Eri Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Hello Uk modellers I m planning to stop by London in February. Will be around for 5 days, I was thinking of hoping down to the RAF museum, Imperial war museum, Battle of Britain Museum, Fleet Air Arm Museum etc. Will be staying in Holland Park. Any advice on how to plan to use my 5 days so that i can cover as many of the above places. Eri Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Flankerman Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Hello Uk modellers I m planning to stop by London in February. Will be around for 5 days, I was thinking of hoping down to the RAF museum, Imperial war museum, Battle of Britain Museum, Fleet Air Arm Museum etc. Will be staying in Holland Park. Any advice on how to plan to use my 5 days so that i can cover as many of the above places. Eri Eri, The RAF and IWM museums are in London - so easy access on the underground. The Battle of Britain museum is in Kent - and closed until Good Friday. (there is a Battle of Britain hall at the RAF museum) The Fleet Air Arm museum is in Yeovilton, Somerset - so you'd have to take a train from London to Yeovil - a few hours journey (I'm not sure if there is even a service??) Then you'd have to take a taxi from Yeovil to Yeovilton (again a few miles). Not trying to put you off - its a great museum and well worth a visit - but not the easiest place to get to without a car. If you go to the FAA Museum on 11 Feb - there is a model show going on as well - which I will be attending as an exhibitor. I hope you have a great visit. Ken Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Eri Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share Posted January 18, 2012 Eri, The RAF and IWM museums are in London - so easy access on the underground. The Battle of Britain museum is in Kent - and closed until Good Friday. (there is a Battle of Britain hall at the RAF museum) The Fleet Air Arm museum is in Yeovilton, Somerset - so you'd have to take a train from London to Yeovil - a few hours journey (I'm not sure if there is even a service??) Then you'd have to take a taxi from Yeovil to Yeovilton (again a few miles). Not trying to put you off - its a great museum and well worth a visit - but not the easiest place to get to without a car. If you go to the FAA Museum on 11 Feb - there is a model show going on as well - which I will be attending as an exhibitor. I hope you have a great visit. Ken Thanks Ken, Those are very helpful information. I can zero down to the nearest museums first. Well at least RAF and IWM are within reach. Will sit out Battle of Britain. But the fleet Air Arm Museum looks SO DARN GOOD on the internet. I ll check whether i can get a map download on my GPS will keep the driving option open since we re driving on the same side of the road and share almost similar traffic codes. 11th Feb, i ll check my departure date. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantomdriver Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Don't forget, the national Army museum, just a few minutes from the Royal Chelsea Hospital in Pimlico Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Eri Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share Posted January 18, 2012 Don't forget, the national Army museum, just a few minutes from the Royal Chelsea Hospital in Pimlico Will google it.. Thanks :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Pete Wenman Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Don't forget Duxford, (being another branch of the IWM) it's not as far as the FAA museum but is either a trip by train or car. http://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-duxford And while we are talking about the IWM - HMS Belfast is worth a look, and you can do the Tower of London (including the Crown Jewels) and Tower Bridge at the same time HTH P Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Air-Craft Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 (edited) Like has been said, the FAA museum is well worth the visit, London to the nearest station (Sparkford) is about a 2.5 hour journey with trains leaving from 7.00ish about ever two hours, the FAA museum is about 5 miles down the road from Sparkford. Good luck & enjoy the visit / visits! It might be worth dropping a line to the FAA museum & enquiring - I'm sure it won't be the first time it's been asked. Edited January 18, 2012 by Air-Craft Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Eri Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share Posted January 18, 2012 Don't forget Duxford, (being another branch of the IWM) it's not as far as the FAA museum but is either a trip by train or car. http://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-duxford And while we are talking about the IWM - HMS Belfast is worth a look, and you can do the Tower of London (including the Crown Jewels) and Tower Bridge at the same time HTH P Pete, HMS Belfast is closed will visit the others u mentioned Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Eri Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share Posted January 18, 2012 Like has been said, the FAA museum is well worth the visit, London to the nearest station (Sparkford) is about a 2.5 hour journey with trains leaving from 7.00ish about ever two hours, the FAA museum is about 5 miles down the road from Sparkford. Good luck & enjoy the visit / visits! It might be worth dropping a line to the FAA museum & enquiring - I'm sure it won't be the first time it's been asked. Will email them for information. 