Help Answering an Age Old Question: Is the Tube or a Taxi Cheaper?

When it comes to traveling around central London – tourist and locals alike have many options. Usually the Tube is the cheapest way to get around.

But in the days of rising Tube fares and the convenience of London Black Taxi Cabs – often one wonders, which is cheaper?

Well, as Apple likes to say, there’s an app for that.

The London Taxi Fare app is a great little tool. It will tell you how much a taxi will be between any two destinations in London. Not only that it uses GPS location tracking to let you know how much it would be to get from your exact spot to where you want to go. It also tells you how long the journey will take.

This would have been incredibly useful on our last trip to London.

The app is pretty cheap at only $.99! Well worth the money!

Check it out in iTunes here: 

Anglophile Reviews: Secret London – Exploring the Hidden City

This is the coolest book about London, ever.

I don’t say that lightly!

London is over 2,000 years old and because of it’s age it’s hiding many hidden secrets and strange traditions that date back thousands of years. And Secret London by Andrew Duncan is your guide to it all.

Many Anglophiles are probably familiar with Andrew Duncan’s work – he writes excellent London walking guides. This book is a little different, while it does have a few walks and the secrets they contain, it’s also filled with pages of information on places in London with secrets.

One thing I love about London is that it has many strange anachromisms that continue to this day. For example, did you know that central London is mostly owned by a few dozen families who have held the land for hundreds of years? Well, Secret London lifts the lid on London’s shy landowners and tells you which estates and neighborhoods are owned by whom. It’s absolutely fascinating.

Another interesting section of the book is a secret tour of all the government buildings and the secrets that they contain. Hidden tunnels, ancient rooms, strange traditions – it’s all there. By far my favorite part was the chapter on the Palace of Westminster. Did you know that it’s an exlusive city within a city with restaurants, shops, barbers and private clubs only for members of parliament?

Speaking of clubs, Andrew Duncan also takes you on a tour of the super secret gentleman’s clubs of St. James. He also has quite a bit dedicated to the mysterious livery companies that run the City of London. The book isn’t much of a tourist guide – because you can’t actually go to most of the places mentioned – but it’s great fun learning all about them!

If you’re into history, secrets and strange British traditions, then this book is for you. I cannot recommend it more. It’s well worth the money!

I give it 5 out of 5 stars!

Anglophile Reviews: 24 Hours in London

We held a contest for 24 Hours in London a few months back that was very popular and I just plum forgot to put my review together. I blame it on the holidays!

Anyway, now’s my chance to review this excellent book.

Most tour guides for London are set up to show you the major sites, but they don’t really give you a good idea of what time to see something or tell you about lesser known attractions that may be just as interesting.

24 Hours in London by Marsha Moore changes all that – it takes the guidebook format and throws it on it’s head.

Instead of giving you a list of places based on geography, 24 Hours in London asks you what time it is, then tells you interesting things you can do anywhere in London.

The book has hundreds of things worth doing and it’s very well researched. We read it just before our trip last November and it gave us plenty of ideas for the trip. If only we’d had more time!

So, if you’re looking for a different kind of London guidebook, then this one is worth a purchase!

I give is 5 out of 5 stars!

Check out the website here or read the author’s blog here.

Anglophile Reviews: London Walks Audio Tours from Walk Talk Tours – Coupon Inside!

London can be a dizzying place to explore – especially for the first time. And generally, you’re alone on that first trip. You don’t know any Brits yet or have friends who can show you around.

Well, never fear, I’ve discovered a friend you can carry around on your iPod or iPhone that will show you around town instead – and educate you all at the same time.

I’m writing about Walk Talk Tours – audio based tours that you can load onto any MP3 player or iPhone and will guide you on several guides tours of London. Included with the tour is a handy map that you can print out that will keep you on the right path.

I’ve had a listen to the the tour for the City of London and the Southbank and I can say that it was very lovely, accurate and interesting. It’s like having a personal tour guide in your pocket.

The tours are high quality, well put together and filled with very interesting anecdotes about the history of the sights you’ll see on the tour.

Click here to listen to an audio sample of the tour.

From the tour description:

This tour combines the best of Tours L2 and L3. Allow at least three hours to complete this tour. Starting at St Paul’s Cathedral see the works of two architects, 17th century Sir Christopher Wren and 21st century Sir Norman Foster. See the newly restored Temple Bar, the monuments in St Paul’s churchyard, the church of St Mary le Bow, Roman Watling Street and the Temple of Mithras. See The Bank of England and its museum, The Royal Exchange, The Swiss Re Tower and the inside-out Lloyd’s of London building. Visit Leadenhall Market, and the Monument. Hear about the Great Fire of London, The Lutine Bell, Elizabeth Fry, campaigner for C19th prison reform and audaciuous attempts to defraud the Bank of England. Join the Thames riverside walk passing Billingsgate Market and Custom House to reach the Tower of London.

