San Diego to London the Easy Way

SAN DIEGO TO LONDON THE EASY WAY Story and photography by Margaret & Eric Anderson Savvy visitors feel they squeeze an extra day out of their vacation by flying the national airline and the neat thing about flying BA to London is that your British vacation starts 10 hours before you get there when you hear those ma'velous voices over the intercom and get immersed in English accents and spoiled by British service.
	Once there, it's pomp and pageantry, monuments and museums. Shopping, theater and art. Umbrellas and fog. History. And prices to knock Imelda Marcos out of her shoes. It's London, the most exciting foreign city in the world for Americans-and the easiest because it speaks our language. We took advantage of the new British Airways nonstop flight from San Diego to London for the most comfortable flight we've had in 20 years. A few points. First, Gatwick is a good alternative airport to Heathrow. The Gatwick Express, the connecting train, gets into Victoria Station in central London in 30 minutes.

Second, London's expensive: Prices in pounds is what you'd expect to pay in dollars. Third, distances are greater than they seem; rush hour traffic slows the taxis and crowds the "tubes," the safe, clean and fast underground railway system. Taxi drivers are knowledgeable and fun. Still, the first move to get your bearings should be taking a bus tour. The Big Bus Company (0171 233 8766 bigbus.co.uk) has the best "Pop-on, Pop-off" service. Its tickets, valid for 24 hours, can be interchanged on four different routes to get to London's major museums and attractions.

THEATER Theater is a major London attraction, Indeed, more than 25 percent of theater tickets sold in London are purchased by Americans. The British Tourist Authority (800 462 2748) publishes a monthly London Planner which details events in all the arts, but the easiest method-and the cheapest-to get the best tickets is to use a New York agency like Keith Prowse (800 669 8687 keithprowse.com).
	We've done London theater every way: from buying tickets while in London for use on our next visit to-on the day of performance-trying the Half-Price Ticket Booth in Leicester Square or standing outside the theater and paying scalpers' prices but nothing is more satisfactory than just leaving it to this professional booking agency. Theater seats are less expensive in London than here and the $6 commission to Keith Prowse is never noticed when you sit in central locations the company got you for the same price as those seats over on the side.