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Rick Steves' London

Updates since the 2010 edition:

There are no London Transport services running on Christmas Day except for the following: Gatwick Express will be running a half-hourly bus service between London Victoria and Gatwick Airport from 06:30. Heathrow Express will be running a half-hourly train service between London Paddington and Heathrow Airport from 05:30 until 14:00. After 14:00 a half-hourly bus service will run. (Yes, Virginia, there is a Father Christmas... and he's driving a Heathrow Express train!)

Sights

Westminster Abbey is indeed open late on Wednesdays (current hours: Mon–Fri 9:30–16:30, Wed until 19:00, Sat 9:30–14:30, last entry one hour before closing, closed Sun to sightseers but open for services.)

Entertainment

The tkts half-price ticket booth on Leicester Square is now open 11:00–16:00 on Sundays (still 10:00–19:00 Mon–Sat).

Harrods' Father Christmas (a.k.a. Santa Claus) has a new, mandatory online reservation system that has been very successful — so successful that the Man in Red is fully booked for his entire 2009 appearance (Nov 7–Dec 24). To find out if there are any last-minute cancellations, call 020/7893-8877 or try emailing grottocustomerservice@harrods.com. Tickets to see Father Christmas are free but photos cost around £15. If Harrods has no openings, try Selfridges near Marble Arch (Nov 21–Dec 24, £2 reservation fee, tel. 0800-123-400 or 013/369-8040, www.selfridges.com).

Transportation Connections

Dot2Dot no longer runs a transfer service from Heathrow to London hotels. However, a new service, SkyShuttle, operates shuttles about every half hour between Heathrow and hotels in central London (£21.50/person one-way, £34.40/person round-trip, for reservations, call 0845-481-0960 between 6:00-22:00 or email reservations@skyshuttle.co.uk, www.skyshuttle.co.uk).

New London transport prices and policies will go into effect January 2, 2010:

On the Tube, the cost of using an Oyster card will increase slightly per ride, and the cash fare between Zone 6 (Heathrow) and Zone 1 (city center) will go up to £4.50. The Three-Day Travelcard will be discontinued and the "Kid for a Quid" promotion will no longer be offered. A paying adult will still be able to take up to four kids, aged 10 and under, for free any time of day. Families with older kids can consider the Oyster "Zip" card, which allows kids ages 11–15 to travel all day for £1 on the Tube and for free on buses. The "Zip" card must be ordered online three weeks in advance and requires a £5 deposit and digital photo (pick card up on arrival, details at www.tfl.gov.uk/zip).

On buses, cash fares will remain £2, but the Oyster card price will now be £1.20 per ride, with a daily cap of £3.90. The Seven-Day bus pass will go up £2.80 to £16.60 and the One-Day bus pass will be discontinued.

Updates since the 2009 edition:

General

The US office of Visit Britain no longer answers questions over the phone, though it does take requests for printed brochures via an answering machine at (800) 462-2748. For questions, contact the office via email at travelinfo@visitbritain.org.

Orientation

Getting Around London

A Three-Day Travelcard for Tube or bus travel now costs £18.40. A Group Day Ticket for Tube or DLR travel for ten or more adults will be £3.70 each. A One-Day Bus & Tram Pass will be £3.80. For more information, see the Transport for London website.

Tours

Private guide Britt Lonsdale has a new email address: brittl@btinternet.com. Her current rates are £150 for a half-day tour and £220 for the whole day.

New London Walking Tours now has only one free tour: Royal London (daily at 11:00, meet at Wellington Arch, Tube: Hyde Park Corner, Exit 2). Their Old City tour now costs £9 (daily at 10:00, meet at sundial opposite the Tower Hill Tube station exit).

Sights

The Monument, London's 202-foot column designed by Sir Christopher Wren to mark the spot where the Great Fire of 1666 began, reopened in February after a complete makeover.

The National Gallery remains free, technically, but now has a suggested donation of £1–2. It's now open late on Fridays, rather than on Wednesdays (daily 10:00–18:00, Fri until 21:00). The museum's excellent audioguide now costs £3.50.

The London Eye has slightly changed its hours of operation. New hours: July–Aug 10:00–21:30, June and Sept 10:00–21:00, Oct–April 10:00–20:00.

Vinopolis is now closed Mondays as well as Tue–Wed (Thu–Fri 12:00–22:00, Sat 11:00–22:00, Sun 12:00–18:00, last entry 2.5 hours before closing).

Sleeping

EasyHotel Victoria has a new email address: enquiries@victoria.easyHotel.com.

St. Paul's Youth Hostel has a new email address: stpauls@yha.org.uk.

The Methodist International Centre (MIC) has a new email address: reservations@micentre.com.

Eating

Three London restaurants are newly open on Sundays: Livebait Restaurant (Sun 12:00–21:00), PJ's Bar and Grill (Sun 11:30–16:00), and the Duke of Wellington pub (Sun 12:00–15:00).

Entertainment

The magazine What's On in London is no longer being published.

Keith Prowse Ticketing, a handy source for West End theater tickets, has new phone numbers: US toll-free tel. 800-669-8687, British toll tel. 0844-209-0382.

Day Trips in England: Greenwich, Windsor, Cambridge, Bath

See the updates page for our England book.

Day Trip to Paris

See the updates page for our Paris book.