Visiting London

Hi.

I'm visiting London for the first time with my sister and a friend in early December.
Aside from weather conscious clothing and police conscious photographing what advices would you give me?

The idea is that will do some sight seeing and visiting some monuments, museums, pubs, etc.
Budget is (surprise, surprise) on the low side.
From what I've looked into so far, I'm thinking on staying somewhere within the city center, close to the main attractions, do some walking tours, visiting some places, then taking a bus + boat tour another day and finally some more walking sightseeing.

We still haven't decided on what to visit, certainly we'll be attracted to the free or cheap stuff.

Do you have any advice in general or specifically on nice places to visit, especially with regards to photography.

Traveling with non togs one is generally constricted, but my sister says she'd like loads of pictures

If you are travelling by train or buy a travel card with the railways Logo on it (not an Oyster card) you can take advantage of lots of two for 1 offers in London.

http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/attraction-types/2for1london.aspx

Hi there I think you will be ok taking photos around places like trafalgar square, doclands, london Bridge ( some parts you would need to ask am not sure if how things have changed these days never use to be a problem.) But I certainly won't be attempting any in the tubes or near Buckingham palace without permission. There are lots of places to see depending on what exactly you are after.

hope this helps.

You will have no problems at all, apart from perhaps in the Tube, there was a thread on this a recently. A good place to start is outside the Tower of London, lots of great views and free. It is quite pricey to enter though, and you cannot take shots of the jewels. Have a good trip.

Davex.

The tube station at Canary Wharf is a great one! Very sci fi. Don't see what would stop you whopping the camera out for a few quick shots as you pass through. (Just don't do anything silly like ask permission :wink Interesting locations above too, photographically and otherwise.

How about this:

start at Houses of Parliament (westminster tube, or easily walkable from Victoria too), cross bridge to south side, turn left (ie East) and walk past South Bank Centre/National Theatre etc all the way to Tower Bridge? Lots of things to see/photograph and you won't get crowds.

Also the City of London can be nice, eg nice churches dotted about.

There are some walking tour companies around, perhaps googling for them may point you at a good company or itinerary.

I would recommend an Oyster card and travelling by bus, as you see more and it's cheaper. Buses cost £1.20 on any bus route with Oyster (£2 for non-Oyster)- it's the same fare for 1 stop or the max number of stops on one route.

However, there is a price cap of £3.90 per day for Oyster users, so scooting about by bus costs no more than £3.90 on any day. Terrific value. See link

hope that helps.

Err - how long are you going to be there ?

Get some sort of Travel Card whatever you do - Tube Fares are horrendous for short distances.

The Monument in the city is a good vantage point for views (nearest tube is, unsurprisingly, Monument) and it's pretty cheap- £3 or £4 i think, although you have to walk up it (lots of steps!). Lovely views from the top but it is enclosed with steel netting so you'll need a small (in terms of width) lens to poke through the holes in the net - 49mm thread ought to be OK. Of course not so good if the weather is terrible

Great views from the to of St Paul's cathedral too, but more expensive to get in - probably a tenner or more, and I don't think they allow photography inside, but up on the dome there are external galleries. Again not so good if the weather is terrible.

Not sure how much they cost but the open-topped sightseeing buses are quite good, you can get a ticket which allows you to get on and off as you please and they drive around all the main 'sights'. Probably around £12-£15 at a guess

Odds on you'll find some photo-ops in the parks as well, and walking around the square mile of the city is great for buildings. I have never had any problems there although you do hear about people sometimes getting stopped by police or local security guys...

I walk across Waterloo bridge most days and the sunrise from there on a clear day looking out towards the city and Canary Wharf can be amazing!

Westminster..big ben...London eye... I could go on - there is an awful lot to see!!

Don't know if that helps at all

Regards

What no Waterloo Sunset??

I agree about the Monument. Worth the slog up there. Even I made it up there and I am terrified of heights and spiral staircases.

As a native Londoner, I am well qualified to advise the prospective tourist.

Forget Public transport. It's overcrowded. Take Taxis everywhere. They are very cheap, especially if you tell the driver that you're a tourist. He'll be happy to drive you round all day for just a couple of pounds and some sweeties. All London Cabbies are educated to degree standard, so be prepared for long and interesting conversations about philosophy and the Arts.
From any good bookshop, you can buy a copy of 'The observer's book of Tramps'. As you travel around our great Capital city, you can spot and tick off the various kinds of vagrants and derelicts listed in the book.

All the famous touristy places are very boring, so concentrate on the lesser known attractions.
The Embankment is home to a large and thriving colony of homeless people. These colourful people just love to be photographed, and will happily pose for you, next to their cardboard box 'houses'.
No trip to Central London would be complete without a visit to the bohemian area of Soho. Here, beautiful young ladies can be seen standing on street corners and calling out the traditional greeting of 'Hello Darlin' Twenty quid!' to passing Gentlemen.
In most parts of London, you will see the Traditional 'big Issue' Sellers. These smartly dressed people, will offer to sell you a splendid magazine, full of interesting articles and pictures. The price asked is £1.50, But you should not pay that. I find that if you haggle hard, you can usually get a copy for around 50p.

Another fun activity is a ramble through Camden Market, where you can buy all manner of interesting things that have been rescued from skips.
The once plentiful Pearly Kings of the East end, were hunted to the point of extinction, during the last century. But the Greater London Council recently started a captive breeding programme, in Whitechapple. A visit to the reserve is a must. If you time your visit well, you may get to see the Pearly Kings being fed, with their favourite jellied eels. It is hoped that some may be released back into the wild, soon.

Early December, sees London's answer to the Pamplona Bull Run. - Gentlemen put a fifty pound note in their top pocket, the top of which must be clearly visible. Then the men walk slowly down Brixton High Street at 3 am. The object is to see how far up the road they can get before the persuing locals can grab the fifty from them.

Yes... There is lots to do in London.

Have a happy visit.

And I thought the Streets of London were paved with Gold!

Very much like Manchester then?

Somebody say streets of Manchester paved with gold??? Not next to the flat iron building.

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Chewing gum maybe.

You won't have any problems on the Tube. Taking photographs on the tube for personal use, as long as you don't use flash/monopods/tripods is allowed.

I took loads on tube last time I was in london got some great shots.

Because you can't use a tripod I placed the camera directly on the platform for long exposure shots

We'll be there for 3 days.

Aside from the main tourist attractions I'm also thinking of visiting Camden and maybe Hyde or another park (suggestions?).

Btw, any area of London center which requires special security concern? We most probably won't get out of zones 1 and 2 of the tube.