| VITAL INFORMATION | |
| Population | 7,420,000 |
| Languages spoken | English |
| Currency | United Kingdom Pound (GBP); 1 GBP = 1.83 USD |
| Average temperature | Mild, damp winters (average 42°F), moderate spring and autumn months (50°F-58°F), and warm summers (64°F-85°F) |
| High season | July and August |
If you’re interested in traveling to a hot destination filled with designer clothes, five-star restaurants, celebrity hangouts, and fine European sports cars, read on.
Ranked at No. 7 in the list of the top 10 most expensive cities in the world, London is the ideal place to wine, dine, shop, and blow a ton of money -- $50,000 to be exact.
The following three-day itinerary will give you all the details you need for a posh, luxurious and very expensive trip to the UK’s fashionable capital.
All prices are listed in U.S. funds.
Day 1: Posh it up
Begin your three day lap-of-luxury trip by shacking up at London’s nicest and most coveted hotel, Claridge’s, which caters to celebrities, royalty, high-power businessmen, and anyone else who can afford to drop a few thousand on a nice hotel room.The Brook Penthouse Suite, the nicest room in Claridge’s, is larger than most people’s personal residences. At nearly 2,400 square feet, this 1930s-style Art Deco-inspired suite is equipped with multiple bedrooms with private dressing rooms, marble bathrooms with oversized Jacuzzi tubs, a formal dining room, a full cocktail bar, a cloakroom, a sitting room with an attached private roof terrace, and a personal butler who is on call 24 hours a day to meet all your needs. The Brook Penthouse Suite will set you back $5,482 per night, but it’s well worth it.
Although Claridge’s offers a limo pick-up service from both of London’s airports for their arriving guests, you’ll want to hire your own car to pick you up and take you around town -- after all, you can afford it. Our pick is the Mercedes Maybach 62, the “mobile living room,” which will allow you to relax and travel in style with a chauffeur who will adhere to your every command. This stylish ride will cost you around $4,456 per day.
After you’ve settled into your fabulous suite and the chauffeur has parked your Maybach outside, enjoy lunch at the award-winning Gordon Ramsay restaurant located inside Claridge’s.
A meal at Gordon Ramsay will set you back around $110, but you can pick from a variety of mouth-watering starters and entrees, including wild mushroom tortellini, Cornish lamb, monkfish with Parma ham, and for dessert, chocolate fondant or apple tatin with vanilla ice cream. Wine will cost you an additional $32 to $80 per bottle.
After you’ve stuffed yourself full of delicious and expensive food, get ready to buy some new duds -- you can’t expect to get into the most expensive and exclusive spots in London without dressing the part.
Head to 40 Savile Row, London’s most famous suit-fitting shop. At 40 Savile Row, you can spend anywhere from $1,500 to $2,000 on a tailor-made formal or business suit, complete with shirt, tie and cufflinks to match.
After 40 Savile Row, head to London’s designer district, otherwise known as Bond Street, to pick up an accessory for your suit -- we recommend a Cartier watch. The Roadster Chrono is a good choice and will run you around $6,900.
Shopping can be tiring. So, after you’ve worn yourself out by dropping a couple of grand on designer duds, pamper yourself with a massage and body treatment at one of London’s most posh day spas at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.
For around $600, you can indulge in the Oriental Harmony Treatment, which includes a footbath, warm body scrub and full relaxation massage.
Feeling refreshed and relaxed, head back to your hotel to dress for dinner at Le Gavroche, an upscale restaurant that boasts two Michelin stars and attracts the UK’s finest and richest clientele.
For around $142, you can enjoy a three-course menu consisting of Irish rock oysters and scallops poached in champagne and truffles, succulent filet mignon, tender venison with pepper cranberry sauce, foie gras, French cheeses, petits fours, and sorbet. Top off dinner with a bottle of vintage Chateau Climens 1969 Barsac for $1,164 and you’ll have just eaten one of the best meals in London.
With a full belly and a light head from dinner, you are ready to experience a little of London’s hippest nightlife. Head to the Milk and Honey Lounge, one of London’s more exclusive hotspots.
Like most of the cool venues in London, Milk and Honey requires that you become a member before you can step foot into the club. Membership is about $550.
