The UK and Ireland

[little_princess]

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

i would love to visit London..

just for food, it depends where you eat but we were spending about 25GBP per person per day. tapos mga 8-10GBP on tube rides tapos it depends na where do you want to go for attractions. some are free and some aren't.

anybody tried going to the UK on a visiting family visa? will be married to my fiance by the time we go to the UK next time and it seems a bit more complicated than the regular tourist visa.

[melvel]

We are going on a 14-day London-Paris trip and have allocated about P170k for everything but shopping. So far, the plane tickets and hotel/rental fees are anout P90k na for us.

[foxymom]

can anyone suggest a good venue in london for new year's eve?

[eeyore91833]

yesterday was able to do a lot
walked around picadilly circus. had beer and fish and chips.
visited covent garden, m&m store, trafalgar square, buckingham palace, st.james park, westminster abbey,
parliament & big ben, london eye.
although wasnt able to enter the church and cabinet war rooms. so will go back nalang.

didn't join any tour and didn't spend a penny on transpo. just walked walked walked kaya naman because there's a lot to see. haven't done any shopping yet.
exhausting but had a good sleep!
now im up and awake ready for day 2 though won't do as much walking. will get an oyster card and make use of the tube.
btw, so loving the cold weather and of course ang fashion. boots kung boots! :p

[foxymom]

^wow sis so doable to walk around and see all those sights? yey! tips tips tips!

[melvel]

^When is your trip?  Where you able to find a rental apartment na rin?

We're thinking of doing an out of London trip.  Maybe the one  to Bath and Stonehenge.  Problem is, parang di masyado maganda reviews na nababasa ko.

[foxymom]

^in december we will leave right after christmas. we booked the citizenM hotel along the bankside. good rates and good location especially for new year (hope we are right)

ako din i really plan on going to the stonehedge, nasa bucket list ko yun eh. kahit hindi masyado maganda ang reviews bahala na! i need to see those stones in this lifetime, hehe

[eeyore91833]

^wow sis so doable to walk around and see all those sights? yey! tips tips tips!

yup doable naman. yesterday i got lost twice haha but just kept walking.
spent my whole morning at the british museum. passed kingsway ended up in covent garden. headed to charing cross area. ended up buying takeaway from a pizza place kasi puno mga kainan. went to the park to eat it. walang lasa haha.
went back to the hotel to rest my feet then went out around 5. this time i took the train. agenda was hyde park and kensington. nice place to take photos.
sa south kensington side ang ganda rin. andun mga museum magkakatabi. although didnt go inside na [textspeak!] closed na.
was raining pa. good thing had my umbrella.

re meals pag mga 5 pounds ang price don't expect much.
10 and above okay na ma meals so far.

[little_princess]

^ grabe, nilakad mo lahat yun! parang 2 days worth of walking for us yun ah and we were so tired. actually we did a lot of walking in london and my calves were hurting so bad but good thing i lost weight! hahaha

food wise, we were spending about 10GBP/person/meal. decent na yun

will be back in Feb and hopefully do Stonehedge and bath, fiance says it's really pretty daw especially bath. and i think i want to go back to windsor, it's a town i want to explore lots. and hmm.. maybe go to st. ives too!

[shegie_285]

Just a general comment budget for food and transpo.

Tube -  mahal ang tube ng london pag single trip (GBP4 if i'm not mistaken), so dont buy a single journey ticket. Because we live in Dublin, my fiance has an oyster card and we keep it kase he travels to london naman (i dont know if it expires!). i think there is a flat charge lang to get an oyster card pero mas okay ito kase pay as you go pero parang half price ang charge.   if matagal kayo sa london, i guess an oyster card is better because pay as you go nga.  Option din is [textspeak!] day pass, best is to plan the itinerary para you can maximise the pass. i think if you use the tube three times, sulit na ang full day pass. 

When we were there, my friends bought one day pass each day kase in between nag-day tour kami sa windsor-stonehenge and bath.  This trip - i enjoyed the bath, its a very nice area. sayang sandali lag dun. ok din ang windsor castle.  stonehenge - ahh dahil popular kailangan magpa-picture, nothing special nga. after the picture taking we went back to the bus na.

If you are going around central london, puro lakad lakad lang sa attractions. there was a day na maghapon ata kaming naglakad, tapos nasabay pa ang 2-hour walking tour ng harry potter, bagsak ang paa ko after that.

Food - I guess in london there's a huge selection so you can be tipid or you can shell out.  I remember one dinner, we bought domino's pizza for GBP7 lang and it was good for three girls! sa hotel na lang namin kinain because it was late - after watching a show.

Others are right, GBP10 for food is good na. you can have something cheaper pa.

[riksy07]

@shegie_285

Thanks for the tips sis! I already finished drafting my London itinerary and I'm planning to get the 7-day travelcard (i'll be staying for 5 days in London and a friend recommended getting the travelcard instead of the oyster card PAYG). I budgeted £20-£25 per day on meals (I'm hoping to book a hotel that has breakfast included). I initially planned to stay at the Georgian Hotel where my cousin is working but I backed out as soon as I found out it was a haunted hotel (their site actualy says it is so). So now i've included a criteria in my hotel scouting- "no ghosts." 

