London Underground (Håkan Dahlström) / CC BY 2.0

The tube

I recently went to Milan where the four-line subway system utterly baffled me, I believe the UK has nearer 10 lines, for a non-English speaking person visiting and trying to get around this doesn’t make for an easy journey. As with most things though, once you know how, it’s easy and efficient. In central London you rarely have to wait for more than three minutes for the next train and if it’s easy for you to get to an underground station this can be a fast and efficient way to travel.

Ferry

We love the river and amidst the hustle, bustle and general chaos that constitutes day to day city life taking a ferry from one place to another can provide welcome respite from the hectic day to day routines of many that live in the city. With British summer’s typically akin to the depths of winter for some countries this is certainly not the warmest route – for a tranquil way to travel though, it stands alone as the cities best.

Black London Cab, UK by Jimmy Barrett

Cabs

Travel in style, avoid stress from excessive traffic and parking worries, don’t worry that it’s going to break down or not be running…and pay more. If you’ve got the budget cabs are one of the best ways to go, the pro of these is being taken door to door without having to worry about missing trains, running late, climbing up masses of stairs because the escalators are broken, being packed in tightly with other travelers or figuring out where you need to go on a map. They are abundant although the sheer volume of partygoers on a weekend can render even the cab service scarce, many a clubber can be seen wondering around at 3am on a Saturday night looking for a way home which brings me on to another benefit – no time limits. The drawbacks are that you have to fight the traffic like everyone else and you can get ripped off, booking this in advance though and using a cab driver with good knowledge can eliminate a lot of this stress.

Buses

Finally, if you’re on a budget but it’s too far to walk or you’re wearing unsuitable footwear the big red buses so characteristic of London are a good way to get around. Even more difficult to get your head around than the tube these aren’t for the navigationally challenged! Most drivers will (admittedly grudgingly) help you to get to the right stop for your destination and make the best of the bus network.

The Transport for London website has a great journey planner and other maps, you can also click through to book a London taxi.

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St Ermin’s lobby

While it is strikingly apparent that the history of the hotel has really been embraced, its also notable that the hotel has been recently restored and has an unusually pleasant ‘contemporary sheen’ after a £30 million refurbishment that was undertaken through 2010 which has really added to the grandeur and luxury of the establishment.

Just outside the hotel’s grand cast iron gates is the quintessential London – St James’s park, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament are literally a stone’s throw away from the hotel which made this hotel the ideal spot for a first timer tourist in England’s capital.

As a famous saying goes ‘when a man is bored of London, he is bored of life,’ and I can now vouch for this. After spending a mere two days at this hotel (and frankly, saw what I thought was a lot of London) I gained a further appreciation and lust for exploring more of London. I think its only once you’ve had a small taste of the fascinating capital that you can really appreciate the magnitude of the place and the amount of exploring that is open to any tourist or traveller.

Caxton Grill Beef

For those that perhaps plan to stay a little longer in London than I did you’ll be pleased to hear (but likley unsurprised) that the hotel is in the perfect spot for exploring a little further too as there is an underground station just a five minute walk away. Or alternatively, there’s the low cost rental bicycles (otherwise known as ‘Boris bikes’ after the cities eccentric mayor) nearby if you fancy taking a more scene route!

Oh, and before I forget – if you’re a fan of steak don’t forget to check out the St Ermin’s on-site restaurant the Caxton Grill if you’re a steak fan, their Josper Grill (one of only 3 in the country) is sure to give you a steak experience you are unlikely to forget!

Written by Alex of The Luxury Holiday Blog.

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The animals here live in very nice pavilions and it is really amazing how much space they have available. The pride of the ZOO is a newly built Indonesian jungle pavilion, tiger and predators pavilions, and a house of African gorillas. Very interesting exhibitions are also an aviary for birds of prey, pavilion of big mammals, the giraffe area and polar bears pavilion.

But the Prague Zoo is probably mainly proud of a unique breed of rare Przewalski’s horses. The main task of zoos is to protect species and help in their reproduction and Prague Zoo is involved in the reintroduction of Przewalski’s horses. Przewalski’s Horse lives in the wild only in Mongolia, and even there it was last observed during the scientific expedition sometimes in the 50′s of the 20th century.

Natural evolution

During its existence, the Prague Zoo has undergone many changes and has made great development. In its opening in 1931 Zoo had about 300 animals and was spread on an area of ​​only 8 hectares. It gradually expanded, but still retains the quality.

Prague Zoo was very affected by floods in 2002. A large number of animals were killed and many buildings were damaged. After the floods, ZOO has undergone extensive refurbishment and now it is a very modern and popular zoo. The symbol of those floods is a sea lion Guston, who in 2002 got into the river and was caught up in Dresden, Germany. Unfortunately the seal lion died on its way back to ZOO.

During the reconstruction of the Prague Zoo, several interesting and unique buildings were built here. These include also the most expensive pavilion in the history of the Czech Zoos – Indonesian jungle. The pavilion was opened in 2004 instead of 50-year-old monkey pavilion. The pavilion has an elliptical shape of the greenhouse, which creates the impression of the jungle. Inside, visitors can see the orangutans, gibbons or lizards.

Other interesting sites in the Prague Zoo include complex of monkey islands, children’s zoo (where kids may even feed the animals), African pavilion and lots of other new pavilions. Prague Zoo is growing rapidly, so in the near future we can look forward to another interesting enclosures and pavilions.

How to get there

Prague Zoo is one of the places where you can spend pleasant moments with your children. You can come here by your own car, or you can take a bus from the subway station Holešovice. A pleasant experience can be already a trip to the zoo by a ferry across Prague.

For more information, visit official website of Prague Zoo.

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