum]

It might be an idea to buy an A-Z ( map) while you are there, they are pretty cheap and are a great help if you decide to walk around, I find when you walk around you get to see an awful lot that you would miss if you go on the tube.