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London Explorer

Spring 2012

Travel London

Surviving Heathrow at the Olympics

By Elaine Glusac
Heathrow Airport in London
operates at 99 percent capacity
daily, with 13,070 takeoffs and
landings. Since it can't add capacity to ease demand during
the Olympic Games in July and
August, the airport authority is
aiming to boost organization on
the ground.

It is building a temporary terminal for the 10,500 Olympic

athletes and their delegations,
but spectators using Heathrow
can find shortcuts as well. Travelers with children should look
for family-designated security
areas with wider, strollerfriendly lanes indicated by
child-oriented signage like a
rainbow over the metal detec-

tor.
One-thousand volunteers
will be on handdressed in pink
uniforms to help navigate the
airport.
Also, consider taking the
Heathrow Express train rather
than the Underground, which
may be subject to congestion
delays during the Games.
The New York Times

Wifi Hotspots come to Underground

By Alex Lane
London Underground has
named the 80 tube stations
where free WiFi will go live before the Olympic Games in July
. The service will start at Oxford Circus, Stratford, Liverpool Street, Leicester Square
and King's Cross, with most of
the 80 expected to be live by the
end of July.
Virgin Media and Transport
for London have set up hotspots
covering ticket halls platforms
and other parts of the stations,
which will be free throughout

the Olympic and Paralympic

Games this summer.
Gareth Powell, London Underground's director of strategy
and service development, said:
Our customers will soon be
able to connect to the internet
for live travel information while
they are on the move through
stations.
Bringing a next generation
WiFi service to one of the
world's oldest underground
transport networks is progressing as planned and the forthcoming service is testing well.
Rocumbu

Hotspot map /Rocumbu

mobile phone app that shows

you alternative means of propelling yourself from, say, Picadilly Circus to the Olympic
stadium. Not only does it instruct you, but it also rewards
you: Use the system, and you
collect points redeemable at
various health clubs.
It also shows you how many
calories you burned, and how
much CO2 emissions you
saved by not using a bus.
It motivates people and rewards them for walking and cycling in London, Recyclebank

director of marketing Rob

Crumbie said.
The free app will give a you
a number of options everything from scrapping your journey by tube in favor of
walking, to how to walk the last
portion of a mile by disembarking a stop or two early.
Many people dont realize
that it can be faster to walk than
to take the tube on many trips,
GPS alerts the system that
youve completed the journey
and have earned points.
The New York Times

New billboards at London

bus stops might make you think
twice before climbing aboard
and clogging up the transit system. Theyll read re:route,
and theyre aimed at getting
you to do just that: To get to
your destination through some
healthier or more environmentally friendly means, like walking or cycling.
Its part of a scheme from
American company Recyclebank, which has developed a

Plan your next trip to London

Railways
Arches
Hide
Shoppers
Paradise
See, Page 3

New App rewards London Walkers

By Mark Halper

London Explorer

Tips for
finding
tickets to
the 2012
Olympic
Games
See, Page 4

Looking for Tea ?

See Page 3

By Holly Moody/ J333

Lewis Clark/Geograph.org

Page 2

London Explorer

Spring 2012

SHOP LONDON

Spring 2012

London Explorer

Page 7

Discover london
London
Hides
Oasis
off Main
Roads

Charlotte Player /The New York Times

The Sunday flower market draws visitors to Columbia Road.

By Oliver Strand
Jonathan Player /The New York Times
Customers at the 10 Gales boutique in the Bethnal Green area, can get coffee or a haircut.

Railways Arches hide Shop Haven

By Alice Pfeiffer

A few years ago, if you were

to take a late-night walk down
the Gales Garden, a tiny alley
of arches under the railway
viaducts in the Bethnal Green
area of London, you would
have come across Studio 10. A
sleazy after-hours club.
Mr. Rousku is co-owner of
10 Gales (Railway Arch 10,
Gales Garden Mews; 44-207729-8416; www.10gales-london.co.uk), a gallery, coffee
shop and vintage store that also
offers haircuts for 5 ($7.80 at
$1.56 to the pound). Earlier this
year, 10 Gales took over the

space that formerly housed Studio 10, one of a number of East

London businesses remaking
those railway arches into attractive shopping destinations.
We came across the arches
purely by chance, Mr. Rousku
said. We werent looking for
something as big as what we
have now.
Just down the road from 10
Gales, in Shoreditch, is Hurwundeki, a vintage store that in
May expanded to a second
branch under a large arch in
Bethnal Green (299 Railway
Arches, Cambridge Heath
Road; 44-207-749-0638; hurwundeki.com). The new space