5miles is about 8km, yeah indeed its quite a distant to walk :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantomdriver Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 there's more than likely a bus service from Yeovilton or Sparkford.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dndieje Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Hello Uk modellers I m planning to stop by London in February. Will be around for 5 days, I was thinking of hoping down to the RAF museum, Imperial war museum, Battle of Britain Museum, Fleet Air Arm Museum etc. Will be staying in Holland Park. Any advice on how to plan to use my 5 days so that i can cover as many of the above places. Eri Alternatively you could just go to the Imperial War Museum and the RAF Museum and blow all your cash at the Hannants store situated practically next to the RAF Museum in Hendon. Just a thought Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Eri Posted January 19, 2012 Author Share Posted January 19, 2012 Alternatively you could just go to the Imperial War Museum and the RAF Museum and blow all your cash at the Hannants store situated practically next to the RAF Museum in Hendon. Just a thought What kind of stuff are we talking about here? Tell me more. Cos most brands such as Tamiya, Academy, AFV, SkunkWorks, Kinetic can be found locally here. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Eri Posted January 19, 2012 Author Share Posted January 19, 2012 Alternatively you could just go to the Imperial War Museum and the RAF Museum and blow all your cash at the Hannants store situated practically next to the RAF Museum in Hendon. Just a thought I googled it... i think you just sold me to the devil... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Edgar Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 There's also the Mosquito Museum, at London Colney, on the north-east edge of London, Brooklands/Weybridge to the west and just inside the M25, Gatwick Aviation Museum at Charlwood (near Gatwick Airport, surprisingly,) Tangmere, south of London, and The Shuttleworth Trust north of London. That little lot should fill your few days. If you can find a copy, "Wrecks & Relics" lists every museum and collection throughout the U.K., and tells you how to get there, ISBN 978-0-85979-150-2. Edgar Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dndieje Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 I googled it... i think you just sold me to the devil... Sorry 'bout that Not the same collection as in their central warehouse at Lowestoft but definitely worth a visit. It's walking distance from Colindale tube station on the Northern Line by the way. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Edgar Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 If your trip covers the 11th., you might be able to blag a lift to Yeovilton on that day, because they have a model exhibition on, and there'll be modellers from London going. Edgar Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pigsty Posted January 19, 2012 Share Posted January 19, 2012 If your trip covers the 11th., you might be able to blag a lift to Yeovilton on that day, because they have a model exhibition on, and there'll be modellers from London going. Edgar And if you can't make the show, but you are driving, it's a doddle. Take the M3 out of London (it goes to Portsmouth), turn off on the A303 after Basingstoke, and keep going. Yeovilton becomes very obvious as you come over the rise at Queen Camel* and is signposted after that. Plus, you get to see Stonehenge on the way past. This should take about two and a half hours each way. * really! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Eri Posted January 20, 2012 Author Share Posted January 20, 2012 And if you can't make the show, but you are driving, it's a doddle. Take the M3 out of London (it goes to Portsmouth), turn off on the A303 after Basingstoke, and keep going. Yeovilton becomes very obvious as you come over the rise at Queen Camel* and is signposted after that. Plus, you get to see Stonehenge on the way past. This should take about two and a half hours each way. * really! Its near Stonehenge?! Great now i got an excuse to work around the wife. She wanted to see those stones. