The UK and Ireland

[foxymom]

We're going to London summer of next year, and here is our tentative schedule:

Day 1:
morning to early afternoon
-Westminster Abbey
-Parliament
-Big Ben
-late afternoon:  London Eye

Day 2: 
-Buckingham Palace (Changing of Guards) and the rest of the Mall
-Trafalgar Square
-Various art museums (National Gallery etc)
-Picadilly and catch a West End show

Day 3:
-Tower of London
-British Museum
-Knightsbridge
-Harrod's

Day 4:
-Wimbledon (whole day)

Day 5:
-Harry Potter tour (am)
-Covent Garden and more shopping (pm)

We have two vacant days for going outside of London, possibly Stonehenge.  The order of the days will change depending on Wimbledon, really.

thanks for sharing your IT! i hope we can go see as much attractions as we can

[little_princess]

i'm actually looking for a door to door service too! i'll be spending 3 months out there every year so i need a courier of some sort.

the cath kidston were cheap! they have everything from bags to home stuff i got small coin purses as favors for my entourage and it was just 2.50 pounds each.

re london eye, it's good to catch it right before sunset para you will see it sunny then end it na madilim na. sunset would depend on the season though. ours was around 9pm.

[shopaholicforkids]

hi ladies! do you think 7 days is enough for london? but we have 1-2 days there that are holidays, so not sure how it will affect our sightseeing

this is our itinerary, can you help me figure our what places to visit? a must stop is stonehedge for me

Dec. 27 Arrival London around lunchtime, tour city in the afternoon
       28
       29
       30 stonehedge?
       31 - city tour, new year's eve go near fireworks
Jan. 1 - city
       2 city last minute shopping
       3 - leave for prague

can you suggest where to go? i'm thinking of extending 1 day in london so that i can squeeze in a trip to windsor and legoland (tama ba?)

thank you!

re stonehenge, there's really not much to see.  as someone i know once said...baka mabato ka  :-)

when you get there take your pictures fast, then ride back in the bus immediately or else you get to stay there for a long time.  though i'm not sure if that schedule has changed recently.

how about going to "Bath"?  its nice to tour around specially at night.

also, if you have kids, Hamley's the toy store would be nice

[fairytink]

I was luckily issued a UK visa pero si officemate ay sawi, we tried to re-apply her pero negative pa rin eh. So sad to say, baka di matuloy ang ina asam asam naming London incentive trip this year

anyway, 6mos. valid naman visa ko, malay natin may mag sponsor ng pamasahe ko 

[foxymom]

^fairytink, what was the cause of visa denial? i would like to purchase our ticket already this early

[fairytink]

^ tingin ko nakulangan sa finances niya kasi we submitted naman same documents from our company plus I submitted my personal bank certificate + cc copies and statements, eh siya wala nun so baka that's the reason. Siguro one reason din is sobra sila naghigpit because of the olympics. Ang tagal din kasi ng processing, inabot ng 1month yung application namin.

Well, if you travel a lot naman sis and work/finances is ok,  i'm sure you will be granted visa. Ako puro asia lang travel ko, plus factor lang siguro yung korea at japan, nakalusot naman.

[little_princess]

^ ang tagal ng processing ninyo, they didn't ask for additional documents ba? ours was less than 2 weeks lang and that time, everyone was applying for a visa to go see the olympics.

super strict sila sa immigration when we went there, lahat ng incoming passengers are questioned.

[fairytink]

^yes sis, kaya nga I wasn't expecting na mapagbibigyan pa ko. They did not ask for any additional documents for officemate.

I heard super strict nga daw, at me di talaga nakakapasok.

[foxymom]

^^ oo nga ang tagal ng processing. maybe the embassy really studied her application

yup, very grateful that hubby and i are travellers and i work for a big british company so hopefully that has a lot of pogi points

[little_princess]

^ i dont think hindi ka naman makakapasok, their questions are fairly simple and they are very courteous naman. madami lang talaga tanong like they ask where we are staying, how long will we be in the UK, what do we do and what is our family business, do i know anyone in the UK which is yes, my fiance and i was honest naman then she asked what does he do, where he is, the last time we saw each other, where does he live.

[fairytink]

^me ganung nangyari sis, pasahero sa kabilang office he's holding a valid tourist visa.

[riksy07]

Hi mga sis. Papacheck ko lang sana [textspeak!] itinerary ko for the day I arrive in London and for the first full day I'm going to spend there. Ito palang kasi napapag isipan ko so far.

Day 1 (arrival day):
- The London Eye
- Thames River Cruise
I was thinking kasi baka ang makuha kong flight will arrive late in the afternoon pa so ang pinakasafe ko na lang na magagawa is go on the Eye and on the cruise in the evening.

Day 2:
AM:
- St. James' Park
- Buckingham Palace
(It's quite near where I'll be staying- St. George's Drive. I'll just walk to the park and the palace early in the morning.)
PM:
- The Mall (I'm just planning to walk along this)
- Admiralty Arch
- Trafalgar Square
- The National Gallery
- The National Portrait Gallery
- Covent Garden
I'm not planning to spend too much time on the galleries, probably just an hour and a half each.

And then pabalik ng Victoria Station, I'm thinking of getting on at Covent Garden Station (Piccadilly Line) then switching at Green Park to the Jubilee Line. Tapos I'll get off at Westminster para lipat naman sa District Line to Victoria Station. Tama ba plano ko mga sis or is there an easier way? Like a night bus perhaps?

[iwantsuperman]

If ever you are saving pounds, i suggest you go with bus kasi i remember na if naka 3 buses ka na ride , unlimited na yun sa oyster mo for the whole day. And super convenient ng bus naman nila. So ako mega ligaw, bus lang ng bus.

[iwantsuperman]

Better din yung mga tours offered like Windsor - Bath- Stonehenge kasi malalayo talaga sila sa isat isa. Convenient to go on tour na lang. At least mag day trip ka! City of Bath pa lang super ganda as a whole! ;-)

[riksy07]

@iwantsuperman

Thanks for the tip sis. Naisip ko rin isama ang Windsor-Bath-Stonehenge tour kaso lang ang dami kong nababasang nagrereklamo sa mga tours niyan and di ko naman priority ang makita ang Stonehenge for this trip. Focus muna ako sa Central London and nearby zones. I removed Hampton Court Palace na rin from my list. Sa next na balik ko na siya. Ask ko lang din, how much should I be budgetting for food? I'm thinking £20 a day to cover lunch and dinner kasi free breakfast naman sa hotel.

[iwantsuperman]

Ok na yun. Yummy na ang gbp 10 per meal.

Ako nga sa super tipid as in naghihintay ako ng discounts sa supermarket pag 6pm onwards. Like minsan naka score kami ng pizza for 50p lang.

Meron din kaming kinakainan burger-coke-fries 1 pound lang in Shepherd's Bush. Hahaha. Tipid tipiran kasi kami. ;-)

Try eating sa Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, historic pub near St. Paul Cathedral.

[riksy07]

@iwantsuperman

Talaga? Kung merong 1 pound na meal eh di sobra sobra na pala ang 20 pounds per day na budget ko. I'll take note of your suggested places to dine sis.

[sweetscience]

how much ang enough budget per day per pax considering lahat ng expenses except airfare and accommodation?

i would love to visit London..

[foxymom]

anyone tried gordon ramsay's resto?

[eeyore91833]

has anyone tried using the london pass?
thinking of getting the 3 day pass.