Topic: Any tips for a visit to london ?

Hey, next week I'm going on vacation to London for a week and I've been looking in all the guides to find the great cheap restaurants and local pubs etc. and since I'm not entirely happy with the results I got I thought well I've seen allot of British people replying to news in NL so there's bound to be some Londoners amongst them. So here is my question to you dear inhabitant and visitors of the aforementioned city: what's your favourite pub, restaurant or any other thing in London that you wouldn't find in a travel guide.

Oh and just to be sure the drinking-rules in Britain is it right that you can have beer when you are 18 and liquor when you're 21, but what about wine(guess this is the same as beer but better be sure ) and cocktails ?

Thanks for your time

Beer is 18, whiskey is 18, vokda is 18, wine is... 18.

Why would we have different ages for the different drinks?

My advice: stay away from the London Underground.

UK's legal drinking age is 18. But I suggest that if your going there from the states, and your not allowed to drink yet there, dont get yourself smashed, cause you won't enjoy yourself.

@Aviator
Not from the states, I'm from belgium (the legal drinking age is 16) so I'll be alright. Thanks for your concern though.

Edit:
@Trin

I somehow overlooked your comment, I don't know but someone who recently visited Britain said it was like that but seems she was wrong thanks for the heads-up

I don't see anything wrong with using the Underground ... buy a day ticket and you can hop on and off as much as you like. It's easy enough to find your way around with a free map you can pick up there.

One thing I would suggest for the tourist is to take one of the open top bus tours. It might seem like a cheesy, touristy thing to do, but it hits all the sights and will save your legs. London is a massive city, with the good bits really spread out, so the bus tours are a good way to get around.

Also the major museums are all free in London, so if the weather is bad (probably) you can always kill time in a museum for free.

What else can I tell you?

Oh eh one other question I needed to ask, do you need to give a tip in a restaurant ? Because in Belgium we normally don't but in some countries, like Spain i think, it is kinda mandatory.

It isn't necessary to give a tip in a restaurant, but some places will leave a little plate with your bill where you can tip if you want. Having never been to my own capital city I can't really recommend any places for you to go but I will say bring your coat because the weather is quite miserable at the moment.

P.S Where abouts in Belgium are you from, I went to the F1 in Belgium last year at Spa and stayed in a small town called Stavelot, it was one of the nicest places I have ever been, beautiful scenery, excellent beer, and the best meals I have ever had. I have also visited the north dutch speaking part of Belgium in the past though only driving through from France to Holland, so all I saw was 1 petrol station, that alone was a experience with people smoking as they are filling their tanks and chickens running round wild.

To avoid death stares, Id tip. You normally tip if they serve up good food and the waiters are good. But, it its the other way round, you might not wanna tip em. But its not like the US where you have to tip almost everyone.