[nick_charles]

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I've heard from a few people who have been there that the food is absolutely digusting.  If you're not adventurous with food, stick to more american-type places (that is, if you're American) or food you are familiar with.
 
You could probably ask some of the locals what the best landmarks are, including pubs and whatnot.

British food tends to be a bit bland, but (almost) everyone eats foreign food by preference (i.e curry) anyway and there are some good curry houses in London, I used to like the Red Fort.

 

[nick_charles]

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I was also looking to get some headphones there, would they be cheaper compared to Singapore? 
 
Apart from all that, are there any precautions I have to take? I've a British friend who used to live in London; he kept telling me horror stories about being robbed/ mugged.

 
Sadly HiFi in the UK is relatively expensive, worse than the USA and I am sure worse than Singapore !
 
Normal caution is advised , London is like any big city, rather less guns than New York/Washington but muggings happen, I lived in London for 10 years and was never mugged once, I would avoid the East End on the whole, unless you want to buy you own watch back at a sunday market...
 

 

[Omega]

There is good food in London, but it isn't usually of the English variety!
 
Easiest recommendation is to eat ethnic.  It's relatively easy to find good Thai or Indian...actually, anything from the Asian continent has a better chance than local British fare.  One of my favorite sandwich combinations is Chicken Tikka Masala on a whole wheat.  Sure...that's un-Indian on several levels, but it is tasty, and I discovered them in London .  You can also find decent pub-grub if you have a particularly good guidebook or local recommendation.  My pub experiences were all severely lacking in food quality though--minty mushy peas should be outlawed on the grounds of "cruel and unusual."  British food: bland and weepy.  Irish: underwhelming.  Scottish: downright gross.  All according to my tastes, YMMV of course, and I'd love to be proven wrong!
 
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I've heard from a few people who have been there that the food is absolutely digusting.  If you're not adventurous with food, stick to more american-type places (that is, if you're American) or food you are familiar with.
 

 

[pcf]

  Haha!  I lived in West Ham in the 80's. There were skinheads everywhere. I heard the east end has changed a lot since.
 
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 I would avoid the East End on the whole, unless you want to buy you own watch back at a sunday market...
 

 

[pcf]

There are good Greek, Italian and Indian restaurants in London. Japanese food is good but far too expensive. Chinese food outside of China town is usually bad. Chinese take-aways do good chips with curry sauce but not much else is eatable.
Try some jellied eels at your own risk if you really want to taste the local cuisine.
 

 

[nick_charles]

 

Quote:

  Haha!  I lived in West Ham in the 80's. There were skinheads everywhere. I heard the east end has changed a lot since.
 

 

I went to Upton Park a few times in the early 80s, one of my (Scottish) work buddies when I was working for the Polis was a huge West ham fan, plenty of skinheads and National Front pamphlets for sale, but they were a very entertaining footie side ! - I ws referring more to the markets where you go in with a watch find it missing 30 minutes later but get the chance to buy it back as you leave

 

[JB197]

I used to live just outside of London and have been in many, many times. It's huge, always busy and there is always something to do. The only problems are overcrowding at times, an old fashion feel to the underground system (which is always a mini-adventure in it's own right), and often the smell of traffic fumes. Oh, and the price of things.
 
The Natural History Museum and the Science Museum are both wonderful if you're into that sort of thing. Covent Garden is great when the outside performance artists are performing, and while there nip into the London Transport Museum. There are more shops and galleries than you can physically visit in a week. The last time I visited was about 18 months back and there was still a good selection of traditional pubs with fine real ales, some brewed on the premesis. Traditional pubs are also a good place to eat.
 
: )

 

[mark2410]

lol i was just about to mention the south ken museums.
 
south kensington has the natural history, science and the V and A (victoria and albert)
 
the natural history has the most amazing building ive ever seen, the details all over are just fantastic.
 
the V and A has stuff like the Elgin marbles in it, and Tippoo's Tiger, if wuseums are your thing look round their web sites for stuff that interests you.  hundeds of years of bitch slapping most of the world and going "i'll have that" makes for some nice bits and bobs.

 

[soozieq]

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if wuseums are your thing look round their web sites for stuff that interests you.  hundeds of years of bitch slapping most of the world and going "i'll have that" makes for some nice bits and bobs.

