the sound of music trip

[dave thefish]

hello all !! im looking to surprise my partner with a trip to see the sound of music in london circa feb 14th.we have never been to london and have no idea on how to go about the trip.have looked at a few package companies but found the cost quite high for a one night stay circa �300-400 ! and we have no idea of how close the hotels are to the theatre so hidden costs of taxis etc.we are from shropshire uk.any suggestions that wont break the bank and so we dont get lost !!! many thanks

[JK2]

There won't be many good seats left at this late date. Best seats are �55 each - anything below �40 will be at the back or in the gods.. The London Palladium is close to Oxford Circus tube station. Hotels will depend on what you want to pay. Bloomsbury has some reasonably priced hotels and is a short bus ride from the theatre - also Paddington area. You should be able to find a dble room in a 2/3 star for �50 - �70. Coach travel won't be very expensive - or try for an advance price cheap train ticket.
You should be able to put something together for �250.

Try Tripadvisor for hotels - you can put in the area of London you want to be in and the star rating and if you are going for a cheapish hotel you will be able to read the reviews by people who have stayed there. Suggest you book the theatre tickets ASAP.

[Buenchico]

(2-part post):

Here's the official booking site for TSOM:
http://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/venueartist/2788 35/804315?start=41&rpp=20
Tickets for the matinee on 13th Feb & 16th Feb are currently shown as 'Not on sale' (which usually means 'Sold Out'). Tickets for the evening performances on 14th & 15th are also apparently sold out. (Tickets for the most popular West End shows, particularly on popular dates like Valentine's Day can sell out a year or more in advance).

So it looks as if the nearest you can get to 14th Feb is the evening performance on the 13th. The only seats left on that date seem to be 'up in the gods' (i.e. in the Upper Circle), from �25 to �35 each.

Rail travel from Shropshire to London is fairly easy. Journeys from Shrewsbury to Euston take between 2� and 3 hours, with one change at Birmingham. The 'walk-up' return fare, for travel at peak times, is �152 or �194, depending upon the services used. Restricting your travel to off-peak times reduces the walk-up fare to �43.40 or �54.20. Advance booking, using less popular trains, can get the return fare down to �21. So a bit of forward planning will definitely pay off!

Research your train times and fare options here:
http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

Avoid using London taxis, if at all possible. The levels of congestion mean that they can work out very expensive. (The meter continues clocking up, at an alarming rate, while you're stationary in traffic). The 2 mile journey from Liverpool Street to Waterloo usually costs me between �12 and �15.

[Buenchico]

The London Underground system is really easy to understand. (Even American tourists can work it out, so it must be simple!). You can buy a Travelcard, which gives you a day's unlimited travel within central London (by both bus and underground) for �6.60. If you don't need to travel before 0930, you can buy the off-peak version for �5.10.

The nearest underground station to the Palladium is Oxford Circus, which is on 3 different Tube lines (Central, Bakerloo and Victoria), so you can get there easily from many parts of London without even changing trains.

There are loads of cheap, but good, hotels in London. For example, the Umi (in Bayswater) charges between �35 and �47pppn for room only. It's only 5 minutes walk from Bayswater and Queensway underground stations. (Queensway is on the Central line, for direct access to Oxford Circus).

The Cecil Court Hotel (close to Lancaster Gate tube station, on the Central LIne) at �25pppn is also worth considering You could also take a look at the Marble Arch Inn (�32.50 to �35pppn) which is close to Marble Arch tube station on the Central Line (although you might like to walk to Oxford Circus, straight along Oxford Street).

All of those hotels are within 5 to 10 minutes journey time, by tube, to Oxford Circus and the theatre is just around the corner.

You can find those budget hotels, and many more, at
http://www.hostelworld.com
(Use the 'Additional search options' to select 'Budget Hotels' and 'Guesthouses').

Chris

[1955]

We went to see TSOM in Jan of last year and got great seats in the stalls (best seats) from conciergedesk.co.uk , they currently have tickets available, in the stalls, for 14th Feb for �69.20, also www.londontheatretickets.uk.com have tickets available for 14 Feb. Nearest tube to Palladium is Oxford Circus. Try and get a hotel within walking distance - Oxford Street area. Get a map of London and have a look. Superbreak.com have hotel and hotel/theatre breaks. Hope you have a great time!

[dave thefish]

wow !!! many thanks to you all.what great answers !! very helpful.thanks for taking the timeout to do so.