[HPFGU-OTChatter] trip to London

[Nguyen, Marc]

Message: 2
   Date: Wed, 03 Dec 2003 01:53:20 +0000
   From: GulPlum <hp at plum.cream.org>
Subject: Re: trip to London

At 14:30 02/12/03 , Nguyen, Marc wrote:

>I'm planning a trip to London December 27th - Jan 4th, and booked a couple
>of taxi journeys through www.lodonblack-cab.com. We are also booked at the
>Thistle Kensington Gardens Hotel.
>Has anyone used this taxi service or hotel before? This is our honeymoon,
so
>I'm trying to make sure everything goes smoothly.

GulPlum replied:

>I've never used that cab service (nor do I know anyone who has), so I can't

>really comment on what you're going to get. I assume you've booked them to 
>get you to and from the airport? That's perhaps not the wisest decision. 
>The hotel is pretty handy for Paddington Station, and you'd get to and from

>Heathrow more quickly and cheaply (and perhaps even more comfortably) on 
>the Heathrow Express (http://www.heathrowexpress.com). There are always 
>loads of cabs at Paddington to get you to the hotel (in any case, without 
>luggage, it's definitely walking distance!).

Marc's response:

Thanks for all who replied. The 2 times that I need a taxi will be at 5am to
get to Waterloo train station for a Eurostar trip to Paris, and at 4am to
get to Heathrow for a rental car pickup at 5am. We received private access
to Stonehenge, but have to be there at 8am. I looked at all my options, and
decided that at those hours in the morning, a cab was probably best. 

Will I still be ok taking the tube from the airport to Paddington station
with all my luggage? I didn't know if that would be a problem. We did order
the 7 day Visitor's Travelcard for zones 1 and 2. One last question, where
to you suggest I get UK currency? at airport ATM, or from my home bank
before leaving? the bank will charge me a flat rate of $15, but I don't know
what the ATM fees are over there per transaction.

I have tickets to Les Mis at the Palace, and the Cinderella ballet at the
Royal Opera House. We plan on seeing most of the city and plan on walking A
LOT!!! London is my wife's #1 city to visit on our worlwide list, so that's
the first one we're checking off. I do think we'll have to return sometime
in the summer season to see all the gardens though. 

My not so new wife (been married 2 years, finally able to take our
honeymoon, we wanted to buy a house first) does love shopping, and she
looking for to what the sales have to offer. :)

Thanks again everyone!