There's about to be another way for the (reasonably wealthy) traveler to see London. The Star Over London is a German-built Zeppelin airship that will run scenic flights over London, starting July 10.
Over six weeks of summer, the airship will take off five times a day for a flight taking up to an hour, floating you over sights like Buckingham Palace (wave at the Queen's corgis!), St Paul's Cathedral and the Houses of Parliament, among others.
Oh, and in case your brain thinks airship-equals-Hindenburg, the manufacturers are saying very loudly that this is a more advanced--and more safe--model. The only thing that's crashing to the ground is your jaw when you hear the price: Zeppelin-ing over London starts at £185 ($360).
Stuffy London lets its hair down today with the start of Open Garden Squares Weekend, in which the snooty green spaces of the city become public domain.
More than a hundred walled gardens are taking part in an event whose very existence would be unheard of in an American city. After all, we call these things lawns; parks are always open to everyone!
All twitting the British aside, Londonist has some great picks for the oases not to be missed, like Kensington Roof Gardens and the rooftop Japanese-style garden at University College.
Ripley's Believe It or Not chain of "museums" will open a location in London later this summer in August. UPI reports that the exhibits will include:
A $1 million Swarovski crystal-covered Mini Cooper, a genuine 16th-century iron maiden, a trio of shrunken human heads from Ecuador and a 13-foot-long Tower Bridge made of wooden matchsticks.
The only place fitting for such exhibit is, obviously, Piccadilly Circus. More odd exhibits will include a portrait of Princess Diana made entirely from laundry lint, the famous sweater worn by Marilyn Monroe during her last photo shoot on the beaches of Malibu, a mummified man, a genuine moon rock and a copy of "The Last Supper" painted on a grain of rice.
There are already 30 Ripley's Believe It or Not "museums" across the world. Have you been to one of these places? Are they worth your time and money? (We doubt it!)
On a recent jaunt to London, we were minding our pounds and pence so we decided to take the Heathrow Express from the airport to Paddington Station in lieu of an expensive cab ride.
The verdict? Well, Heathrow Express is not exactly cheap. The fare was about £15.50 one-way if you buy from the ticket machines at the airport. (Booking online saves a pound.)
Virgin Atlantic has some spring deals on their Premium Economy class from a bunch of American cities to London.
For instance: Los Angeles to London is $464 one-way from Apr 24-May 25. Over the summer (until Sept. 3), the price jumps to $634 one-way. From Newark, the deal is much cheaper at $314 one-way from April 24-May 25. ($464 one-way over the summer.)
We confess. When we booked our hotel stay at the Baglioni Hotel across from Hyde Park, we didn't do any research on the surrounding area. We know, sacrilege!
But in our defense, the hotel had a killer deal--three nights for the price of two over a weekend--and when visiting London, money-saving is not just important it's mandatory.
But when we did check-in and start to explore the area, we realized how lucky we got. The hotel is situated on Kensington Road just across from the Western corner of Hyde Park, and it's just a few blocks down from all the major stores we care about in London.
Anyone with a fear of being stuck at the top of a ferris wheel would not have been happy on the London Eye on Monday. There was no big drama--just a malfunctioning tire--but engineers decided to immediately stop the ferris wheel completely.
That meant that about 400 tourists were trapped in the capsules, some of them 450 feet off the ground, for over an hour. Depending on who you listen to, this was either absolutely fine or a complete nightmare.
Naturally enough, the London Eye spokesperson said they were in full contact with all the visitors and had them open the capsule's emergency pack supplies of water, blankets and even commodes. But at least one of the passengers saw it otherwise and said it was horrible: they had poor communication with staff and got panicked into almost stampeding when they were finally let out. Just goes to show that there are a lot of different views from a ferris wheel.
Jaunted is always in the midst of a public transportation celebration. Join us in celebrating the ultimate travel tool: a cheap way to get around. Share your stories in the comments or by emailing us at tips [at] jaunted [dot] com. Today's tale comes from Annabel in London.
The infamous London Underground. Perpetrator of the much-maligned "Mind the Gap" catch-cry, from the announcement that you'll hear every time you board the train and see brandished across tourist shop t-shirts throughout the city.
But that's not the worst of the underground. Used by by 3 million passengers every day, it's not uncommon for Londoners to stand for the duration of their daily commute and experience frequent delays caused by signal failures, staff shortages or "a person under the train". (That being the morbid euphemism for suicide that the driver won't hesitate to announce to all on board.)
Passengers and staff alike are prone to distress when riding the tube, with drivers and station workers addressing commuters over the loudspeaker like Catholic school nuns dealing with naughty pupils. "Please allow passengers to get off the train first!," barked the exasperated driver of my train a couple of weeks ago. When the bulk of passengers clambered aboard anyway, the driver sighed and muttered, "Go on then, pack yourself in like sardines, see if I care. I'm going home," much to the amusement of those of us left on the crowded platform.
Overheating, overcrowding, crotchety staff, delays, strikes and fumes; the London Underground is a hectic experience but you should experience it at least once. After that, you can investigate the city's bus routes.
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by amandak
