London Travel Guide
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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.
Tags: Celeb Travel / Twilgiht Travel / Gwyneth Paltrow / Robert Pattinson / Kristen Stewart / World Travel Market / London Travel / → All Tags
London Brings The Stars To Town This Week With Twilight And More
Gwyneth Paltrow is getting back to her normal routine in her adopted hometown of London. The actress and her kids, Apple and Moses, spent the summer in Los Angeles so she could work on the sequel to Iron Man, but now they're all back in the UK and okay. Gwyn was spotted sipping on a cup of coffee yesterday after skipping her kids off to school.
The family's routine won't last too long though. Gwyneth just signed on for The Danish Girl, replacing Charlize Theron as Greta, a 1920s painter whose husband poses for her as a female model. Nicole Kidman has also joined the cast too—she'll be playing the husband.
Tags: Taxis / London Travel / Virgin Atlantic / Airport News / LHR / Airport Transportation / → All Tags
Virgin Atlantic Believes In The Airport Taxi Share, Introduces 'Taxi2'
It's one of the oldest airport debates: whether or not to suck it up and take a taxi into town, or risk public transportation. For us, it depends on how large our party is and how much baggage we're dragging, but taxis are just so darn tempting.
Thankfully, Virgin Atlantic knows this and echoes our sentiments when they say: "we think it's crazy that people often wait in line and then get one taxi each. Most people go from the airport in a similar direction, so it's a great waste." Hallelujah, go tell it on the mountain, Virgin Atlantic! And since they're a giant company and all, they've decided to do something about this shared taxi conundrum by creating Taxi2, a social networking way to link up with other from your flight and share a ride with them into the city, cutting down on ride cost and maybe even making you a new friend.
Tags: United / Airlines / Airline News / Alcohol / Drunk Travel / Pilots / → All Tags
United Airlines Flight Canceled Due To Alleged Drunk Pilot
We know layovers are difficult, and they often drive us to drink. But we’re passengers and it’s perfectly fine for us to knock back a couple before heading to a middle seat in the back of the plane so long as we keep to ourselves. However, it’s definitely not a good idea to have a few adult beverages before the flight if you are the person responsible for flying the airplane. Fortunately for all aboard a United Airlines flight, the pilot was stopped before take off as he allegedly had a little too much to drink.
Over 100 passengers and crew were ready to depart London to head to Chicago aboard Flight 949 yesterday when their flight was abruptly canceled. The cause of the cancellation was due to a pilot who was not fit to fly. The pilot was arrested at London Heathrow Airport and was later released on bail pending the results of alcohol tests. A staff member of United Airlines was purportedly the one that rang the airport police to check things out—good work.
Tags: Celeb Travel / Victoria Beckham / LHR / In-Flight Fashion / Fashion / → All Tags
Beckham Goes Caped Crusader For Transatlantic Flight
Last week, we had a perfect demonstration of how not to look and how not to handle your passport when Twilight star Kristen Stewart traveled through LAX looking a mess and barely holding onto her passport. But trust good old former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham to trample through London-Heathrow in a black cape-y thing and giant shades and put in-flight fashion back on track.
No, we're not necessarily endorsing going pantsless with only a cape to keep you warm, but if you're flying first class from London back to the States as super world traveler Beckham is, you're welcome to look a little over-the-top. And that is why Victoria also gets a pass for toting a blue bag with a black outfit—at least she's also got her passport under wraps.
Tags: London Travel / Gay Travel / Tourism Boards / → All Tags
London Gets A Gay Traveler Info Center With Boring Website
Nepal as a gay travel destination was something of a surprise. But the fact that London has just opened up an LGBT Tourist Information Office isn't too out of the blue – but it's a good thing just the same.
The office director says the reason for the center is to show that "London's exciting LGBT life is the best in the world". There might be a few cities which would beg to differ, but you'd have to agree that a huge city like London definitely has plenty for everyone.
But – here's a pretty big "but" – the office's website doesn't show much about the exciting LGBT life in London yet. Sure, it's early days, but the site's just a simple Wordpress blog with hardly anything on it, and really not ready to be launched, in our humble opinion.
Tags: Travel TV Shows / Celeb Travel / Television Travel / → All Tags
12 British TV Stars Go Around The World In 80 Days For BBC
How many celebrities does it take to go around the world in 80 days? Twelve modern ones, or one Python—that's the equation the BBC has come up with for a new reality show that splits Jules Verne's classic journey up among pairs of stars for a good cause. It's "The Amazing Race" meets "The Superstars," if VH-1 were casting it.
