Posted Wednesday, March 05, 2008, 1:03 AM by Lonely Planet
Terminal Five at London's Heathrow Airport opens for business on March 27 and we were jolly chuffed to be invited along for a sneak preview yesterday. After all, the next best thing after going travelling is going on a day out of the office to an airport for a behind-the-scenes nose around.
Terminal Five has been designed by Richard Rodgers and will be used exclusively by British Airways, though a small percentage of their flights will depart from T3.
Travellers using T5 are in for a few treats. As well as a Gordon Ramsay restaurant (cunningly named Plane Food) and views of Windsor Castle, Heathrow promises a ten-minute 'journey' through check in, bag drop and security. Regular users of the airport will know what a welcome change this will be if they can make it work. And like any airport worth it's salt, a monorail is being constructed to add some futuristic zip.
T5 may not be the answer to all of Heathrow's problems - after all, last week a group of protesters scaled a British Airways jet to air their opposition to a third runway at the airport - but it is a leap forward from anything else London's airports have to offer. It also, along with St Pancras International, provides first moments in Britain to be proud of.
Take a look for yourself at Terminal Five here.
Tom Hall
Labels: Airports, Britain, London
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Posted Wednesday, February 20, 2008, 3:54 AM by Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet launches the latest edition of its guide to London today, shedding new light on previously underrated areas of the capital. If you're looking for the most creative neighbourhoods in London right now, ignore the old maxim and go east young man (or woman) . Areas like Hoxton, Shoreditch and Clerkenwell have a contemporary buzz that is unmatched anywhere else in the city. And the media have already started to pick up on this story - see here for an example.
We'd love to know what you think - would a night out in Brick Lane or a Sunday morning nosing around Spitalfields feature on your London itinerary?
Clifton Wilkinson, Commissioning Editor, Great Britain
Labels: Cities, Great Britain, London
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Posted Tuesday, October 16, 2007, 5:01 PM by Lonely Planet
London's not all about shopping, exhibitions and partying. I was lucky enough to work voluntarily for Azafady for a few weeks in their Kilburn office. My job was to make their website more user-friendly. Or so I thought...
On my arrival, Mark the director had me writing emails, answering the phone, posting voluntary positions on university websites, scanning applications, running to the post office, making tea and contributing to the madness that is the office of Azafady. You think London is glam? Well Azafady's office is quite the opposite. And for good reason - 90% of the donations they receive go straight to Malagasy communities.
Here's what I learnt about Azafady in between making cups of tea:
A Malagasy NGO and UK-registered charity, Azafady works on conservation, development and community projects in Madagascar.
Azafady supports local communities by providing health and sanitation infrastructure and education, and by helping to develop alternative sustainable livelihood strategies. They also aim to protect and enhance the unique environment of Madagascar.
Besides working for the environment through tree-planting and a range of conservation initiatives, Azafady have built rural school buildings, wells, latrines and pharmacies as well as training community health workers.
The boys (Mark and Mal - top assistant) constantly rave about Madagascar, and for good reason:
Madagascar, the world's fourth largest island, has a staggering diversity of plant and animal species, some 80% of which are found nowhere else on the planet. Besides being the home of the lemur, the island supports two thirds of the world's chameleon species, plus the cancer-treating Rosy Periwinkle.
While one of the biologically richest places on earth, it is also one of the world's poorest countries. Only about a quarter of the 17 million population has access to safe drinking water and the country typically spends as much on debt repayments each year as it does on health and education combined.
It's amazing what I learnt in a few weeks and I highly recommend a volunteer stint at Azafady. Of course it's not all about helping out in their London office. Stay tuned for the sorts of projects you can volunteer on in Madagascar.
- Lou McGregor
Labels: Africa, London, Sustainable and responsible tourism, Volunteer
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Posted Sunday, September 16, 2007, 11:51 PM by Lonely Planet
The first OzBus London to Sydney overland trip has just hit the road. Haven't heard about it? OzBus - in return for 3750 of your hard-earned pounds sterling - will pop you in a bus with around 35 other people and take you on a 12-week drive from London through Europe and Asia to Timor, where you'll jump on a plane to Darwin for the drive down to Sydney. It's old-skool as.
Of course, many independent travellers are turning up their noses at what is, essentially, an organised tour. And why not? They and their progenitors have been legging it overland since the 1960s without the help of a bloke with a microphone pointing out the sites. Despite the media-generated excitement about this 'world first travel experience', for some people taking such a short overland trip is about as adventurous as a week on Ko Pha Ngan. And of course there's the cost: you won't have to go far to find someone who'll tell you 45 pounds a day for transport, food and a camping spot is a heinous rip-off and they could do it for less than three.
But you know what? I reckon it's great. Sure, there are plenty among us who are hardcore enough to do this trip themselves. But there are also plenty among us who find the whole thing just too hard, and end up opting for the plane even though we'd rather save the emissions and see the world close-up. OzBus is saying it's possible, it's fun and anyone can do it. Anything that encourages travellers to take it slowly, meet the locals and enjoy the trip rather than pelting their way to the destination; anything that makes travel a journey that you have to plan for and live over a sizeable chunk of your life, rather than a short-break that you've forgotten before you've even paid off the credit card, has got to be a good thing.
- Jane Rawson
Labels: Asia and Pacific, Europe, London, Middle East, Sustainable and responsible tourism, Travelsnitch
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Posted Monday, July 30, 2007, 4:11 PM by Lonely Planet
High-speed rail has arrived in
London, and Lonely Planet got a sneak preview this week.
BBC Breakfast was doing a live broadcast from what will soon be
St Pancras International Station, and we were invited along for a glimpse of the future home of
Eurostar and to pass on our thoughts about the big move.
These are exciting times for Eurostar, the train service which since 1993 has linked London and Ashford in Kent with Paris, Lille and Brussels. A new high-speed line has been built through south-east England including two new stations at Ebbsfleet and Stratford, which handily happens to be the site of the 2012 Olympic Games.
Journey times between London and the Continent will be cut by at least 20 minutes, with non-stop times of:
- London to Paris - 2h 15m,
- London to Brussels - 1h 51m
- London to Lille - 1h 20m
all at a top speed of 186mph.
Named after a Roman Martyr beheaded in 304AD (we think), the red-brick masterpiece of late Victorian Gothic design is being revamped with glass, metal and brick. When complete, the station will boast some slightly random features, including a farmer's market and the world's longest champagne bar.
Trains start running to St Pancras on November 14 - the day after the last France-bound trains leave Waterloo. If you're in London you can take a stroll in and look around the nearly-finished station. At the risk of being labelled a train geek, you really should.
- Tom Hall, in London
Labels: Europe, London, Rail Travel
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