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The Oyster system has made a big difference to London’s underground tube system.

An Oyster card lets you make use of the majority of the London transport system (even though some places choose to stay outside the scheme).

It provides a big discount on standard fares and also helps save you time in queueing to buy tickets.

The system automatically saves you valuable cents by working out the cheapest amount to charge at the end of the day based on your journeys undertaken.

If you travel more than you expected to initially, it only charges you the lowest fare instead of pricey singles and returns.

So does this scheme have any pitfalls?

It can sometimes be a bit complicated for new London visitors, since you have to buy an Oyster card in advance. You may need to pay a few quid deposit (but you should get this back quickly in savings).

You also need to “touch in and touch out” your Oyster card throughout your journey. But you should get used to this quickly by copying the many Londoners who use the system.

So unless your trip to London is a mere day-trip, you’re advised to get yourself an Oyster. Based on current information, Oyster cards don’t expire, which allows you to re-use them on future London trips.

If you do not expect to come back to London in the near future, you can usually get your deposit back (but please verify this with London Underground before you purchase).

There is a “Visitor Oyster” card which you can buy from some outlets but it’s not 100% clear at the moment what its benefits are to tourists.

If you really don’t want an Oyster card, you should at least make sure that you buy the cheapest London travelcard for unlimited access to the tube and buses for the entire day. But you may need to wait until after 9.30am on weekdays to access the cheapest fares.

You could also grab a weekly travelcard for an even bigger discount in case you’re in London for longer, but this does mean that you need some sort of photo.

Remember that Oyster cards and travelcards are valid on both the tube and buses, though not all national rail stations are covered. Please check before you travel.

For further info about the Oyster and public transport system in London it is useful to visit the official Transport for London website.

Finally, please make sure you wait until after 9.30am on weekdays to avoid London’s extremely high peak-time prices.

The writer provides inside tips on the best of London and real-time London hotel tips on Twitter.

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London offers some of the best shopping in the world. But how do you make the most of it in a short space of time?

Assuming you’ve only got a few precious days to spend in London: isn’t it sensible to visit the city’s famous department stores, to find everything in one place?

Here’s a summary of London’s famous department stores:

Harrods

Everybody loves Harrods! It’s so much fun to get lost in there for hours and hours. I especially recommend the Food Hall – try a real Italian “gelato” if you really want to spoil yourself. Although Harrods is expensive it’s always so enjoyable and you can even just window-shop!

Liberty

Liberty is well-known for dressmaking but is in fact a general department store. It’s not particularly well-organised as a store but that is also why it’s so charming. The homewares department is a highlight. This store is in the heart of London near Regent Street.

Selfridges

Selfridges is perfect for the image-conscious and those who like lots of designer brands in a single place. The Selfridges Oxford Street window displays are a real highlight too. Selfridges is famous for its events and exhibitions each season. Keep an eye out as well for the famous Selfridges sales.

Harvey Nichols

This store is a favourite haunt of London’s upscale “Sloane Rangers” or “ladies who lunch”…you might catch sight of them with their fancy accessories in the Cafe on the 5th Floor! Harvey Nichols has almost 130 years of history. It is especially highly-regarded for beauty items and accessories.

Fortnum & Mason

One of the best stores in London to buy gifts and souvenirs, especially edible items like teas (hundreds of varieties), chocolate and those famous English preserves. Enjoy some treats (like super English breakfasts) at the restaurants located inside. Fortnum & Mason is well-known for its great picnic hampers: why not take one away to enjoy in one of London’s beautiful Royal Parks?

That completes this round-up of London’s best stores. Happy shopping and be sure to check out London Hotels Insight for more great insider tips.

The author shares inside advice on the best of London as well as real-time London hotel tips on Twitter.

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The Soho area in London has made a comeback in recent times. This once seedy area is now very much London’s buzzing centre.

Today Soho is known for some of London’s best cafes, restaurants and bars, with a lively atmosphere 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Here we present you some of Soho’s key highlights to help you have a fantastic time when you next visit:

* Plenty of bars, clubs and cafes on both Dean Street and Wardour Street. Try All Bar One on Dean Street or the Slug & Lettuce pub on Wardour Street.

* Bar Italia (Frith Street) is where the Italians themselves go for the best cappuccino in London. It’s hard to get a free seat but is always buzzing!

* Ronnie Scott’s is one of London’s most famous jazz venues and is right across the road from Bar Italia on Frith Street.

* The Curzon Soho cinema shows European art-house and mainstream films. It has a great cafe (try the cakes!) on the ground floor as well as a lively basement bar.

* No visit to Soho is complete without stopping by Chinatown, especially in the evening. There is a whole world of little Chinese bakeries and shops to explore, not to mention countless authentic restaurants. The Wong Kei restaurant (Wardour Street) is great fun and good value – but be warned that you may end up sharing a table with strangers! If you’re on a budget you might be tempted by one of the many “eat as much as you like” buffets in the vicinity.

* Restaurants in Soho serve just about every cuisine you could wish for. If you are unsure what you fancy, just wander around and feast your eyes. You’ll find Vietnamese, Chinese, Japanese, Malay, Korean, Italian, Indian, Thai…to name only a few of the mouthwatering options. Corean Chilli (Charing Cross Road) is a particular favourite!

Because of the high level of competition in the area, prices are surprisingly reasonable.

Take a few strides from Soho towards Leicester Square to enter one of London’s buzzing nightlife centres – it’s always full of atmosphere. Why not stop for an ice cream at the Haagen Dazs parlour or catch a movie at one of Leicester Square’s famous cinemas (it’s also where all the big movie premieres take place).

