Trip to the UK in late April and early May - What clothing should I bring?

[recondite]

A Trip out of London by train you say?


One word: Brighton
Two words: Royal Pavilion
Three words: The Tea Cosy
Six words:Saint Ann's Well Gardens and Cafe [if you can get away from the Pier, the Lanes, and other sites and sights]


You must seek out a Ploughman's Lunch, a Cream Tea [The Tea Cosy in Brighton or The Athenaeum Hotel, London on Picadilly, are best bets], and a pint of Young's Winter Warmer right out of the cask, if available. Warning: do not drink more than two at any one sitting, 'cause it's nothing like Coors Light.

Just another friendly warning that if you have a cream tea too early during your stay, be prepared to take one every afternoon for the rest of your stay and gain at least a stone [14 Yankee pounds] over the next five or six days.

 

[add911_11]

I agree with a few days in Brighton, it is a beautiful city and lots of interesting streets and culture there. I used to live there for five years and I really miss it, going out is great and you can dress whatever you want, all the way from tramp to 3pc Henry Poole

 

[Oleg]

You've only got a week so important stuff first.
Shopping: Starting at Piccadilly tube: Jermyn Street, then Fortnum's and Cording's on Piccadilly then into the Burlington Arcade, quick swatch at Savile Row then Bond Street. Oxford Street has Selfridge's at one and and Liberty's at the other and a lot of high street stuff in between. From Oxford Street it's only a short walk up to the small but excellent Trunk on Chiltern Street. Whilst there, duck around to Marylebone High Street for a bite of lunch (the Fromagerie just off it on Moxon Street is good. Alternatively, just grab a sausage roll from the fantastic butcher, The Ginger Pig, next door. It will be enough, I assure you). If you're after shoes check John Rushton on Wimpole Street for a good selection of C&J and Cheaney's. He's cheaper than their flag ship stores on Jermyn St or in the Burlington Arcade and a good bloke to talk to. Back down to Oxford Circus and down Regent's Street for the higher end chains (Reiss, Burberry, Barbour, etc, have their flagship stores there) and you're back at Piccadilly Circus. You've earned a beer: The Harp on Chandos Place (just off Trafalgar Square) is the Campaign for Real Ale's pub of the year.

Eating:
Expensive: Quo Vardis; St John (there's a branch in their Chinatown hotel if you can't be arsed trecking out to the Clerkenwell original), Arbutus, Wild Honey
Cheaper: Brindisa (tapas); The Eagle (Farringdon), Anchor and Hope (Waterloow), and The Cow (Notting Hill) are all proper gastropubs (The Eagle was the one that invented the concept). There are plenty of others but also plenty that call themselves that but are, in fact, just selling bought in, reheated, crap and charging extra. Pizza Express and Cote are reliable chains with branches all over the place.
Cheapest: curry (avoid Brick Lane), pie and mash (if you can find them. Once everywhere, now confined to the east. Manze's in Deptford is famous), fish and chips, Chinatown, Vietnamese (Kingsland Rd, Shoreditch, is known as Pho Mile), Borough Market (Fri, Sat, Sun: posh hot dogs; the famous Brindisa chorizo, rocket and grilled pepper roll; stalls selling roast duck in a roll; enormous pans of thai curry or paella; and a few restaurants as well. If you like food, you should go).

Drinking: Pubs in the centre are mostly geared to tourism. The best pubs are almost certainly the quiet ones you stumble upon by accident up a side street. However some are definitely worth experiencing: The George (Borough); The Grapes and The Prospect of Whitby (both Limehouse (Dickens' drank in them)); Jerusalem Tavern (Farringdon); Olde Cheshire Cheese (Fleet Street). The bar at the Oxo Tower offers the best views (but don't eat there. It's gash).
bookmark fancyapint.com on your phone. You can search by tube station meaning you can find a tolerable hostelry wherever you are. This **** is important!

