When picking a hotel, Airbnb, or other rental, you may want to ensure your location is close to a tube station or bus route if you plan on skipping the car rental. Don’t forget, cars drive on the left side of the road here! I opted to forgo a car and used public transit myself. Honestly, I found it difficult enough trying to remember which way to look before crossing streets. I would catch myself falling into autopilot and only looking left as I approached crosswalks, and then noticing the arrow on the ground pointing right… Oh, right! There was no need for me to over-complicate things with remembering which side of the road I should be driving on. Even after I returned home, I would have moments of panic in which I felt temporarily paralyzed with fear, AM I ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE ROAD?!
Whether you want to be near the Theater district in the West End, close to designer shops, or within walking distance of allegedly haunted park squares, there are lots of accommodation options in a range of prices. But, fair warning, London’s cost of living is ranked among the top 10 most expensive cities in the world!
During my time in London, I stayed across the street from Hyde Park, off of Bayswater Road. The streets surrounding my hotel were lined with classic Georgian style rowhouses. Quite a few of them have been re-purposed for use as store fronts or hotels. Most of these rowhouses are a uniform façade of black front doors with brass doorknobs and knockers, white columns, stone stairs, and adjoining black wrought iron fence.
With two tube stations within an easy walk, tons of restaurants and shops nearby, and Kensington Palace a short walk away, I found my hotel location to be very agreeable. After remembering to look right, then left across the street, Hyde Park lay before me. A lovely place to take a leisurely stroll, even with the weather a little overcast. Or, I could easily catch the tube and make my way down to Bond Street for some shopping, which is only three stops from the Queensway station. There, you will find the high-end department store, Selfridges, along with other trendy shops and boutiques.
Primarily, I used the Underground to get around. I purchased a “pay as you go” Oyster card (5 pound deposit for the card) and reloaded funds on it whenever my balance was getting low. The nice thing about this card is that you can get a refund of your deposit and remaining balance once you are finished with the card. You may be asking, why should I bother getting an Oyster card over a paper ticket? The short answer is that the fare prices are lower for the Oyster card than a paper card. Additionally, you can use the Oyster card to pay your fares on other forms of transit, like the Overground, buses, trains, and river bus. If you are not keen on public transportation, there are taxis all around the touristy areas, as well as bike rentals and Uber.
To get to places like Westminster or the London Eye, you will need to change tube lines if you are coming from Queensway. For example, when I was returning from the London Eye, I walked to the Waterloo station and caught the Jubilee train, traveling in the direction of Stanmore, to the Bond Street station. From there, I changed to the Central train line, traveling towards West Ruislip/Easling, to my destination, the Queensway station. For added assistance, the London Underground has an app you can download to your phone, which will help you plan out your trips.
Not only are there lots of great sights to see, but a variety of multicultural restaurants to try. If you are hoping to beat the dinner rush, you may want to consider reserving a table in advance. The first night I was in London, I went to a Thai restaurant around the corner from my hotel. It had great online reviews, so I went ahead and reserved a table on opentable. When I arrived at the restaurant, the hostess asked if I had a reservation, else there would be an hour long wait. Thanks to the reservation, I was seated immediately! Fast forward to two nights later, I stopped in at an Italian restaurant, sans reservation, and got to hang around the entrance for 45 minutes before a table became available. So, if you know where you want to go for dinner, even an hour in advance, check the restaurant website and see if you can snag a table.