If nightclubs and bars are your thing, that’s another Soho “speciality”. You can spontaneously pop into almost any place you fancy depending on the music and atmosphere you most enjoy.

But if you prefer a quieter pace and enjoy people watching, you’ll also find some fantastic little cafes in Soho. You can enjoy a long drink, a cup of tea or a fresh juice or snack in dozens of fun places.

Soho is London’s liveliest spot, even on Sundays. No trip to London is complete without going there!

Please check the London Hotels Insight blog for more tips on Soho including expert advice on choosing the best-value hotels and insider London restaurant recommendations.

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Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth is being used to display “live art” this summer and fall (until 14 October) for Gormley’s One and Other project.

The artist has invited UK residents to stand on the “plinth” for a full hour in front of the world. There is a live webcam and tv recording the action.

The 2,400 places on the project have been allocated by pure chance. One person stands on the plinth for every hour of the day, 24/7. The project goes on for a full 100 days.

Each person is free to do anything at all on the plinth, though it must be a legal activity. Many applicants consider it a great opportunity to show the world what they’ve got!

The way the artist himself describes the idea is presented on the London Hotels Insight blog, which also carries a link to the project’s official website with its live webcam.

The project breaks new ground and gives visitors to London an amazing spectacle. It will provide a flavour of the diverse talents of people living in the UK and provide great entertainment. Don’t miss it if you’re visiting London!

To allow you to stay as near to the event on Trafalgar Square as possible, here are a couple of suggested hotels that rate highly on TripAdvisor. They cover all possible budgets:

A 5 star hotel with great reviews

If you’re visiting London with someone special and want to stay in one of the city’s best hotels then One Aldwych might offer you exactly what you need. This stunning modern hotel has a reputation for warm and friendly service.

From the moment you step into its impressive lobby, the hotel seems to caress you with its natural warmth.

When I personally interviewed the hotel’s founder, Mr Campbell Gray, he told me that he wanted every guest to have a stay which was “as exquisite as possible”.

You can read more about One Aldwych and search for the best rate from 30+ hotel booking sites at the blog linked below.

A cheap hotel with good reviews

A great option for those visiting London on a budget is the Travelodge Covent Garden. This is located right in the heart of the theatre district and Trafalgar Square is just a few minutes walk away.

You’ll be especially pleased with yourself for bagging a clean room where everything works in a superb location, paying less than what most others are paying to stay in this area!

Recent TripAdvisor guest reviews suggest that people love Travelodge Covent Garden’s location and value for money.

If you stay at either of the above hotels and like modern art, you can easily cross the river to the Tate Modern and take a ride on the London Eye.

Another plus point is that you can enjoy all the fun markets and street life of Covent Garden, right outside your door!

So if you do plan to drop by London this summer or fall, don’t forget to visit the people on the plinth in Trafalgar Square!

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Barrys Bootcamp DVD is not only effective way to burn off about one-thousand unwanted calories but it is fun too. How great is that? This is not only your way to eliminate belly fat but to tone that difficult midsection into a flat, tight and youthful tummy. The gold resistance band is a bonus that accompanies this DVD. Barrys Bootcamp DVD has been called Hollywood’s Best Kept Secret. Celebrities like Jamie Lee Curtis, Eliza Dushku, Katie Holmes, Christina Applegate, and Teri Hatcher to name a few, swear by this workout program.

If your goal is to get rid of unwanted fat around the mid section and end with a toned body, then this program offers an exceptional solution. All it takes is an hour a day workout to turn your body into the lean and trim frame that you desire. You will stay with this program because the music is great and you will have fun while you workout.

This is a new way of using FIT or Focused Interval Training techniques. This combination of training techniques makes your workout burn fat nine times quicker than other comparable workouts. The celebrities agree that this is a quick and effective solution to losing fat and toning at the same time. Once you begin this workout you will be amazed at how your energy level is increased. The secret to Barry’s Boot camp workout is you are not working harder but smarter. His more efficient program leads to a more effective way to spend your workout time.

After moving to Los Angeles, Barry Jay who is the founder of Barrys Bookcamp, took a position working for a fitness studio located in Hollywood. In just a year he had developed a program that was so successful that his classes were sold out. By 1998 the workout became known as Barrys Bootcamp and grew in fame world-wide. It is now called the Best Workout in the World. What makes this workout so successful is the combination of Barry’s drill-sergeant tactics, the enjoyable atmosphere and the motivational tactics used by the professional trainers.

Those who use the program and talk about what it does for them all agree it makes them do more than they thought they were capable of doing and they love the music. They all say it is like having your own private trainer.

Weight lifting and cardio is combined in the DVD Bootcamp workout that deals with all the muscles. Barry’s idea for the program is that the workout should be not only disciplined but it must be fun to be effective. Because it is fun, the user will be consistent with the workouts and this is a key component in a successful program. Working this program faithfully will make the user feel really good about their efforts and about about themselves. No matter where the user begins, the program was created to build endurance.

Watching this DVD you will notice that the participants are all working at their own fitness rate unless the instructor has called for a count to bring them into unison. This gives it a feel of being in a real gym experience. The workouts are designed to cover every part of the body and each segment has the warm-up and cool-down portions.

Barrys Bootcamp DVD workout will begin changing and toning your body as soon as you begin using it. The instructions and the motivating techniques are all there to help you transform your body.

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