Other stuff:
British Museum, National Gallery, Tate Britain and Modern (all free).
The city centre parks are great. You can spend a very pleasant few hours wandering from St James Park in Westminster through Green Park to Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. And you'd still have Regents Park and Primrose Hill for another day.
Wandering: Westminster Bridge to London Bridge takes in Tate Modern, the Hayward and South Bank and Borough Market and offers some great views (Parliament, St Pauls, Somerset House). A stroll through the revitalised docklands is good (well, I like it anyway). Either bank is good though there's more of it on the north side (south get's a bit ropey past Rotherhithe and into Deptford)
Out of town without leaving London: Hampstead and Richmond are both small towns that were subsumed by London. They offer proper outdoor space in Hampstead Heath and Richmond deer park. Richmond's on the river - a nice (though longish) walk involves walking along the Thames from Richmond to Teddington and back along the other bank through Twickenham and back to Richmond.
Greenwich: Observatory, Greenwich Park, river, Royal Naval College.The Trafalgar has awesome river views. Can even wander over to Blackheath and back from there. Hasn't the wilderness feel of Hampstead or Richmond but very good indeed for some fresh air.
Out of town leaving London (but all within an hour of London): Brighton. Where I grew up. Charming Regency resort town with a lot more vibrancy than any of the other options. Menswear in Bond Street (Gresham Blake tailors and Badger for casual) and the rather smart Profile in Duke Street for high end labels.
Oxford or Cambridge (more in Oxford but Cambridge is more compact)
Windsor. only a short hop (via Slough) to visit her majesty, Queen Brenda. Windsor Castle is interesting, there's some decent shopping (John Godwin and Michael Chell for mens' clobber), the Long Walk is great on a nice day and you can finish at the excellent Two Brewers pub at the foot of the castle.

A great way to get up close and personal with London locals is to get roaring drunk and then urinate out in the open in Trafalgar Square.

.
They've actually installed outdoor pissoirs in Soho. All this pissing in public seems dangerously continental to me but it saves them hosing the doorways down on Sunday morning.
Anyway , you've missed out the football-related violence. There's no more authentic London experience than having your head stamped on by a roofer from Plastow whilst you're trying to bite the ear off a welder from Deptford at a West Ham vs Millwall match. To keep up the menswear theme, keep an eye out for Burberry, Aquascutum, and Stone Island whilst trying to dodge the flying pint glass.

 

[E TF]



I agree with a few days in Brighton, it is a beautiful city and lots of interesting streets and culture there. I used to live there for five years and I really miss it, going out is great and you can dress whatever you want, all the way from tramp to 3pc Henry Poole

The reason I didn't suggest Brighton is that the OP said he wanted to visit the countryside for the day. For me, Brighton isn't very "country", in fact it's pretty urban (I also lived there for 3 years when I was a student; we called it North-London-on-Sea).

Cambridge, for example, feels much more like a country town, what with the Backs to walk through and everything.

If you want a real bit of countryside there are a few train stations in the middle of nowhere, at which you can get out, go for a good long walk through lovely countryside and pretty villages, lunch in a proper country pub and back again. I'm thinking of a stop like Cowden in the Weald of Kent (45 mins from London Bridge) - the train line north of the station is mostly underground so you won't even hear a train over the birdsong.

 

[recondite]

Great suggestions. And another vote here for both Windsor and Oxford.

Closer to London and maybe not so "country" but St. Albans is worth a trip for nothing more than the cathedral. Henley-on-Thames is also another worthwhile visit.

For something a bit different, take the Tube to Amersham in the Chilterns, as there is an abundance of ancient woodlands both West and North of town centre and much to see and do. You can also go a bit further to Chesham and walk cross country through the fields to the Hen and Chick[en]s on Botley Road for a Ploughman's lunch and a pint or three as you warm yourself in front of one of their two fireplaces. More farmland and less wood around Chesham than Amersham, but then Amersham doesn't have the Hen and Chicks.

In fact, I'm sort of craving a slice of fine Stilton, some Branston pickle, and pickled onions at the moment.

The reason I didn't suggest Brighton is that the OP said he wanted to visit the countryside for the day. For me, Brighton isn't very "country", in fact it's pretty urban (I also lived there for 3 years when I was a student; we called it North-London-on-Sea).
Cambridge, for example, feels much more like a country town, what with the Backs to walk through and everything.
If you want a real bit of countryside there are a few train stations in the middle of nowhere, at which you can get out, go for a good long walk through lovely countryside and pretty villages, lunch in a proper country pub and back again. I'm thinking of a stop like Cowden in the Weald of Kent (45 mins from London Bridge) - the train line north of the station is mostly underground so you won't even hear a train over the birdsong.

