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Choosing the Best Place to Stay in London: Tips and Recommendations · UK Travel Planning

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the UK Travel Planning Podcast.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Your host is the founder of the UK Travel Planning website, tracy Collins.
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: In this podcast, tracy shares destination guides, travel tips and itinerary ideas, as well as interviews with a variety of guests who share their knowledge and experience of UK travel to help you plan your perfect UK vacation.
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: Join us as we explore the UK from cosmopolitan cities to quaint villages, from historic castles to beautiful islands, and from the picturesque countryside to seaside towns.
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: Hi and welcome to episode 68 of the UK Travel Planning Podcast.
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: In this podcast I thought I would chat about how to find the best place in London for your stay.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: Now I know that is quite a kind of topical question.
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: It's something that we are asked constantly in the Facebook group and I often receive emails asking us basically the question where is the best place to stay in London?
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: Obviously, that is going to vary depending on quite a few different things that are relevant to you personally, but really I thought in this episode it would be a good idea to give you some easy steps to help you select the best area to stay in London for you and also just give a kind of brief overview of the main areas that we recommend.
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: I will say that on our website, uktravelpanincom and LondonTravelPanincom, we have got detailed area guides and options of accommodation for each of those areas, dependent on your budget.
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: So do pop over.
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: I will put a link in the show notes to those guides.
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: They're very detailed and once you've basically got an idea of which area you would like to stay in, pop over, look at the relevant guide and you say we've got lots of different accommodation options for you to have a look at.
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: So the thing that I will say which is really my top tip for this is you don't want to stay outside of London.
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: Really you don't.
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: It's just too much hassle getting in and out of the city every day.
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: If you think about this, you're paying a lot for your trip to London.
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: I know I totally get this that the accommodation in London will probably be the most expensive part of your trip.
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: It certainly is.
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: It always makes me gulp a bit.
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: I'm quite lucky in that we do have friends in London that we occasionally stay with as well, but we also do stay in the city itself.
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: So I guess what I want to say is consider this Do you want to spend your days travelling in and out of London on public transport?
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: Probably not when you've been out and about all day sightseeing.
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: What do you want to do?
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: I know I want to get back to my hotel, my accommodation, and just relax.
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: I do not want to get myself on a tube, on a train and outside of London or have a lot of walking to do or jump on three different buses or whatever.
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: I want to get back to my accommodation.
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: So really think about that Also.
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: To be honest, it will add to your experience.
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: If you're staying in London and, like the central I'm not talking about really zone one here if you're staying in the central area of London, because you're walking distance, so lots and lots of different places depend on the area that you're staying in.
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: So soak up the atmosphere, go to the restaurants, walk around, enjoy it.
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: So choose an area that obviously will fit your budget, but in central London, that's really what I highly recommend.
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: So what are the four easy steps that I recommend to help you select the best area to stay in London?
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: The first thing, obviously, is you need to think about your budget.
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: So, you know, are you looking for luxury hotels, a boutique hotel, or are you going to be more budget conscious?
• 3:41
  Speaker 2: You know, obviously, I will say, you need to budget more for your accommodation in London than anywhere else.
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: Edinburgh is also pretty pricey at certain times of the year, but you can find options.
• 3:51
  Speaker 2: Whether you're looking for a luxury stay, family-friendly accommodation or best value budget as well, there are different options.
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: So what I would say, though, is you've got to consider when you are going to be arriving in London, so prices obviously going to vary due to demand, so you're going to expect the highest rates during sort of May, june, july, late September, october, during the Christmas period.
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: Those are when school holidays are on in the UK.
• 4:19
  Speaker 2: So Easter time I should have mentioned Easter.
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: Easter time end of May is a school holiday.
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: June, july, august those are the times where lots and lots and lots of tourists are arriving in London.
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: So if you are planning to visit over the summer months you're going to pay higher prices and also school holidays are on in Europe and in the UK so it's extremely busy.
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: September is also becoming really more popular now as a time to visit.
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: October there's again school holidays last week and obviously the Christmas period and over the New Year.
• 4:54
  Speaker 2: Those are really expensive times so prices will go up.
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: There's more demand during those times of year.
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: So really kind of, I suppose, from spring through to kind of early fall, autumn and then the Christmas period.
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: So it is expect to pay more.
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: If you're traveling those times it's going to cost you more.
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: So really you can budget around I guess £75 for budget accommodation outside of the peak terms that's what I would say.
