Whether you prefer to save the city jaunt until a suitable celebration, or you feel like treating yourself and your loved ones to a post-Christmas dinner, you can. Staying in London doesn’t have to add that much to the bill either, with cheap London hotels being centrally located and within close proximity to many of the restaurants on offer.

With eclectic menus and first class fare, here’s some of the best celebrity chef led restaurants for you to choose from in the city:

With its owner being one of the most popular and familiar chefs on TV today, it’d be rude not to include the flagship Fifteen in a list of top celebrity chef restaurants. Famous since its inclusion in his show in 2002, this restaurant is one of the pinnacle dining experiences from the very capable hands of Jamie Oliver. With a trendy and chic atmosphere, not only does this place provide sumptuous Mediterranean delights but 15% of your bill goes towards training fifteen apprentice chefs in the kitchens, helping to ensure world class cuisine continues to flourish.

Located on Royal Hospital Road and boasting three Michelin stars for its high standard of French cuisine, you can’t get much more prolific than Gordon Ramsey’s Chelsea restaurant. Having received the highest of accolades within the field, you’d expect the best quality service, food and professionalism here and you won’t be disappointed. As one of the ultimate treats for anyone visiting the city and with an eye for fine dining, Chelsea is an absolute must. Be sure to book in advance as it’s incredibly popular, but it’ll be well worth the wait.

Situated in Tower 42 in the heart of London, Gary Rhodes’ Rhodes Twenty Four not only provides you with Michelin starred food but also gives you stunning panoramas across London. Offering traditional British fare, but with a classic Rhodes twist, you can enjoy an array of sumptuous delights including the Rhodes signature pudding plate – perfect to satiate the sweet tooth.

With one of the most experimental of cuisine techniques, and a continued ambition to make jaw-dropping creations, no list is complete without the scientific genius of Heston Blumenthal. Although his primary restaurant isn’t in London, his new addition aptly named, Dinner is. Found in the heart of Knightsbridge, near Hyde Park, there’s no better location for this ultimate dining experience.

With many of the restaurants mentioned, their weekend service is often booked well in advance. To guarantee your table, book as soon as possible to avoid disappointment and look forward to a truly memorable experience.

Lifecruiser Love London

Other posts about London at Lifecruiser:

UK Travel: Swedes Love London
Stay in an ‘unhotel’ in London
What to do in London during a short weekend
A Thames tour of London
 

There are over 500 homes to choose from, and each home comes with its own iPhone loaded with information gathered from the host about the best things to do in the local area. Each home unique, but here are a few that have that extra little something:

The Boat House

Life doesn’t get much more luxurious than this. This stunning home with its lavish decoration is certainly a sight to behold and sleeps up to 12 people. Original Georgian features are complimented by elegant and sophisticated décor making this the perfect riverside house to drift away and dream the days away. Beyond the garden, which boasts a hot tub, barbeque and adventure playground, is the River Thames, perfect for an afternoon stroll to explore some of London’s finest waterside cafes.

Albert Terrace

This home is steeped in history having been built for a doctor of Queen Victoria. A wonderful mix of original period features in the sitting room, carefully blended with modern style in the kitchen, this house is as grandiose as it is comfortable. Stay here for your own slice of history in Primrose Hill.

Russell Garden Mews

For the more modern minded, this four bedroom family home is the residence of a DJ turned architect, and it shows. Clean lines and sleek style characterise this house, and if you head downstairs to the basement you even have your own dance floor! Located in west London it is perfect for visiting the famous Portobello Road market.

Lifecruiser Love Unusual Stays
 

British Airways has tested this new environment-friendly paint for a year now on an airplane with a flight route between London and New York. The new paint is not only better looking, but also improving the aerodynamic of the airplane, making it less fuel consuming and saving millions for BA.

I have no idea why the airplanes can’t be bare naked, why must there be paint at all?

There are many other ways to strip an airplane obviously, British Airways let all their employees come with suggestions and they came up with enough alternatives that made BA save enough fuel to power 550 flights from Heathrow to New York last year… and they continues with other projects in 2012.

I was just thinking: think if every airline (and other transportation related companies) would adopt this, making all kind of savings – what an impact it would have on the environment!

