London Calling: Tips From an English Woman on What to See and Where to Shop

When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life... (Samuel Johnson)

I am originally from the North of England, with a Welsh mother and a Scottish father. I estimate that I have been back to London over 120 times since I have lived in California.

My sister is a professor at Cambridge, and always meets me in London for a few days of shopping, the theater, and whatever else we plan on doing.

There are 74 theatres in London, with four symphony orchestras, so we go to a performance every night.

I have inspected many hotels and apartments in London, and two of my favorites are Milestone and Montague.  

I walk from one end of Oxford Street to the other, shopping at my favorite places, Marks and Spencers, John Lewis, and every shoe shop in between. Always go to Rigby & Peller, opposite Harrods, which has great swimsuits and bras.

We always eat at Fortnum and Mason, Fountains Restaurant before the theatre.

Chez Gerard at the Opera Terrace Covent Garden is good for lunch. A great pub is Admiral Codrington in Chelsea; J. Sheekey at 28 St. Martin’s Court is a good fish place, in the heart of the theatre district.  Smashing coffee shop on the top floor of the Tate Modern, lovely view along the river.

All the museums and art galleries have good reasonably priced cafes. We like the Tate Modern, Tate British, Wallace Collection and the Dickens House. We always go to the Royal Collection on Buckingham Palace Road. The Queens puts some of her jewels, china, silver, furniture, art, on exhibit and it changes quarterly. Wonderful gift shop, great place to buy Christmas presents.

Buy an Oyster Card at any underground train station.   This saves you a lot of money and can be used for buses, and trains. We never use a taxi, they are expensive.

If you want a day out: I recommend a river cruise to see Kew Gardens, or a tour to Bath, Stonehenge and Salisbury, or Dover, Leeds Castle and Canterbury.  There are 50 to choose from.

I always recommend to travelers that they do a private guided tour of the Houses of Parliament, or the Cabinet War Rooms and Churchill Museum. Take a private capsule on the London Eye with a guide in attendance, have champagne and canapés while you enjoy the fabulous views over the City of London.

Have a private visit to the Tower of London and Crown Jewels. Some of my favorites are a behind the scenes tour of the Household Cavalry including lunch at the Officers Mess, private charter of the Queen’s Royal Barge on the River Thames with lunch or dinner served, special visit to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre with guided tour with an actor, Windsor Castle private tour followed by afternoon tea with a Military Knight, or best seats for Choral Evensong in the stunning St. George’s Chapel.

In May, a must is the Chelsea Flower Shop. June, VIP seats for Royal Ascot Races; June and July, best seats for the Wimbledon Tennis Championships. August, Royal Residence tours or go to Edinburgh for the Military Tattoo and Festival.

Don’t rent a car.  Petrol is ten pounds a gallon.  Take the train, or get a car and driver.

For the next week’s issue, I am going to do one on River Cruising.  Samoa will be the week after!

Maureen Jones

All Horizons Travel, Inc