Travel is a great experience to explore history and culture, as well as, to just plain old relax. My first trip aboard was for my 18th birthday. My sister, mutual friends and I backed-up our bags and headed to England. We rented a car and travelled throughout the country. We had a blast! I loved it so much that when I was 22 I decided to go to nursing school in London. I wrote to the The Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery (but of course), went over to St. Thomas’ Hospital for an interview and subsequently was accepted. St. Thomas has an interesting museum you can visit. A good web site to learn more about the hospital’s history and what you can see can be found at at www.thegarret.org.uk/stthomas.htm.
London is an easy city to get around; you can use the subway (tube), bus service, taxi’s (expensive), private car hire and of course walking. In my experience getting out a map, planning a route and walking is the very best way to see and appreciate the city. Prior to your travel make a list of places you “must see” and plan walking tours around the areas you select. You can purchase a book with walking tours or you can do it yourself. It is all up to you and your travel budget.
Escorted tours are also excellent ways to explore your destination. As a general rule, when travelling to a new place I take an escorted “City” tour in order to get the layout and sense of the city. After that I go about on my planned walking tours which really are enjoyable. When you get out and walk you can really get a good sense of the place and people.
A good travel book to use as a reference is a must. Some recommended books are as followed: “Frommer’s London 2008″; “Michelin Green Guide London”; “Blue Guide” and ”London A to Z” (best street atlas). Another interesting book to read if you are planning to take day trips from your London base is, “Frommer’s Best Day Trips from London: 25 Great Escapes by Train, Bus or Car.” In addition, you can take a “high tech” tour of London. Formmer’s has linked-up with audible.com at www.audible.com which has walking tours of neighborhoods. Another, tour group called, Rough Guide, linked-up with iToors and offers free themed city podcasts. You can obtain more information at www.roughguides.com.
Another interesting tour is the historic pub tour. This is not a pub crawl or drinking tour, it is a very interesting tour which takes you on a journey through London’s history using pubs. You can find more information about this tour www.backroadstouring.co.uk. One time while visiting London during the Christmas season I took a pub tour and loved it. That same year my sister mapped out an historic pub tour using her guide book which was equally enjoyable but less informational. A good pub guide is, “London by Pub: Pub Walks Around Historic London.”
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