Great Side Trips from London
Rick Steves' Europe: Episode # 109C
After a double-decker bus tour of London, we visit the reconstructed Globe Theatre and Churchill's Cabinet War Rooms. With London as home base, Rick and his family take day trips to Stratford, Warwick Castle, Cambridge and York. Along the way, we stop for a traditional English tea and enjoy a steam-engine trip.
- Read the script from the show.
- For lots more information, check out our best-selling Rick Steves' England and Rick Steves' London guidebooks — or join us on one of our free-spirited Britain tours!
Travel Details
London's Hop-On, Hop-Off Bus Tours
These once-over-lightly bus tours drive by all the famous London sights.. Two competitive companies Big Bus) offer essentially the same two tours of the city's highlights: Original London Sightseeing (tel. 020/8877-1722) and Big Bus London Tours (tel. 020/7233-9533).
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey is the place where England's kings and queens have been crowned and buried since 1066. A thousand years of English history — 3,000 tombs, the remains of 29 kings and queens, and hundreds of memorials to poets, politicians, and warriors — lie within (Tube: Westminster or St. James's Park, info desk tel. 020/7222-5152).
Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms
This is a fascinating walk through the underground headquarters of the British government's fight against the Nazis in the darkest days of the Battle for Britain. Churchill's room, the map room, and other rooms are just as they were in 1945. For all the blood, sweat, toil, and tears, pick up the excellent audioguide (on King Charles Street, 200 yards off Whitehall, follow the signs, Tube: Westminster, tel. 020/7930-6961).
Shakespeare's Globe
The original Globe Theatre has been rebuilt, half-timbered and thatched, as it was in Shakespeare's time. The museum on Shakespeare has interactive displays and film presentations, a sound lab, a script factory, and costumes. The working theater hosts authentic performances (on the South Bank directly across Thames over Southwark Bridge from St. Paul's, Tube: Mansion House or London Bridge plus 10-min walk; tel. 020/7902-1400 or 020/7902-1500).
Shakespeare's Exhibition and Birthplace
The Shakespeare exhibition in Stratford-upon-Avon provides a fine historical background, with actual historic artifacts. It's the best introduction to the life and work of Shakespeare in Stratford, with an original 1623 First Folio of Shakespeare's work (in town center on Henley Street, tel. 01789/204-016).
Warwick Castle
With a lush, green, grassy moat and fairy-tale fortifications, Warwick Castle will entertain you from dungeon to lookout. Even with its crowds of modern-day barbarians and its robber-baron entry fee, Warwick is worthwhile. Especially for kids — there just isn't a better castle experience in England. For train travelers, it's a 15-minute walk from the Warwick train station to the castle (toll tel. 0870-442-2375, recorded info tel. 0870-442-2000).
Updated for 2010.