london

[pinktwink]

heading to london for weekend with work staying in tower hill area and travelling to meetinng in dagenham any ideas of things to do in either areas shopping restaurants attractions

[Velvetee]

You could go to the Tower of London, or hop on the tube and head towards nearby Aldgate East then you can go to Brick Lane for the markets and a variety of Indian restaurants. Whitechapel Market is quite close too. Why not do the Jack The Ripper tour around Whitechapel.

If you go in the opposite direction, on the District Line from Tower Hill, you can get off at Westminster for Big Ben, Houses of parliament, Victoria Street for shopping. Hop on a bus up Whitehall and you can dine at the various restaurants in Leicester Square, Covent garden is a stones throw from there as well.

As for Dagenham, I have no idea. I used to go through there many years ago, when I worked in basildon and it was a dump then, but could have changed since.

[Buenchico]

Dagenham is a dump. It's the sort of place where Poundstretcher is regarded as an upmarket store. I've found some perfectly acceptable 'working man's caffs' around there but don't expect to find many (if any) smart restaurants or any decent shopping.

Much of the borough of Tower Hamlets falls into a similar category but the area around Tower Hill is its saving grace. The area is primarily business orientated; you won't find many shops in the immediate area. The obvious major tourist attraction is, of course, the Tower of London:
http://www.hrp.org.uk/toweroflondon/
(Expensive but worth a visit if you don't know London).
There are quite a few decent (if somewhat pricey) pubs and restaurants in the area.

However, the best thing about staying around Tower Hill is the ease of access to all of central London's sights and attractions. Tower Hill underground station is on both the Circle and District Lines. Take a westbound train to Embankment to get right to the heart of things. (The trains runs every couple of minutes or so. The journey takes around 10 minutes). From there it's only a few minutes walk to Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery and Covent Garden. I particularly mention Covent Garden because it's packed with great restaurants and bars and there's always plenty going on.

If you're into museums, stay on the westbound tube train for another 10 minutes, to South Kensington. The V&A is unmissable (check out the fashion collections), the Science Museum is great for 'grown-up kids' and the Natural History Museum is just stunning.

Those are just a few suggestions. If you're staying around Tower Hill, all of central London's attractions are within easy reach.

Chris

[vehelpfulguy]

I just put "tower hill" in google and found this site:

http://www.allinlondon.co.uk/tube-tower-hill.p hp

Not a huge amount of information but it is a start. Lots of places to eat listed.

[funnygirl]

Go on a boat ride on the Thames!

http://www.westminsterpier.co.uk/

Take a London bus tour around London!

http://www.bigbustours.com/eng/london/default. aspx

Have tea at Harrods!!!

http://www.paramountzone.com/teaexperience.htm

Most of all have a nice time!

[vehelpfulguy]

Did more searching and found this site, which gives a walk round the area.

http://www.londontoolkit.com/walks/pool_london _walk_southwark.htm

In fact the walk along the south of the Thames is quite interesting round there (as you can see from the map).

From Tower Hill you could walk over Tower bridge, and then head westwards along the river.

Along there is the Tate Modern, the rebuilt Globe theatre (where Shakespeare acted), and the "wobbly bridge" (footbridge over the thames).

There is also Clink St (where the jail used to be and we get the name "clink" for prison) and Southwark cathedral.

In tudor times the area of Southwark was outside the city of London and was known as an area of vice. It was featured heavily in the film Shakespeare in Love as it was where all the theatres were.

Shakespeares brother is buried in the area (though where his grave is is not known).

You could then cross over the river and walk back to Tower Hill, or continue the walk as shown on the web page above.

[Dee Sa]

for serious shopping dont go to Oxford St , this once glamorous shopping street apart from Selfridges is definately getting tatty.
Whilst in sunny Dagenham you will probably go via Barking station, there you can get a train [ about 10mins] to Chafford Hundred which has a walkway into Lakeside shopping mall.
Whilst staying near the Tower get the DLR [ Docklands Light Railway] which is a novelty as the little train doesnt have a driver ! take to Island Gardens, get off and follow the signs [ 2 mins] to the tunnel that connects to the other side of the Thames, walk under the tunnel, great tourist attraction and theres a lift at both ends, no climbing stairs and you are out in Greenwich, many tourist attractions , the Gypsy Moth boat, Cutty Sark clipper ship, Greenwich Maritime museum, stand on the meridan line, Greenwich park etc
then take the tourist boat up the Thames back to the Tower.
also walk along Thames through to St Kathryns Dock see all the lovely boats docked and stop a while at The Charles Dickens pub.
ps presume you are going by the underground to " "DAGGERS" [ or NAM as it is known to some people] there are two stops Heathway and then Dagenham East, make sure you know which one you want, they are quite a distance apart.
everyone is right there is absolutely nothing to do in Dagenham, actually Romford would be the nearest shopping area, they have a big market on Weds & Sats.
enjoy London, evenings try Covent Garden area, lots to do, loads of restaurants, free street theatre, many proper theatre shows have late tickets[ask at the box office ignore the touts] , just stroll around with the crowd[ nearest tube station Covent Garden].
hope you have a great time.