London - A City Fantastique!

I Love London!
Yes, the capital city of The Great Britain is a phenomenol place to be in. London has so much to see and do that even 15 days in London may seem short. Hence I have divided my visit to London into many blog posts, first of which is this.

Small Introduction of London - even for those who are familiar with the city!

London, the capital of England or Great Britain is a city whose foundation dates back a long time. With a very rich history combined with all modern amenities of a developed city, London is the heartthrob of its nation. Its a very diverse city which people from different parts of the world have made their home.

Right from theatres to river cruises to cathedrals to famous bridges to historical buildings, palaces, museums, sport centres like Lords and Wimbledon to its pub culture, London has practically everything for everyone thus making it world’s most vibrant, lively and exciting city to be in. Therefore it is not surprising that London is visited by more than 15 million tourists’ year on year.

You can reach London via one of the many flights connecting the world's busiest airport - Heathrow to various destinations or via EuroStar trai which connects London with mainland Europe.

We had taken a flight from Grenoble (France) to Stansted Airport, London and then from the airport we took a bus to the city. But here is the detail of various airports of London and different ways to travel to and fro from the city.

To and Fro Airport

Gatwick Airport – www.gatwickexpress.com from Airport to Victoria Station every 15 minutes, from 5 AM early morning to 1:30 AM past midnight. One way adult ticket is £16.90 and a return ticket is £28.80. Children ticket (5 -15 years) is just half of these prices.

Heathrow Airport – www.heathrowexpress.com from Airport to Paddington Station every 15 minutes, from 5 AM early morning to 12 AM midnight daily. One way adult ticket is £14 and a return ticket is £26. Children ticket is half these prices. This is a high-speed but costly option. Cheaper option from Heathrow is to take the London Underground, also known as ‘Tube’. You can take the Piccadilly line to central London or change lines at appropriate stations to reach your final destination. Tube takes much longer (at least an hour) but is very convenient and easy to navigate if you have a tube map. You also have the option of taking a bus to central London from Heathrow. www.nationalexpress.com connects Heathrow with London and other destinations. I suggest you to check out their website before your travel for latest fares and discount schemes on offer. You can also book your ticket online in case you get a nice discount otherwise for the sake of flexibility, you can always take the tickets once you land at the airport.

Stansted Airport – www.stanstedexpress.com is a train from Airport to Liverpool street will cost you about £24 for a return ticket. Children (5-15 years of age) go at half the price. The trains depart every 15 minutes from 5:30 AM early morning to 12:30 AM past midnight. Apart from this National Express buses connect Stansted to various parts of London and other destinations. You can check out the latest fares, discount schemes and timings from their website www.nationalexpress.com

I am tired now... will tell you more about the fabulous and most convenient transport system in London... in the next post.

Switzerland - Zurich

Zurich, the largest city in Switzerland is a major business center in Europe. It is also an important center as the cultural capital of Switzerland. The two museums of Kunsthaus and the Rietberg, act as important centers of Art. Zurich has a lot of churches, museums and since it is an important business center, there are over 400 pubs and bars.

A day trip to Zurich is more than enough from a tourist's point of view. Main attractions:

• Kunsthaus Museum has a large collection of classic modern art from around the world
• Church of St Peter has the largest clock face (8.7 mt) built in 1534
• Church of Grossmunster which was built around 820
• Church of Fraumunster built in 874
• Lindenhof which is site of Roman and Medieval castle near St Peters
• Lake Zurich, the lake side is abuzz with lots of activity on weekends and in the evenings
  
  

If you really want to see the financial district, you can head to Parade-Platz in the middle of Bahnhofstrasse.
The most famous areas for night life are Niederdorf and Langstrasse with bars, restaurants and lounges.
Here are a few pictures of Zurich:

Switzerland - Lucerne

This was day 3 of our Switzerland trip. We are staying at Interlaken and make day trips to various places in Switzerland. Lucerne was another of those day trips, but the amount of sightseeing the city had to offer, we could have stayed for another day.

