Booking Now offers travelers a unique, personalized mobile accommodation search and instantly tailored booking experience. It fits perfectly into today’s traveler’s on-demand lifestyle giving you the opportunity to make the most out of spontaneous experiences. Here are some of our favorite last-minute getaways
Spontaneous London
With over 72 million passengers last year, London’s Heathrow airport is the busiest in Europe, and for good reason. For the Western Hemisphere, London is often the gateway to Europe and beyond. For other Europeans, it’s a convenient midway to anywhere. If you do any global traveling, chances are you’ll step foot in Heathrow often enough to become familiar. If you find yourself with a layover, Heathrow isn’t a bad airport to be in, but it has nothing compared to the actual city of London. In fact, if you find yourself traveling through Heathrow, it’s more than worth it to book a last-minute hotel in town for a night or two, and have a micro-vacation.
The George, Southwark
Listen, when someone recommends a pub to you in London, you’re under no obligation to take them seriously. This is the city of pubs, and they tend to be local hubs. That’s not to say they’re all the same, more so that you really can’t go wrong. Really, just pick a public house and make it yours. Then try a second. And a third. If you still feel like you need a recommendation, check out The George in Southwark. Opened in 1676, The George has a whole alley to itself, which is good because eating and drinking outdoors year-round is a thing that Londoners do. Tough it up and have another pint.
Borough Market
Same as with pubs, it’s hard to recommend just one market in London. For the best flavor of the city, try Borough Market just south of London Bridge.
Tate ArtMaps
London is a sprawling city; it lacks the grid-like structure of New York or Washington. The means you’ll find yourself walking a lot, unless you care to puzzle out the tube. You can walk to the Tate museums if you like (the restaurant at the Tate Modern has incredible views), but a better option for a short stay is the check out the museum’s ArtMaps website. With much of the museum’s collection spread across the city, it’s as good of a guide as any. See the works if you want, or just use it to find cultural neighborhoods
Big Ben and London Bridge
A comprehensive list of London’s tourist spots would be near infinite. Fortunately, you can see the essentials fairly quickly. Starting at Big Ben, head north to Trafalgar Square. Simply turn east along the river to see just about every famous bridge, crossing over once you reach London Bridge and the nearby Tower of London. Crossing over will put you in Southwark for The Globe Theater and that pint we mentioned earlier. As before, we recommend meandering.
Silicon Roundabout and Public Wi-Fi
You might have groaned at the phrase “Silicon Roundabout,” referring to the east end of London’s Old Street, but London is a serious tech city. O2 rolled out the city’s first public Wi-Fi in 2012, and since then The Cloud and BT have joined them with services of their own, so wherever you are (even underground) you can use your phone. Sure, the area around Old Street Roundabout might not have tons of tourist attractions, but thanks to government incentives it’s definitely not a bad place to run a web-based business.