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Travel_Baskas_London_090402.sPubDate = "3/31/2009 12:08:56 AM GMT";
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Travel_Baskas_London_090402.appFooter = "Harriet Baskas writes msnbc.com's popular weekly column, The Well-Mannered Traveler. She is the author of the <A HREF=\"http://stuckattheairport.com/\" target=\"_blank\">&#147;Stuck at the Airport&#148; blog</A>, a contributor to National Public Radio and a columnist for USATODAY.com. ";
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Travel_Baskas_London_090402[i++] = new Array("","Introduction","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Sections/Travel%20Section/z_Columnists/Harriet%20Baskas/Photos/London%20Eye%20-%20intro.standard.jpg","","Image: London Eye", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "visitlondonimages/ britainonview", "298", "191", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
Travel_Baskas_London_090402[i-1].body = "<br><a href=\"http://www.msnbc.msn.com/\"> <img src=\" http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/Art/source-msnbc-com-newlogo.gif\" border=0></a><P ALIGN=LEFT><i>By Harriet Baskas, contributor</i><p><br><b> <p style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: red\"> Introduction </p></b><p>There are plenty of worthwhile things to spend money on in London, including theater tickets, fine meals, shopping and a ride on the London Eye or in an iconic black cab. But there are also loads of attractions, museums and special sights that are very inexpensive and many where admission doesn&#146;t cost a penny. Here are a few ideas to help you plan a cheap thrills trip to London this spring. ";

Travel_Baskas_London_090402[i++] = new Array("","Where will you stay? ","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Sections/Travel%20Section/z_Columnists/Harriet%20Baskas/Photos/Hotel%20front%20-%20Raddisson%20Hampshire.standard.jpg","","Image: Radisson Edwardian Hampshire Hotel in Leicester Square ", "", "", "", "", "right", "Pawel Libera", "visitlondonimages/ britainonview", "298", "199", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
Travel_Baskas_London_090402[i-1].body = "<b><p style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: red\"><headline/></p></b>Popular travel Web sites (Expedia, Travelocity, Hotwire, etc.) are good starting points, as is the official Visit London Web site, which lists accommodations at everything from hostels and university dormitories to five-star hotels. For example, a late-April room search showed a residence hall at the London School of Economics (shared bath) for $60; a night at the newly renovated 785-room Strand Palace Hotel, right by Covent Garden, for $120; and less than $200 for rooms at many of the four- and even five-star Radisson Edwardian properties throughout the city. ";

Travel_Baskas_London_090402[i++] = new Array("","How will you get around? ","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Sections/Travel%20Section/z_Columnists/Harriet%20Baskas/Photos/Picadilly%20Circus%20Underground.standard.jpg","","Image: Piccadilly Circus Underground", "", "", "", "", "right", "Pawel Libera", "visitlondonimages/ britainonview", "298", "199", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
Travel_Baskas_London_090402[i-1].body = "<b><p style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: red\"><headline/></p></b>The cheapest and, often, quickest way to travel around any city is on foot. Map out your London adventures with that in mind and walk to and between many attractions. For longer treks, opt for a charming double-decker city bus or the London Underground: the Tube. Get an <A HREF=\"http://www.visitlondon.com/travel/oyster/\" target=\"_blank\">Oyster card</A> before your first ride (the £3 &#151; about $4.25 &#151; deposit is refundable) and you&#146;ll save on most trips. For example, a single bus ride is £1 with the Oyster card, but twice that if you pay cash.";

Travel_Baskas_London_090402[i++] = new Array("","The National Gallery ","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Sections/Travel%20Section/z_Columnists/Harriet%20Baskas/Photos/National%20Gallery.hmedium.jpg","","Image: National Gallery", "", "", "", "", "", "", "visitlondonimages/ britainonview", "273", "410", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
Travel_Baskas_London_090402[i-1].body = "<br><b><p style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: red\"><headline/></p></b>A must-see for most every London visitor, <A HREF=\"http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/\" target=\"_blank\">the National Gallery</A> in Trafalgar Square has more than 2,300 Western European paintings from the Middle Ages to the early 20th century, including works by Leonardo da Vinci, Vincent Van Gogh, Georges Seurat and many others. Admission is free, although there is a charge for some special exhibits. For example, you&#146;ll need to buy a ticket to see the 60 works in the current \"Picasso: Challenging the Past\" exhibition, but there is no charge to see the 13 Picasso works in the accompanying \"Picasso Prints\" exhibit. ";

Travel_Baskas_London_090402[i++] = new Array("","The Museum of London ","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Sections/Travel%20Section/z_Columnists/Harriet%20Baskas/Photos/Museum%20of%20London%20Great%20Fire%20of%20London%2C%20Dutch%20School%20style%2C%201666%20%28c%29%20MoL.hmedium.jpg","","Image: Great Fire of London painting", "", "", "", "", "", "", "Courtesy of the Museum of London", "248", "423", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
Travel_Baskas_London_090402[i-1].body = "<br><b><p style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: red\"><headline/></p></b>It promises &#147;glamour, grandeur, sleaze, and disease,&#148; and even though parts of the museum are undergoing renovation, the <a href=\"http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/English/\" TARGET=\"_blank\">Museum of London</A> still delivers a punch with galleries exploring the archaeological history of London, Roman London, Medieval London, and the ever-popular display of fire-fighting equipment, paintings, films, and objects relating to the Great Fire of September 1666, London&#146;s most famous disaster. Admission is free. ";

