London

Tom and I arrived in London on March 26th 2006 at 11:45am with just 24 hours to see as much of the city as possible. From the hotel we took the Heathrow Express to Paddington Station where we caught the Underground (Tube). We made one subway change and ended up at the Oxford Circus stop just a few blocks from the Langham Hotel.

The Langham is a nice hotel by London Standards. If you are planning your first trip to London, be prepared. Hotels rooms are expensive and small compared to the US. A "suite" at the Langham is one bedroom with 2 double beds and a couch. My best guess is it was about 300sf. The rate was 299 Pounds or $600US. This is average for a good hotel in the area. The Langham is well positioned and just a short walk to Piccadilly Circus. I was disappointed to find that the Internet access in our room was $40US per day.

Langham Hotel London
Big Bus London

We dropped our bags in the room, showered and headed right out. If you have just a short time in London, I highly recommend a Big Bus ticket. We bought ours at LondownTown.com before we left and the voucher was mailed to my home. LondonTown.com is also where we made the reservation for the hotel. They were very helpful and even emailed me directions for the train and subway from the airport.

The bus is 18 Pounds or $36US for 48 hours. You can get off and on anywhere the bus stops as often as you like or just sit back and ride the entire route. Since your travel on these buses is unlimited they can also make great basic short term transportation, saving you a bunch in taxi fares.

The first stop we hopped off at was Big Ben. I apologize for the gray nature of my photos but that's the nature of London weather. From here (standing on Westminster Bridge) The BA London Eye and London Aquarium are to your right on the bank of the River Thames.
London Big Ben
London Eye
The view from the London Eye is great. The ride took about 30 minutes. Tickets are bought in the building next to the Dali exhibit. They are $26US each.

London Eye View
 London_Eye-People
London Eye View
Trafalgar Square
We boarded the bus again and took most of the "red" tour. From the Eye we crossed Thames River on Waterloo Bridge, going down Fleet Street we passed St Paul's Cathedral then crossed the river again, this time on London Bridge with a great view of Tower Bridge. We got off at Charing Cross Pier and Walked to Trafalgar Square. The picture to the left is of Admiralty Arch just across the intersection of Trafalgar Square. The monument in the square was being restored.
From here we walked about 10 blocks back to the hotel. After a short break we walked back to Piccadilly Circus. It was lit up like a small Time Square and was very active for a Sunday evening. We had dinner (the obligatory fish and chips) at Adam's Rib. The food was ok and the service was fair but I certainly didn't expect grand cuisine anywhere in Great Britten. (Just kidding folks). We found a rather authentic looking pub for a pint of Guinness and then headed back to the Langham Hotel. Now 9pm I felt we had adjusted to the 7 hour time change quite well. Next I knew, I was answering the 7am wake-up call.
London
I'm writing this in the BA lounge at Heathrow. This concludes our 24 hours in London. Now it's of to Madrid!