Do the alternatives, avoid the queues

By Maria Martinez Ugartechea, Panayiota Paschali, Clémence Michallon

If you are tired of huge queues and about to book your tenth trip to the London Eye, it may be time for a change. Luckily, London is full of underestimated attractions that will reveal the city’s secrets. Whether you are a bike rider, a bus catcher, or a walker, here are five spots just waiting to be explored.

London Walks’ Harry Potter London Tour

In London, JK Rowling’s fairy tale comes to life. The Warner Bros studios just opened to the public, but some iconic scenes were filmed on the streets of the capital. Discover the secret passage to Diagon Alley and stop for a drink at the Leaky Cauldron during this walking tour conducted by Richard Walker, an experienced actor and professional entertainer.

The London Bicycle Tour Company’s Olympics Tour

The company has been running bike tours for 21 years – and they’ve prepared something special for the Olympics. This seven-hour tour takes visitors from Tower Bridge to the Olympic Park, allowing for a nice view of the stadium, and passes through Victoria Park. Steve Kopandi, business manager, said: “On a bike you can cover most of central London in a couple of hours, so people believe it’s great value for money because they can see so much in a short space of time.”

 

Street Art London Tour

If you’re keen on underground art culture, a street art tour may be just the thing you are looking for. More than 40 street artists have displayed their creations on East London’s walls. And if you are left craving for more, Street Art London also hosts exhibitions on a regular basis.

Camden Passage

Antique shopping and modern cafés meet in this little passage in Islington, near Angel station. Peter, who has been working on the Open Air Antique Market for 25 years, recommends coming on Saturdays when the best deals are available. Should the shopping make you hungry, the Breakfast Club right around the corner offers one of Timeout London’s Top 50 Breakfasts.

Barbican Centre

Behind the city’s grey buildings, there is a place that combines music, films, libraries, great food and a peaceful terrace. The Centre is currently hosting the largest Bauhaus exhibition in the country in over 40 years – not to be missed!

Disappointing bookings for London hotels

By Rosemary Nankabirwa and John Mills

London hotels were hoping for a big increase in bookings over the Olympics — but high expectations haven’t been reached.

With the Games just weeks away, hotels have been planning since late last year for a forecast increase in bookings but reports have shown that bookings are a third down on last summer. But it hasn’t been bad news for every hotelier. Gautam Dhiren, manager of St Marks Hotel, Angel, said: “Unlike the other hotels that doesn’t really affect us. The minimum stay here for us is seven nights, so we get mostly corporate long-stay guests.”

Even LOCOG, the London Olympics organising body, has been affected after it pre-booked 40,000 London rooms for Olympic officials late last year when prices were lower, anticipating a hike in prices during the Games. But LOCOG then returned 20 per cent of the rooms it booked in January, leaving many hotels stuck with unsold rooms.

Tommy Miah’s Raj Hotel in Islington remains unaffected, as receptionist Kabir Chowdry said: “This year is more expensive as we have done refurbishment work; we’ve refused corporate clients too because they weren’t giving us a good enough deal. We prefer individual clients and we’re now fully booked for the Olympics.”

Tommy Miah’s Raj Hotel- Islington

With anticipated congestion, some Londoners are intending to get out of London during the Olympics but Alan Carr, who runs a flower stall near Angel tube station,  plans to enjoy the events at home even though he believes London will be overcrowded. He said: “I’m not going anywhere – but I live just round the corner from my stall, so travelling’s not an issue.”

A 4-star central London hotel last year was on average £80-£120 per night, while during the Olympics it’s up to £200-£415. But as we approach the July 27 opening ceremony, London hotels are now in a race against time to encourage last-minute travellers to London.

A guide to unregenerated London

By Gesbeen Mohammad and Sophie Morlin-Yron

The regeneration of London began long ago in the 1990s, however the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games have pushed the process even further. All good you might think, but there is a historical and nostalgic beauty about some of London’s derelict buildings and architecture.

Whether you have come to see the Olympics or are visiting London for leisure, there is more to London than perfect-looking monuments, bridges and historical sites.

In the midst of Southwark on the Thames bankside lays Winchester Palace, an ex-banqueting hall for the royalty. Today, there remains only the west wall of the palace, which was destroyed by fire in 1814. Winchester Palace’s remains are perfect for seekers of derelict London – lying right within the historic heart of the city. Mark Millberg, a teacher visiting London from Birmingham, said: “Such fascinating contrasts. I wish they kept more of these [buildings] . And just next door is a Pret and a Starbucks.”

 

Shoreditch, a mix of new and old, artsy and posh, provides the perfect way to see the contrasts between London new and old. The walls of the old station on Bethnal Green Road, blend (if not seamlessly) into those of the newly-built concrete Shoreditch Overground.

Smithfield Market, the place for meat trade for 800 years, has an old-meat-market vibe to it with lovely colours. Although restored slightly, it provides a break to nostalgia in contrast to The City’s hassle and modern architecture.

 

A church without doors and a roof, St. Dunstan in the East, is far from the archetypal Anglican Church. There are many other churches around The City but this one has a tragic history: a victim of The Great Fire of London in 1666 and additionally damaged by bombing in World War II.

Hidden away in the Barbican Centre, London Wall is a mixture of pretty views and crumbling architecture.  Fragments of the wall, a 13^th century derelict bastion and St Alphage were all built by the Romans to protect London, a small port town on the River Thames.