Exploring London (3)

Previous : Exploring London (day 2)

Today’s Itinerary

• Hampton Court
• Wimbledon Tennis Court Museum
• Luton

2 days exploring the hectic London, we would like to alter the feeling from hectic London city to the peaceful London suburb.

Still utilizing our London Pass Card, our first destination is Hampton Court (normal price £13), King Henry VIII palace in south west London. The Palace could be reached by various means of transport such as tube, bus, boat, car, train. We choose to take a tube to Richmond then continue by bus no R68. I would describe that taking a tube to suburb area will bring you to the feeling that you are in the scene of Harry Potter, in which you could see house with chimney, farmyards, etc.

Today’s Tips:
1. Spent some time to the suburb area of London. London is a metropolitan city but when you reach the suburb, you will feel that you are in the Harry Potter’s scene. :)

2. Tipping is not too important and is not an obligation in Europe. Just give a compliment by saying “Thank you”

Back to Hampton Court, inside the palace, you could find the costumed interpreters lead tours around the palace and give dramatic presentations about the stories and events that really happened at Hampton Court everyday throughout the year. We could also borrow the audio tours provided free and available in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, Japanese, Russian and Korean.

The Hampton Court park covers 750 acres (304 hectares), the formal gardens 60 acres (26 hectares) and the palace buildings 6 acres (2.5 hectares), all set within a loop of the river Thames. There are several parks but the most visited parts are the Fountain Garden and The Maze. Our time is too short to explore and to enjoy the whole garden so we need to end our visit to the next destination.

The next visit would be Wimbledon by taking the South West Train (ticket cost around £3 from Hamptop Court station, Hampton Court station is just next to the palace). While waiting for the trains to come, around 40 minutes, we decide to have a lunch near there. We find a small restaurant that provides us a big portion of steak at a really affordable price (around £4.50/ person).

Next 20 minutes, we are in Wimbledon, a suburb (and former town) in south-west London where the annual tennis championships are held. We headed to Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum (normal price: £14.50) by taking the bus no. 493. Unfortunately, the free tour to the main court closes at 1 pm (we arrive at 3pm) and the main center court is closed for renovation. However, we could visit the museum and get stunned with amazed with museum’s collection and the spectacular fantastic new cinema that features a 200° screen that immerses the viewer into the world of The Championships by showing a film about the science of tennis. Finished the visit, we return to London by taking bus 493 to Wimbledon Station then continue by tube.

Previously this morning, we checked out from hotel then leave our baggage at “left luggage service” at Victoria Train Station by paying £5 per piece. What a cost! So this afternoon, we return to the station, collect our baggage, and waiting our bus to Luton. Why Luton? Because we need to take an early flight using RyanAir to Rome tomorrow so we decided to stay near the airport to avoid any delay. Luton instead is a large town in the east of England, north of London. But we arrive too late in Luton and too tired to enjoy the town.

Bus ticket to Luton is bought via Easybus.co.uk and only cost us £2/person. This is the cheapest solution to Luton compare to train. Easybus will pickup the passenger at bus stop next to Victoria station ON TIME. 30 minutes later, we are being dropped at Luton Airport, the airport has expanded rapidly over the last few years since it is a hub for budget airlines offering cheap flights. Looking around, we could not find transfer bus from airport to hotel, so we just taking our luggage walking to Ibis Luton in a cold freezing night. NO COMPLAINT yah.. :)  And for the very first time, we see snow falling in the airport. Cool.

Luton Airport's nearest hotel is Holiday Inn Express and Ibis Hotel. These 2 hotels are in walking distance to the airport so many travellers stay in these hotel just to catch early flight.

15 minutes later, we arrive at the hotel. This time the battery is not running out of power but really out of power. So.. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Next >> Exploring Rome