London travel Tips
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London Airports and Flight Arrival Information
London has three major interntaional airports: Heathrow,
Gatwick airports and Stansted airport:
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London Heathrow Airport |
The aiprot is about 15 miles west of the city. The
quickest way of travelling to Central London is by the
Piccadily Line Undergound. If you have a lot of luggages,
it would be better to take the Airbus A1/A2 to Central
London. Airbus runs every 20 minutes and the journey
takes about 60-70 minutes.
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London Gatwick Airport |
London Gatwick airport is about 28 miles south of the
city. The Gatwick Express runs a train service between
the airport and Victoria station in central London 24
hours a day
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Stansted Airport |
Stansted Airport is the fastest-growing major airport in
Europe and is the main home of the leading low-cost
scheduled airlines, dealing with over 20 airlines and
flying to more than 124 destinations.
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Best Time To Go: |
April - September to enjoy the lovely English sun, which
the English themselves are so enthusiastic about and you
can't blame them as England is damp, cloudy and
bordering on the miserable from November to February.
English weather is fickle and one bout of rain can send
the mercury dipping. Keep in mind that since this is the
best time to visit, the whole world flocks to England.
Beat the crowds and avoid England in July and August.
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Telecomms and Cell Phone |
Finding a telephone box used to be an easy task - just
look for those eye-catching red call telephone boxes.
Sadly, the tradional telephone boxes are disappearing (a
very collectable item).
The biggest two telephone companies are BT and Mercury.
The minimum charge at phone boxes is 10 pence (50 pence
for credit card call). Phonecards are also available in
most newsagents and corner shops.
To make an international call, dial 00 then full
country/area codes and phone number. In the UK, calls
cost more during 8am-6pm weekdays. All 0800 numbers are
free, and 0890 numbers charge 49 pence per minutes
daytime (e.g., a call to the US Embassy's
visa/cir/information line could easily cost you £10).
When calling from hotel, check the rates before making a
call.
Cell phones are very easy to get even for visitors. If
you have a GSM dual mode or tri-mode phone, you can buy
a SIM card (costs about $15) and top up some minites
(about 15c-30c a minute). Most of the SIM cards for
visitors charge the same (or less) rate for
internalional calls.
There are a number of walk-in telecomm outlets that
offer international calls at greatly reduced rates.
Cell phones are very easy to get even for visitors. If
you have a GSM dual mode or tri-mode phone, you can buy
a SIM card (costs about $15) and top up some minites
(about 15c-30c a minute). Most of the SIM cards for
visitors charge the same (or less) rate for
internalional calls.
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