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: It's kind of a ballpark figure £150 plus really per night for a three-star hotel in zone one and that would be mid-range accommodation and obviously, for luxury accommodation you can just the sky's the limit.
• 5:36
  Speaker 2: You can pay a lot.
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: Yes, there's some beautiful hotels in London, very expensive hotels in London.
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: So really, again it's when you are putting together the budget for your trip, consider the accommodation in London so that you give yourself a reasonable amount of rigour rigour room, I guess.
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: And then I guess the next thing is really consider which area of London best suits your needs.
• 6:00
  Speaker 2: And I totally get this.
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: If you don't know London, if this is your first trip to London, how do you choose an area?
• 6:05
  Speaker 2: So I will be talking about that a bit, I think.
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: Consider where are you going to be arriving into and departing from in London.
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: So you've got.
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: Obviously there's five major airports around in London.
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: So which airport will you be arriving in?
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: Because obviously you want to get from the airport to your hotel.
• 6:20
  Speaker 2: Are you going to be travelling onwards via train?
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: So are you going to France, so you're going to catch the Euro-star over to Paris, or are you going to Amsterdam?
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: Are you going to be travelling up to Scotland?
• 6:31
  Speaker 2: Are you going to York and Edinburgh?
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: Are you going to go?
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: What other trips are you planning to take from London, or are you just going to be based in London and want to take day trips out, or do you want to consider that you want to be near a transport hub?
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: I would always, always, recommend that you stay near a tube station, really really within walking distance, five minutes of a tube station.
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: Because, as I say again, once you've been trips around London all day, you do not want to spend half an hour walking back to your accommodation.
• 6:58
  Speaker 2: I mean, you might want to, I know I don't After a long day walking, so you know, get yourself near a tube station, it will get you, you know, quicker around the city.
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah, obviously, things like you know you're looking for a family friendly area or do you want something with a bit more lively nightlife?
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: Or do you want to be near certain, like certain attractions or sporting events, or within walking distance of theatres.
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: So again, it's kind of which area is going to be best for you, what will suit your needs.
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: So, once you've decided on the area and, as I say, I will talk about each of the different areas that we can recommend and who the best suit, and some of the attractions in each of those areas in a bit but once you've decided which area you like, then start looking at the accommodation options.
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: So, again, consider how close it is to the tube for transport links.
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: You know you don't want to be having to get a tube and then onto a mainland train and then onto a bus and then onto I'll have to walk and I've seen this, honestly, I have you know it adds to costs anyway because it takes away time from your trip and it adds to costs because you've got to get the transport there and back Again.
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: I will just recommend that if something like air conditioning is important to you, a lift elevator is important, make sure that you do check that those are available.
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: Also, I guess another thing to consider is you know what time can you drop your luggage off?
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: Because if you arrive at a Heathrow at 6.30am in the morning and you can't drop your luggage off until three in the afternoon, you know you need to consider what are you going to do with your luggage?
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: Obviously, a hotel, you can.
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: 99.9% of the time you can just drop it off with them, but it is worth considering.
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, so think about you know what is it that you want from a hotel?
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: And obviously I mean we use bookingcom and we have done for years to book accommodation and obviously you can check those things off.
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: So that's the accommodation options which meet your criteria when you do a search.
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: So obviously the next thing to do is book it.
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: Once you've chosen, you know there's a wide range of accommodation options in London.
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: You've got hotels, you've got apartments, there's guest houses.
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: You know that you could look at, obviously, bookingcom.
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: There's VRBO, there's Plum Guide.
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: There's lots of different accommodation providers that you can go through to find the relevant accommodation for you.
• 9:24
  Speaker 2: I tend to book with recancellation.
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: I use bookingcom for that.
• 9:27
  Speaker 2: I like recancellation because you just never know what might happen and you know you pay and that's it.
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: You know you've paid your money and no cancellation and something happens.
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: So you know.
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: If you're to first time visit London and you're unfamiliar or unsure of the location of the various areas, I do have an actual map that goes with the guide on the website.
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: So I would suggest you have a look at that just to familiarise yourself anyway with the different areas.
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: But so the next part of the podcast.
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: I'm actually going to go through our favourite areas that we stay in.
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: I've got kind of three areas that we generally choose when we go to stay in London.
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: So I'll talk about those three.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: I'm not actually going to recommend various accommodations on hotels in this podcast because, honestly, you know, I don't know what your budget is.
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: I don't know what your travel style is.
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: You know you might be travelling solo, you might be travelling as a family attend, I don't know.
