Ultimate insider tips from the editor
William & Kate, Earl Gray tea at five o'clock, morass green Harrods bags and mimicless bearskin carrier: Juhu, we're in London! Quirky, casual and cosmopolitan, the heart of Britain has long paved the way into ours. High time for a city trip to the island. We've collected tips for a weekend break between sight-seeing, shopping and snacking on the Thames.
Getting there:
From Germany there are five airports in Greater London: Gatwick, Heathrow, London City, Luton and Standsted. The rule is: compare airlines and wait for city offers !
At the respective airport then immediately buy the "Oystercard" at the counter and charge this prepaid card for the tube network, the London Underground, with a few pounds. Much cheaper than single tickets!
shopping:
In addition to the world-famous department store institutions, the sumptuous "Liberty" on Regent Street, the upscale address "Harrods" on Brompton Road, or the funky "Selfridges & Co" temple on Oxford Street, London offers a true shopping heaven. Apart from the style landmark "Topshop" on Oxford Circus, a madness-classy giant with Kate Moss collections and four-tier fashion Madness, the crowded corners like Regent Street and Oxford Street should be avoided. Much nicer, because more personal, our shopping guide:
Camden Lock Market
A true "must" of London's shopping addresses: the Camden Market - it's not for nothing that about half a million people hurl themselves every week in the hippie-chic markets around Chalk Farm Road. Here you will find not only unusual jewelery and vintage pieces (just browse through the stalls), but also a great spot on the canal, where you can enjoy a lunch snack with dangling legs.
Cyberdog (Stables Market / Chalk Farm Road)
Between Camden Market's Market Stall Labyrinth, is one of the most extraordinary stores we've ever been to. True to the motto "Just look", we are greeted at the gates of the Techno-Trance-Temple with a penchant for fetish clothes and neon tubes a meter-sized robot couple. Under deafening future sounds, an escalator leads us past raving minimal fans, down to the shop area. Photos may not be shot in the store, so be sure to memorize and tell. Nobody believes anyway!
Twenty8Twelve (172 Westbourne Grove)
Sienna Miller is actually back to Balthazar Getty . Is Jude Law up to date again? And: What happened to Rhys Ifans ? No matter! What counts in London, is not Sienna's love life, but her own fashion label ! Together with Sister Savannah Sienna, under the name roof of her birthday, the 28.12., Designs casual looks from tailored blazers to cool tubes .
Eat:
RootMaster (Hanbury Street)
Hardly British : The RootMaster is a vegan restaurant in the roof of a biplane. The bottom is cooked, soups of the month are served with fresh bread, "Tofu Tower", pizzas or "Toasted Walnut and Caramel Tarts".
Hummingbird Bakery (Old Brompton Road / Portobello Road / Wardour Street)
For the small calorie bombs of the Hummingbird Bakery worth the 20-minute-long waiting in line. Currently there are also specially designed vanilla cupcakes with handmade Union Jack decoration and small crowns for the "Royal Wedding" by William and Kate . Love is just through the stomach!
Companies:
City Theme Tours
Take a bus through the narrow streets of the city? D rather not! London has great themed discovery walks. So the British capital can be explored through the eyes of Harry Potter, Jack The Ripper or Sherlock Holmes, but especially on foot. Scenes from books, gloomy crime scenes from the 19th century or the city of poets and thinkers, so London will not be boring at the umpteenth visit.
Hampstead Heath
Only a few minutes walk from Trafalger Square, we are suddenly in nature. In the park "Hampstead Heath" was also the Julia-Roberts- kinoknüller "Notting Hill" shot. Another stop of the hit film: Through the "The Travel Book Shop" in Notting Hill can still be rummaged in the Hugh-Grant -just-to-the-door-out state. However, those who look for the famous blue door in the same quarter, who once opened the roommate dressed only in intervention panties, look in the void - or rather, in the black. The original movie door was auctioned a few years ago for a good cause and replaced by a black model, just across from "The Travel Bookshop".
Travel Guide Tip : London: Hotels, Restaurants and Shops by Taschen Verlag.
