We're Going to London. Location Recommendations Please.

[scloyd]

My wife and I are going to London for 10 days in early November for our 45th anniversary.

We're thinking about staying in Airbnbs west of Heathrow and taking the train into London the first few days. After a few days we want to travel around visiting other cities.

Some of the towns we're considering staying in the first few nights are Slough, Windsor and Maidenhead. Any thoughts on these choices? Or, any thoughts of nice towns near Heathrow?

 

[AJL67]

Never been there, have wanted to go, but i hate to fly.. which is amusing for someone that travels a lot for work and was Airborne Assault, just not over oceans. You can visit Ajay Patels cigar shop and buy one of those $880 or whatever new Cohibas! Be sure to post a review =D

 

[scloyd]

Never been there, have wanted to go, but i hate to fly.. which is amusing for someone that travels a lot for work and was Airborne Assault, just not over oceans. You can visit Ajay Patels cigar shop and buy one of those $880 or whatever new Cohibas! Be sure to post a review =D

If I spent $880 on a cigar, I may not be coming home on the same flight as my wife.

 

[AJL67]

If I spent $880 on a cigar, I may not be coming home on the same flight as my wife.

"But baby it's our anniversary!" .. no? Yah didn't think so.

Still jealous almost had a project with Paramount, well their data company, it would have been 12 weeks living and working in London on the company dime, it was set to start 2 weeks after Covid hit... so that was the end of that, I was very let down.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

Will watch with interest! London is our next trip across the pond ‘24 or ‘25!

 

[scloyd]

Will watch with interest! London is our next trip across the pond ‘24 or ‘25!

We've been to Germany, Switzerland and Austria all in 9 days. Too much traveling in 9 days...never again. Most recently in 2018 we spent 9 days in Paris. I loved every minute of it.

We want to spend three days in London then move on.

 

[HawkeyeLinus]

We’ve been to Scotland twice and Ireland once and each trip was just over two weeks. The Scotland trips were Highlands/Fife and Ayrshire/East Lothian with basically one week “bases” in great vacation rentals. Ireland was more spread out but a solid week plus near Killarney. I just can’t do “death march” trips and love driving and exploring around an area. London likely 4-5 days with side trips out from there and then either over/to Wales or if we get lucky again in The Old Course lottery, a train up to Fife from London and there again for at least 10 days. I’m excited just thinking about someone else’s trip, lol. I figure London will be the “usual” sites, plus a show in the West End, a train to Highclere Castle for a day (yep, “Downton Abbey”) and I’m not sure I couldn’t spend 2 days in the British Museum alone - now I’ll be digging out the books and maps again!! Sounds awesome!

 

[simong]

Yes to Windsor, nice tobacconist there too.
No to Maidenhead & a big fat no to slough.
Beaconsfield is a lovely little town, short train ride west of Heathrow. (They filmed a lot of Midsomer Murders there).
I’ll pop back to this thread after I’ve had a think.

 

[scloyd]

Yes to Windsor, nice tobacconist there too.
No to Maidenhead & a big fat no to slough.
Beaconsfield is a lovely little town, short train ride west of Heathrow. (They filmed a lot of Midsomer Murders there).
I’ll pop back to this thread after I’ve had a think.

Great. Thanks

 

[WerewolfOfLondon]

Yes to Windsor, nice tobacconist there too.
No to Maidenhead & a big fat no to slough.
Beaconsfield is a lovely little town, short train ride west of Heathrow. (They filmed a lot of Midsomer Murders there).
I’ll pop back to this thread after I’ve had a think.

This. Do not go to Slough. Betjeman wrote a poem about Slough with visions of it being bombed to destruction. But even that can't make Slough interesting. Truly a cultural wasteland, nothing but factories and warehouses.

Can't really think of that many places that are good within immediate proximity to London, the UK is that London-centric. St. Albans is the nearest city to London and is a cracking place. In Roman Britain it was the largest settlement outside of London, and you can still see remnants of Roman architecture. It also has an amazing Cathedral which was built sometime in the 12 century. There is a tobacconist there, but you'd probably be disappointed with the tobaccos on sale, nothing you won't be familiar with. I do remember seeing some nice pipes though.

 

[jmill208]

London is a great place to sightsee and very walkable. All of the tourist spots in the city are within a few minute tube ride.
May not be what you’re looking for, but one of the highlights of our London trip was taking the Eurostar over to Paris for a day. Go first class, worth the extra coin.

 

[scloyd]

London is a great place to sightsee and very walkable. All of the tourist spots in the city are within a few minute tube ride.
May not be what you’re looking for, but one of the highlights of our London trip was taking the Eurostar over to Paris for a day. Go first class, worth the extra coin.

We spent 9 days in Paris in 2018...loved it.

 

[mingc]

London is a great place to sightsee and very walkable. All of the tourist spots in the city are within a few minute tube ride.
May not be what you’re looking for, but one of the highlights of our London trip was taking the Eurostar over to Paris for a day. Go first class, worth the extra coin.

Haha, the best place to visit when in London is Paris!

 

[jmill208]

Haha, the best place to visit when in London is Paris!

I knew when I posted that it would be perceived that way. Oh well.

 

[mikethompson]

Scott, first of all, congrats to you and your very patient wife of 45 years.

Secondly, have a great time in London. If I were going, I would make a point to see Big Ben and Parliament, but that's just me.

 

[simong]

Henley on Thames & Marlow.
There the best ones I can come up with, both not as grand as Paris of course, but at least you won’t have the French to deal with.

 

[mawnansmiff]

Do be aware Scott, there have been rail strikes & tube strikes going on and off for months! Hopefully all will be sorted come your visit.

If you can stretch a little further on the map, there are some stunning old villages and small towns down Sussex way, and some glorious ales to be found.

In the smoke itself, the British Museum would be a must see as would the V&A Gallery.

Regards,

Jay.

 

[TheIronMonkey]

If you like steak and kidney pie, I cannot recommend the Windmill high enough—it's delicious if you enjoy that dish.

 

[jpmcwjr]

I'd take a boat to Greenwich. When there, lots to see walking about, and the trip itself is great.

 

[jaingorenard]

All great suggestions (Greenwich is like going to the seaside in London, but with some great museums and history - my favourite London day out!). Oxford is quite an easy trip from London, but it does get extraordinarily busy - excellent tobacconist there though.

If you or your wife are Harry Potter fans you could go to the original Diagon Alley, I used to do homeless outreach round there.