Expert: David Stewart White - 10/17/2006

Question
I am traveling with my family, 8year old,15year, husband/wife in July. What would be an affordable hotel,good location, for a family of four in london. We would be staying in london for a few days,then would like to visit other areas in England by train,relatively close. We have about 8-10days for travel. What destinations would you recommend to give the children a bit of history?  

Answer
Hi,

Let's start with the hotel question:

London has hundreds of hotels, so your first question probably has many good answers.  London is also one of the most expensive world cities for accomodations, so the definition of "affordability" has to be flexible.  A couple of other considerations about hotels in London:

--the typical american-style, large room with two queen beds and enough space for a rollaway...well, it hardly exists in London.  Hotel rooms are small; few can accomodate a family of 4.

--hotel standards differ a bit.  What is a 3star hotel in London, may be more of a 2 star in the USA.

--airconditioning is not standard.  It exists, but often at higher-end properties.  Given recent London heat waves (like this past July) though, you may well need a/c.  Even if it is not that hot, cities can be noisy and trying to sleep with an open window can be a problem.

Here are a couple of specific hotel options:

The Holiday Inn Mayfair is a modern, airconditioned hotel in a wonderful central location, just a block away from Green Park (walking distance to Buckingham Palace).  In this case, rooms are typical American style and can accomodate some family groups.  Cost?  I've seen advance purchase/prepaid rates for about £120/night.

A popular "budget chain" is Travel Inn, with a great location at County Hall (next to the London Eye and walking distance to Big Ben and Parliament).  Not airconditioned, rooms are £92/night.  Some family rooms available.  

Two other ideas on hotels:  one is to check reviews at TripAdvisor.com for London hotels.  Try to get a consensus of opinions from this site, but be aware that there can be some weird opinions listed here too.  The second idea is to consider renting an apartment (a flat) for your stay.  That will provide more room for the family, the ability to eat maybe a few meals onsite, etc.

Now on to your second question....

If you want to use London as a base, there are wonderful daytrips by train that you can take.  Here are a few:

--Greenwich is just a short ride on the Docklands Light Railway from central London (or a boat ride down the Thames).  Great nautical museum, Royal Observatory, Cutty Sark tea clipper ship is on exhibit here.  

--Windsor and Eton are about 30-40 minutes by train from downtown.  The castle is very interesting and so is the town of Windsor (and the tiny riverside town of Eton).  

--Hampton Court Palace is 40 minutes by train from central London.  

If you want to go further afield:

--Bath is a good 1-2 day trip.  The reconstructed Roman baths are fascinating.  This small city has lots of architecture and history.  Train trip from London is about 90 minutes.

--Salisbury and nearby Stonehenge are also under 2 hours from London (train to Salisbury; bus to Stonehenge).

--The walled medieval city of York is about 2 hours north of London via train.  Worth spending 1-2 days to explore the Viking Museum, cathedral, train museum, etc.

I hope this helps get you started on your planning.

Dave White
www.KidsToLondon.com