©Lifecruiser Love Airplanes

Other flight related posts by Lifecruiser:

EU Airports facing capacity crunch
Travel Tools: Flight Tracking
Google flight search engine – new useful travel tool
How to find the cheapest flights – the ultimate flights guide
Flight Stockholm – Palma, Thomas Cook Airlines
Budget flight Ryanair-Skavsta – Bratislava
Mark green approach to travel
 

Getting around

Though London is a very big city, many of the places of interest are concentrated in one area, so you can easily walk along them. You can get off the tube at Hyde Park Corner, have a walk in Hyde Park (when the weather is sunny it’s so pleasant walking in the park), then keep walking to Oxford Street (it’s the best way to go shopping) up to Piccadilly Circus! You’re right in the very heart of the city! From here you can easily reach almost every main attraction: Westminster, Bog Bang, Buckingham Palace, London Bridge is just a bit further but can be reached on foot as well. Well you can also catch the subway and the buses as the public transport is quite good! You’d better to by a day pass. It costs 6£ and is from 9.30 am and lasts until 4.30 am next morning.

Things to do

Parks and Speaker Chair

It’s true that the weather in London is quite odd and changeable, but it’s getting better and sunniest so you can have more chances to stay in London in a nice day! In this case, there is nothing better you can do than hanging out one of the beautiful parks or strolling along the green alleys. St James park as well as Hyde Park are two big parks located in the center that you should not miss! In particular in Hyde Park Corner there is something called “speaker corner” every Sunday, where people gather to listen at someone standing on a stage and talking about whatever he wants. If you want the guts! You’re welcomed to get up there yourself.

Changing of the Guard

Try passing by Buckingham Palace at 11.30 am just to catch a glimpse of the Changing of the Guard as you will be surrounded by a crazy crowd! Don’t hold any expectations on the show, but if you get time it’s worth a look.

London Eye

Though it is one of the latest and most popular attractions in London I actually do not recommend it. Well it actually gives a great view over London, but it’s quite expensive and you usually have to stand in a queue for almost 1 hour before getting into!

Shopping

Oxford Street is the best place to go shopping!! There something for everyone here and for any budgets! If you are looking for something more refined and of a good quality, the shops in Regent Street will meet your expectation! Don’t miss Carnaby Street as well as Harrods. Perhaps you’d better to buy something very small if you don’t want to spend a fortune or just window shop around this historic shopping complex. If you are travelling with kids or want to give them a present once back in your hometown, pop into Hamley’s in Regent Street! It’s the biggest toy shop in the city.

Markets

London has heaps of markets. Small, big, famous and unknown. On Saturday morning going to Portobello market, in Notting Hill district, is a must. While on Sunday you can enjoy the sparkling atmosphere in Camden Market, one of the most rewarded ones not only for the the goods you can buy but for people you can meet and and the bizarre building you can admire! Have a lunch at the food market in Bricklane!

Where and What to eat

London is known not to have a typical dishes! Cuisine from all corners of the world can be found so make the most of it! Restaurants that are located out of the central areas are a bit cheaper. Streets around Kings Cross feature nice restaurants with good deals. If you’re fancy of Chinese cuisine, there is nothing better than try a restaurant in China Town in the center. To taste excellent Mexican food Chilingo is a great Mexican eatery located in 5 different places across the city: The most central ones is in Chancery lane.

Where to Sleep

As you’ll have a very busy week end, you’ll probably be completely drained at the end of the day! There is nothing better than choose a great hotel where you can easily pamper! London offers a wide array of hotels ranging from luxury to affordable that sometimes it could be hard to choose the one which matched your expectations. To help you a bit to get orientated in such a jungle, here you a list of the best London hotels to stay in different areas of the city:

Victoria Station. This area is great and very handy as it’s only 15 minutes walk from Westminster Abbey and Bing Bang and Buckingham Palace and houses one of the hugest railway station of the city. The streets of this district are lined with a lot of good pubs, shop and fast food and restaurants of any kind of cuisine worldwide. One of the best hotels near Victoria Station is the Grosvenor Hotel, suitable both for families and business travellers, with its 12 meeting rooms fully equipped.