sells vintage furniture, but also

features a cafe serving organic
food. We were looking for a
totally new atmosphere, said
Ki Lee, the shops founder.
This is very rare in London.
Hurwundeki isnt the only
place to move away from
Shoreditch, now saturated with
upscale businesses. Lisa Vandy,
co-director of Arch 389 (Mentmore Terrace; 44-795-7491644; arch389.co.uk), which
sells a mix of Victorian fireplaces e, cites a reaction against
chain stores. People want
small artisans, something not
too fancy, she said.
The New York Times

London Explorer
500 Somewhere Drive
740-555-7676
explorelondon@editorial.com
Contributers
The New York Times London Travel Guide
Rocumbu
Travel and Leisure Magazine
Photographers
Heathcliff OMalley, Jason Ford, Hazel Thompson,Lewis Clark, Jonathan Player
Writers
Ravi Somaiya, Oliver Strand, Michelle Higgins,Mark Halper, Alex Lane, Elaine Glusac, Jennifer Collin

With its picnic tables and

chipped folding chairs, Towpath feels as if it should be in a
shack on the beach, not on the
ground floor of a converted factory in East London. Wine is
served in juice glasses, and
food is limited to bar snacks
like almonds or radishes.
This is London?
Not exactly. This is East
London, a sprawling area
known for its artists and immigrants. Neighborhoods like
Bethnal Green have long been

where a creative class could afford to live. Now its also where
they play, shop and eat.
The side streets of East London can be as tranquil and
pleasant as parks. The area feels
light years away from central
London, and self-sufficient,
thanks to a host of restaurants,
shops, markets and hotels.
As Clarise Faria, the curator
of the Loft Project, a private
club that invites chefs to cook
meals in an apartment for select guests, said: Theres no
reason to go to the rest of London.

On a recent visit, I was

browsing the shelves of housemade jams with the cookbook
author Anissa Helou, who
sometimes holds cooking
classes in her nearby loft, and
after we stepped outside, a
silent electric car whipped
around the corner. The driver
and Ms. Helou knew each
other, and as they said their hellos under a bank of trees, I felt
that I was looking into the future, to a time when cities are
gentle and everybody is
friendly.
The New York Times

Secret Theatre lurks in West Side

By Ravi Somaiya
Nearly 10,000 Londoners
gathered at Canary Wharf as
part of a movie-screening event
called Secret Cinema. They
were herded onto buses, where
actors playing flight attendants
told them they would be starting a new life on a new planet.
They were then taken to a warehouse that had been converted
to resemble the neon-lighted
Chinatown from the movie,

''Blade Runner.''
Despite the size of these
gatherings, last month 15,000
people put on full Bedouin gear
and took a train across London
for a screening of ''Lawrence of
Arabia.'' The events appear to a
cult secret among Londoners.
Secret Cinema doesn't have a
monopoly here on cultural
events in unexpected spaces. In
2008, the theater director Adam
Spreadbury-Maher was walking past the Cock Tavern, a pub

nestled among shops in Kilburn, and thought it would be a

good space for drama. The next
year, the Cock Tavern Theater
was born.
Cock Tavern specializes offbeat operatic productions.The
most buzzed-about was Puccini's ''La Boheme.'' The opera,
which became known as ''La
Boheme in a Pub,'' was so popular that it was transferred to
the Soho Theatre.
The New York Times

Page 6

London Explorer

Spring 2012

Sleep LONDON

Spring 2012

EAt london

Hot
Spots
For Tea
Time
By Jennifer Conlin

Heathcliff OMally/Travel and Leisure Magazine

Guest room at St Pancras Rennisance in London.

St Pancras offers Travelers Luxury

By Oliver Strand

BASICS
The St. Pancras Renaissance
Hotel brings majesty and style
to the fusstiest category of accommodations, the train station
hotel.
The hotel is really two hotels
that share a lobby. In front
youll find the Chambers, an
imposing edifice with arched
windows
and
cast-iron
columns; it feels like a castle,
with a sweeping staircase that
leads up to 38 rooms with high
ceilings and many architectural
details. In the back there is Barlow House, a modern wing with
207 bland rooms.
Rooms in the Chambers run
from 325 to 10,000, while in
Barlow House they are 199 to
285, plus tax. The division is
as stark as that of a plane: First
Class up front, Economy Plus
behind.
Understandably, the photogenic hallways and rooms in
the Chambers get all the atten-

tion. But its jarring to be led

from the buzzing lobby with a
Victorian-era glass roof into a
wing that has the bland feel of
a high-end corporate hotel.

