Which airport is he arriving at? I'll assume Heathrow (but there are at least two others that people call 'London airport'!).

Don't stay by Heathrow as it's grim. Personally I'd get Heathrow Express (Heathrow Express) into and out of London and stay in the centre. Once in the centre, an adult one day travel card will get him anywhere by tube for very little money. Try to get a tube map first and plan your route as it can be a bit hectic once you are underground and the Londoners are all in a rush (but generally won't stab you if you ask for help ).

Don't let him travel by tube in rush hour unless he is brave. It's not that he'll get hurt but everyone in London will be down there and they all know where they are going so do so at speed!

I'd go and see "avenue Q" at the theatre (Avenue Q) and he shouldn't be put off by the Muppets or fact it is musical theatre. It's rude and very very funny.

Other things to see are Covent garden (for street performers and atmosphere), Trafalgar Square, Picadilly Circus, Parliament, Big Ben, The tower of London (expensive) and Tower Bridge. All walkable from each other and in the middle. Oh and the Millennium Eye (big wheel) and Tate Modern (modern art gallery, can be very good depending on the exhibition).

When in Parliament Square he must say hello to Brian Haw who is the only man in the world allowed to protest there (I kid you not). Brian Haw

Oh, and for two days don't even think of hiring a car!

Oh and it is often easier and quicker to walk between tube stations than to get the tube. Covent garden and Leicester Square being a good example. Have him look at Google maps for tube stations in their geographic positions (as the tube map is topological and not geographical, i.e. it shows the connections and stations but in now way shows the distances between them!).

Oops, he might want to see Buckingham palace too. Another one to walk to from anywhere near Westminster!

Obviously there is plenty to see!

How about New Zealand Immigration:

My Trip to London to Submit out ITA in 2005
http://www.neuralnetwriter.cylo42.com/node/1040

I agree with Sylvester, the tube is the best way to get about London. I'm not sure where I'd stay. The Heathrow area is not very nice, and is just motorways.
You could go for a Ibis type standard hotel somewhere along a tube line, but not right in the centre. Maybe somewhere out towards Kew Gardens.

I once walked from South Kensington to Heathrow, just following the planes, with no map!
Not recommended.

I'd have thought Google Earth would be a good place to start. You can get an idea of where the airport is (on the left of the city), relative to everything else.
It depends what he wants to see.

For slightly less obvious things to see:
1. Harrods in South Kensington.
2. The mews (small cobbled streets) in the same area.
3. He could just get a red bus that goes through the centre, and get a cheap view of all sorts of stuff.

Thanks for your replies and for that great map, looks confusing,lol.

We only found out yesterday that Steve has to fly out earlier than expected due to the Lions playing in Joburg. Flights are all full & so are most Hotels, so hence flying out today over nighting in Joburg then on to Heathrow for a 3 day stopover where it was only supposed to be a few hours before his next flight to LA. I guess once he gets to Heathrow Terminal 5 he can just ask someone where to go.

They'll probably tell him as well

I'll have a look in a minute.

Hotels near London (LHR-Heathrow)

eg
Holiday Inn Heathrow Ariel
Enjoy rates from £34.00* per night between 22-Jun-2009 and 21-Aug-2009

Search here

There is a huge price range.
You'll need to shop around.

Why do people fly via the US ?!
We found it great flying the other way.

London, with Heathrow Airport on the left:

Is that about 10 million people. Compared with NZ with about 4 million.

Everything inside the outer blue circle (which is the M25 motorway) is effectively London.
The inner most green circle forms the city centre, which is where all the old well known buildings are.

There are loads of hotels around the airport, but those are not scenic lakes!

Thanks for the Maps Steve I have been looking on Expedia NZ.

I might book something near the Airport for the first night as I can imagine he will be jetlagged, he has to get 2 flights before he gets to Joburg then onto London etc. One of the guys he works with told him to find accomodation by Gatwick airport

The reason he is going VIA the US is because we are meeting him there , he also decided it would be fun to say he has flown around the world .

Ahhh, of course

Would be funny if he flew the other way then

http://www.theblandfordhotel.co.uk/

(and the picture used in the photo is old - they have changed the exterior a little (shading etc).

Local to baker street - reasonable rates (same as Ibis, travellodge etc), and has great reviews.

Literally round the corner from Mdme Tusuards, and has acces to the district, circle, jubilee and metropolitan lines.

A short walk from Oxford street, giving acces to the central line, a longer walk to Marylebone high street, and oxford circus to get access to the northern line.

lots of parks near by, and theatre land is not too far away...

Access to LHR - use the Heathrow express service from Paddington.

I work in this area, and know it quite well...

Have fun

Owen

Baggage limit is doubled via the US and until recently AirNZ only went that way (fly the flag Steve!)

I wasn't keen on going through the LA cattle yard back then, and now I'm even less inclined to go that way

Don't get me started on customer service

Wash your mouth, mate. There is no such thing as customer service in LAX.

I'm probably opening myself up for a cavity search next time I pas through there but I've been through LAX a number of times and never found any problem with it. Singapore is fine and I liked Hong Kong for having a nice hotel at the end of the runway (with triple glazing!) for sleep overs.

The worst of the bunch, by a very very very long way is Heathrow (for customer service and the tatty state of a number of its terminals).

Fly Air NZ! (no I don't work for them)

The thing I found about LAX was that everybody there seemed to have had a personality-ectomy. I've transited there 5 times and on no occasion has anybody gone out of their way to make it a pleasant experience - not bad but not pleasant either. When transiting on NZ1/NZ2 everybody has to file through two Immigration guys (fingerprints/retina scans etc) that always look like they've drawn the short straw for the day.

The worst airport I've been to without a doubt is LHR but regrettably it's rather unavoidable (OK so you can get to Gatwick/Manchester if you're really desperate). When I returned from my fact-finding mission 4 1/2 years ago, it was 5am on a january morning and with the exception of the immigration guy (who said nothing other than "thank you" when I handed him my passport) the first four people who spoke to me all swore at me for some reason or other.

Baggage-handler - get out the f***ing way!!!
Bus ticket Sales Office Manager - We don't open until 6. Can't you bloody read. (This was at 5:59am. The door to the office was unlocked, the lights were on, the counters had staff behind them.)
Bus ticket sales person - Shut the F***ing door!!! It's cold.
Bus driver - Too late. You've missed the bus. P*** Off (To an obviously foreign tourist. The bus door was open and he was traveling at 0.000005mph)

And I thought - What a wonderful welcome to the UK for a visiting tourist. This was in complete contrast to NZ where everybody had been so welcoming and helpful

Carol,

Tell Steve to stay in the pub in LHR for 3 days, at least he will be happy.