need help with planning a special trip to London

[Nursenat100]

All ideas welcome...

Other half's 40th is looming...I want to plan a really lovely weekend in London. It's still six months away but would like to be able to get reservations/ get planning, hence my post now.

I'll book first class train tickets (I advance, so not too pricey)...but beyond this, all suggestions for hotels, restaurants, stuff to do great fully received!

Great idea about halo...thankyou, I'll definitely get that installed. Madison's looks great, just been salivating at their menu!

Shoreditch Aubin cinema is very cool- you have to book months in advance so have a look now!

Or the IMAX- I love the IMAX.

We actually have an iMax input home town so I'll check out the other one!

BFI IMAX is the only one of its kind in Europe (I think??) it's massive. Right by Waterloo station. Watching anything there is a pleasure!

Oh I'll have to look into how it's different from our IMAX...one of the best things about living in Bradford...

I prefer Sky Garden to the Shard (not just because one is free and one is £££££££££££!) - definitely worth a look and fantastic views.

My other recommendation, esp if he hasn't seen much of London before, is the Thames Rib. This is such a lot of fun and they play James Bond music, I mean really what more could you want.

You should be able to sign up for ticket alerts with the relevant train company so you'll be notified as soon as the days you want become available for booking - on Virgin East Coast they open up about 3 months ahead but it does vary.

I quite like the idea of seeing the sights by boat!

Thankyou all for your ideas, always touches me that people can be bothered to share when they have no need to!

Feeling lucky that I'm getting to plan this trip x

Just to back up wickedwaterwitch, we always stay in the City when we visit London (normally the Grange St Paul's, which is a 5 star with a pool, which is relatively rare) - good rates at the weekend and I love the area. St Paul's itself, obvs, the Millennium footbridge over to the Globe (my ds hates Tate Modern although you get good views from the balcony). Just along you've got HMS Belfast, Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. Best of all, relative to the West End or West London it is much quieter and more pleasant. Just up the road from St Paul's in the opposite direction is the Museum of London, an underrated gem in my view. Anyway, those are more 'normal' tourist things than the big blow-out kind of things, you could also maybe get a box for a West End show if there's something on that you both will enjoy?

Do get ready to do a lot of walking, though! Don't be fooled into thinking you can hop on and off the Tube, like an iceberg there's about 90% more walking underground than over :)

The Shard is not worth paying for, but you can have cocktails at the Aqua bar on the 31st floor without paying Shard entry fee on top. For dinner with a view & cocktails, Google Sushi Samba instead.

Like the idea of a pool...off to google the grange at Paul's!

I personally like the theatre but I'm not sure he would. I kind of feel this trip is going to be about just "being" in London...great food, great drinks...bit of luxury.

I used to work in Holborn many years ago so I quite fancy the city

I'd go for one of the other recommendations for a really fancy pants London hotel - that said, the Grange is very nice and the staff there are lovely. You can find it at a good price as a mystery hotel on lastminute.com but of course not until quite near the time (plus you have to know its description, which I can PM you).

I hadn't thought about a mystery hotel...dos once use Hotwire but it was a disaster!

I wouldn't go for a mystery hotel for such a special trip! Get that locked in early, same time as you do the train tickets.

We stayed at the Grange on a mystery hotel deal last year. Got it for £125/night B&B which was pretty cheap! Lovely hotel and enjoyed the pool after walking round all day.

That's my plan...hoping to be able to finalise dates over next few weeks, ready for training tickets being released about six weeks from now so we can go first class. I'll do the hotel then. Also allows me to split some of the cost so it's just food/drinks/activities when we are there.

Air b n b have some really cool places in London if you fancy something a bit quirky.

We've used air to stay in other places but I think for this trip I do fancy the whole checking in at a plush desk, cocktails in the bar, room being made up etc

Ooh, where did you get it B&B, Iwas? We always get room only through lastminute, not a big problem though as Le Pain Quoditien round the corner does yummy food.

I'm thinking if we have to go room only we can go for a fancy brunch!

It was on lastminute Trib - are the secret deals usually room only on there? Sounds like we did get a really good deal if so! It was our first time booking that way but I'd definitely do it again.

Yes, I wouldn't risk a mystery hotel for this trip, you want the certainty of somewhere fabulous!

Charlotte St and The Soho are great but quite media sweetie darling (which might be fine!) - I still love One Aldwych, even 10 years on, consistently good IMO.

Also don't forget to tell wherever you book that it's a 40th. At worst they'll do nothing, at best they'll upgrade you. At One Aldwych they said "we understand congratulations are in order mr www, happy birthday"

It's my dh's 40th in 2016 too and I've yet to plan anything so I need to get thinking myself too...

It definitely would be nice to get a bit of special treatment! Used to do a lot of branching at one aldwych so it appeals. I want to make it so special and lively for this lovely manage I never in a million years would have believed I would have ended up with after a rotten few years!

There are lots of deals on booking.com today including 40% off at The Andaz (suite for £768 for 2 nights in July, £388 for 2 nights in a standard room)

(I've just decided I'd better get a move on with planning my dh's 40Th too!)

Oh witch thankyou! I'm seriously excited for this trip!