Once inside, you can enjoy the best the lounge has to offer in terms of drinks; we recommend a bottle of Krug Special Collection 1979 (Magnum) champagne at $1,655 a bottle. To complement the champagne, you can purchase one of the club’s several varieties of Cuban cigars. Our pick is the best money can buy (of course) -- the Partagas Lusitania, which will set you back around $53 per cigar.
Price tag for day one: $23,192
Day 2: A luxurious afternoon
After a late night of drinking good champagne and puffing Cuban cigars, you should wake up hungry, hung over and ready to continue your pricey trip around London.Quench your hangover with a huge breakfast at Aubaine in South Kensington. A magnet for the trendy Chelsea socialites and celebs, this brunch spot is known for its mouthwatering home-baked breads and pastries, but they also serve a full hot breakfast. A regular meal on the a la carte menu will cost you around $27.
A stylish trip to London would not be the same without a visit to Wimbledon. After breakfast, jump in your Maybach and ask the driver to take you to the Wimbledon courts, where -- in the summer months -- you can enjoy a Men’s Singles or Ladies’ Doubles finals match in the Debenture section (a reserved seat in the Center Court area) for around $3,695.
Your Debenture status will also allow you to lunch glamorously at the Summer Marquee Restaurant for around $169, which includes a three-course lunch menu and open bar all day.
Sunshine, drinks and ladies in tiny skirts running around with racquets -- a nice way to kill a few hours in London, if I do say so myself.
Wimbledon is usually an all-day event, so when it’s over, head back to your hotel and begin getting ready for your second night out.
Begin the evening with another lush dining experience at Petrus, located in ritzy Knightsbridge. For around $165, you can enjoy two courses and a half bottle of wine.
Petrus serves a variety of tantalizing foods, including grilled rib-eye steak with Bourguignonne jus, Scottish scallops with roasted boudin noir, a selection of delicate foie gras, turbot poached in red wine sauce, Anjou pigeon, and a glutinous dessert of coffee and dark chocolate, espresso ice cream and caramelized hazelnuts. The cuisine and many of the items on the menu are French, but don’t worry -- what you can’t pronounce is usually guaranteed to taste good.
After dinner, hit the town to enjoy another of London’s hottest clubs, Studio 57. Studio 57 is a flashy club with an intimate feel. You can enjoy a full nightclub experience without feeling like you’re in an enormous, obnoxious, sweaty warehouse. This “secret” venue only allows a select number of people to enter each night, so you won’t feel crammed. Studio 57 charges around $27 to get in, and once inside, you can enjoy a private table and bottle service for around $300.
Price tag for day two: $14,321 (including penthouse suite and Maybach chauffeur transport)
Day 3: Sightseeing in style
Begin your last day in London with a hearty breakfast at one of London’s best eateries, The Connaught. Angela Hartnett, the head chef, is one of only a handful of women in the UK to have received a Michelin star for her culinary masterpieces. And she has a menu to prove it! Breakfasts have a Southern European flavor and are well varied. The average price for breakfast at The Connaught is around $65.After breakfast, treat yourself to a tour of the English countryside in a Lamborghini Gallardo V10 Roaster E-Gear. For around $2,695 per day, you can drive this rockin’ sports car outside of London and enjoy the beauty of the English countryside without ever leaving your car.
Situated approximately two hours away from London by car, the quaint towns of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, and Warwickshire offer some of the best countryside viewing in England.
While driving through these areas, you will find villages that are hundreds of years old, including mossy stone-covered shacks sitting upon green hillsides, major landmarks (including the birthplace of William Shakespeare), lush colorful gardens, and a few very old, but very distinguished castles.
No matter how fast you’re moving in the Gallardo, there is plenty to see.
When you’ve had your fill of old buildings, grass and sheep, cruise back to London for a late lunch at the Foliage restaurant, located in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.
For around $45, you can dine on three courses of rich, European-inspired cuisine. And nothing says classy like frogs' legs in a shallot, parsley and bacon crust, or rabbit with Alsace bacon, vanilla cream and mushrooms -- two of the most popular items on the menu. Of course, there are a variety of other dishes to choose from in case eating a frog or a rabbit is not your thing.
