It is that time of year again, friends. I am about to leave for Europe and, as usual, I am seeking your advice.
This year’s trip is covering familiar ground: we’ll start with family in the Czech Republic, as always, and then we’re off to Dresden and Amsterdam. But after that we will be in the UK for more than two weeks and that is what I need some help with. The bulk of that time will be split between London and Keswick, in the Lake District.
Now, London I’ve visited many times before but I would still love to hear your ideas for what I should see and do while there. I’ll be there during the week, so weekend markets are not a possibility this time, but if you have a favourite gallery or museum or neighbourhood you think I’d enjoy, let me know! Day trip suggestions would also be welcomed. I’m longing to go back to Oxford for a day or maybe revisit the tacky delights of Brighton but it might be fun to consider somewhere that would be new to me.
As for the Lake District, our main interest there is to explore the many walks the region has to offer. I would love to hear from any of you who holiday in the area and hear about your favourite walks or local sights! Since we will be there for a full week, I am also looking for some day trip ideas.
I have found your help so useful in the past when planning these European adventures and I can’t wait to read your suggestions this time around!
If you want to bookshop in London, definitely Skoob – I made my first visit there last autumn and loved the place. And if you do hit Brighton I believe there are quite a few shops there…. Have a wonderful time!
Hello, a few of my favourite places in London; The cafe at the V & A museum – a spectacular interior, people watching in the top floor cafe of Harvey Nichols, Daunts bookshop in Marylebone High St, Shepherds Market for breakfast and a stroll round amazing shops – including 10 Curzon St, where Nancy Mitford worked in Heywood Hills bookshop. Have a great trip.
I second Lilac with the V&A – the cafe is great but the rest of the museum is fabulous too. Just next door to the V&A is an impressive looking Roman Catholic church (Alfred Hitchcock and Edward Elgar got married there – not to each other).
If you haven’t been there before then Hampstead (in NW London) is certainly worth a visit. You can visit Keats House where the poet wrote many of his finest poems, just around the corner from there is 2 Willow Road which is a house built by the modernist architect Erno Goldfinger. The house contains the original furniture and also some interesting art works including Max Ernst. Then, of course, you must visit the Heath which is very relaxing to stroll around for a couple of hours (if you like swimming bring your costume as there are bathing ponds on the Heath).
As for day trips from London, it may sound far, but Bath is only 1 and a half hours by train and is probably my favourite city for tourism in the UK. – the Roman baths, Jane Austen centre, free walking tours round the city.
Whatever you end up doing, enjoy your stay in England.
I am hoping to visit an exhibition at the National Gallery which should be good-Vermeer and Music- from June 26th. When in Amsterdam you should visit the renovated Rijksmuseum (more Vermeers + many other masterpieces) I went there when staying in Delft for a few days in April- a lovely little town! Happy travelling.
Some of my favourites:
Geffrye museum – a history of the home from 16th/17th century to 1930s
Chelsea Physic Garden
Sir John Sloane museum
Have lunch at Fishworks in Marylebone High Street – book a table in the back room and then walk over to the nearby Wallace Collection. Enjoy!
Claire, you lucky thing! My daughter and I thoroughly enjoyed riding the Thames Clipper out to Greenwich last year. Go on a day when the markets are in operation and oh, the food! Have you been out to Jane Austen’s house in Chawton? another lovely day out. The Courtauld Gallery on their late night is a fab place to visit and makes the most of a day. Cambridge is on my list for next time – have you been?
While in the Lake District, might you be visiting Hill Top House, home of Beatrix Potter?
Claire, so jealous–my daughter lives there and I love to visit. I second Lilac on Daunt’s–my favorite bookstore. I have not been to Word on the Water yet, but I have it first on my list (a narrowboat bookstore: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/9124067/London-Book-Barge-A-bookshop-to-float-your-boat.html, my daughter lives on a narrowboat and sometimes the store is moored up near to her). In London, I also recommend the Wallace Collection, a super museum that is very manageable as well as having a great collection of manuscripts and other interesting things. Kaggsy, can you describe Skoobs?
Nothing to offer, but will be watching with great interest and planning my dream trip. 🙂
Obviously seeing me will be the highlight of your trip 🙂
Aside from that, you must go to Charleston because you will absolutely love it. You can get the train to Lewes and then walk from there (will take about an hour) or a taxi.
