For Americans traveling to London, or really anywhere in the United Kingdom, there is one stereotypical English meal that must be sought out: fish and chips. It's a comfort food, so it doesn't matter if you find yourself in the UK all the time or if you've been saving up for years for a London vacation, because fish & chips is just one of those things.

We found this perfect juicy specimen of fish & chips (the chips are behind the fish, effectively propping it up) at the inexpensive and cozy pub restaurant called The World's End in Edinburgh, Scotland recently. Sure it's right on the Royal Mile and surrounded by shops that try to sell tartan to tourists, but you can't deny that it's a damned good place to settle down for a hearty meal, and perhaps sample haggis with one of their appetizers (so you're not stuck with a whole dinner of it). Forgive us for not devouring some fish & chips wrapped up in newspaper, but that gets greasy messy.]]> JetSetCD 2010-02-26T15:39:10-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/2/19/92440/5593

When in London recently, we came across yet another McDonald's in an odd spot, to add to our ever-growing map of the Most Shocking McDonald's Locations. In search of an English Breakfast sandwich we had once had at a British McD's, we walked to a golden arches nearby the Marble Arch tube stop in London. While eating our bacon roll—sadly the English Breakfast sandwich is no more—we Wikipediaed the location and discovered that it was once the site of Tyburn Tree, a gallows where criminals and Catholic martyrs were hung for almost 500 years.

And now we're eating hash browns and egg mcmuffins there.

A better view of that Bacon Roll, and more history after the jump ]]> JetSetCD 2010-02-19T10:35:19-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/2/16/125949/390

To take a flight somewhere is to take a journey before even stepping onto the plane. You've got to get yourself to the airport transportation and take that first! Some airports have Airtrains connections between the subway and the terminals, and fewer have direct subway train stations, but London's Gatwick Airport has a direct train and we love it.

The train between London's Victoria Station and Gatwick Airport is appropriately called the Gatwick Express, and it provides space and comfort for the harried travelers arriving from or departing to flights from the airport. It's a tad bit pricey, but not more so than a cab, and it might just be one of the best airport transports we've ever been on, so how do you get on it?

The Guide to Riding the Gatwick Express, after the jump]]> JetSetCD 2010-02-16T13:50:18-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/2/11/15957/6303

One night, we were stuck sleeping underneath the departures board at London-Stansted airport, and we had very few pound coins left and a rumbling tummy, begging for food. So we went scrounging around, and that's when we saw them, our future obsession: potato chips in elaborate flavors. There was "Italian Sausage," "Prawn Cocktail," and even "Angus Steak."

Ever since then, we've always attempted to track down the craziest flavor crisps on subsequent trips to Britain. So it makes us wonder what special food items you look forward to purchasing on trips...are you partial to the interesting cereals of Italy? How about the cheeses of Mexico?

Or maybe you just have a great flavor of potato chips to recommend to us? We've already exhausted the offerings at Tesco and Marks & Spencer, so we're in your hands. So...what food items do you look forward to buying when you're abroad?

Related Stories:
· Food Travel [Jaunted]

[Photo: Jaunted]]]> JetSetCD 2010-02-11T16:00:16-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/2/10/205538/951

We're only one month away from the start of free WiFi on Amtrak Acela trains in the US, but like usual, the European train system has it beat.

Last month, we sought to take a train down to London from Edinburgh, and desperately wanted a train that offered a WiFi signal, so naturally we turned to book with Virgin Trains, which touts free WiFi in first class and paid access in coach. However, it turns out that their website will book any available train running the route and not just Virgin ones, so we were dismayed to find ourselves stuck with a ticket on an East Coast train, even though a Brit friend assured us that it would be nicer than if we had gone Virgin.

So was it nicer? Find out after the jump! ]]> JetSetCD 2010-02-11T09:40:15-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/2/5/1377/93529

Oftentimes, one of the challenges of visiting a new city is figuring out the nightlife, and this is doubly difficult if you're traveling solo and looking to stay as safe as possible. But now, finding the areas that remain as safe to tourists in the day and at night has become much easier with the introduction of a new purple flag system to highlight neighborhoods that stay tourist-friendly at night.

We picked up on this bit of new when we were hanging out the UK last month, and it seems to be an extremely new initiative; indeed London's popular Leicester Square and Covent Garden were the first locations in the city to receive their purple flags, and they only got them at the end of January.

Who else has a purple flag, after the jump]]> JetSetCD 2010-02-05T09:00:59-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/2/4/134554/0222

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.]]> JetSetCD 2010-02-04T14:02:49-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/