I leave on Friday to study and intern abroad in London for 10 weeks! It is something I have been dreaming about for years and it is finally here! I also will probably get to visit Paris, Barcelona, Amsterdam, and possibly Italy, if time permits.
I have read tons of books about London and the UK but was just wondering of any places you guys thought that i should definitely go to, whether just to see, to eat, to shop, anything! I am definitely traveling on a student's budget but any recommendations would be appreciated.
oh, i'm so jealous! i've only spent 3 days in london so i don't have much advice.
first things first, obviously you have to go to the national gallery, but you have to go there soon because there is a raphael exhibit that ends on january 16th. i'm not even a big raphael fan, but i would kill to go because there are going to be a number of major works from other collections in this exhibit.
the one thing that i absolutely loved in london was the john soane museum. soane was an architect in the late 18th-early 19th century and was a bit of an eccentric. he was obsessed with classical art and architecture and filled his house with all sorts of sculpture and architectural fragments because he wanted to create a learning center for young architects. there is also an amazing panelled room that contains the hogarth series "the rake's progress." i was actually in london with one of my college seminars so we had studied soane and we had a private tour, but i think many people would find the museum interesting. at the very least, it's a curiousity.
oh the only things i can remember in terms of shopping and food is that i really liked selfridges (department store) and wagamama (hip asian restaurant chain).
you must do http://london.walks.com/ It's a company that does guided walks all over london and does 1/2 day trips to places like Bath, Salisbury/Stonehenge. I LOVED them when i studied abroad there. It was 7 years ago, but i reccomend them to everyone and no one has been disspointed. It's informative, fun and you get to see the city in a whole new way.