Lucerne, situated at the shores of Lake Lucerne, is a city of town squares and churches and most populous in Central Switzerland. It is one of the most coveted of tourist stopovers in Europe. Most tourists make it a daytrip and visit the 'must-see' attractions of the city which includes:

• Kapellbrücke- The wooden chapel bridge built in 1333, has around 120 triangular paintings from 1500's. These paintings capture the city's history through the years. Kapellbrücke was destroyed in a 1993 fire, but an excellent restoration work has recreated the magic.
• Lion Monument - In a small park off Lowenplatz, this famous carving of a dying Lion was made by Bertel Thorvaldsen. This monument commerates the swiss guards who died during the French Revolution. The beauty of the monument is that it has been created using a single giant stone.

• Church of St. Leodegar, with their twin towers is a popular tourist spot. The church is popularly known as the 'Hofchile' locally. The present structure was made in 1633.

Apart from these places, one can take one of the many cruises on the scenic lake. For more adventurous tourists, Lucerne offers an opportunity to get up-close with mountains with an excursion to Pilatus or Rigi. You have options to take a cable -car all the way up or trek around the mountains for a beautiful panaromic view from the top.

But one place a tourist should definetly visit in Lucerne is the Altstadt (Old Town),having many traditional Swiss houses decorated with frescoes lines and picturesque old squares with fountains. The only way to explore Altstadt is on foot.

For shopping, Kapellgasse is the street you should be looking for. The street also leads to the Kornmarkt (Corn Market). Very close to the Kornmarkt is the Weinmarkt (Wine Market), another of the many popular traditional squares which Lucerne has.





We had a great trip to Lucerne. The old part of the city is amazingly beautiful and tells you a great deal about the traditional ways of the Swiss.

Do send me an email if you want to know more about Lucerne.

Switzerland - Mt. Titlis

We went to Mt. Titlis from Interlaken. Mt. Titlis is famous for having world's first revolving Cable Car. The truly panaromic car is not the only one in the world but it is certainly one of the most beautiful journeys. To reach Titlis you first have to reach the base station of Engleberg by train.

There are frequent trains from Lucerne and Zurich. Since we were staying in Interlaken, we took an early train from there to reach Engelberg. From Engelberg to Titlis is a three-leg cable car journey, Engelberg–Trübsee–Stand–Titlis, the last leg of which is the 'Rotair' or the Revolving Cable Car.

Here are a few pictures of the same:


We made the mistake of not checking the weather beforehand, so when we reached the top, the weather suddenly became very bad and we lost some precious time. But fortunately for us, the weather started clearing a bit and we could do the Ice Flyer over glacier.
Here are some more pictures of Titlis and the Ice Flyer:



Ice Flyer is an open cable car which sort of 'flies' over the glacier. It is a must do for all adventurous people. The main attractions of Titlis include:

• Glacier Cave - checkout the glacier from inside
  
• Ice Flyer - adventure adrenaline on an open cable car over the glacier
  
• Glacier Park - rollick on snow tubes
  
• Glacier Hike - explore the glacier on foot with a guide
• See a panaromic view from the wind protected Toporama or the so called 'South Face Window'

Unfortunately for us, the Glacier Park was closed due to bad weather!

For latest prices check out: Titlis Prices

Restaurant in Titlis are good with an option of a complete vegetarian meal. I had a vegetable soup (served with bread) and a plate of a very good tomato pasta, all for CHF 16.00.

It was a very good trip to Titlis, with the rotating cable car and the ice flyer being the highlights for us.

If you have a Swiss Pass, the journey to Engelberg will be free for you. Further, you will get almost 50% discount on the cable car ticket. The ticket will cost you $52 whereas the full fare price is $98 (Please check the current prices).

More to come ... Lucerne and Zurich ...

You can send me an email, if you want to know more.