The UK and Ireland

[little_princess]

^

1. there are a couple of catholic churches in London, where are you exactly staying?

2. Oyster card minimum top up is 5GBP. If 4 days kayo, safe na yung 20GBP.

4. Go to Buckingham Palace if you have to choose because it is only open 6 weeks a year while Windsor Castle is open year round. If you have time and liked Buckingham, then consider going to Windsor though it is a bit far from the city center. I love castles and manor houses so we always go to one.

5. I liked Tower of London because of the museum, you can see the crown jewels of the royal family there. You can also take the free tour around the complex conducted by funny yeoman wardens. It is picturesque area and you get a very good view of Tower Bridge

[blaire.witch]

^ Thanks sa pagsagot sis!

Regarding the church suggestion, the address of the apartment we booked is 174 Sussex Gardens, Hyde Park. 

[gj1206]

blaire.witch
1. Google says there's a Catholic church in Marylebone, near Baker Street station. I vaguely remember seeing one around Covent Garden as well, but I can't remember the name, and the entrance was in a little street...Maiden Lane, I think it was.

2. Oyster -- you can always top-up (or reload) if it runs out, but I agree that £20 should be fine. It depends on how often you use the tube/buses, and especially since you're doing the Harry Potter studios, that's all the way in the edges of north London, so might cost you £4+ return.

3. My friend and I did the Complete Studio Tour Package. I'd take a photo of the Souvenir Guidebook but I'm at work and I can't remember where I hid it! Haha. It depends on how much a big fan you are, I suppose. There are no tour guides inside the studio, so the Digital Guide, erm, guided as along. I can't recall if you can just pay additional on the day for audio guides when you get there. There will be parts where you might want to shell out more money, like green screen photos of you in the flying Ford Anglia, riding on a broomstick wearing robes, and the butterbeer.

4. You're going in October, if I recall correctly? Buckingham Palace is only open during the summer, til the end of September. Another castle near London is Hampton Court Palace, which is around zone 6 of London, but you have to take the national rail for it. Anyhoo, it's not occupied by the royal family, but it's apparently been built by Henry VIII (the one with the six wives) to rival Versailles. They tried to preserve how it was during that period, but what I love most about it is the gardens.

Windsor Castle, on the other hand, is still a royal residence, and it's interiors are definitely much, much better than Hampton Court in terms of grandeur. No garden on this one, save for the Walk which stretches for so long I didn't even attempt to walk it because I walked around the city centre plus the castle, so...yeah.

5. The Tower of London museum is good. I'd recommend doing the full thing, but you can still take nice photos without paying.

[juliaroberts]

mga sis, ok ba to purchase london pass?

[gj1206]

Hm...looks slightly ripoff-ish to me. I personally wouldn't go for it, kase in a day, you'd probably only see two places -- maybe 3 max if you really push it aka walking meals, bus/tube rides lang ang pahinga. If you choose to do a castle, that usually takes around 2 hours na, and imagine being in your feet for 2 hours nonstop tapos rush na to the next one! Also bear in mind the opening hours, so yung estimate ko na 3 attractions max means nandun ka na on the dot when they open!

[caterpillar-girl]

Blairwtich: The Westminster Cathedral (not the Abbey) is a Catholic Church. Daming Pinoy dun when we heard mass there.

juliaroberts: for me also the london pass is not worth it. We considered that before and decided against it. Same reason as above. I think you're better off buying an Oyster card and then buying tickets at the entrance of the sites you want to visit.

[juliaroberts]

thanks sis sa inputs

[juliaroberts]

sis, how will i know the status of my applicationt? submitted my application last week plus nag avail pa ako priority visa service. should i be worried?

[juliaroberts]

hi just wanted to ask if i can purchase a prepaid sim card in uk? can i use my iphone 4s ? not so sure if they are triband or quad band?

[gj1206]

There are vending machines selling prepaid SIM cards in arrivals. And you can def use the iPhone if it's open to all networks of course.

[glacy_rein]

^^better buy in the outlets than getting one from the airport (very expensive also)

[mrs. sweet]

What is the current situation in UK now, particularly in London? I just heard from the news earlier na may terror threats daw, totoo ba? We will be in London on the 13th, wrong timing naman

[juana_antonia]

Sis I am not in London but we live an hour away from London. I think the government raised the threat level intentionally to severe because of the NATO summit in Wales this week. Sabi sa news, stay away sa mga malls and be extra vigilant. There is even a rumor spreading that the extremists are threatening to target M&S shops. But so far, everything here is normal naman.

[mrs. sweet]

Thanks sis. I really hope hanggang threats lang sila

San ba ok bumili ng musical/play online? Yung e-ticket na lang ang ipe-present ko sa admission. Mostly kasing nakita ko is we need to get the ticket at least 1 hour sa ticket box office. I don't think may time kami sa ganun, kasi super siksik ang sched namin.

THanks!

[glacy_rein]

^maybe you can just buy it right there and then kasi ako nun the tickets were mailed sa bahay ko nung nasa uk ako so sa inyo since sabe mo nga d niyo mace-claim better yet choose to buy upfront nalang.. Hindi naman seasonal play yan db? sa train stations may outlet din, i forgot which one

[gj1206]

mrs.sweet We're on severe threat level but everything is normal naman. Maybe more thorough security in airport terminals/national railways/Eurostar. Was in Soho last night, and there might be a tad less people, but hen again it was the middle of a work week...ingat ingat na lang din siguro!

Haven't been to a West End show in a while, but they usually ask you to be there 20-30 mins before the time anyway, kase they close the doors on you! I remember just being on time (5 minutes before curtain call?), and we missed the opening song, I think it was? So you can def do the pay online, collect at the box office way.

[juliaroberts]

sis , can i have the contact details of the private car compan ( london)?

Post modified. Please refrain from quoting long posts.

[meimei]

@mrs. sweet, i bought tickets online for two different plays and for both of them i had to claim the tickets from the booth - BUT, i didn't need to go at least one hour before. i just showed up nung malapit na mag-start (maybe 15-20mins before), so convenient naman. ako i prefer purchasing it online in advance instead of buying it right there and then kasi gusto kong mamili ng seats.

one ticket i bought from the website of Delfont Mackintosh (the one that operates the Prince Edward Theatre that was the venue for the play). one ticket i bought from ATG (Ambassador Theatre Group - which was the theatre production for the musical Once).

in choosing seats, the Theater Monkey offers some info on seating (like which seats have partial blocking, side views, etc) that you may want to avoid - unless you prefer cheap price over view, pero dahil minsan lang naman ako makakapanood ng play sa London, i chose good seats na:

http://www.theatremonkey.com/

[little_princess]

I get my theatre tickets from ticket master.co.uk

Usually you will print the voucher and just claim the ticket sa box office. You don't have to be there super early since it's pretty fast to get the tickets.

juana antonia, we're living about 50mins away from London by train. We just moved there and my next trip will be the time that I will see the place. One hour is not such a bad commute to central London diba? Might be a chore to go to London 2-3x a week?

[mrs. sweet]

Thanks mga sissis!

meimei, maganda ba Once? I'm torn between The Book of Mormons and ONce