Travel_Baskas_London_090402[i++] = new Array("","Wellcome Collection  ","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Sections/Travel%20Section/z_Columnists/Harriet%20Baskas/Photos/Wellcome%20Collection%20-%20Napolean%27s%20toothbrush.hmedium.jpg","","Image: Napoleon Bonaparte&#146;s toothbrush", "", "", "", "", "", "", "Courtesy of Wellcome Library, London", "273", "412", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
Travel_Baskas_London_090402[i-1].body = "<br><b><p style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: red\"><headline/></p></b>Sir Henry Wellcome of the successful pharmaceutical company Burroughs Wellcome & Co. was a world-class philanthropist and a voracious collector who accumulated more than a million items relating to health and medicine. <A HREF=\"http://www.wellcomecollection.org/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\">The Wellcome Collection</A>, opened in 2007, has intriguing changing exhibitions, unusual artwork inspired by modern-day health and medicine, and more than 1,500 objects from Wellcome&#146;s collection, including a shrunken head, a guillotine blade, a brass corset, Florence Nightingale&#146;s moccasins, a lock of hair said to be from the head of King George III, and Napoleon Bonaparte&#146;s toothbrush. Admission is free. ";

Travel_Baskas_London_090402[i++] = new Array("","The British Museum ","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Sections/Travel%20Section/z_Columnists/Harriet%20Baskas/Photos/British%20Museum%20-%20clock.standard.jpg","","Image: Brass galleon clock", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "Copyright the Trustees of the British Museum", "298", "187", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
Travel_Baskas_London_090402[i-1].body = "<b><p style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: red\"><headline/></p></b>It&#146;s possible to spend an entire week at the <A HREF=\"http://www.britishmuseum.org/\" target=\"_blank\">British Museum</A>, which houses more than 7 million items from cultures around the world. So pick a few exhibits and rooms you want to see before you walk through the door. The Egyptian mummies are among the most popular exhibits, so put them on your list, but consider visiting some of the smaller and less-visited rooms, such as the Clocks and Watches gallery, which holds hidden treasures such as this automated brass clock in the shape of a galleon. Admission free; there is a charge for some special exhibits. ";

Travel_Baskas_London_090402[i++] = new Array("","National Maritime Museum ","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Sections/Travel%20Section/z_Columnists/Harriet%20Baskas/Photos/Maritime%20-%20Meridan%20Line%20at%20night.standard.jpg","","Image: Meridian Line at Night", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "National Maritime Museum, Greenwich", "298", "230", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
Travel_Baskas_London_090402[i-1].body = "<b><p style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: red\"><headline/></p></b>Chock full of (free) fun and educational activities, the grounds of the <A HREF=\"http://www.nmm.ac.uk/\" target=\"_blank\">National Maritime Museum</A> in Greenwich include galleries filled with maritime artifacts and hands-on activities; the 17th-century Queen&#146;s House, which houses a fine-art collection; and the Royal Observatory, home to a planetarium, astronomy galleries, and the famous Greenwich Meridian Line &#151; the agreed-upon line that divides the earth&#146;s eastern and western hemispheres. This Prime Meridian is also the reference point for Greenwich Mean Time, so visitors who straddle that line can get their pictures taken in two time zones at once, for free. ";

Travel_Baskas_London_090402[i++] = new Array("","Grant Museum of Zoology","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Sections/Travel%20Section/z_Columnists/Harriet%20Baskas/Photos/Grant%20Museum%20-%20Elephant_Shrew_Taxidermy.hmedium.jpg","","Image: elephant shrew", "", "", "", "", "", "", "UCL, Grant Museum of Zoology. Images by UCL Media Services", "273", "410", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
Travel_Baskas_London_090402[i-1].body = "<b><p style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: red\"><headline/></p></b>Founded in 1828 and tucked away in a corner of the Darwin Building at the University College London (UCL), the <A HREF=\"http://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums/zoology/\" target=\"_blank\">Grant Museum of Zoology</A> is an offbeat, hidden treasure crammed with 80,000 specimens from the animal kingdom, including skeletons, mounted animals and specimens preserved in fluid. Look closely and you&#146;ll find the bones of a dodo, giant fluid-filled jars marked &#147;assorted snakes&#148; and &#147;assorted reptiles,&#148; a taxidermy platypus, bisected animal heads, a preserved elephant heart, bits of mammoth hair, and the skeletal remains of the extinct quagga, an animal that looked like a cross between a fading zebra and a horse. Admission is free. ";

Travel_Baskas_London_090402[i++] = new Array("","Victoria & Albert Museum","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/MSNBC/Sections/Travel%20Section/z_Columnists/Harriet%20Baskas/Photos/Pete%20Townshend%27s%20Guitar10MB.standard.jpg","","Image: Pete Townsend's smashed guitar", "", "", "", "", "right", "", "", "298", "293", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
Travel_Baskas_London_090402[i-1].body = "<b><p style=\"font-size: 12pt; color: red\"><headline/></p></b>Here&#146;s another museum that could entertain the family for a week. The <A HREF=\"http://www.vam.ac.uk/index.html\" target=\"_blank\">Victoria & Albert Museum</A> houses more than 37,000 items documenting the history of art and design, including architecture, ceramics, furniture, fashion and jewelry. In March, the museum opened the Theatre and Performance Galleries, which display more than 300 costumes, posters, props and other objects from opera, ballet and drama, puppetry, circus, and rock and pop, including this guitar played and smashed by Pete Townsend of The Who sometime in the 1970&#146;s. ";

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