The London Traveler

If you plan on coming to London in late March, there is one event that you shouldn’t miss… the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race.
This is a very unique sporting event, and is one of the oldest inter-collegiate sporting events in the world. Back in 1829, a Cambridge student challenged an Oxford student (and a friend) to a rowing race between the two schools. Since the 1860’s, it has been held on the River Thames, and continues to be raced annually. (Though it wasn’t during the two World Wars.) These days, it is one of the premier …read more

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Charlie Wilson’s War has been a film sensation in the United States, and the UK premier will be taking place in London’s Leicester Square on Wednesday, January 9th.
The film is the story about how a Texas Congressman, Charlie Wilson, conspired with the CIA to assist the Afghans fight the Soviets after their 1980 invasion of Afghanistan. Tom Hanks plays against type as Charlie Wilson, the playboy Texas Congressman. Julia Roberts plays a socialite, and Phillip Seymour-Hoffman plays the CIA operative.
The premier will be taking place at the Empire Cinema on Leicester Square. If you arrive in the …read more

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Depending on where you’re having a good time in London, and where you need to get back/home to when you’re done, you may end up on public transport for quite some time. If you’ve perhaps had a drink or two and it’s late at night on a gently rocking train, it’s easy to fall asleep and miss your stop.
Not any longer!
For just £4, one company is offering a product that could change this forever. Just detach one of their stickers telling which station you want to be woken up at, and calmly take a nap, knowing that a …read more

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If you’re in town for New Years, then you just might want to check out the London New Year Parade.
Even for those party-hardy among you, there’s still a good chance you can make it, as it doesn’t start until noon from the Palace of Westminster (Parliament/Big Ben) and ends at 3pm by Green Park. Over 10,000 people participate in the parade!
If you’d like, you can always book seats in the official grandstand, but it may just be easier to stop by and see everything. If you’re in town, I hope you enjoy it!
When: New Years Day, January 1st
Cost: …read more

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The Old Bailey, officially known as the Central Criminal Court, is the top criminal court in the UK. All of the most well-known defendants and trials are held here. Just like any courthouse, you can visit and see what a British trial is all about.
Seeing a trial at the Old Bailey is definitely off the beaten tourist path, and is something virtually no Londoner has ever done. Yet, if you’re interested in law or just want to see a real-life British “Law & Order,” it’s a free and different way to spend part of your day.
The Old …read more

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There is one exclusive ceremony in London that, with prior planning, anyone can experience. That event is the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London.
This ceremony has been performed daily for around seven hundred years. Originally a very practical event, where the Tower was locked every evening, it is now a very private ceremony. The ceremony has in fact never been photographed. (There are one or two photographs that have been taken, but those were of practice ceremonies.) It takes just around five to ten minutes, and is really quite simple.
A …read more

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Everyone that visits London should visit the Tower of London. Built initially by William the Conquerer nearly a thousand years ago, it has served as a home for kings, a zoo, an armory, a prison (with torture devices), an execution site, and now as the home of the Crown Jewels. You can check out a lot more history of the Tower of London on its Wikipedia page.
The Tower is one of the best tourist attractions in London. There’s history, the highly entertaining Beefeaters (Yeoman Warders), the Crown Jewels, and more. I highly recommend planning to spend …read more

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I set off a bit of a firestorm here on The London Traveler recently when I wrote about London pubs. Specifically, it was what I wrote about tipping at London pubs; it’s not necessary.
That seemed to be quite provocative, and based on the comments, that is certainly not the case across the UK. So I’d like to write a little bit more on that most confusing of any topics for a visitor to a new country: tipping.
Tipping in General
While tipping still happens in the UK, it is neither quite as common or as much as it is in …read more

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Many tourists that visit London want to see as much as possible, in as short a time as possible. Bus tours are a way to make that happen. They travel past all the major sites, you can get on and get off as you wish, and with live guides on board, they can give you a real feel for the way London looks and point you in the direction of what else you might want to see on your visit.
There are two major tour bus operators in London: the Big Bus Tour and The Original Tour. I’ll …read more

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London City Airport is only 20 years old, and was only conceived of in the last three decades. It’s located in the London Docklands area, east of both the City of London and the Canary Wharf financial district. The airport is rather small, and is used most by small or specialised routes as well as private planes. Cities you can reach from London City Airport include Belfast, Dublin, Amsterdam, Milan, Frankfurt, Munich, Copenhagen, Oslo, Geneva and Zurich.
There are really only two good ways to get to and from London City Airport.
1 – Docklands Light Railway
The Docklands Light …read more

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