General / Off-Topic My summer visit to UK & Ireland

[BarFly]

Hello,

as someone who is 71 years old, i'm doing a 6 weeks travel around the UK with my scooter, a Kymco AK 550.
My start is in mid of July. And i wanna start at London and have already booked a room near Hither Green Station.
My question is about what i have to expect there - what kind of area i got to expect? Because i'm planning to commute to the City by train or bus and i'm also planning to return sometimes to the room late at night.
Some may think now that i'm afraid and filling my pants, but i live in one of the biggest towns of Germany and years ago i lived in New York, so towns and also really big towns, are nothing i don't know about. But this experience also says - you got to know what to expect. Is it better to use a taxi at night or is it ok to use the train?
Later on i'm at the Rebellion Festival in Blackpool , but thats something else.
Thx in advance for any helpfull suggestions.

 

[Dougie]

Back in the 80's I had a girlfriend that lived not far from Lewisham station, we used the train all the time. Just be aware of the times of the last trains 'cos if you miss it then you have the fun of finding a taxi driver that will go "south of the river" - I don't know why they were averse to that maybe they are not these days.

Hopefully someone with more recent knowledge will come on and supplant my info from 40-years ago (gosh, so long).

Good luck.

 

[starman]

London 'My question is about what i have to expect there' - Its very expensive and full of tourists.

 

[VR micmacmoc]

Brilliant pubs!
Lots of music venues, if you want some quiet get to Paddington and catch a train to Cornwall which is stuck on the western end of England.
I hope you have a great time.

 

[BarFly]

Hello,
thanks for your replies and good wishes

London 'My question is about what i have to expect there' - Its very expensive and full of tourists.

Brilliant pubs!
Lots of music venues, if you want some quiet get to Paddington and catch a train to Cornwall which is stuck on the western end of England.
I hope you have a great time.

Tourists ok, i'm one of them and will join the masses. Expensive? Ok, thats a reason i took the room out there at Hither Green station. 50 Pounds a night is quite ok.
Ok, of course my budget is limited, but for 5 days in London, when the room is quite cheap, i guess i can affort it. Even when 4 more weeks in Uk and Ireland follow.
Because music venues are often late at night or an evening at a pub can also end late and drunk. And walking the 300m in the middle of the night from the train station to the hotel can be a long way. Like i wrote in my intial post, i lived in New York but then i was younger, faster and stronger.
What i really wanted to know is if that area is one of the safer ones? I know there is no absolute safety in a big city.
Stonehenge/Cornwall is included on my tour plans. My wife spent 2 weeks at Torquay and she loved it. From there i'm going to stroll through England/Wales with the rough direction Edinburgh.

 

[Evoflash]

Hither Green is fine, I have a good friend who lives in Eltham and it's lovely there.

You're nicely accessible for all of London. No idea what you like but some rough ideas on stuff to do...Get up to Greenwich museum in the morning, see the O2 then cross the river and head up to Bow which has always felt for me to be very classical London, walk in to any pub on Bow road especially near Mile End and Stepney Green and you'll get to hear that famous East End accent and have a nice pint of London Pride (although I prefer Yorkshire beers myself!). Then either head in to the centre, see the big hitters - Tower Bridge, The Tower of London, Big Ben and St Pauls Cathedral and Westminster Abbey, not forgetting marvellous Borough Market for some grub, or else head North to Hackney and check out the retro fashion on sale in Broadway Market, drop in to Buen Ayre for the best steak you'll ever eat (had my fortieth there, lovely night).

That's just off the top of my head. I lived on the outskirts of London (Wanstead/Woodford/Loughton) for twenty years and never tired of the city. Sure there's tourists but there's a good reason for that. If possible take in a walking guided tour and get some of the history. It's all around and you'll miss it without good guidance.

Have a great time!

 

[BarFly]

Hello,
@Evoflash
Great - Thanks a lot for that much useful information.
The 'big hitters' of course, but Bow, what you call the classical London, is something i haven't had on my list! Sounds like a great place to visit.

If possible take in a walking guided tour and get some of the history. It's all around and you'll miss it without good guidance

That is also some great advise.
Indeed, my visit to London will be pretty much a sightseeing tour.
And at evening/night i'm going to look for music venues in smaller clubs or pub concerts. Is there a magazine or a website with the dates of the smaller clubs?

 

[Dragsham]

I'm a londoner born n bred. Camden town. Saw Amy Winehouse in dingwalls before she was famous.
North London..
Hampstead heath, kenwood house. Gotta see that.
Madam tussauds in Marylebone.
Plus the planetarium at the same venue.
The world's end pub in Camden town.

Legend..
The London dungeon..ohh an eye opener for sure.
The tower of London...has to be seen.
Take a walk from the Strand to picadilly past the posh hotels and gentry clubs. Trafalgar square,
Down to Whitehall, onto the embankment. Lots to do see.
As a cockney I can't list it all.

 

[BarFly]

Hello,

wow, a lot of great suggestions what to do at London.
@Dragsham mentioned another interesting places to visit. Thanks a lot
I guess it was not the worst idea to ask this community for some advice