United Kingdom Travel Guide

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Mile High Club or Not, You Could Have Valentine's Dinner on the Concorde

February 8, 2012 at 1:25 PM | by | Comments (0)

The Concorde may technically be dead, but airline romance isn’t, if British Airways’ Valentine’s deal is anything to go by.

A couple of years ago, the UK airline did a neat Valentine’s Day party kinda thing on flights between London and New York; this year, the celebration is on a more personal scale, though still rather spectacular: dinner for two on the Concorde.

The bad news? You’ll have to pay for it. The good? It’s for charity! Just bid for it in a blind email auction, and you’ll win dinner for two on board BA’s flagship Concorde G-BOAC at Manchester Airport, in the Runway Visitor Park.

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Donald Trump's Newest Enemy is a Scottish Windfarm. Yes, Really.

January 30, 2012 at 9:25 AM | by | Comments (0)

Donald Trump is in the business of making money. Let's get that straight first and foremost. Therefore, it should come as no surprise to anyone that Trump is now calling a proposed green energy windfarm a "disastrous and environmentally irresponsible" development...all because it's nearby his picturesque Menie estate in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

The lengthy details of the fight against the building of the offshore windfarm—read more here from Deadline News—of course don't directly name the Trump golf course as the reason for Trump's opposition. For him, says Sorial of the Trump Organization, it's all about the greater effect on local tourism: "People come from all over the world to play courses that are unique to Scotland. They don’t want to look down on electrical turbines." Um. Need we refresh his memory that when the Earth faces a serious energy crisis, nobody's going to give a gosh-darn about the view from his precious golf course?

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London's New Multi Bajillion Dollar Thames Estuary Airport Hits a Snag

January 25, 2012 at 8:22 AM | by | Comments (2)

Not too long ago we were going on and on about the possibility of London building a pretty darn huge airport within the Thames Estuary. Well this is certainly still a possibility, but now that accountants and financiers have started to run the numbers and sort the spreadsheets, the bottom line is getting out of han.

Someone must pay for all the construction costs, costs which would be passed on down to the planes and passengers arriving at the new airport. Landing fees could be as high as £100 per passenger for the new airport—oof—a fact which may make the new airport—despite all its bells and whistles—a pretty hard sell. The thought is that the new airport could cost anywhere between like £50 and £80 billion to build, which is way more than what London-Heathrow is even worth (around £12 billion).

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Elizabeth Taylor's Art Collection Hits the Auction Block in London Next Month

January 24, 2012 at 7:22 PM | by | Comments (0)

Just weeks after Elizabeth Taylor's jewelry raised more than $150 million in a New York auction, part of the Hollywood icon's art collection is being put on the block in London.

More than 30 works belonging to the late actress, including van Gogh's "Vue de l'Asile et de la Chapelle de Saint-Remy," an Edgar Degas self-portrait, and works by Camille Pissarro, will go up for auction on February 7th and 8th, with proceeds going to the Elizabeth Taylor Trust.

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A New Year Brings a New Fee For Those Looking To Fly With easyJet

January 17, 2012 at 9:20 AM | by | Comments (0)

Just when you thought you had mastered the system of European travel aboard the vast network of low cost carriers, one of the major players throws a wrench in the works. Easyjet is changing up the way it charges for certain stuff, so you’re going to need a few more euros for your next trip—and maybe a calculator and notebook.

Honestly, it’s half the airline’s fault and half the government’s fault, since much like here in the U.S, the UK is changing the rules and regulations about airlines and their fees. If you're thinking about easyJet the biggest change is a new £9 administration fee—that's like $14—that more or less replaces the former £8 booking fee forced upon most everyone using debit cards to pay for the tickets.

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Olympic Athletes to Get a 'Fast Pass' Lane at LHR for London 2012

January 3, 2012 at 2:39 PM | by | Comments (0)

There are 206 days to go until the 2012 Olympics in London, so trust that our U.K.-based sources will be bringing you all the latest as we continue ground coverage leading up to the Games: the touristy swarms clogging up Westminster and the Southbank, the Cultural Olympiad, the general excuse for even more drunken revelry than usual, the works.

To kick off 2012, a word to the wise among summer travelers set to pass through Heathrow around the Games: you might have to face even more unbearable lines at airport immigration owing to a VIP passport lane being established strictly for athletes. The U.K. Border Agency will be taking and checking biometric data (translation: fingerprints) from visiting athletes, with lanes at immigration dedicated solely to the task of checking said data.