LOCATION
The hotel and train station
are on the northern edge of
Central Londonthe British Library is across the street, and
Bloomsbury is within walking
distancebut its a somewhat
remote location in this sprawling city.
If you plan to sight see, eat
or shop you will need public
transport.
THE ROOM
My 235 room was in the
monotonous beige wing that
runs along the side of the train
station.The room itself was
comfortable if boxy, with a
king-size bed facing a big flatscreen TV.
AMENITIES
Theres tea in the lobby;

drinks and pub fare at the

Booking Office (named for the
ticket office it once was); fine
dining at Gilbert Scott, and free
cocktails at the Chambers Club,
the private club is accessible to
all guests in the Chambers and
in the pricier rooms in Barlow
House.
A spa and gym with a tiled
pool are in the basement of the
historic wing.

ROOM SERVICE
The Booking Office provides
room service. But who wants to
eat in a sterile room? Especially
if you can hop down to the
magnificent restaurant itself.
BOTTOM LINE
Rarely is a hotel so fashionable and so characterless at the
same time: spring for a room in
the Chambers and you could
only be in glamorous London,
but stay in Barlow House and
you could be in any newly built
hotel in the world.
The New York Times

London Explorer

With Queen Elizabeths Diamond Jubilee coming up what

better way to celebrate all
things English than to experience the most traditional of
Britains rituals afternoon
tea?
The Berkeley Hotel
THE MENU Called the
Pret-A-Portea, this tea features
cookies and cakes designed to
resemble that seasons catwalk collection. Our menu,
served the week of the spring
fashion collections, included
cookies in the shape of Miu
Miu high heels, a Valentino

Page 3

Hazel Thompson/The New York Times

Customers enjoy tea at Sketch.

ginger clutch cake and a Sonia

Rykiel striped chestnut cream
and almond sponge cake dress.
THE CROWD Londons
wealthiest come here.While
some tables were filled with
fashionistas, plenty of welldressed businessmen were visible, talking between sips of
tea.

Blakes Hotel
THE MENU Predictable
fare with all the classic sandwiches. For tea, a rather dull selection of the most basic, herbal
to Earl Grey.
THE CROWD The restaurant
was hopping with a welldressed Kensington crowd.

THE PRICE Good value for

the people-watching at 39 a
person. An extra 10 gets you a
glass of Champagne.
The Berkeley Hotel, 32a
Wilton Place, Knightsbridge;
(44-207) the-berkeley.co.uk.
Tea from 1 to 6 p.m.

THE PRICE The cheapest of

the group at 19 per person,
26 with a glass of Champagne,
but for good reason.
Blakes Hotel, 33 Roland
Gardens; Knightsbridge; (44207); Tea noon to 5:30 p.m.
The New York Times

(formerly of St. John Bread and

Wine) are the star chefs. It
might seem like an odd pairing the Ledbury is a restaurant with modernist tendencies,
while St. John Bread and Wine
is British cooking but their
food draws on both backgrounds.
Theres a set four-course
menu that kicks off with a
cocktail and a round of snacks.
Some
entrees
include
sauted mackerel fillet with tarragon and shaved radish; sim-

mered potatoes and pured lovage.

Theres some showing off
here, but the combination of elegant food in a relaxed setting
will win you over.
Upstairs at the Ten Bells, 84
Commercial Street, Second
floor; (44-75) 3049-2986;
youngturks.co. The set dinner
for two includes a cocktail and
is 39 a person without wine or
tip. Open for dinner only, Tuesday to Saturday.
The New York Times

Ten Bells Pub recieves Five Stars

By Oliver Strand
Theres a neon sign next to a
dingy staircase in the back corner of the Ten Bells, a lively
pub opposite Spitalfields Market in East London .
The sign wont mean much if
youre at the Ten Bells to drink.
But follow the sign and youll
find a restaurant on the second
floor run by two talented young
chefs.
Isaac McHale (formerly of
the Ledbury) and James Lowe