Cross Tower Bridge and hear of the near misses involving airplanes and a London bus. On reaching the South Bank, pass Sir Norman Foster’s City Hall and HMS Belfast to reach London Bridge. Walk on to the Golden Hinde and the Clink Prison. Hear out about ‘Winchester geese’ and how the ‘term in the clink’ originated. Soon after, you arrive at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and Tate Modern before crossing the Thames again by the Millennium footbridge with its stunning views of St Paul’s Cathedral before you. This is where your Tour will end, in the place where it began. This tour can also be started from The Tower of London.

In addition to London Audio walking tours, they also have tours of Edinburgh, York, Manchester and Chester – perfect for daytrips outside of London.

The tours are pretty affordable at only £5.95 – about $10 – and you can load them on any compatible device. I’ll certainly have these on my next trip to London!

For a limited time, Anglotopia readers can use coupon code: AT123 – to Buy One Tour, Get One Tour Free. Coupon Expire April 30th, 2010. An excellent 2-for-1 deal!

Check out Walk Talk Tours here.

Anglophile Reviews: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

The following is a guest review from Robyn H. Robyn is a California Girl through and through, but she has wished she could live in London for what seems like her whole life. She loves Shakespeare and Tudor history (and admits to a strange obsession with the Tower of London), and suspects she’ll want to cry once she finally sets foot on English soil. Thanks Robyn!

Jane Austen is quintessentially British, and her novel Pride and Prejudice has been one of the most cherished love stories in classic literature. But what would happen if you were to combine Pride and Prejudice with gore, senseless violence, and the undead? You get the exciting and entertaining Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies tells the story of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy that has been loved by generations, but in this version, Zombie Armageddon has been ravaging England for 55 years. The undead walk the earth and feast upon any unlucky living they may find. Any gentleman or gentlewoman of consequence is well-bred, of considerable fortune, and can slice apart a manky dreadful (a euphemism used often in the book, as “zombie” is apparently uncouth in polite society) with the best of them. Elizabeth and her sisters are some of the best zombie killers in all Hertfordshire.

The book takes a little while to get into the swing of things, taking time to introduce the Family Bennet (I am convinced that David Tennant and Catherine Tate should play the bickering Mr. and Mrs. Bennet in the upcoming film adaptation), and chooses to step ladylike into the plot rather than diving in headlong like a more modern tale would do; this may indeed be held over from the Austen original. However, once the story really gets going (or as much as it can get going in a Jane Austen novel), it becomes an engaging story that just might keep you reading for hours on end.

I think the split between Austen’s material and Grahame-Smith’s is around 85% Austen/15% “ultraviolent zombie mayhem,” and as a result, the title lives up to its name: Grahame-Smith has given us Austen’s Pride and Prejudice… and zombies. Everything, from the cover and illustrations to the tone Grahame-Smith uses (mimicking Austen fairly well) gives PPZ the appearance of a proper classic novel, just with zombies mixed in. However, it sometimes seems as though the blend isn’t the best it could be, and the zombie sub-plot could have been a little more pronounced. In short, I wanted more zombies.

The book plays out more like an action movie than a bone-crunching zombie horrorfest. This is where the book speeds up, giving us the aforementioned “ultraviolent zombie mayhem.” Those with squeamish stomachs can take heart, however, as the book isn’t too heavy on the zombie mayhem, and it isn’t really “ultraviolent,” either. I, who usually stays away from too much gore and violence, found myself thinking there could have been more. (Go figure.) The battles against the undead hordes are treated in the same polite tone as the rest of the book, though the book is still descriptive enough to bring some interesting mental pictures. The illustrations don’t shy away from the carnage, either, but at the same time are kept from becoming too graphic.

I enjoyed the book right away – even down to the book discussion questions at the back of the book (making perfect topics for fun discussions in English class); however, it took me two readings to fully appreciate what twisted genius I was reading. This may be due to not having read the original Austen beforehand, though I don’t think it’s necessary to do so.

Is it the most serious work of fiction ever? Not by a long shot. Does it take itself seriously? Again, nope. Will it survive the present pop culture fascination with zombies and other supernatural creatures (werewolves, vampires, etc.)? Only time will tell. Does it get you weird looks from strangers if you read it in public? Speaking from experience, oh yes.

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars and recommend it to fans of Jane Austen, classic and/or British literature, zombie movies, and not taking oneself too seriously. Just make sure to write your name inside the cover – I’ve had a number of friends ask to borrow my copy.

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