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: I do have articles for those, but I think the best thing to do, as I say, is to take a listen and see which area kind of resonates with you and then pop over to the website and have a look, maybe give yourself a couple of ideas and then choose one of those areas that you go.
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: Right, okay, that's where we're going to stay.
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: That's the one that appeals to us.
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: Okay, so the first area that I'm going to talk about is around Covent Garden.
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: So looking at Covent Garden, charring Cross and Trafalgar Square area.
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: So now this area.
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: Really, if it's your first time in London, this is a perfect area to stay in.
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: It's great if you've got older children.
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: You have theatre lover, new lover shops.
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: It's one of my favourite areas in London.
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: It's one I always recommend people visit.
• 11:12
  Speaker 2: Anyway, definitely, go to have a look around Covent Garden if you're not staying in that area.
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: But that Covent Garden it really is an area that's got everything.
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: You know there's beautiful market there.
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: You've got theatres, restaurants, shoppings, shopping and much more.
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: So you know it's a really lovely, pleasant neighbourhood feel.
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: Yes, it is a popular area, I'm not going to deny that it is, but it's just lovely.
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: And this bit on Christmas is amazing.
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: Covent Garden in fact any time of year is lovely at Covent Garden.
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: So there's a tube station there that will connect you to locations all over the capital.
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: I will just say about Covent Garden Tube Station is that if it's got a lift or a lot of steps but you can walk to Leicester Square Station, which isn't very far away either, or Holborn, which we use quite often.
• 12:01
  Speaker 2: But you know, really you're close to Leicester Square and Banquemontra Falga Square.
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: They're very easy to get to from Covent Garden.
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: Got the Royal Opera House, london Transport Museum, so lots of things on your doorstep.
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: So it really is a lovely area.
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: I guess the cons staying in Covent Garden is that it is busy.
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: It is a busy area to stay in and accommodation can be more costly in the Covent Garden area because you've got hotels like Savoy, waldorf, hilton in that area.
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: But you know, gorgeous, gorgeous place to stay so I highly recommend that.
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: So if it's your first time to London and you want to kind of be, you know you're into the theatre, you're like shops, like restaurants, you want to be in a great place, that's walking distance, a lot of attractions, then you know, look at that Covent Garden area.
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: I stayed in the Covent Garden Holborn last year and this year actually stayed in that area and found it really easy to get around London and I just love the restaurants around that area as well.
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: So Covent Garden, sharon crossed that kind of area.
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: My first recommendation.
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: The second area that I recommend is South Bank, bankside, around there.
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: So you've got, you know, waterloo station, you've got.
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: It's just a.
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: It's a lovely area to stay in.
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: Actually stay in South Bank in April this year, very close to the London Eye.
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: It's a great area, you know, for, like art and culture, boodies, it's a great place to stay in London at Christmas because you've got markets near there.
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: So you know it's a lovely, lovely place to stay.
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: You've got Shakespeare's Globe and obviously I've mentioned a few times that the London Eye, which I always go on when I'm in London.
• 13:46
  Speaker 2: I absolutely love the views from the London Eye over Westminster Big Ben.
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: So it's, you know, really good.
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: You're near to Waterloo station, so, again, really easy to get around London.
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: It's more affordable, you know, and you are slightly a little bit more removed from the city centre but, to be honest, it's really easy to get around, you know.
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: You can walk over Westminster Bridge, you've got Big Ben.
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: How's the Parliament there?
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: As I say, you know, walk down South Bank.
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: That South Bank walk is lovely.
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: Again, some really good hotels in that area.
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: So that would probably be my second choice and I know that's a popular area because we're often asked about Staying there.
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: So, yeah, great views, as I say, you're going to get great views of Westminster, london Eye if you kind of stay in that South Bank area.
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: So my third choice of area would be Tower Bridge in the city of London.
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: Now, this area really is dominated by history and, yes, it is a main business district, but it's a great area if you love history and for sightseeing.
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: We stayed just beside the Tower of London last year Fantastic hotel there and great.
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: So we had an early tour with Walks, the opening ceremony of the Tower of London.
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: So it was fantastic to just literally be on the doorstep of the tower, so got up and straight, went straight to the tour and of course we had a tube station on our Tower Hill tube station, literally on the doorstep of the hotel.
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: So get around London without any issues whatsoever and very close to the river.
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: So, again, if you want to jump on it on the Uber boat, very easy.
• 15:22
  Speaker 2: And you know, you've got the Tower of London next year.
