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Tags: What Not To Do In / Tourists / London Travel / London / Britain Travel / Lists / London Field Trip / → All Tags

What Not To Do In London: The Top Five Tourist Mistakes

It's easy to make stupid tourist mistakes in London, England; the city is huge and there is tons to see. But if your first language is English and you've ever been to a big city before, you have no excuse for making a few easily-avoided oopsies. We've covered the five absolute worst mistakes, but we know there are a score more.

So without further ado, here is the Jaunted guide of What Not To Do In London: The Top 5 Tourist Mistakes.

Check them out, after the jump.

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Tags: Airport Lounges / Lounges / LHR / Airports / Virgin Atlantic / London Field Trip / Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse / Videos / Travel Videos / → All Tags

Inside the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse at London's Heathrow Airport

You know when you're flying in economy class and you're walking through the terminal clutching your carry-on luggage and a Cinnabon, desperately seeking out a WiFi signal or comfortable seating, when...you pass a pair of sliding doors that briefly open to reveal what looks like a hidden wonderland within the airport? When this happens to us, our heart melts a little in agony that the experience of a first class lounge is so unattainable at that moment—but it wasn't last week, when Virgin Atlantic invited us into the holy grail of airline lounges: their Upper Class Clubhouse at London's Heathrow Airport.

What can we say about the place, except that it made our wildest airport dreams come true? The fact that free WiFi, complimentary Bumble & Bumble salon appointments, a pool table, an outdoor deck and even a HOT TUB exist in one place at an airport means we're going to need several hours to fully absorb it all, and thus we arrived nice and early.

After the jump, tons of pictures and more about that hot tub...

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Tags: Airport Lounges / Lounges / LGW / Airports / Virgin Atlantic / London Field Trip / Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse / → All Tags

Inside the Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse at London's Gatwick Airport

Who goes all the way out to the airport just for afternoon tea, without a flight to catch? We do! Especially when we're talking about tea inside of the freshly remodeled Virgin Atlantic Upper Class Clubhouse at London's Gatwick Airport. It just reopened with the updated interior in November, so we were all about experiencing that precious "new airport lounge" smell.

Last week, we took a day from our London Field Trip to head out into the foggy London morning and check out this playful space over a pot of Earl Grey with Virgin Atlantic's Head of Design Joe Ferry and Senior Design Manager, Jeremy Brown. Our big question for them: why are Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse, and in particular this updated one, considered just so cool?

The answer involves rock & roll, after the jump.

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Tags: Most-Shocking-Starbucks-Locations / Starbucks / London Travel / London Field Trip / Coffee Travel / → All Tags

Blimey! There's a Starbucks at the Tower of London

The reflection on the windows is all Tower of London

Fresh from our Most Shocking McDonald's Locations and Must-See Apple Stores Of The World series, we're taking requests for Subways as we begin our Most Shocking Starbucks Locations. Know of a 'Bucks randomly tucked into a curious corner of the world? This is going to be a running series, so email us your suggestions!

Imagine for a moment that you're in London (as we are now), and having you're having a nice stroll along the Thames River towards Tower Bridge. After passing City Hall, the area becomes the London you imagine from Charles Dickens—all knobbly cobblestones and narrow streets with tucked-away cafes. And then you cross the river to pass that bastion of medieval punnishment, the eerie Tower of London. And oh—what's that right there? It's a freaking Starbucks, right next to the former palace and royal prison, which dates back to the 1000s.

Seriously, Starbucks? Here?!

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Tags: Eurostar / Channel Tunnel / Train Travel / Belgium Travel / London Travel / Bruges Field Trip / → All Tags

Finding Out How Long It Takes the Eurostar To Travel the Channel Tunnel

Good news! We just got off the Eurostar direct train that travels the Channel Tunnel from London's St. Pancras station to Brussels Midi station, and we did not get stuck underneath the English Channel. Only a few weeks ago and then a few weeks before that did several trains on the same route get trapped underground by electrical problems caused by the super low temperatures. We hoped the same fate wouldn't befall us, and we were lucky it didn't.

The departure from St. Pancras in London was surprisingly smooth; we went through the security metal detectors and had our passport stamped with a "Lft Londres" stamp right here, as though we had already emerged in France. But perhaps the most perfect part of departure was the free WiFi signal in St. Pancras station, allowing us to get some last-minute alone time with the internet before setting off for the Chunnel (by the way, the Brits hate it when you call it that; it's the "Channel Tunnel" or nothing).

After the jump, how long you actually spend underneath the Channel Tunnel on the Eurostar

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Tags: Beer Travel / London Travel / London Field Trip / London Pubs / → All Tags

Is This The Most Gruesomely Named Pub In All Of London?

So let's say that you're doing the tourist thing in London and you've just walked up the slight hill behind the Tower of London and Tower Bridge, and you're perhaps thirsty for a pint. So you turn the corner onto Great Tower Street and stumble upon what looks to be the perfect pub, except it's got quite the gruesome name: The Hung Drawn And Quartered.

Now we thought we knew some pretty funny pub names {The Bung Hole, The Nobody Inn), but this one sticks out as something else. It's got us wondering: Are there other London pubs withe similarly morbid names?

Can you beat the "Hung Drawn And Quartered?" Let us know what you've spotted!

Related Stories:
· Beer Travel [Jaunted]

[Photo: Jaunted]

Tags: Airport Photoshoots / Rihanna / Channel Tunnel / Eurostar / Celeb Travel / → All Tags

Travel With Rihanna And Weather Delays Magically Disappear

Nevermind the giant furry black earflap hat from Michael Kors that Rihanna is wearing, or that she's actually dressed pretty casually for travel; the big surprise here is that RIhanna is arriving not to an airport here, but to London's St. Pancras International train station after hopping off the Eurostar from Paris late last week. Yes, Rihanna made it through the Channel Tunnel just before the weather problems kept five trains stuck down there for over ten hours.