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Visit the Real Zoo That 'We Bought a Zoo' Was Based On

December 23, 2011 at 1:07 PM | by | Comments (0)

Cameron Crowe’s We Bought A Zoo, starring Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, and Thomas Haden Church, hits theaters today and is based on the true story of a father who moves his two children to a dilapidated zoo which they restore to its former glory.

The movie is set in the U.S. and was filmed just outside of Los Angeles, but the real-life zoo the story is based on is actually located in Devon, U.K. The Dartmoor Zoo is now the thriving home of dozens of animals including monkeys, reindeer, cheetahs and goats. The zoo also hosts special events, like photography tours, family days, and weddings.

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A Secret Restaurant to Go with London's Runaway Hit, Secret Cinema

December 22, 2011 at 2:00 PM | by | Comments (0)


Secret Restaurant: No, mystery meat is not on the menu

From the people that brought you Secret Cinema—an incomparable live theater-meets-movie screening that has taken London by storm—comes Secret Restaurant.

Like its sister project, available details about what will transpire during your time at the pop-up are skint, at best. Tickets are available for attendees of upcoming Secret Cinema performances, of which there are several in January.

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Three London Christmas Markets That Nod to the German Tradition

December 20, 2011 at 3:32 PM | by | Comments (0)

Christmas markets are an advent of countries like Germany and Austria, but the honored holiday tradition has been adopted by cultures the world over.

In London, there's yuletide market merriment to be found stretching from the Thames to Columbia Road. Sprinkled throughout the city, these shopping fairs feature vendors hawking everything from fresh mulled wine to crafts to handmade jewels, offering ample opportunity to shop for presents and partake of seasonal cheer.

There are only a few days left to peruse the "chalet" stalls for last-minute gifts as you take in the sight of strung lights and sip on hot cocoa. We've highlighted three of the city's best Christmas markets:

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In London's Soho, No-Reservations Restaurants are Where You Want to Be

December 15, 2011 at 3:46 PM | by | Comments (0)


Spuntino's Peanut Butter and Jelly Dessert "Sandwich"

In London, our preference is for restaurant trawling, not pub crawling. The local culinary scene has undergone subtle yet significant changes over the past year: artisanal coffee is easier to come by, locals are every-so-slowly embracing the concept of brunch, there is an increased presence of street food, and a handful of strictly no-reservations outposts have made a splash among critics and discerning diners alike.

It's the latter trend with which we're most taken, as these democratic, "queue-with-the-rest-of-'em" restaurants are focusing more on putting out great food rather than trying to compete with their five-star contemporaries. Their websites are typically devoid of essential intel, save for the locale's address. If you're lucky you'll get a phone number, not that it will help in trying to wrangle a dining spot.

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Hertz Brings the Best (and Most Expensive) Rental Cars to the UK

December 14, 2011 at 9:45 AM | by | Comments (0)

We’re all about awesome rental cars, but the latest offerings from Hertz might just be the best ones for a reasonable amount of money. We’ve talked about the company’s “Adrenaline Collection” line of vehicles, but these are a step above—like a six-figure step above in some cases.

Hertz Supercars will be glad to meet you at the airport with a vehicle from its stables, and some of the options include marques that you’ve only dreamt about. Options from Rolls Royce, Bentley, Ferrari—and even McLaren—are all available for the taking, but obviously you’re going to need some serious coin to pick up one of these vehicles. Oh—you also need to reside over in the UK, as this is exclusively an English option for the immediate future.

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Here, There and Everywhere with The Beatles: John Lennon Peace Monument

December 8, 2011 at 5:22 PM | by | Comments (0)

Today, December 8, marks the 31st anniversary of the day John Lennon was shot and killed outside his apartment in New York City. While fans of Lennon and The Beatles will come together at Central Park's Strawberry Fields to remember him, we'll spend this week focusing on other places to visit to dip into Beatles history.

Today: The John Lennon Peace Monument in Liverpool, England.

This evening is the key moment this week, when Beatles fans and particularly those of John Lennon gather to remember him and meditate on peace. Sure, you can go to Strawberry Fields in Central Park or the Lennon statue near the Cavern Club, or any of a slew of other Beatles-related sites around the world to join in, but the newest gathering spot conveniently sits nearby The Beatles Story museum. It's the Lennon Peace Monument

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