 

[E TF]



In fact, I'm sort of craving a slice of fine Stilton, some Branston pickle, and pickled onions at the moment.

Rare commodities in the Maldives I imagine.

 

[Achilles_]

Hah, now I'm torn between wanting to stay in the city, and wanting to tour the country side!

Could I get away with finally wearing this beauty from Turnbull & Asser while in the UK?

 

[add911_11]

^ I will say yes

 

[Not Ed Harris]



Alternatively, just grab a sausage roll from the fantastic butcher, The Ginger Pig, next door. It will be enough, I assure you).

I cannot recommend the sausage roll enough. You may be tempted by the spicy lamb or the hot roast pork sandwich, these are just distractions. They do a pork and stilton sausage roll but I haven't tried that as they don't always have them in. The Ginger Pig is also at the Borough Market, so you can pick one up there, but if it's a nice day I'd say a quick visit to La Fromagerie, The Ginger Pig and a picnic in Regents Park is in order. There's a few nice bars and restaurants as well like Galvin Bistrot de Luxe, The Golden Hinde (fish and chips), Relais de Venise (only does steak frites and salad) and Meatliquor (burgers and cocktails, but no reservations and it gets really busy, so get there early or be prepared to wait a couple of hours) an Purl (cocktails). For other stuff to do there's the Wallace Collection and someone's already mentioned the Sherlock Holmes Museum.

Also, if you're in town for 6 May, there's the Tweed Run where people get dressed up in their tweeds and go for a bike ride through town and if I'm lucky enough I'll be one of them.

 

[Achilles_]



I cannot recommend the sausage roll enough. You may be tempted by the spicy lamb or the hot roast pork sandwich, these are just distractions. They do a pork and stilton sausage roll but I haven't tried that as they don't always have them in. The Ginger Pig is also at the Borough Market, so you can pick one up there, but if it's a nice day I'd say a quick visit to La Fromagerie, The Ginger Pig and a picnic in Regents Park is in order. There's a few nice bars and restaurants as well like Galvin Bistrot de Luxe, The Golden Hinde (fish and chips), Relais de Venise (only does steak frites and salad) and Meatliquor (burgers and cocktails, but no reservations and it gets really busy, so get there early or be prepared to wait a couple of hours) an Purl (cocktails). For other stuff to do there's the Wallace Collection and someone's already mentioned the Sherlock Holmes Museum.
Also, if you're in town for 6 May, there's the Tweed Run where people get dressed up in their tweeds and go for a bike ride through town and if I'm lucky enough I'll be one of them.

Maybe I will see you on the way to the airport

 

[F. Corbera]

Watching Wallace and Gromit claymations is decent preparation for visiting Britain for the first time.

If you can find any of the old California Raisins claymations, those are good, too. Basically, anything claymation.


[VIDEO][/VIDEO]


Those who have been to England or speak English can back me up on this.

 

[recondite]

Ha!

Not claymation, but Benny Hill is definitely not source material. Dr. Who is the way to go.

Watching Wallace and Gromit claymations is decent preparation for visiting Britain for the first time.
If you can find any of the old California Raisins claymations, those are good, too. Basically, anything claymation.Those who have been to England or speak English can back me up on this.

 

[Gus]

[VIDEO][/VIDEO]

 

[RSS]

A favorite restaurant is Launceton Place. Excellent food, quiet neighborhood, wont' break the bank.

http://www.launcestonplace-restaurant.co.uk/

 

[CousinDonuts]

I am also headed to London for a short (3.5 days) jaunt in mid-May. This will be my 4th appearance in the city, but will be with my first-time abroad parents. Therefore I'm pretty much a tourist. Though I'm setting the schedule so I will be steering us by some shops I want to see.

To Achillus - FWIW, I plan on bringing 2 pairs of dark selvedge jeans, white canvas sneakers, 3 casual button downs (think J Crew or Club Monaco), 2 merino sweaters in case it is cool, a navy cotton sport coat, a light-weight casual jacket with removable hood in case it rains. Maybe some dub monks if we plan go to a nicer dinner or a show.

To the broader group and locals - do Londoners wear chukka boots? The pair I have are pretty comfortable to walk in so I was considering bringing them as well. At night they can pass for slightly nicer shoes than the sneakers.