Now we want to imagine if she had been stuck down there too; would the situation have received more media coverage in the USA? Would she be crying and distraught from having to consume only the British Digestive cookies the whole night? But no; girl made luckily made it into London just in time to perform with Jay-Z and give Kanye West a private dance at a the club Whiskey Mist.

Apparently immune to the travel mush currently happening in the UK, Rihanna then headed back to the USA through Heathrow over the weekend, despite snowstorms and weather canceling flights across the board. And now we've learned a new lesson on how to never get stuck with delays and travel emergencies: become part of Rihanna's entourage.

Related Stories:
· Rihanna Rolls Into London [GossipCenter]
· Airport Photoshoots [Jaunted]

[Photo: GossipCenter]

Tags: Weather / Snow Travel / London Travel / Airports / LHR / LGW / STN / LTN / LCY / British Airways / Travel Delays / → All Tags

British Airways Passengers Will Now Face Snow Delays Instead of Strike

So it turns out the biggest issue impacting travel to and from London over the Christmas holiday will be the arrival of fresh snow, instead of the now-averted British Airways Strike. After eight inches of snow fell in Kent, Sussex and Essex, and a few inches in London, flights from London's Gatwick, Luton, City and Heathrow airports have met with a rash of cancellations and delays.

But because of the panic of the British Airways strike threats earlier this week, many travelers opted to grab earlier flights, the ones which are now affected by the snow. To hear the worst of it, we swung by BusinessTraveller and found that flights to Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted are severely affected, Gatwick had their runway closed earlier, London City Airport was completely closed but just reopened, and easyJet cancelled a slew of flights, which you can see a list of here.

If you're trying to fly to or from the London area, keep your web browser tuned to your airline's website, and it would be pretty smart to install FlightStats' mobile apps on your smartphone, where you can keep up to date with your flight delays and information on the go.

Related Stories:
· Snow causes disruption at UK airports [Business Traveller]
· More Travel Chaos as Big Freeze Continues [Sky News]
· Weather Travel [Jaunted]

[Photo: Na :-/]

Tags: London Travel / London Tours / Historical Travel / Haunted Travel / London / → All Tags

Mind the Gap While Touring London's Historic and Haunted Underground

"Mind the Gap" t-shirts and color-coded maps of London's famed Underground system are all-too-common souvenirs for tourists who trek to the UK. But few know much about the historic transport network, other than that it's hellishly busy during rush hour.

Insider London is offering Underground-themed tours for train aficionados, or those who've stopped by quintessential city landmarks and are looking to see London through fresh eyes. If its cocktail hour factoids you want, then you'll certainly get them, from learning about the man behind the "Mind the Gap" voice to the Central Line's ghost station.

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Tags: Airport Security / LHR / Airport News / AIrports / Student Travel / Visas / London Travel / → All Tags

The Longest Airport Immigration Line You'll Ever See

Click here to see the short (but shocking) video of the line

Think you can easily fly through London's Heathrow Airport because it's big and should have its act together? Well, there's only bad news: it doesn't have its act together and epically long lines pop up every so often for everything from going between terminals to heading through customs. Just search YouTube for crazy long lines at Heathrow, and you'll see what we mean—get stuck in one of these queues and you're looking at a 3-4 hour wait, so you might as well film it.

Nonetheless, no line is as bad as the one that recently occurred at immigration, for those with student visas. Click here to check out the brief video on BBC, where a Heathrow employee filmed the length of the line from back to front. Thank god we're beyond the student visa days. Still—what the hell is happening here?

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Tags: Airport Lounges / Lounges / Virgin Atlantic / London Travel / LGW / Virgin Atlantic Clubhouse / → All Tags

Get Your Guitar Hero and Great Design At Virgin Atlantic's New Gatwick Clubhouse

Everytime we hear about the Heathrow Clubhouse for Virgin Atlantic's Upper Class and Flying Club Gold members, we get a little excited, if you know what we mean. Just a glance at the Arne Jacobsen Egg chairs, mid-century modern colors and design influence, and we've blasted off even before the plane departs. Knowing that Virgin's Clubhouse at London-Gatwick was under renovation, we wondered if it would re-open as sexified as Heathrow, and the answer is yes.

First, let's talk about the amenities that lie within the space that can accommodate 130 passengers. Please welcome to Gatwick a Cowshed Spa and rock garden, Wii and Guitar Hero zone, and electronics charging areas. Plus, they haven't forgotten all the modern design details we love; think Eames dining chairs, Turtle lounge chairs by Pearson Lloyd, Roberto Romanello's Delta chairs, Bertoia barstools, Nelson Coconut chairs, Fritz Hansen tables and of course plenty of Virgin's lipstick red. Is it just us or is it getting hot in here?

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Tags: Movie Set Travel / London Travel / Music Travel / → All Tags

Rock The Boat in London This Year, 'Pirate Radio'-Style

Today, "Pirate Radio", or "The Boat That Rocked" as it is known in the U.K., opens nationwide. The movie is based on the true story of a few rogue rock-and-roll deejays who broadcast from ships anchored just outside U.K. during a 1966 ban of rock music by the BBC. That same spirit is still alive in the U.K. today and here's how you can capture it.

Where to Stay:
Keeping with the anti-establishment theme of the film, The Pavilion Hotel in London certainly doesn't play by the rules. Every room in the hotel has an over-the-top theme and is decorated in loud colors and mismatched patterns. The bathrooms are small, the building is old, there is no elevator, this is not the Ritz, but what it lacks in amenities, it makes up for in character. The price is right too, rates start around £60 a night.

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