Bloomsbury. Known as the districts of the artists as it housed the popular “Bloomsbury Group” created by the English writers and mentioned by Virginia Wolf. This district is noted for its parks and squares as well as for the British Museum located in this area. So if you’re looking for a good place to stay, Bloomsbury is the one that might suit you most as it’s located few steps from Covent Garden and is well connected with any other side of the city. If you want to book a hotel in this district and save money the Goodwood Hotel is a small hotel in London, run by a family and offering clean and comfortable guestroooms.

Hammersmith Located in West London, Hammersmith is a quiet district standing on the river shore; from its main bridge you could admire a great view of the Thames and the city. This area is packed with pubs, good shops and huge shopping mall as Westfield set a few steps away. A good hotel is Novotel Hotel featuring 360 rooms all equipped with great comforts to make the best of your trip. This London hotel stands close to Hammersmith tube station which serves the tube lines of Piccadilly, District and Circle lines.

It’s time to pack you bag, choose one of the several London hotels and a flight and enjoy a getaway in London.

Lifecruiser ♥ London
 

Here, we highlight three of the best courses in the UK, some of which also have golf hotels you can stay in that are also of a high standard.

St Andrews

   

The ‘home’ of golf is steeped in history, rich in heritage and has evolved into the biggest public golf complex in the whole of Europe. With seven courses to choose from, there’s bound to be something to appeal to players of varying ability. Adult green fees range from as cheap as £8 on the Balgove course depending on when you play up to £150 on the prestigious Old course, which is ranked by Tiger Woods as his favourite course.

Turnberry

   

Offering a stunning vista of the Firth of Clyde, the Mull of Kintyre and a nearby lighthouse, Turnberry is undoubtedly one of the most scenic golf resorts you’ll ever have the pleasure of playing. There are three courses here, a 12-hole pitch and putt course if you need to work on your short game, a five-star hotel and a golf academy complete with state-of-the-art facilities to help you work on every aspect of your game. As an exposed resort right on the coast, Turnberry will pose you all sorts of problems depending on the weather. Stay at the hotel to receive reduced green fees.

Wentworth

Located on the fringes of London, Wentworth is a golf resort where the emphasis is firmly on exclusivity and exceptional facilities. The green fees on each of the three courses – there’s also a par-three executive course – here are very much on the expensive side, but it’s an experience you’re unlikely to forget in a hurry and it’s worth it providing you can afford it. The West course is the pick of the bunch and has benefited from a revamp in recent years that saw the construction of 18 new greens.

Lifecruiser Love UK Golf Travel
 

The Swedes are not only visiting the most obvious choices like Oxford street, Piccadilly circus, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park, Towern or The London Eye. Swedes travels to London for all the pleasures London offers: exhibitions, theatre, concerts, musicals, shows, art, museums, clubbing, shopping, sport events, markets, having afternoon tea or drinking beer in authentic British pubs.

According to the Swedish Metro magazine, there are around 40.000 Swedes living in London and many hundreds of thousands visiting as tourists every year. Maybe it’s because of the Vikings earler raids in UK, travelling to London is already in our blood so to speak.

Our friends in The Swedish entertainer duo Scandimaniacs perform “Take me to Hollywood” at King’s Head Theatre Pub, 115 Upper Street in London, Thursday, November 24, 2011 at 10.00pm. A parody/physical theatre/musical. Unfortunately we can’t go.

Trips to London are very popular to do for Christmas and other shopping at Oxford street, Regent street, Bond street and Soho. Also the famous old luxury store Harrods in Knightsbridge is worth seeing, even if not buying anything. Why not take trip in January after the Christmas holidays, you can make some real bargains at the sales then! I wish we could too…

The Swedish church at Harcourt Street use to have Lucia and Christmas celebrations and in Hyde Park a Midsummer celebration is arranged every summer and hundreds of Swedes is gathering to celebrate. Many Swedish girls comes to London to become Au-pairs and there meet their love of the life, get married, stays and starts a family there. The Swedish School is located in Barnes and many Swedish families lives in that area around the school.

Though the Swedish tourists in London might not want to go there to eat Swedish food, the Swedes that have moved there might get homesick once in a while and want to go somewhere Swedish. There are some places that is run by Swedes.

The Olsson brother’s Garlic & Shots restaurant in Soho at Frith Street (Leicester Square station). There is actually a similar one both in SoFo Stockholm at Folkungagatan and in C/Cotoner, Catalina, Palma, Mallorca. Website: garlicandshots.com.

