Jaunted - Tag: London Travel

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

kjb — 2012-01-25T08:22:29-05:00

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).

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

cmb — 2012-01-24T19:22:58-05:00

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.

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

Heidi Atwal — 2012-01-03T14:39:10-05:00

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.

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

Heidi Atwal — 2011-12-22T14:00:03-05:00

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.

London: Three London Christmas Markets That Nod to the German Tradition

Heidi Atwal — 2011-12-20T15:32:04-05:00

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:

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

Heidi Atwal — 2011-12-15T15:46:40-05:00

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.

Foursquare's Three New City Badges for London, Paris and Istanbul are Only the Beginning

JetSetCD — 2011-12-12T09:15:02-05:00

Yea, we're still addicted to Foursquare; follow us for tips here!

Just in time for the holiday season—and by "holiday" we mean taking holidays away from family—location-based social networking app Foursquare has finally introduced a suite of new, international badges. If you're traveling to London, Paris or Istanbul, you're going to want to make sure you're not only hitting the top spots in the city, but that you're checking into them as well.

The three badges are easy enough to get. First, follow 4sqCities, and just to be safe, it wouldn't hurt to also follow the individual city lists here: London, Paris, Istanbul. Then travel to one or all of the cities and clickety-click to check-in to the places on the recommended lists. Five places earns the badge.

Sure, this is pretty great for Foursquare users around the world clamoring for diversified badges, but what's even better is that Foursquare hints on their blog that these three are just the beginning of world cities with their own badges. Want to suggest the next? Do it here.