London

 

The next day we were finally flying home; however, we had an overnight layover in London. We used Blacklane car service to take us to the airport in Rome. Once arriving at the airport I was very happy to hear that I had the option of picking up my luggage in London or sending it straight through to Los Angeles. I opted to have my bags sent straight to Los Angeles, so when we landed in London we just had to clear customs (which took 30 minutes), and we were on our way. I booked a room at the IBIS Styles London Heathrow, which was close to the airport. From terminals 1, 2, and 3 there are free buses that drop you off near the hotel, but we were in terminal 5 and I didn’t know how to get to the other terminals, so we paid $5.00 for the bus that stops at different hotels. I didn’t have any pounds yet, but they let me pay using Apple Pay. After checking into the hotel we crossed the street to take the free bus to terminals 1, 2, and 3, where we were then able to get on the tube to the city. Again we were able to use our Apple Pay to pay for the tube. We took the tube to Covent Garden, which was about an hour ride, and had dinner at Simpsons in the Strand, known for their prime rib served on carts. It was a lovely dinner, and then we walked around London and saw Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, and Picadilly Circus.  It was a great way to spend our last night on vacation.  

 

 

Apps I found useful in planning this trip:

 

Say Hi – Translates language using voice

Snap and Translate – Take a picture and it will translate the words or objects

Cool Cousin – Recommendations from locals

Like a Local – Recommendations from locals

Sandemanns Tour – Free walking tours

Tripit – send in your confirmations and it keeps an organized itinerary

Mobile pass – download to have faster access when going through customs

Culture Trip – explore travel

Duo – Face Time for those without iPhones

Rick Steves Audio – walking tours of cities, and other useful information

VisitaCity.com – great website to help you organize your activities and map how to get to each location

Fork App – Dinner reservations online with discounts

 

I was provided complimentary or discounted services to help facilitate my review from the following:  Radius Tours, Prontopia, Visional Global Wi-Fi, Omnia Vatican & Rome Card and Omnia Kit, and City of Prague (Old Town Hall’s Underground), Blacklane Car Service, and the City of Budapest (Budapest Card).

 

 

 

Linda Perry, May 2018
Linda@Peachhead.net
www.peachhead.net
Twitter: Peachhead