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jay Chladek Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 If a Yank like me can survive driving in the UK WITHOUT a GPS, you can certainly do it if you are used to driving on that side of the road. I did two trips to the UK in 2003 and 2004 (coinciding with the Telford show over a two week period in both cases) and it really wasn't that bad once I got there. Only thing that was a minor difficulty (or rather a blessing in disguise) is when I got fatigued, I would start missing shifts with the manual gearbox. But that usually told me it was time to pull over anyway and I would do so for a break. The A303 to Yeovilton was actually a pretty good route, almost like a motorway (it was a 4 lane divided highway most of the time) but without the congestion and queues of say a motorway like the M-1 or the M-25. If it is still that way (it has been 8 or 9 years since I was there afterall), it is likely a very plesant drive. I was staying with a friend at Upper Heyford near Oxford on my first visit and I didn't use the 303 on my drive down that morning until I was about 3/4ths the way there. The trip back took less time though as I followed the 303 until I intersected the northbound motorway to Oxfordshire and Upper Heyford. In my own case, I tried to avoid going through London itself since the congestion is legendary (and you need to pay a congestion charge if you go through the densest part), but I did manage to navigate to RAF Hendon just fine and navigate back out in the days before decent GPS in rental cars. The drive to Cambridgeshire and Duxford is not a bad drive, although the roads were litered with average speed cameras on my way into town from the north. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sweier Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 (edited) Hello Uk modellers I m planning to stop by London in February. Will be around for 5 days, I was thinking of hoping down to the RAF museum, Imperial war museum, Battle of Britain Museum, Fleet Air Arm Museum etc. Will be staying in Holland Park. Any advice on how to plan to use my 5 days so that i can cover as many of the above places. Eri It's not actually a military museum, but with some interesting aircraft on thisplay the Science Museum in London is well worth a visit. It's adjacent to the Natural History Museum and across the road from The Victoria and Albert Museum, all of which are world class and free to enter. I went to the Science Museum to see the several WW1 aircraft they have on display (which include Alcock and Brown's Vickers Vimy and a Fokker Eindekker), but the Supermarine S.6B (see your Spitfire history), early Harrier, and others are very worth a look. It's also worth walking around the corner to see the *outside* of the Natural History Museum. They don't make museums lake *that* in my country. FWIW I've been 4 times to the RAF Museum and seen more on every visit. And next time I make the trek from Australia I'll go again. Imperial War Museum too, but I'd place it much lower on the totem. Shane Edited January 20, 2012 by sweier Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Eri Posted January 20, 2012 Author Share Posted January 20, 2012 Looks like i m not gonna be staying in Holland Park area. Still looking for a suitable hotel near a tube station. Argh.. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantomdriver Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 depends on where, and your budget... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Big Nick Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 Looks like i m not gonna be staying in Holland Park area. Still looking for a suitable hotel near a tube station. Argh.. What sort of budget are we talking? I did look at the Days Inn website and the one opposite the IWM is over £100 per night Travelodge and Premier Inns have lots of hotels in central London and are known for low prices. Express Holiday Inns do deals now and again. Check out the Tune Hotel near Westminster, 5 minutes from the London Eye and across the road from Lambeth North tube station. They don't appear on comparison websites but they are amazingly cheap because you choose what services you use. Just got quoted £272 for a 5 night stay in Feb. http://www.tunehotels.com/our-hotels/westminster-london Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantomdriver Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 Last time I looked Holiday Inn Express Hammersmith was £60/night and has a tube 7 mins away Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Eri Posted January 21, 2012 Author Share Posted January 21, 2012 (edited) Guys after emailing a few of the hotels, these are the ones within my budget. These are the ones that i manage to get corporate price or some membership price etc. Can you advice which is a good location? -1)Grand Plaza Serviced Apartments 2 Princes Square, Bayswater and Paddington, London -2)Studios 2 Let Hotel 36-37 Cartwright Gardens, Bloomsbury and Soho, London, United Kingdom -3)Collingham Serviced Apartments 26-27 Collingham Gardens, Kensington and Earls Court, London -4) DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel London - Westminster 30 John Islip Street, Victoria and Westminster, London -5) NH Kensington Hotel 200-222 Cromwell Road, Kensington and Earls Court, London -6) Novotel London Greenwich Hotel 173-185 Greenwich High Road, Greenwich, London, Edited January 21, 2012 by Eri Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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