Back in 1989, Michael Palin decided to reenact the journey taken by Phileas Fogg in Around The World in 80 Days for a BBC special, arriving back in London via Venice, Jeddah, Pune and Long Beach after 79 days and 7 hours. (The movie is currently streaming on Netflix, should you need a little travel inspiration.)
Tags: Harry Potter / Movie Set Travel / London Travel / Movie Travel / → All Tags
Check Out Harry Potter's Most Enchanted Locations In The UK
Harry Potter fans rejoiced earlier this month when they learned that The Wizardly World of Harry Potter theme park will open this spring at Universal Orlando. But for some, the wait is just too long. If you're looking to get your Harry Potter on now, here are a few real-life locations that have been featured in the films, and are now popular tourist destinations:
King's Cross Station
The King's Cross railway station is located on the edge of Central London, at the junction of the A501 Euston Road and York Way. Platform 4 at King's Cross station is Platform 93/4 in the first movie where Harry first got on the Hogwarts Express. A sign for Platform 93/4 still hangs in the station and there is even a luggage trolley that magically disappears into the wall.
That one was easy; more after the jump.
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Wine Lists Turn To Social Media at L'Anima Restaurant In London
The L'Anima Italian restaurant in London has gone one step further than just letting you choose your wine from a touch screen; last month they ran an online contest so that blog readers (some of whom, we presume, were also restaurant goers) could choose three new wines for L'Anima to add to their impressive wine list.
And it wasn't just a case of voting for your favorite wine off a list. L'Anima went to the trouble of getting three pairs of wine experts to explain their favorites off the shortlist of nine, made these explanations into YouTube vids, and got voters to decide which video was the best.
Tags: Fall-Foliage-Map / Fall Foliage Travel / Fall Travel / Outdoor Travel / London Travel / England Travel / → All Tags
Fall Foliage Travel: Skip Central Park For London's Hampstead Heath
Reap the benefits of the slow airline of fall by hopping a cheaper ticket across the pond to London. We're not kidding; a friend just booked a weekend trip to London on Virgin Atlantic after seeing that it was just as expensive as some flights between Chicago and NYC.
If you are similarly spontaneous, or just thirsty for a good pub with some fall foliage outside, we recommend heading to London's Hampstead Heath area, like their version of NYC's Central Park. Here, you'll not only get a view of trees turning during the fall colors peak of late October through early November, but also—atop London's highest point, Parliament Hill—you'll have a view over the whole city.
Tags: Airport Lounges / Lounges / Etihad Airways / LHR / → All Tags
Etihad Airways Rolls Out Luxe Airport Lounges With Free Limo Service
After a long snooze in one of Eithad Airways' crazy fancy suites, you are going to need to eventually stumble off the plane, like it or not. That’s why the airline is starting to expand its offerings when it comes to matching fancy schmancy lounges. The airline opened their first lounge outside of the United Arab Emirates over the summer in Frankfurt, and now they have their eyes on the comfort prize in London.
Along with moving their flights from Terminal 3 to Terminal 4 at London-Heathrow, a new lounge will open for the classiest of fliers on September 30. Give them a call now and book your private treatment room where you’ll be pampered by treatments from the Six Senses Spa. The foot and leg massages will be quite a relief after an overnight long-haul flight. ANd if you’re hungry after a rubdown, just swing by their five-star dining facilities where you can watch your dinner being cooked through an open kitchen.
Tags: Delta / Airline News / Airlines / Travel Health / → All Tags
Delta Has Been Flying Empty Planes To London For A Car Wash
Environmentalists are not too happy with Delta right now. The airline has been running empty planes across the Atlantic for a good scrub down. Delta admitted to flying these “ghost” flights, because they need to meet Australian quarantine regulations. Officials in the land down under require inbound planes to be disinfected to prevent bad stuff like malaria and dengue fever. See, we don’t want to get malaria, so we kind of understand what they’re doing here, but there's probably a better way to go about this.
Even though the necessary materials to do all this cleaning are available in the US, these treatments must be completed outside of the country. The closest place that is approved by the Australian quarantine and inspection service is London-Heathrow, and that’s why Delta has been wasting loads of jet fuel just to get a car plane wash.
