Night life is not as good as in NY and things still close ridiculously early, even though it's gotten a tiny bit better in recent years. So don't plan on having a fantasticly fun time at bars or clubs until 4 am. Expect most places to close 10-11. Buy alcohol beforehand and plan on continuing things in your hotel room if you want to keep partying.
Expect that everything in London will cost the exact same as it does in NY, except that there's a little pound sign in front of the number instead of a dollar sign. At current exchange rates (which are almost exactly what they were last time I was there) this means that everything is almost twice as expensive. Some things are radically more expensive, like taxis, which have some sort of minimum cost that I think was like 5 pounds or something (I don't remember). Compare that roughly $8 minimum to the $2.50 NY minimum.
I thought the Tower was awesome when I was there. The geek in you will like all the medieval stuff. The British Museum is of course also great, as is the National Gallery and the Tate. Go see St. Paul's, too. All the financial stuff is located around it so you can also see the London Exchange and all that good stuff at the same time.
Be very aware of your surroundings because there is more street crime in London than in NY - think more a late 1980s/early 1990s sort of NY - it's not as bad as the 1970s NY but it's not like NY under good solid Republican leadership. Yeah, I had to throw that in.
Yes, of course I could type this into a search engine, and I shall... but first I wanted to ask you. As I dutifully answer every "what to do in NY" query, it's now your turn. I'm going to be visiting London for the weekend in 2 weeks, an impromptu getaway (see my post below for the reason why).
At this point, I know ZERO about London. My friends are staying at a hotel on Leicester Square, so I need something nearby (either walking or easily accessible by public transportation). I figured I'll look up the subway maps and make sure my hotel is on the same line. Any caveats to that I should be aware of?
I'm not really into museums. On Saturday evening, my friends are going to see The Book of Mormon, which doesn't really make sense to me - it's playing on Broadway, why fly across the Atlantic and then pay... hahaha I just saw how much they paid for the tickets. No. So I'll need something to occupy myself for a few hours.
So... what should we do? Where should we go? What sights/neighborhoods should be at the top of the list?
ἡ δὲ κἀκ τριῶν τρυπημάτων ἐργαζομένη ἐνεκάλει τῇ φύσει, δυσφορουμένη, ὅτι δὴ μὴ καὶ τοὺς τιτθοὺς αὐτῇ εὐρύτερον ἢ νῦν εἰσι τρυπώη, ὅπως καὶ ἄλλην ἐνταῦθα μίξιν ἐπιτεχνᾶσθαι δυνατὴ εἴη. – Procopius
Ummaka qinnassa nīk!
*MySmiley*