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: You've got, you've got the shard opposite.
• 15:26
  Speaker 2: You can walk across Tower Bridge, you know, go to Borough Market.
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: So you know it's a really nice place to stay and it is quite at the weekend because obviously, city of London people Aren't working at weekends.
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: So it will be quite.
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: It's not as they say, it's not kind of like Haven't garden where you've got that real kind of neighborhood feel, but it is.
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: It's an area that I would still definitely choose to stay out.
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: So I think probably those are my three favorite areas and I'm sure that you know, if you're listening and you've stayed in London, you may have your own favorite area that you've stayed in, but for us I think kind of Covent Garden, south Bank and and around the Tower of London are the three areas that we love to stay in, but obviously there are other areas, so let's have a chat about some of those.
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: Another area to consider is the South Kensington, knightsbridge, belgravia and Chelsea.
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: So those are perfect areas for families because you've got access to wonderful museums, great for culture lovers and shoppers.
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: So I mean main things in that area.
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: You've got the Natural History Museum, science Museum, b&a museums in South Kensington, or South Kent as it's known to locals.
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: Obviously you've got Kensington Palace as well if you want to head there.
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: You know you've got Hyde Park if you enjoy walks and you want to go have a walk around Hyde Park.
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: Knightsbridge is obviously the home of one of the most famous department stores in the world Harrods which is worth a visit if you like shops.
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: I mean I go because I love the food halls in in Harrods.
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: So yeah, that's a.
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: It's a good area to stay in.
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: A little bit, little bit more tricky, I guess, for transport connections to some areas, but it depends where you stay.
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: I mean you have got the tube, so you've got tube links from South Kensington, knightsbridge.
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: So, to be honest, pretty, pretty good area to stay.
• 17:18
  Speaker 2: As I say, there are some pretty good and very expensive hotels in that area, but also you will find some more affordable accommodation too.
• 17:29
  Speaker 2: Fourth area to consider is the Fitzerovia and Bloomsbury areas, and they're brilliant, really great areas for stay if you're traveling with a family, because you've got a lot of spacious squares and leafy streets, you know, it's really nice.
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: It's just actually north of Covent Garden area, so it's within easy reach of central areas and the theaters and shops of the West End.
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: It was, it was seen as a literary and intellectual capital of the city, so you've got various university buildings and lots of tree-lined squares, you know.
• 17:57
  Speaker 2: So it fits Roe v.
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: It's an interesting district, you know.
• 18:00
  Speaker 2: You've got family homes, apartment blocks, lots of cafes and pubs and it's a good area to stay and learn really for like exploring museums, because there's lots of different interesting museums in that area and obviously Bloomsbury, you've got the British Museum.
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: So it's a historic and literary district with an easy reach of central London areas.
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: So it's quite a quiet, more sedate area to stay in, so perfect, I suppose, if you've got younger children or if you want to stay a little bit out of the action.
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: But, again, lovely area to stay in.
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: Now, if you love shopping, then probably the Mayfair, mariliborne and Oxford Street area would be a really good area to stay in for you, very popular with celebrities, shoppers and lovers of fine dining.
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: You know, I'm sure most people have heard of Mayfair because it's the most exclusive district in the city of London, in London, and the most sought after area, often the Monopoly Board.
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: So this part of the couple of boarders hide parks, eastern edge and is filled with very smart hotels, upmarket eateries and elegant townhouses.
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: So obviously this is a very popular place with celebrities to stay, but it is a little bit more pricey.
• 19:13
  Speaker 2: It is the smartest part of London, so you're going to get luxury hotels and Michelin-starred restaurants all over the place.
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: But you know if you're on a budget, this is not the area to choose.
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: You're going to get a limited budget accommodation, if any, in that area, but you know there are options if you wanted to stay in there.
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: There are another couple of one or two B&Bs that we do list for that area.
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: Next area I want to talk about is Westminster and St James, which is an excellent option for those of you who want to see all the sights, enjoy walking and relaxing in beautiful parks and have a little bit of luxury.
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: It's actually a perfect location if you're taking a weekend break into London.
• 19:49
  Speaker 2: So obviously you're near Victoria Rail and Coach stations, which this makes it ideal location really if you're going to arrive by public transport.
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: I've got Big Ben, house of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, buckingham Palace, green Park, so lots and lots to see in that area.
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: I know.
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: Actually the area around Victoria comes up quite often because it's a little bit more budget friendly.