After you’ve returned your Lamborghini, stop in for a pre-dinner cocktail at the exclusive 43 South Molton Street lounge. This chic and eccentric watering hole is a members-only spot located in the trendy West End, where you can talk, dance or mingle with some of London’s hippest young people.
To get in, you will be required to pay the mandatory membership fee of $225, and if you’re not from London, an additional out-of-town fee of $447. Once inside, there is no reason to settle for anything less than a bottle of 1996 Dom Perignon, which will run you around $290.
A long day of driving Italian sports cars and drinking the world’s finest champagne can definitely work up an appetite. So, for dinner, we recommend heading to Addendum, where some of the hottest deals, dates and deceptions in London take place.
Large leather booths make for a warm, comfortable and intimate setting, while the fancy cuisine -- including butter poached lobster, roast rack of lamb, seared scallops, and lavender glazed pork belly -- are fit for a king (or London’s hottest socialite).
A three-course dinner will run around $90 and a good bottle of wine will be upwards of about $360, but you are guaranteed to leave satisfied.
For your last night in London, we thought it would be fun to hit the hottest, most trendy venue in the city: the Soho Lounge.
The Soho Lounge is described as “one of London’s hottest haunts” by local entertainment media. Its “chic and intimate” feel is ideal for deal making, a romantic rendez-vous or for viewing some of London’s most fashionable people.
Soho Lounge’s bohemian flavor, mixed with a contemporary décor, gives it a sophistication and uniqueness unlike any other spot in London.
This “hidden secret” is open until the wee hours of the morning (3:00 a.m.). To get a prime location within the lounge, we suggest that you order the Deluxe Bottle Service at around $310, which will provide you with a corner to sit in and a few bottles of your preferred poison.
When the time comes to head back to your hotel, call on your Maybach escort at $588 per hour.
Price tag for day three: $10,597(including penthouse suite)
Total price tag for three days in London: $48,110
If you have the money, spend it on cool things. That being said, there is no better place to drop thousands of dollars and be treated like royalty than in London. Filled with high fashion, world-class restaurants and celebrity-worthy lounges and bars, London is every rich man’s ideal destination.
tips for the trip
- Bills are larger than they appear: Additional service charges are frequently added to food and drinks (12.5%) and other services such as spa treatments (17.5%). Everything is always more expensive than originally advertised.
- Dress the part: The trendiest restaurants, bars and nightclubs in London have a dress code, which usually includes a sports coat for men, no sneakers and no ripped or torn jeans. Remember to pack your hottest duds or you will not get in.
- Think ahead: Trendy restaurants have a waiting list of several weeks or even months, so book ahead if you want to secure a table before your trip.
- Know before you go: The best clubs in London are typically only accessible via a membership. Remember to register and pay your dues prior to traveling to ensure a speedy move through the queue.
- Spread the wealth: Tipping is not customary in the UK, but for luxury services and trendy hotspots (such as those listed above), it is usually expected by the service staff.
- Rain happens: Although summer is London’s warmest season, the weather in the UK is very unpredictable. Pack clothes you can layer in the event of rain or cold nights.
- The unpredictable dollar: Although average prices listed above are based on peak season (summer) rates, all rates are subject to change, based on availability and exchange rate fluctuations.
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/destinations/europe/england/london/essential
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/4669400.stm
http://www.askmen.com/fashion/travel_100/www.claridges.co.uk
http://www.mlkhny.com/membership/default.aspx
http://www.le-gavroche.co.uk/main.html
http://www.askmen.com/fashion/travel_100/www.mandarinoriental.com/hotel/508000030.asp
http://www.askmen.com/fashion/travel_100/www.royalsilverservice.co.uk
http://www.40savilerow.co.uk/
http://www.aubaine.co.uk/breakfast.html
http://www.tennistours.com/event_pages/wimbledon/individual.asp
http://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/about/tickets/catering.html
http://www.exclusivelondon.co.uk/studio_57_guest_list.htm
http://www.theberkeleyhotellondon.com/Restaurants_and_bars/restaurants/petrus/Menu
http://www.askmen.com/fashion/travel_100/www.43southmolton.com
http://www.the-soho-lounge.co.uk/
London Travel Guide
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