Planning trip to London this Summer

The Croydon trams are 'in London', in that they are run by Transport for London and part of the London Transport system.

Vicky

But when visitors come to London, Croydon isnt usually on their list of must see- places, regardless of whether it's in Surrey or London.
Reeeeeeally trying to resist the eye-roll here!!

But when visitors come to London, Croydon isnt usually on their list of must see- places, regardless of whether it's in Surrey or London.
Reeeeeeally trying to resist the eye-roll here!!

And God forbid that they should actually look at a map or I don't know, ask the person selling them the ticket or read a guide book rather than relying on off hand comments from complete strangers on an internet forum who may or may not be technically correct. 

And God forbid that they should actually look at a map or I don't know, ask the person selling them the ticket or read a guide book rather than relying on off hand comments from complete strangers on an internet forum who may or may not be technically correct. 

It's quite obvious from my day-to-day observations of tourists in London that a good many of them do not seem to know how to read maps or any other sort of informative literature.

After all, plenty of people come here looking for far more important information that affects their lives, and we've seen how well some of them take it.

After reading through this thread, I get the distinct impression that Gattaca needs to either learn about Google or go to the bookstore and get a book about London/UK.

It's really unclear to me whether the OP wants to come here to see what living is like (as stated early on) or if he wants to just have a month-long vacation. Either way, fair enough, but the recommendations for what to do and how to do it are very different.

Now... Airbus. Airbus is, I think, the world's largest aircraft producer. (If I remember correctly, it swings back and forth between them and Boeing all the time.) Their planes are as good, if not better, than Boeing's. It's a EU multi-national producer and they supply planes to many of the world's airlines. Don't assume because it has the word 'bus' in the name that it's some sort of horrible public transport. Do a Google search, or a Wikipedia search. Stuff like that is easy to find out.

On trains... older is not always better. Older trains don't mean quaint steps back into history. (There are trains like that, but you pay a premium and they take you on a specific journey and the whole point is that they're all classic looking.) Old trains for most lines mean something about 10-20 years old, threadbare seats, broken toilets, odd color schemes, and just a general feeling of overuse.

6 hours from Phoenix to Philly is perfectly normal. It's about 7 from LA to NY. Flights are long. When you have 6+ hour flights that connect, it's usually a relief to have a few hours in between, at least for me.

People might not want to go to Croydon...though God knows anyone who is planning on living here will have to go there eventually...but quite a few tourists do make the trip to leafy Wimbledon, so it is worth knowing how to get around.  And as we still don;t knwo where he is going to be staying it *could* be relevant.  I know a lot about transport in London, so I like to help and give options. 

I also HAVE travelled all the way to south London to play on trams (and to go to football matches)...I doubt I am the only one this sad, so you never know what fellow geek will find my technical knowledge of the tramways interesting.

 

Vicky

I did mean the bus system by the "trolley." Either the doubledeckers or the tram. Vicky, we don't know exactly where we are going to stay yet, and have been talking to quite a few people on gumtree and a couple other sites. We'd like to stay in a moderately "lively" area of London and the place we are most interested in is on Westminster.

Lots of great information so far, thanks a lot everyone! Any recommendations on the distinct 'sub-city' to stay in? Somewhere somewhat centrally located and where we can easily go exploring to the surrounding areas.

jen252 I'm not sure I understand the context of your first paragraph and don't understand why you posted if you think I should just go buy some books and use google. Also, since clearly I am actively involved in this post, talking about me in third person is quite unnecessary. It never ceases to amaze me when people on the internet tell other people on the internet to go somewhere else on the internet, when they themselves are there. I'm the kind of person that will stop and ask somebody for directions just simply for the bonus of personal advice and to talk to another human being. Humans will always be able to provide better advice then a book or machine, they are also a lot more fun to deal with. I did in fact google airbus models and boeing models, finding that the boeing 737 has had several crashes in the past two years. I also looked at google pictures and drew the best conclusion I could. I also posted here, and rightfully so, for you have given me fantastic information. Information that I can take a lot better than a possible bias'd website that would have taken much longer to find. Anyways, thanks for all your input, and I think you've answered your own inner question as to why I am even posting these questions when you responded so informatively and well. And fyi I own several London books that I've been through many times, learning of your "salty paste" advice to meet people in pubs, curry and Indian food... basically lots of information that is neat, but nowhere on the scale of what I'm looking for and have so gratefully gotten here.

As for our reasons to going, they are mainly to get at least a general idea for living there, which is why I definitely want to ride the tube at least a few times.  Of course, it's still going to be a vacation simply for obvious reasons, but it's not as if we are going to be eating out every night and drinking ourselves into a drunken stupor.

