Reddit mentions: The best english travel guides

> From Luton Airport to South Croydon, is it better to take a cab,

Between four adults, yes. A train ticket would be roughly twenty quid each anyway, so just get a cab.

>How exactly do the Oyster cards work, in terms of limits?

It's all here, in great depth: https://tfl.gov.uk/fares-and-payments/oyster/using-oyster/price-capping#on-this-page-1

>Would it be better to get these or Travelcards? Or would the Oyster card be more cheaper? Crayton seems to be in the travel zone 5, so with Travel cards, you'll be forced to buy 1-5 zone tickets,

Because you're staying Zone 5, but all the tourist bits are Zone 1/2, you'd be best off putting a certain amount on your oyster and let the capping do its work. Pay as you go, as explained above.

>What would be the best 'starting point' for every day? Mostly getting from Crayton to this spot, and then move about to different locations. Just so you would have something concrete to start with everyday. Considering most basic tourism happens in zone 1-2?

>What would be the best 'starting point' for every day? Mostly getting from Crayton to this spot, and then move about to different locations. Just so you would have something concrete to start with everyday. Considering most basic tourism happens in zone 1-2?

London Bridge train station would be a good starting point, as the trains go from South Croydon to London Bridge.


>Are there any 'preplanned' days available online (or some similar app), that give you a rough outline on where to go when, and basically just guide you through things and show you costs, etc.

I get in trouble for suggesting this but, including here, it seems like people genuinely just turn up without doing any research: buy a guidebook. Read it on the plane on your way here. There is a wealth of information written in every language about London, especially for tourists who haven't a clue what they're doing. Everything I've written above will be detailed at great length in a book that will cost less than a tenner. If this post is your only research into coming to London, you'll get into trouble very quickly. Don't rely on an app, unless you want your phone stolen out of your hand.


Budget: £600 for how long? Each, or between you?

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.

Thanks so much for this contest.

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

Edit: formatting

i was going to suggest featherweight raincoats -- useful lots of places, not just London.

Or backpacks/messenger bags, plainish ones that don't scream "rich tourist".

There is a Secret London book that covers some fun stuff.

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

Sounded interesting so I did some quick googling: think I found the book.

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.

I do not own and have never read this book for the obvious reason that I live here, but I've never felt let down by another Lonely Planet book so I suspect it's good.