Tourist Guide For London
By Lisa Mills, Mon Dec 26th
/p> Tourist Guide For London By Lisa Mills London is an exciting, vibrant city, offering a whole host ofthings to do and see. It is also one of the safest cities in theworld.
In order to make your experience as enjoyable as possible youshould exercise the same amount of caution as you would athome.
London Transport Avoid using unlicensed cabs. Safe cabsto use are those licensed by the Police. The driver will wear abadge and the cab will have a licence on display.
When using a hire car, be sure to fully check the car over forany damage prior to signing the forms.
Accommodation in London
Accommodation in London is given a Star and Diamond rating byofficial tourist organisations. The greater the number of starsor diamonds, the higher the quality.
Crime
As with any major city, crime can be a problem. However, if youfollow the same basic principles as you would at home, you willbe perfectly safe. Keep purses and wallets in zippedcompartments. Avoid using rucksacks. Keep cameras hanging roundyour neck, not over your shoulder. Never put your bag on thefloor of a restaurant or bar, keep it with you at all times.
Your Money
It is not always cost effective to change your money up at yourHotel. Try to shop around for the best rate. Banks and BuildingSocieties often offer the best rates.
Once you have changed up your money, be sure to store it in thesafe at your hotel.
Eating And Drinking
Be wary of young ladies inviting you into bars for a drink.These ladies are often escorts and you may end up payinghundreds of pounds for one drink and the privilege of the ladiescompany for the evening.
It is now expected that diners will tip their waitress or waiterin a restaurant. Before doing this, check your bill to see ifservice is included. It is accepted that a tip of around 10% ofyour total bill is reasonable. However, don't be tempted to tipif the service or the food is poor.
Weapons
It is illegal to carry a knife, a gun or CS spray in London.
Important Holiday Dates
Holiday dates for 2006 are as follows: New Year's Day - 2 January (substitute bank holiday in lieu of 1January) Good Friday - 14 April March Easter Monday - 17 April May Day - 1 May Spring Bank Holiday - 29 May Summer Bank Holiday - 28 August Christmas Day - 25 December Boxing Day - 26 December
Our Banks are closed on Bank Holidays however the most popularshops now open between the hours of 10am to 4pm.
Bank Holidays are classed as family days, therefore there areusually plenty of activities organised to keep everyoneentertained.
Shopping
It may distress American ladies to know that you will gain adress size during your stay in London, and it won't be down tothe food. If you are a size 8 in America, you will be a size 10over here and in Europe. Let's hope that doesn't put you offyour shopping! If it's any consolation, you will need shoes 2sizes smaller, a 7 in America is a 5 over here
for ladies. Mensclothes sizes are no different. Their shoes however are 1 sizesmaller over here.
Driving In London
We could write a book about driving in London. It is of coursemuch easier to say, "don't do it!" Driving in London is not apleasurable experience. You may be interested to learn that in1898 the average speed of cars in London was 11mph, in 1998 itwas also 11mph, so much for progress. It may be some comfort toyou to know that there is an excellent underground system, whichis cheap and fast. If driving is your thing we have a wealth ofinformation for you to read and digest. It's a fact, we areobsessed with roundabouts. Roundabouts are placed at junctionswhere typically traffic is heavy. Love 'em or hate 'em, theywork well. On approach to a roundabout look to your right, ifthere is nothing coming there is no need to stop. You must giveway to the right and travel round the roundabout in a clockwisedirection. You should indicate your intentions to assist otherdrivers. A valid (full) European, US or Canadian licence isneeded to drive in the UK. Seatbelts must be worn by allpassengers. You must come to a complete stop where you see astop sign and a solid white line in the road, even if you cansee your way is clear. Unlike most other countries, drivers haveto stop at zebra crossings if a pedestrian is waiting to cross.On pelican crossings you must come to a complete stop on red. Onamber you must wait until all pedestrians have safely crossedprior to driving off. Traffic lights follow the followingsequence; red (stop), red and amber (get ready), green (go). Weovertake on the right, and quickly move back to the left handlane after overtaking. To cope with the mass amount of trafficvisiting London on a daily basis the Mayor has introduced acongestion charge. This charge applies to vehicles enteringcentral London by car between the hours of 7am-6.30pm Mon-Fri(excluding Bank Holidays). The charge is £8 daily. This can bepaid in advance by visiting www.cclondon.com you'll also be ableto pay at garage forecourts, in shops, by post and actually inand around the congestion charging zone. You can now also pay bytext message although you have to register online first. Simplytext the last four digits of your credit/debit card to 81099 onthe day of travel and they will text you back your receiptnumber within 30 minutes. A hefty fine applies to those that donot pay the charge by midnight on the day of travel. Parking inLondon is neither cheap nor easy. If you have parking at yourhotel, we suggest you leave your car there and use the tube.Traffic wardens in London have a habit of popping up when youleast expect them, and following closely behind them is theclamper van. The release fee is a bitter pill to swallow. Whendriving in London, always lock your car doors. Gangs have beenknown to strike when vehicles are stuck in traffic.
Should the above make you reconsider your decision to drive inLondon, check out our 'getting around' section under the touristguide on www.24-7london.co.uk for alternatives! 24-7 London has a wealth of information for those people lookingto travel to London. Check out our website www.24-7London. About the author:Lisa Mills primarily writes for 24-7 London. |
