Fast-Track your Way around London

Only got a day to spend in London AND hate queuing? Then buy so-called ‘fast-track’ or timed entry tickets, which bypass the long ticket queues. Infamous for its mile-long queues is Madame Tussauds, so pre-booking tickets is a definite must for this attraction. However, there are lots of other attractions you might not be aware of that get extremely busy, especially during the school holidays. So plan ahead and get fast-track, trust me it’s worth it!

Fast-track or timed entry tickets:

London Zoo
The London Dungeon
The Edinburgh Dungeon
The York Dungeon
London Eye
Buckingham Palace State Rooms
Houses of Parliament
Tutankhamun Exhibition Golden Ticket

Staying At Home This Summer?

The credit crunch and falling house prices seem to be hitting the headlines every other day at the moment… And now it’s the British holidaymaker who’s going to be hit by the weak pound. So, if you’re going on holiday in the eurozone, be warned as apparently your costs will be much higher than ever before.

To be honest, most of Europe is generally quite a bit cheaper than the UK so I doubt that a holiday in Spain or France will be impossibly expensive this year. I’m definitely still going to Madrid for the May bank holiday weekend, so will report on any major revelations after my visit....  Looking at the flights though, they are not that expensive yet so maybe everyone has decided to stay at home after all??? Or maybe they’re just booking a flight to the US instead.

“Big Ben” Named Britain’s Favourite ‘Landmark’

"Big Ben” was named the country’s favourite landmark in a survey by construction firm Faithful & Gould to celebrate the engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s 202nd birthday. No big surprises there, but what exactly is it that people love about Big Ben? Maybe something to do with the number of times it’s appeared on TV and the big screen - after all, it was voted the most iconic film location in a recent poll!

Other top 10 landmarks include the London Eye, Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace. 

Cool & Scary Walking Tours Added to Original London Sightseeing Tour!

Three walking tours have been added to the Hop-On, Hop-Off Original London Tours and are FREE!

- Changing Of The Guard Walk: See Buckingham Palace, St James’s Palace and the regiments that guard them in this exciting walk as you march alongside the guards at Buckingham Palace.

- Cool Britannia Walk: From Leicester Square to Carnaby Street, from Soho to Saville Row, and from the Beatles to Austin Powers: music, movies, fashion & food.

- Jack The Ripper Walk: Walk in the footsteps of the world’s most infamous serial killer as we reveal his murderous tale from the streets of Whitechapel in 1888.

Customers can validate their 365 vouchers and join two of the Walking Tours at the new Original London Visitor Centre at Trafalgar Square (Open daily 9.30am to 6.30pm)

Warwick Castle – the real deal

I had a friend from the States staying over Easter and she really wanted to go see a ‘real English castle’ so we headed up to Warwick Castle on Saturday.

From the moment we arrived, Warwick Castle ticked all the boxes. It was a really wintry day and our first glimpse of the castle towering over the town with a backdrop of dark storm clouds made some great photos. Inside, the castle has everything you want from a castle – towers to climb, ramparts to walk along, dungeons and even a torture chamber. Throughout the castle, there are also rooms set up in scenarios from different historical periods, complete with wax figures in period costumes and sound effects. For example, the new Kingmaker exhibit has a blacksmith at work and armourers making chainmail.

Despite the freezing weather, we ventured into the grounds to see the trebuchet firing its massive steel ball across the river and to watch the falconry show. Both shows add something to your day out, giving you a real sense of the place as a working castle. Plus I couldn’t help thinking how lovely it would be to have a picnic in the gardens on a nice spring day – better luck next time maybe!