When in London, I like to stay in South Kensington. It’s a classy neighborhood — so elegant, my hotel is not allowed to put out a sign. It also has a quintessential British pub, the Anglesea Arms.
Along with beautiful Georgian architecture, the Anglesea Arms is filled with classy Londoners.
The Anglesea Arms Pub is everything a British pub should be, in my mind. Musty paintings and old-timers, beautiful people backlit, dogs wearing Union Jack vests, a long line of tempting tap handles advertising beers available, and flower boxes spilling color around picnic tables perfect for a warm summer evening. That’s why I recommend the Anglesea Arms in my London guidebook.
And for me, eating in a pub that takes its cooking seriously is the best deal in town. For £15 (just under $25), you get a delightful meal. When you consider the high cost of dining in London, the joy of immersing yourself in a neighborhood pub, and the quality of this dinner, this is a great value.
To top it off, we filmed an on-camera for our Travel Skills Special here. After a pint of beer, I was thankful I remembered my lines. Looking up from my meal and into the lens, I drilled home my point: “Unification does not threaten Europe’s diversity. In fact, that diversity is both as vivid as ever, and more accessible. Imagine: Today for lunch, it was quiche and fine French wine under the Eiffel Tower; for dinner, it’s pub grub and a hearty ale in a classic London pub. Here’s to diversity.”
Thanks, buddy! We are going there by cruise ship in April 2012, and then staying for several weeks with British friends who are going to take us to France and Belgium. I hope to visit Normandy. And then back to Rome in November for another week before cruising on a 15 day trans-Atlantic cruise!
-Gene-
Ironic that unification actually tries to make countries and their policies UNIFORM with a centralized Brussels ideal. Europe needs a diversity of thoughts and ideas actually.
A wonderful London pub with great food and plenty of atmosphere is The Victoria, Lancaster Gate a short distance from Hyde Park on Strathearn Place. We stopped there on our first relocaton investigation trip, and now that we live in GB, we’ve gone back several times when visiting London. It’s our go-to place when showing visitors around. The food has never disappointed. It is packed on Friday after work hours, though, and we’ve had to look elsewhere when we’ve tried to stop by on a Friday.
Hi! Just wanted to give a quick shout-out and thank you to Rick and everyone at ETBD. It was the original travel skills special that inspired me to start traveling. The sense of adventure I got from traveling to Europe has inspired me to do a lot of adventurous stuff; everything from 4-wheeling alone across the australian outback to scuba diving with hammerhead sharks (no cage!). I can’t wait to watch the updated travel skills special; I plan to buy a copy of the DVD as soon as it becomes available. I’ll make my girlfriend watch it; she wants to go to Europe with me but she needs the skills first!
Not everybody needs “skills” to travel in Europe. All one needs is money – and time. Rick Steves’ tours do offer a very attractive way to travel for single women, new travelers of both sexes and for those who want convenience, not to even mention superior guides. Steves’ tours fills a large niche so his company (which is underpinned by terrific employees) deserves to be successful. As for “himself,” Rick has earned himself the right to express his eccentric and liberal opinions. Generally, he is balanced and objective. But if he is wise, he will be very careful how he uses his popularity (here today, gone tomorrow).
Great look into London. This is one city we really want to visit, but seems quite expensive. So we keep looking at a trip that London can be a tag on to another trip. Hasn’t worked out yet. I really like the looks of your favorite part of the city. Loved Dublin and it looks a lot like that.