[shegie_285]

riksy07 you're welcome sis. ghosts. kakatakot naman. hehe.. if you are looking for a reasonable hotel, we stayed in travelodge hotel close to covent garden. ang mahal kase ng mga hotel sa london and eto na ang cheapest na nakita namin. I think we paid GBP90 per night. the breakfast in the hotel is GBP10, english breakfast buffet. pero IMO if the breakfast na included is english breakfast na buffet, magsasawa ka for 5 days. kase rashers (bacon), sausages, eggs ang kasama, ma-oily. hindi sya healthy. enjoy your trip!

[riksy07]

Mga sis, here's my more or less "final" London itinerary, still hoping for your inputs:

Day 1: (the day I arrive in London)
- The London Eye
- Thames River cruise (package with the London Eye tickets)
- stroll in Piccadilly Circus

Day 2:
- Buckingham Palace
- The Mall
- Admiralty Arch
- Trafalgar Square
- National Gallery
- National Portrait Gallery

Day 3:
- Harry Potter studio tour
- Museum of Natural History
- Victoria and Albert Museum
- stroll in Harrods

Day 4:
- Tower of London
- Tower Bridge
- Museum of London
- St. Paul's Cathedral
- Westminster Abbey
- Big Ben

Day 5:
- British Museum
- Imperial War Museum
- Covent Garden

Is this do-able naman ba mga sis?

[foxymom]

meron ba kayo kilala door-to-door service in london? preparing to ship some items home kasi, hehe

[melvel]

riksy07:  Haven't been to London, but I'm also planning our itinerary next year.  Mukhang ok naman yung itinerary mo, but don't you want to make time for Portobello Road? 

[wowry]

Been to London a lot! but too lazy to take a tour unless I'm with a friend. Most of the time puro shopping bagsak kasi usually one to two days max lang stay namin. Sa tube iba presyokapag earlymorning ka sumakay can't remember if its before 8 or 9 am mas mahal ng 3£ yata haha kainis lalo na when you're in a hurry. It happened to us once nung papunt kami ng friends ko to the meeting place sa Stonehenge tour namin. Sa food maraming mura may chinese food buffet pa nga na less than 4£ lang haha pero oily nga lang food pero sulit na rin haha. May fave akong chicken burger £1.20 lang ang sarap at fresh walang sinabi mcdo hehe.. i love 1 pound land haha lahat £1 lang! Gusto ko rin makapunta ng Portobello Road, British Museum Been to M&M's store so so lang. I like their food. I love fish & chips and sheperd's pie Sa Asda naman ang daming murang food etc. Cheese spreads, cereals, toiletries lalo na when sale at crispy pata na £2.5 lang haha bumibili ako nito kasi luto na iiinit mo na lang sa oven haha. At syempre don't miss shopping in Primark! very nice and cheap rin Dito ko binibili si hubby ng shirts. Hubby was following Cristine Reyes and saw her wearing the same shirt he has omg super happy siya babaw kasi crush niya si CR. Mura din kids clothes dito as in may mga tig £1 na shoes. I like their flats kasi mura na good quality pa. Hindi naman halatang shopping lang alam ko hehe. I did kasi the tour years ago kaya medyo hindi ko na matandaan

[riksy07]

@melvel

Oo nga pala! I forgot! Thanks for reminding sis. I might make singit it sa last night ko or sa Day 4 ko. 

@wowry

Sis, may questions ako sayo. hehe.
1. Saan ang mga murang Chinese buffet? Got any specific Chinese restaurant na recommendable?
2. Saan iyong GBP1.20 na chicken burger? (I so love chicken, kahit anong luto basta chicken)

[wowry]

^ sis its all in hounslow. this is a place quite near the airport coz were staying in an  airport hotel and the hotel provide us free shuttle bus back and forth to Hounslow. I don't even know the name of the chinese restaurant basta kasi mas nakikita ko ang price haha. The chicken burger naman is from a small indian burger joint. Sa oxford street marami rin murang restaurant you just have to look for the menu para macompare mo prices. There's a very nice chocolate shop din sa oxford selling different flavor of chocolates like ginger, mint, chili which was so nice sarap bumalik sa oxford para lang doon haha

[melvel]

To those who've been to London, can you let me know if this is doable or masyado tight:

For our first full day (we arrive at night the previous day):

AM - Trafalgar Square
National Gallery
National Portrait Gallery
Lunch-somewhere in Trafalgar Square area
PM - Houses of Parliament/Big Ben
Westminster Abbey (not sure yet if we'll go inside)
Late PM -  Thames River Cruise + London Eye just before sunset.

Is the walk from Trafalgar Square to Big Ben reasonable?  Di naman super malayo?  Sa maps mukhang ok naman, but you can not really tell until you're actually there kasi.

[riksy07]

@wowry

Thanks sis! I took note na of your replies.