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: It's not a great area for museums but again, you know you can just jump on the tube and go down to South Kensington to the museums.
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: And obviously most hotels are not close to the Thames.
• 20:22
  Speaker 2: So if you want to be close to the river, that's probably not the best place to stay.
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: Now, if you're into shopping and you want a light nightlife, so if you want to go out and about at night, then Soho and Leicester Square is probably the best place to stay.
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: You've got all the shops of Central London Carnaby Street, bond Street, oxford Street, regent Street.
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: You know Leicester Square is the cinema central of London where all the big London film premiers take place, and also that area borders on the theatre land.
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: So obviously if you want to see the theatre fantastic shopping, amazing Liberty Hamleys, designer boutiques I've got Chinatown.
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: The fantastic area is there for nightlife.
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: You've got shops, cinemas, dining theatres, lots of nightlife going on.
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: You've got Chinatown's restaurants, so you've got some yummy, affordable food.
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: Con for this area is that it's very, very busy and, again, not very many budget options in that area.
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: So, but those are kind of the main areas that I would kind of suggest.
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: On top of that I will talk about I'm just going to look at my notes because there are quite a lot of areas.
• 21:31
  Speaker 2: I mean we cover 12 in an article and I have, as I say, I've got articles about each of those.
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: I guess one of the other areas that I would mention I'm going to mention is around Camden in King's Cross.
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: So King's Cross had a bad rep for a long time and I know that people kind of go no, it's not a great area of London to stay in, but actually there's been a lot of regeneration in the King's Cross area.
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: It's a good area for you on a budget.
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: You've got excellent links for the Euro start and if you travel up to Scotland from, obviously, king's Cross and from St Pancras International, obviously you've got Camden in that area as well, which is amazing Camden market, fantastic food options.
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: It's a really eclectic area around regions canal.
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: You've got the shops, you've got the stalls, you've got the cold drops yard, which is fairly new, which has got shops and lots of different eateries.
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: It's lovely.
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: It's not an area though if you want five star luxury, I will say that if you really want to stay in the King's Cross area not really going to find that kind of high end hotel, but saying that there are some really good and not cheap hotels actually in the area but yeah, so I would say it's a good area really, if you're again, if you're looking at transport links to outside of London, it's a great area to stay in and it is a little bit more budget friendly, certainly going up towards Camden, you know.
• 23:06
  Speaker 2: So yeah, so you've got loads of different options there.
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: I think I've probably gone through about six or seven now.
• 23:11
  Speaker 2: So those are probably our most favorite areas to stay in in London.
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: Obviously, you could go out a little bit further and go out towards Greenwich.
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: Greenwich is another nice area to stay in and run a little bit further out you could stay in Notting Hill area, which is I mean Notting Hill fantastic.
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: If you're an Instagram, I want to take loads of pictures of the beautiful homes, because it is gorgeous and obviously you've got the market and obviously it's featured in many movies, so it's pretty, pretty famous.
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: But obviously you know you've got lots of different options.
• 23:48
  Speaker 2: I think the best thing to do is after this podcast is to go and have a look at our articles, choose which area I mean, which area did I talk about that?
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: You kind of went, oh, that sounds just perfect for me or for my family.
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: Have a look, have a look on the website, look at the general article that I've got and then choose the area as I say that goes mmm, that sounds like that's for me and then read our more detailed article on the area to say we've got lots of different options for each area.
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: In terms of accommodation, we also have articles on the website, you know.
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: So we've got best hotels in London for families.
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: We've got best hotels in London for larger groups as well, and we've got budget London accommodation options mid range.
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: I don't think I've put a luxury one together yet.
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: Maybe I should.
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: Yeah, so have a look through those and use those to choose your best place to stay in London.
• 24:48
  Speaker 2: If you start any questions, pop over and join our Facebook group, uk travel planning on Facebook's private group.
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: We do vet all applications for that group.
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: So come over.
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: It's a safe environment.
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: Come and ask if there's something you're thinking about.
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: It's like you know, have a chat or just look at, actually, what we've already talked about in the group, because there's lots and lots of posts about there and people kind of going, oh, is this, is this a good area, is that a good area?
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: And obviously I do point them towards the podcast and the website.
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: Anyway, thanks for listening this week.
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: It's been great to chat to you and I want to say, as always, the show notes will be on the website UK travel planning dot com.
• 25:24
  Speaker 2: Forward slash episode 68 just leaves me to say until next week.
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: Happy UK travel planning.