From the Q&A mailbox:

Question: Do you know about the Oyster Card that is sold for travel in London? How does it compare to the TravelCard that is also sold?

Answer: The Oyster Card is a convenient way of paying for London public transportation by loading a dollar (well, pound) amount onto a plastic 'smartcard' and having individual fares deducted by the electronic readers at tube stations and on buses and trains. A refundable deposit of £3 ... Read More

It has one of England’s smallest pubs, ruins of a thousand-year-old abbey, and the world’s first Internet bench. Those are just a few of the reasons to visit Bury St. Edmunds. I visited this market town in West Suffolk in early summer – and while there are enough shops and stores to satisfy the most avid fashionista, I discovered historical landmarks, beautiful gardens, and a legendary brewery.
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It is a truly fab time to be a Beatle fan. The new Rock Band: The Beatles is out this week and is creating a massive amount of buzz as it will turn on millions of new Beatle fans among the young  gamer generation.  On the very same day, the newly re-mastered and digitized catalog of the Beatle albums recorded from 1962-70 is being released and the smorgasbord of options (sets or individual, stereo or mono) is enough to keep us Beatlemaniacs up all night for weeks, listening for the 101st time to each song for yet another subtle nuance. I have been an... Read More

“I don’t have to curtsy, do I?”  

When VisitBritain, the UK's tourism bureau, invited my husband, Paul Lasley, and me to come to London in June and meet Prince Philip, it sounded like a fun adventure. Even though we’re not royalists. My theory about royal blood is that several centuries ago, one gang beat up another gang, and the gang that won got to say that they and their descendents had “royal blood.” But a chance to go inside Buckingham Palace and meet the Duke of Edinburgh? We couldn’t turn it down. 

“I... Read More

     “How old is it?” That’s the question I always ask a tour guide when looking at an old structure, and in Europe they usually say something like, “Oh, that building is 400 years old.”

In Norwich, in the East of England, 400 years is just yesterday. Old is something that is, say, around 1,000 years old. In fact, the countryside around this ancient walled city is dotted with watchtowers older than that, dating from Saxon, Viking, and even Roman times.  Norwich—some two hours northeast of London by high-speed rail—is full of history and not... Read More

Question:  Jason H. asks: I am traveling to London, England this summer. We already booked our flights and made hotel reservations. We are staying in Trafalgar Square. What are the most highly recommended things to do in London? We will be there for one week.

Answer:  Wayne Northey, frequent traveler and president of the West Virginia Region of AAA East Central, says, "A week in London is the perfect opportunity for exploring any areas of interest: history; theater; shopping; museums; natural beauty; pomp and ceremony.  Several bus companies... Read More