Page 4

London Explorer

Spring 2012

Spring 2012

London Explorer

Page 5

Trip Tips
for the
2012
Summer
Olympics
Jason Ford/ The New York Times

By Michelle Higgins
There may be less than 100 days
until the opening ceremony of the
London Olympics, but procrastinators
can still get to the Games if theyre
willing to spend a little more money,
be flexible when it comes to flights
and crowds, and dont wait a moment
longer.
Here are answers to some of the
questions the last-minute Olympicsbound traveler might have.
ARETICKETSSOLDOUT?
No. Though most tickets have been
allocated, some are still available for
certain competitions, including basketball, gymnastics and volleyball according to CoSport.com, the web site
of the Games official ticket agent in
the United States.
Even without tickets, visitors can
watch several events live by staking
out a good spot on the sidelines. The
Olympic marathon will pass such
landmarks as the Tower of London, St.
Pauls Cathedral and Buckingham
Palace. The mens and womens road
cycling races will begin on the Mall in
central London and head southwest

through the city and out to Surrey for

several circuits around Box Hill.
If all else fails, the BBC is running
official big screens around the country from Norwich to Plymouth and
from Dover to Middlesborough with
live coverage of the events
WHAT ABOUT FLIGHTS?
Flights to London are still available
during the Olympics, but fares are
high, with most round-trip tickets costing around $1,100 to $1,400, according to Farecompare.com. Act fast, as
fares are only expected to rise as the
Games near.
Travelers can usually find some relief by flying into an alternative European airport and making their way to
London by train. Although, if youre
late booking your ticket, even this
strategy will prove tricky.
ARE AFFORDABLE HOTELS
SOLD OUT?
Its not difficult to find a room,
said Tom Meyers, founder of EuroCheapo.com, which reviews inexpensive hotels in dozens of cities and
recently pulled up about 425 London
hotels with availability for the Sum-

mer Games. Its just difficult to find

a deal.
Even at bare-bones accommodations, prices are up , with many charging double the standard rate or more,
he said. The Seven Dials, for example,
which Eurocheapo describes as a
cramped two-star hotel in just about
the best location possible, on Monmouth Street in Londons West End, is
offering rooms from 230 (about $362
at $1.56 to the pound) a night, up from
115 on average.
For the budget-minded, there are
other options, from apartments to
home stays to hostels. To avoid scams,
check VisitLondon.com for a database
of lodging companies recognized by
the London Olympic organizing committee.
Wherever you decide to stay, be
sure to consult a map before booking.
London has more than 100,000 hotel
rooms throughout the city and its 32
to
according
boroughs,
VisitLondon.com, and the Olympic
Games are taking place across the city.
In fact, some destinations like parts of
southern Essex or even Hertfordshire,
are more conveniently located in relation to the Olympic Village than parts

of West London.
WHAT ABOUT THE CROWDS?
Whether youre a procrastinator or
not, youre going to have to deal with
crowds. The huge number of spectators, combined with the usual tourist
mobs and people using the transport
system, means that London will be
significantly busier than normal.
Heathrow is bracing for the crunch,
with a temporary terminal dedicated
for Olympic athletes and with 1,000
volunteers to help travelers.
At this point there is still time to
map out a strategy for getting around
so youre not stuck watching Jordyn
Wiebers balance beam routine on a
TV.
Getaheadofthegames.com, developed by Transport for London, offers
an map that shows how mass transit
will be affected in London during the
Games by date and time so you can
plan your trip accordingly. In general,
allow extra time to get where you need
to go.
You can also sign up for free travel
alerts for warnings of Tube and Light
Railway service delays at the Transport for London Web site, tfl.gov.uk.

Walk whenever possible, or consider biking. Although demand for

bike rentals is expected to be high,
parking stations are within walking
distance of events. For more information, visit the London Cycling Campaign at lcc.org.uk.
of
editor
Hall,
Tom
LonelyPlanet.com, and a lifelong Londoner, recommends the Thames Clipper, a ferry that tends to be less
congested than the Tube or buses. For
about 6, he said, you can ride from
the London Eye to Greenwich, getting
a great view of the capitals main
sights along the way.
Museums and other tourist attractions are also expected to be mobbed,
so buy tickets online in advance. The
London Pass, which starts at 46 per
adult and 29 per child, gives you free
admission to 55 attractions and various tourist sites, including the Tower
of London, Windsor Castle and the
And
Zoo.
London
festival.london2012.com offers ticket
information for the Cultural
Olympiad, a series of live concerts and
events some of which are free from
June 21 to Sept. 9.
The New York Times