Wuseums? Tell me what they are, they might be my thing

 
To the OP - do what mark says and get an Oyster card. But make sure you swipe in and out or else you'll get charged twice. It's happened to me a few times...

 
As for Stonehenge, it's about 80 miles from London, I think. You won't be going there on an Oyster card....
 
What else, hmmm.
 
If you're in Leicester Square, and fancy seeing a show on the cheap - go to the official half-price booth which is right opposite the Empire cinema. Don't get taken in by those other 'official half-price' booths, they're not!
 
As for eating.... just avoid anything that's too close to the stations. They're normally very busy with all the tourists that have just walked in from the tube.
 
Oh, and if you fancy browsing for any music while you're there, go to the huge HMV in Oxford Street. It's massive, great for browsing if you're in the mood.
 
Have fun

 

[mark2410]

woops with the typo
 
anyway just occurred to me if your after rather nice traditionally british type food find a browns, oh and they do stunning breakfasts and i can heartily recommend a hendriks and tonic too
 
http://www.browns-restaurants.co.uk/

 

[natural_nut]

 
Thank you for all the responses! Shall give some of those places a look 

 
Anybody here from Hillsong? I'd really love to pay your church a visit 

 

[Spareribs]

Harrods. I recommend it. It's an amazing department store. The best I've ever seen in my life.

 

[soozieq]

Quote:

woops with the typo
 
anyway just occurred to me if your after rather nice traditionally british type food find a browns, oh and they do stunning breakfasts and i can heartily recommend a hendriks and tonic too
 
http://www.browns-restaurants.co.uk/

Haha. I thought you meant Browns the bar, off Leicester Square. Last time I drank there, Madonna was 'acting' in a play at one of the nearby theatres, and at the end - she came out of the back entrance (where we were) and started complaining loudly about the 'crowds' bothering her, and we all looked around for the crowds, and there was like five of us... and no one gave a crap anyway.
 
And she was smaller than me. I was amazed. I always thought she was at least 5" 6, must be the heels

 

 

[pcf]

Thanks for sharing! I guess Madonna doesn't live there anymore, does she?
Bumping into celebrities  seems to be a common occurrence if you live in London. I still remember seeing some pop/rock stars in North London when I lived there. Pete Townshend used to have a recording studio in Crouch End, north London and a lot of rock stars would use it. From time to time you could spot them around the area. Annie Lennox lived in the area too and could be seen with her pink Beetle. Once Bob Dylan was looking to buy a house there but news got out and he abandoned the idea pretty sharply.
 
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Haha. I thought you meant Browns the bar, off Leicester Square. Last time I drank there, Madonna was 'acting' in a play at one of the nearby theatres, and at the end - she came out of the back entrance (where we were) and started complaining loudly about the 'crowds' bothering her, and we all looked around for the crowds, and there was like five of us... and no one gave a crap anyway.
 
And she was smaller than me. I was amazed. I always thought she was at least 5" 6, must be the heels

 

 

[Rooford]

Hi,
 
I lived in London for six years, some of my favourite places:
 
Regent Street / Oxford Street for shopping although Covent Garden / Neal Street / Floral Street are great too for less mainstream clothing.
 
Camden (Camden Lock) and Soho are also great to explore although be careful, like any big city be smart and don't make yourself an easy target.
 
You might be better with a travel card than an Oyster card if you're going to be using public transport all weekend.
 
Use the Bus rather than tube, you'll see more of London but takes a little more effort.
 
I was impressed with the design museum Tate Modern http://designmuseum.org/ you could walk up the south bank of the Thames along Southwark see Tower Bridge, Tower of London and the London Dungeon they're all pretty close.
 
Use the River Ferry rather than paying for tourist boat if you want to see the city from the river.
 
Trafalgar Square and The Strand are also great to walk through/along you could cut up through Regent Street and then Oxford Street.
 
For night life, the West End/Soho is probably you're best bet but again don't make yourself an easy target, head to Old Street/Islington if you're feeling trendy.
 
The tourist walks are good if you like that kind of thing, I'd recommend the Jack the Ripper Walk.
 
Have fun!