Reddit mentions: The best england travel guides

I work in a popular indie bookshop that is also a bit of a tourist destination in London. if you came into my shop an asked this question, i would suggest these two new books on londons rivers: 1 and 2. Same title, but both different and very good books. Also secret london. I've been a londoner for 15 years, and my parents both are from here, but most of the places in this book i had never come across. My better half, who is training to be a city of london tour guide, and I, have been using the book to get to know our city better for the last few months. Another awesome way to look at the city is through lost london an awesome (an reasonably priced) coffee table book of historic photographs of the city, illuminating for any londoner. If you are looking for any other sort of book on the city (novel, history of a particular period, esoteric guide, etc...), let me know. It's what I do.

P.S. While i have linked to amazon above, if you can afford to, buy from your local independent bookshop! you'll miss us if we go!

• Ride a double-decker bus, upper deck, front seat. You will have to ride off-peak hours to do this. It is a highly memorable cheap thrill, and you have to get around anyway, right?
  
  
• If you have any interest at all in natural history, the Natural History Museum is awesome. It is so old, it has specimens from Darwin and the other great British naturalists. And it is one of the most beautiful buildings in the world.
  
  
• Walk along the embankment at night, specifically across one or more bridges.
  
  
• Tower of London is awesome
  
  
• London Eye has stunning views, but the wait on line was 3 hours. It winds up killing half a day, so maybe not worth it if you have little time.
  
  
• I enjoyed the Fat Tire Bicycle Tour, you see most of the major sights in a half day.
  
  London is full of amazing palaces, museums, restaurants, theatre, etc etc, I highly recommend you spend ten bucks for a guide book.

This should be perfect for the job: M5 Sights Guide. I have a couple of friends who spend hours travelling motorways every day (they are comedians) and they love this kind of thing as it helps break the journeys into recognisable chunks.

>If I am totally honest, a week in London in one go is probably too long. The first time I went to London, I was bored after a few days.

You could easily spend weeks in London and barely touch the surface, especially if you're interested in art, quirky museums, history, music, architecture, and all the things OP stated. London - although not as fantastic as a decade ago - is extraordinary.

Travel isn't cheap, but very few journeys are "£13 return" and I'm not sure how you managed to buy a return ticket on contactless or Oyster given that the off-peak zone 1-2 daily cap is £7 and weekly anytime pass is (an admittedly obscene) £35. It's unlikely most tourists will need to travel before 9.30am or beyond zone 2, except to Hampton Court Palace and the airport.

OP - buy Time Out London City Guide. It's better than most other guidebooks for your purposes (at least it was a few years ago). Also try blogs like IanVisits (nerdy) Londonist (hipper).

Also post in the stickied thread at the top of the subreddit, where you'll have a really helpful first post with lots of links to our wiki. You'll find a guidebook helpful too - something like Lonely Planet London and the Pocket edition for quick reference while you're out and about. You'll probably find most of your questions (how to get around, how to see the big sights, what to do/not do about tipping etc) are answered in there.

I that case you might be interested in the following books:

• Barbard Tuchman's A distant mirror. The best book on medieval history I think I've ever read.
  
• A time traveller's guide to medieval England by Ian Mortimer
  
• Agincourt by Juliet Barker
  
  

Thanks so much for this contest.

I would really, really like this book before I move there in September.

Edit: formatting

You really need to get a guide book for this sort of thing. Here's why:

London is 5 times the size of Sacramento in terms of area, and 20 times the size of Sacramento in terms of population. There are over 300 languages spoken here. London has had an underground train network for over 150 years because the roads were too crowded for private transport in the 19th century; in the last ten years a congestion charge for private vehicles was introduced and it can still take an hour to drive 5 miles in London.

The University stuff I can't help you with. But for the love of god, GO AND BUY A BOOK. Start here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lonely-Planet-London-Travel-Guide/dp/1742208738/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1411985492&sr=1-3&keywords=london

If you like that, then: Secret London An Unusual Guide Is well worth checking out too! http://www.amazon.co.uk/Secret-London-Unusual-Jonglez-Guides/dp/2915807280

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0980374693?ie=UTF8&force-full-site=1

Love this book. Was bought for my birthday and it contains loads of things a Londoner should know

oo! Sounds fun!

edit, there's a kindle version!

There is a book for that! Book Lovers' London

I'd suggest buying a book such as this one and flicking through for inspiration:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Secret-London-Unusual-Jonglez-Guides/dp/236195110X/

This has helped me out with my children. It breaks down each area by Free, Big Days Out and major highlights. Very useful for picking an area and understanding not just the well known things, but also lesser know destinations or activities that go on such as markets/viewings/activity days.

Footprint travel guide

Do yourself a favour. Invest $20 in one of these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lonely-Planet-London-Travel-Guide/dp/1786573520/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=7TPSGSBWG2PTF3ZC96Y1

Outsourced with the clear goal to bring the numbers down. Whatever it takes.

https://libcom.org/files/DeathShip.pdf

https://www.amazon.de/This-London-Life-Death-World/dp/1447272447

Statelessness will be an issue again.

What part of "of or relating to the country" do you not understand? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rural-London-Discover-Citys-Country/dp/1782437533

ah. it was paris/London specifically not Europe.

http://www.amazon.com/Frommers-Paris-95-Day/dp/0764598937
http://www.amazon.com/Frommers-London-Day-Donald-Olson/dp/0471747025

but both are old books


er wait here it is. but from 2004
http://www.amazon.com/Frommers-Europe-85-Day/dp/0764568906/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1369661824&sr=8-2&keywords=frommers+Europe


They probably just don't put the dollar figure in the title anymore!

Lanesbourgh Hotel, Fortnum and Mason, and Harrods all have afternoon teas. I've used this book before but i suspect there are more updated websites now.

Tea in the City: London https://www.amazon.com/dp/0966347889/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_BdfdAbQJ1A4D8