Timber Floor Au

We have the Outlaws staying with us at the mo...

They get a senior citizen ticket each day, for $3.50 each, and can use it anywhere in CBD, buses, ferry, river cat.. they LOVE IT!!!!!!!

kirsty&al

Have you compared those prices with something like Legoland in the UK? Normal entry prices are £22 per child and £24 per adult.

A

Bix

...and London misses you too Sue

Greg, Michele and Bella

'Those who have done no more that a quick tourist trip from up north' - something of a sweeping generalisation. For my own part, I have been to London many times and the biggest problem I have is that for the most part I have only met people who through living in such a big city have become very selfish and impersonal. The number of times friends from London have come to see us and been completely freeked out by the fact that you say hello to people you don't know, or horror of horrors you may let someone into the traffic from a side street!!!! Oh, and the look on someones face when you can go to a pub and get 4 drinks and still have change from £10

It is a fact of life that people will slag off London, but then it is something you just have to live with - there are just as many who slag off anywhere north of Watford as poor, provincial and backward......who have never been anywhere north of London.

Flutterscutter

Sincere appologies for offending. I am happy with the world. I have no need to get into a silly north south divide arguement. It was an off the cuff throwaway comment made in jest.
Yes i have lived north of watford. Scotland to be exact. Sorry to upset your sensitivities, but i do have one suggestion. Try not to get so easily offended as you sure as hell will need to once you get down here!


Lose your chip ...

Phoenixuk2oz

That picture is SOOOO depressing. I remember the grey skies so well

EVERY year we'd say "maybe next year we'll have more summer" and the most we got was a few poxy months of random Summer days...or maybe a week or two consecutively if we were lucky

It's the UK weather that was the deciding factor for us. That picture is exactly like I have in my mind of the UK. It probably reflects my mood and feeling about the UK rather than anything else but when I see this, I know I made the right decision to move to Aus

As for London. We had family that lived in Herts so we regularly went into the big smoke. I remember thinking how scruffy and overcrowded and wondering what tourists must think when they get there. Even today I don't remember anywhere as dirty

So in answer to the OP's question: Nope don't miss London or anything UK.

Except the people of course

Ian12

Yes I miss London heaps - much more than I thought I would. We were lucky I guess, we lived in a nice area within walking distance of the West End and all that it provided. Just before we left for Australia last summer I walked with my then 7 year old son around Westminster up past the Houses of Parliament. It was a warm night. Being a chatty kid, he engaged the police on duty in conversation. We all had a really warm and friendly chat for about ten minutes before we walked up Whitehall when I heard my name called. It was a pal having a drink with some friends outside one of the pubs and we were asked to join the party, the lad having lemonade. After half an hour we walked home past Trafalgar Square, up along Regent Street with all the glittering windows and finally through a fairly tranquil Cavendish Square. I miss it heaps. Yep, we now have the big house and the pool as opposed to the third floor walk up flat but London has a buzz and a warmth that I think any Londoner can be proud of. Oh and Sydney houses are very cold in winter. I have just paid the biggest Electricty bill ever - and we were still cold.

Elvira

Quote:
Originally Posted by DonnaElvira
...Bus pass £3, most museums + art galleries = free, Proms = £4, standing tickets at the opera = £8, National Theatre Travelex tickets = £10, best parks in the world = free, beautiful buildings to look at everywhere = free.


Nooooooo, but there is still so much more to do with kids in London than in most places I've been too (and I have travelled far...) The big expenditure things - Tower, Madame Tussauds etc - are places one tends to visit once in a decade (if that!). But - nowadays at least - the museums and galleries are always free.

I remember taking my kids, when they were just 4 or 5, to the Natural History, Science, Imperial War, London etc Museums. We would go to one or the other almost every weekend, and they loved it. (This was in the days of the Conservatives , so we had to buy a yearly pass and/or go after 5 pm on a Sunday...)

At a very early age we started taking them to the National Art Gallery and the Tate, and they they loved that too. I remember my twins, aged maybe 5 or 6, looking spellbound at Van Gogh's Sunflowers and Stubb's Horse. They also liked the early Renaissance paintings - because of all the gold

And then there were all those wonderful walks in Richmond Park, feeding the ducks in Green Park, and so on. Or watching the jugglers and fire-eaters in Covent Garden. We never seemed to get bored, and I can't remember spending a lot of money on their entertainment.

Oh, and they still haven't been to Madam Tussaud's!

Lord Lionheart

Depends what you are into, I recently went to the Tower for the first time at aged 40 on a visit from Los Angeles( I'm a British expat, been in the States for many years). I think it was about $20?( 13 quid) at the time they were running a 2 for one deal, however I was by myself. I spent about 5 hours there and loved it. In comparison it will cost a family of 4 about $200(120 quid) to get into Disneyland in LA, is that good value?... horses for courses etc.

Hutch

Haha. Says it all really.

I lived in London for about eight years, plus commuted there for about another six. I liked the buzz of the place when I was younger (I'm not exactly bus-pass age now, but you know what I mean), but I don't find much to like about it these days. It is a staggeringly expensive place to live and/or work, in terms of housing and day-to-day costs, let alone recreation. If you're not the sort of person that goes to museums or art galleries then you're looking at some serious expense for anything remotely entertaining. I enjoyed Sydney far more - it has its problems just like any other metropolis, but it had a far friendlier vibe to it, helped along by plenty of glorious sunshine.

kirsty&al

Hello,

We used to spend quite a bit of time, with the kids, using the free stuff in London, like the museums. In addition to the well known ones, I can recommend the Bank of England museum (which is unfortunately open only on weekdays) and the Docklands museum (which was £5 per person but for the whole year).

Has anyone else been to Kensignton Roof Gardens? The kids loved it. Another great thing we used to use was the open house weekend in September during which a load of buildings were open (free) to the public, which were normally paid entry or not generally open to the public.

Regards
A

Amazulu

It was sunny Monday to Thursday this week, If you'd gone then your picture would have been different.

Amazulu

We went to the RAF museum in North London last weekend. World class & free. My son loved it.

kevinl

Sorry visiting some of my old threads didn't mean to put it on just ignore and it will go away......... or come visit the dark side,....you know you are curious.

MD09

London in general is ok for a w/end visit. Although it's over-rated compared to international cities such as Paris, New York and Sydney.