I also second Darlene’s suggestion of Chawton – the nearest train station is Alton and then it’s a short cab ride.
In London itself, you should go to the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow (end of the Victoria line), the Museum of London (if you haven’t already) and Hampstead (if you haven’t already), though go to the bit by the Hampstead Heath overground station rather than just the main drag as the shops are nicer and you can get some lovely food to eat on the Heath. Also Richmond is a lovely place to visit for the day – Ham House is a short bus ride from the station, as is Petersham, which has the lovely garden centre and cafe. Take an evening walking tour, they’re amazing. Chelsea Physic Garden is gorgeous and you should do some shopping on the King’s Road.
Also on Thursdays Spitalfields Market has an antique market – you should go, it’s great. And there are some delicious restaurants and lovely shops there too. Not to mention Dennis Severs’ house, which I have meaning to go to for years! Nearest tube is Liverpool St.
You have to go to Polpo on Maiden Lane for dinner one night as well.
I have never been to the Lake District so I can’t help you there!
Dove Cottage, Grasmere, a sample of Grasmere gingerbread! Definitely Hill Top, Hawkshead, Rydal Mount, a boat ride on Lake Windermere, some Swallows and Amazons adventures on Derwent Water – it’s all just too lovely. I live about 90 mins south of the lakes and the weather has been perfect this week. Just remember the spray for the midges!
Have you been to Dennis Severs’ house in Spitalfields? It’s hard to describe and quite unusual, but I think you’d appreciate it. http://www.dennissevershouse.co.uk/
I envy you your travels–how exciting to be planning for another faraway vacation! Have fun with the planning and hope you take lots of photos to share here! 🙂
If you make it to Oxford there is an exhibition that’s just opened at the Bodleian on the fantasy novels for children that have been written by authors connected with Oxford, so the likes of Tolkien, Lewis, Pullman, Cooper and Garner. And if you’re in Oxford then you should come on up the road a few miles further and see us in Stratford.
You’re seeing a play at the Globe, right? You’re doing that? Because seeing plays at the Globe is possibly my favorite activity in the whole world.
I also recommend, if you haven’t done this before, going to Salisbury to see Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral. I do not usually enjoy seeing Monuments (they just look like the postcard), but I loved seeing Stonehenge. And Salisbury Cathedral is just so beautiful.
My recommendation for the Lakes is to stop by Grasmere’s gingerbread shop. It’s the best I’ve ever tasted. Since you’re there, visit Woodsworth’s tumb (he described the village as described it as “the loveliest spot that man hath ever found”). There you’ll also be relatively close to Beatrix Potter’s estate.
I may have already mentioned it, can’t remember, but in the Lake District you MUST visit Blackwell, especially if it’s a sunny day. It’s an Arts & Crafts house with a stunning lake view, and I think it’s my favourite place in the world.
(The gingerbread in Grasmere is, as Alex says, amazing. And if you go to Wordsworth’s house, you could meet my friend Esther who works there!)
I second this. Blackwell is wonderful.
p.s. looking forward to seeing you, of course 🙂 Leave space in your bag for lots of books!
You might enjoy visiting Rottingdean. Angela Thirkell is buried there, next to St. Margaret’s Church. Kipling’s summer house and gardens are also there. The stained glass in the church is designed by Edward Burne-Jones. His summer home, North End House is one of the houses described in AT’s Three Houses. Kipling Gardens is beautiful in the summer and you need to look for the face in the wall. You are supposed to put your finger on its nose, twirl around three times, and make a wish. To get there, take the train to Brighton and a bus or cab to Rottingdean. My son and I decided to walk back to Brighton — probably not a good idea. It is about six miles. It looked so close on the map. @:-)
I enjoyed vising Bateman’s also. Kipling had great taste. His gardens in both places are particularly beautiful. I was in London in April and enjoyed going to the London Transport Museum. The poster art in the Tube 150 exhibition was wonderful. The posters provide a lesson in social history, women’s roles, war, and leisure activities from the 19th century to the present.
I think you have done this …but definitely a trip to Persephone Books, Hatchard’s and Slightly Foxed. And let’s see…you gotta go to the theatre at least twice.
Brick Lane is definitely worth a visit especially on market day. Cambridge is a great place for a day trip and there are loads of bookshops there too.