I also HAVE travelled all the way to south London to play on trams (and to go to football matches)...I doubt I am the only one this sad, so you never know what fellow geek will find my technical knowledge of the tramways interesting.

 

Vicky

Lol, actually it sounds quite interesting to me. Every day when I drive to my University I check out the construction of our first city tram, looking at the progress and watchnig the engineers stand with a blueprint in their hands while looking around curiously. I always wonder what they're thinking. I can't wait for it to be finished for convenience purposes and for something new.

I did mean the bus system by the "trolley."

Better just stick to saying 'bus' then, if you can.  No one will know what you are talking about if you say 'trolley'.

the place we are most interested in is on Westminster.

A couple of times you have mentioned a place that is 'on Westminster'.   Do you mean *in* Westminster?

learning of your "salty paste" advice to meet people in pubs, curry and Indian food...

salty paste? 

want to ride the tube at least a few times.

If you stay in London for a month, you will use the Tube A LOT!  Unless you are simply trying to avoid it for whatever reason.

it's not as if we are going to be eating out every night and drinking ourselves into a drunken stupor.

Why not?  That's what the rest of us will be doing!!     

Looks like you are doing well with your research!

...and drinking ourselves into a drunken stupor.

No?  But when in Rome...?? 

I don't know what the 'salty paste' thing is all about either - but maybe that's for the best.

Good luck with your travels!  Myself, I can only take London in small doses - it's great but far too crowded for me.  But I do love my LEEDS!

Staying in Westminster is all wel and good, but a) expensive b) unrealistice.  If you actually come and live here at some point, you will not be living there (unless you are very lucky or very wealthy) so why not stay in the 'burbs, and get used to the hour on the tube every day!  It's what most real Londoners have to put up with!

Seriously though, I'd suggest looking at somewhere like Shepherds Bush or Hammersmith, which is close to town by bus or tube, has lots of bars, clubs, venues, and has a lot of people from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, US, who you will be able yo talk to about what life is really like as a foreigner in London.

Vicky

Staying in Westminster is all wel and good, but a) expensive b) unrealistice.  If you actually come and live here at some point, you will not be living there (unless you are very lucky or very wealthy) so why not stay in the 'burbs, and get used to the hour on the tube every day!  It's what most real Londoners have to put up with!

That's what I was thinking - fair enough to visit/stay in the Westminster area while you're on vacation, but in terms of seeing what it's like to live in London, unless you are a celebrity or a very rich businessman, you're not going to be able to afford to live there. House prices in the area are crazy - according to a recent article on the BBC website, a small apartment in the City of Westminster averages $1.3 million, terraced houses (townhouses) go for $3 million and detached (single) houses are around $9 million. Or if you were only wanting to rent an apartment, you'd be looking at maybe around $2000 per month (with some prices slightly lower and many much higher).

It would be like visiting LA to see what it would be like to live there, but staying in Beverly Hills while you're there - it's just not going to give you a realistic view of affordable everyday life.

Lol, actually it sounds quite interesting to me. Every day when I drive to my University I check out the construction of our first city tram, looking at the progress and watchnig the engineers stand with a blueprint in their hands while looking around curiously. I always wonder what they're thinking. I can't wait for it to be finished for convenience purposes and for something new.

Gattaca,
I was curious in which city they are building a new tram system. Your profile is no help
JohnJ

Staying in Westminster is all wel and good, but a) expensive b) unrealistice.  If you actually come and live here at some point, you will not be living there (unless you are very lucky or very wealthy) so why not stay in the 'burbs, and get used to the hour on the tube every day!  It's what most real Londoners have to put up with!

Seriously though, I'd suggest looking at somewhere like Shepherds Bush or Hammersmith, which is close to town by bus or tube, has lots of bars, clubs, venues, and has a lot of people from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, US, who you will be able yo talk to about what life is really like as a foreigner in London.

Vicky

This is some really great input, thanks a lot.

Gattaca,
I was curious in which city they are building a new tram system. Your profile is no help
JohnJ

That would be Phoenix/Tempe, Arizona.

Any other suggestions for sub-cities like Hammersmith and Shepherds Bush? We're finding quite a bit within Shepherd's, but a couple more suggestions of Victoria's nature would be great (i.e. realistic and suburban.) We've bought the plane tickets, we're leaving July 7th and coming back August 7th, was $1140 each, not too bad for the Summer I think.

Also, how exactly does it work when kitchens are shared? Is there a door between each room leading to the kitchen, or is it just usually a larger flat with separate rooms and bathrooms and a kitchen that everyone can access?