Readers’ Picks: London
Selected reader suggestions on visiting London, compiled from user comments on the Travel section’s Web site. You can read more comments on this and other cities at nytimes.com/travel.
WHERE TO STAY
We just stayed at the Rembrandt Hotel in Knightsbridge, directly across from the Victoria & Albert Museum and roughly five blocks from Harrods. Large rooms, firm beds, huge English breakfast buffet, included when you book at their Web site (11 Thurloe Place; 20-7589-8100; www.sarova.com/rembrandt; rooms start at around £120, about $241 at $2.01 to the pound).
Posted by Heather Jernberg-Sarfi
For a short, convenient, luxurious-and-chic stay, I recommend St. Martin’s Lane Hotel. Downstairs is über-chic, and the bar area can be loud, but the rooms area is very calm and quiet. The location (Convent Garden) is great (45 St. Martin’s Lane, WC2N; 44-20-7300-5500; www.stmartinslane.com;).
Posted by Jeff Sidell
I regularly stay at Quality Crown Hotel Paddington (144 Praed Street, Paddington, W2; 44-20-7706-8888; www.qualitycrown.com/paddington.htm;), even though it is bit expensive (doubles start around £133), because it is just outside Paddington Station. I take Heathrow Express and am in the hotel within 30-45 minutes of landing.
Posted by Madhukar Shah
I found everything I wanted and none of the things I don’t, but usually end up paying for anyway, at base2stay.com in Earl’s Court.. Prices are amazingly low for such quality (25 Courtfield Gardens; 44-20-7244-2255; www.base2stay.com; doubles start at £107).
Posted by Sydney Perlman
WHERE TO EAT
Avoid Chinatown and head to Mandalay (444 Edgware Road, W2; 44-20-7258-3696; www.mandalayway.com): cheap and tasty Burmese food with amazing salads and curries.
Posted by Rachel L. Waites
For those top spenders, go to Jamie Oliver’s restaurant Fifteen (15 Westland Place, N1; 44-870-787-1515; www.fifteen.net) near Old Street. The food is amazing, plus you might have a chance on running into Jamie Oliver!
Posted by Milka Hagos
Grazing (19-21 Great Tower Street, EC3R; 44-20-7283-2932; www.grazingfood.com) offers some of the best breakfast and lunch deals in London. Not far from the Tower of London, it opens at 7 a.m. for bacon butties, sausage rolls or any combination of egg, bacon, sausage and black pudding you fancy. Irresistibly tempting nosh. Posted by Bernice Hurst
I know it’s been said before, but Borough Market (8 Southwark Street; 20-7407-1002; www.boroughmarket.org.uk) is a must for cheap eats. On a Friday or Saturday you can more or less get a free lunch by simply enjoying samples. This may seem a bit crass, but on a student’s budget, I take full advantage of it.
Posted by Anonymous
WHAT TO DO
The National Portrait Gallery (St Martin’s Place; 20-73122463; www.npg.org.uk) off Trafalgar Square is one of the best museums London has to offer. Admission to the permanent collection is free, though special exhibitions can require paid admission. Visiting is a trip through British history and the history of British art, from Holbein to Hockney.
Posted by the Rev. Mark R. Collins
I go to St. Martins in the Fields (Trafalgar Square; 20-7766-1100; www.smitf.org) downstairs to the cafeteria, which has good, inexpensive food and beer and wine, and a small shop where you can also make or purchase brass rubbings. One afternoon, while my daughter and I were leaving, we heard the most heavenly music from the church — it was a children’s chorus rehearsing, a cappella. We went in and just sat there listening in awe — free (except for a donation).