Or you can eat at the Garbo’s at Crawford Street, Marylebone Tube 5 minutes away – a small restaurant that serves authentic Swedish dishes, no surprises, no gourmet dinners, but you won’t go hungry.

A perfect place to take a pause in your vintage shopping at Brick Lane (Bethnal Green) is “Fika Swedish Bar and Grille”. Webpage: fikalondon.com.

There are several Swedish stores in London besides IKEA, like totallyswedish.com, scandikitchen.co.uk or www.nordicbakery.com where you can buy traditional Swedish products like Swedish Crips Bread, Cheese Doodles, Swedish Coffee, Kalles Kaviar, Swedish meatballs and candy like salty licorice.

London has become a popular budget travel destinations for Swedes now since the British pound is weak comparing to the Swedish crown, so it’s cheaper for Swedes, both the shopping and the hotel rates. The Swedes travel to London will not decrease in 2012 either, since the summer Olympics will be held in there and there will be a 12 weeks long festival June 21 to September 9, not only in London, but in the whole Great Britain. Read more at: festival.london2012.com/.

Recommended walks: Tate Modern to Southbank, Notting Hill to Primrose Hill and Parliament Hill to Regent’s Park. Don’t miss the Narrowboat cruises on the canals between Little Venice (north of Paddington) and Camden Lock. Or buy an Oyster card (about 3£) and fill up as you please to travel by bus and underground without having the fuss with ticket machines, but don’t forget that you can see so much more by foot!

Another thing I definitely want to do is to enjoy an afternoon tea with a glass of Champagne, sandwiches, scones and tea pastries in the Rubens at the Palace hotel opposite Buckingham Palace. A true English tradition, not Swedish. After all: being in London means to try English things, right?

Keep an eye on the webpage timeout.com/london/ to see what’s going on in London – and if you travel to London: don’t miss to download Time Out’s London app for Android/iPhone!

©Lifecruiser Love London

Options are something you’ll never be short off if you set aside time to discover London. No two London days and London nights are the same and the part the River Thames plays in it making it such a tourist-friendly city should not be underestimated.

There’s a definite feeling of mystery and intrigue that surrounds the Thames itself, which is over 200-miles long in its entirety. A range of activities can be enjoyed on or near it, including canoeing, fishing, rowing or sailing, although in central London you’re much likely to just sit back and enjoy one of the many leisure cruises that are continually traveling between Westminster Bridge and the O2 Arena, or the Millennium Dome as it was formally known.

Some of the most iconic landmarks in the world can be found on the banks of the River Thames, making a nice relaxing ride on the water a real must. Now, there’s plenty of different companies offering various different deals if you fancy taking a trip on the water. For the best value for money and to ensure you get good value for your hard-earned cash, it’s worth going with one of the many sightseeing firms that also offer an open-top bus ride and walking tours as well as the river cruise. It enhances the overall experience and means that in one action-packed day you’ll learn all about London’s rich history and heritage.

Imagine a scenario where you spend the morning floating effortlessly down the Thames taking in the sights and sounds of ‘Big Ben’, the Houses of Parliament, London Eye, London Bridge, Tower Bridge, the Tower of London and Canary Wharf. Then, in the afternoon, you hop on board an open-top bus and cross over the Thames at regular intervals to see the likes of St Paul’s Cathedral, Fleet Street, Globe Theatre, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus and Downing Street. That’s pretty much all the major attractions ticked off in the space of a few short hours and all without having to trudge around tiringly on foot.

Staying on the Thames, HMS Belfast is a floating museum located between London Bridge and Tower Bridge. Get a feel for what it was actually like for those people that lived and served on this warship during the Second World War and Korean War and explore the nine decks. There’s all sort of interactive displays and exhibitions to keep people of all ages happy for hours on end.

Venture a little down the Thames to find the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. This is the world’s largest museum of its kind and contains all sorts of nautical paraphernalia, as well as the Royal Observatory, London’s only planetarium. Find out everything you need to know about the solar system and do a spot of star gazing yourself.

That’s a flavour of the type of things waiting in store for you to see and do on or near the River Thames on your next trip to London.

Lifecruiser ♥ London nights