Fodor's 1999 London

by Fodor's Travel Publications, Inc.

• ISBN13: 9780679001270
• ISBN10: 0679001271
• Edition: Map
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-09-01
• Publisher: Fodors Travel Pubns

Summary

Experienced and first-time travelers alike rely on Fodor's Gold Guides for rich, reliable coverage the world over. Updated each year and containing a full-color, foldout Rand McNally map, a Fodor's Gold Guide is an essential tool for any kind of traveler. Smart travel tips and important contact info make planning your trip a breeze and detailed coverage of sights, accommodations, and restaurants give you the info you need to make your experience enriching and hassle-free. If you only have room for one guide, this is the one for you. The best guide to London, updated every year All the legendary sights--from the Bloody Tower to majestic St. Paul's, from Big Ben to Buckingham Palace Great neighborhood walks--explore heraldic Westminster, ritzy Belgravia, charming Chelsea, and beyond Where to shop--from bowlers and biscuits to tweeds and ties Discover royal haunts, Shakespeare's Globe, and the Beatles' London Day trips to Oxford, Stratford, Windsor, Bath, and Cambridge Where to stay and eat, no matter what your budget Grand hotels, charming Victorian gems, and Bloomsbury bargains The latest restaurants, coziest pubs, and most lavish teas--savor the best of the new British fare Fresh, thorough, practical--off and on the beaten path Costs, hours, descriptions, and tips by the thousands All reviews based on visits by savvy Londoner Kate Sekules 37 pages of maps--and dozens of great features Smart travel tips Fodor's Choice What's Where Festivals Complete index And more!

Table of Contents

On the Road with Fodor's	p. v
About Our Writers	p. v
Connections	p. vi
How to Use This Book	p. vi
Don't Forget to Write	p. vi
The Gold Guide: Smart Travel Tips A to Z	p. x
Destination: London	p. 1
The City of Villages	p. 2
New and Noteworthy	p. 3
What's Where	p. 5
Pleasures and Pastimes	p. 9
Great Itineraries	p. 11
Fodor's Choice	p. 13
Festivals and Seasonal Events	p. 16
Exploring London	p. 19
Westminster and Royal London	p. 21
St. James's and Mayfair	p. 39
Soho and Covent Garden	p. 49
Bloomsbury and Legal London	p. 56
The City	p. 64
The East End	p. 79
The South Bank	p. 87
Close-Up: Shakespeare Lives!: Rebirth of the Globe Theatre	p. 96
Chelsea and Belgravia	p. 97
Knightsbridge, Kensington, and Holland Park	p. 101
Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, Bayswater, and Notting Hill	p. 110
Regent's Park and Hampstead	p. 113
Close-Up: Strawberry Beatles Forever: A Trip to Abbey Road	p. 118
Greenwich	p. 122
Upstream from London	p. 127
Dining	p. 132
Lodging	p. 166
Nightlife and the Arts	p. 193
Outdoor Activities and Sports	p. 209
Shopping	p. 215
Side Trips from London	p. 235
Bath	p. 236
Cambridge	p. 237
Oxford	p. 240
Stratford-upon-Avon	p. 241
Windsor	p. 243
Index	p. 245
Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

Pleasures and Pastimes

Food, Glorious Food: The Delights of Dining
London now ranks among the world's top dining scenes. A new generation of chefs has precipitated a fresh approach to food preparation, which you could call "London style," though most refer to it as "Modern British." Today, almost everything on the culinary front has changed. The old standards have been given a nouvelle spin -- although roast suckling pig topped with strawberry-papaya and served on a bed of chili noodles may not be everyone's cup of tea. The nouvelle push has taken the starch -- literally -- out of many of the city's menus, and this new energy is even finding a vogue for old standbys like angels-on-horseback (crisp bacon wrapped around oysters). Savvy Londoners looking for a dinner bargain go for the nearest tandoori house -- this Indian food goes beyond the cliché into national-dish territory. Londoners have now enlarged their purview to encompass most of the world; in the space of two weeks, diners can cover as much tongue-tingling ground as in a two-week package tour of exotic, far-flung places. In fact, so many people are eating ethnic that the indigenous caff (the British diner) -- which offers such grab-and-gulp goodies as fish-and-chips, chip butties (Wonder Bread with margarine and fries), or chips and ketchup -- has become less ubiquitous in central London than good sandwich bars. Today, such native delicacies as the cockles, winkles, and smoked eels found in the cockney stalls of the East End appear as just one more exotic cuisine in the pantheon.

Cheers!: The Pub Experience
Londoners could no more live without their "local" than they could forgo dinner. The pub -- or public house, to give it its full title -- is ingrained in the British psyche as social center, bolt-hole, second home. Pub culture -- revolving around pints, pool, darts, and sports -- is still male dominated; however, as a result of the gentrification trend started in the late '80s by the major breweries (which own most pubs), transforming many ancient smoke- and spittle-stained dives into fantasy Edwardian drawing rooms, women have been entering their welcoming doors in increasing numbers. This decade, the trend has been toward the bar, superficially identified by its cocktail list, creative paintwork, bare floorboards, and chrome fittings. The social function is the same: these are English pubs, but not as we formerly knew them. When doing a London pub crawl, you must remember one thing: arcane licensing laws forbid the serving of alcohol after 11 pm (10:30 on Sunday; there are different rules for restaurants) -- a circumstance you see in action at 10 minutes to 11, when the "last orders" bell signals a stampede to the bar. After many decades, however, some relaxation of these unpopular laws is in evidence with weekend "extensions" being granted, especially in Soho, plus a slew of clubs/bars/pubs that get around them by charging a moderate cover after 11 pm.

The Performing Arts: From the Boards to the Bard
There is a strength and fluidity about the performing arts in London that makes them very difficult to pin down. An actor playing Lear with the Royal Shakespeare Company one day could quite possibly appear in a television farce the next; an opera that has played to the small exclusive audience at Glyndebourne in the English countryside might reappear the next week at the Royal Albert Hall, delighting millions through radio. In music and drama, opera and ballet, there are endless opportunities for visitors to enjoy themselves to the hilt.

Best Foot Forward: Walking Through London
London is a great walking city because so many of its real treasures are untouted details: tiny alleyways barely visible on the map; garden squares; churchyards; shop windows; sudden vistas of skyline or park. However, it is big, VERY BIG. And often rather damp. With the obvious precautions of comfortable, weatherproof shoes and an umbrella, this activity might well become your favorite pastime.

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Excerpted from London '99: The Complete Guide with Great Walking Tours, the Best Dining, Shopping and Country Day Trips by Fodor's Travel Publications, Inc. Staff
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.