* Unless you have tickets to the Olympics marathon swimming or triathlon events in Hyde Park, head i

Hot, crowded and chaotic. London can be all that in summer. Throw in an extra million thrifty car rental vancouver people a day during the Olympics that begin later this month, and finding a corner of the city that doesn t feel like Disneyland will be a challenge.
* Unless you have tickets thrifty car rental vancouver to the Olympics marathon swimming or triathlon thrifty car rental vancouver events in Hyde Park, head instead to quieter Regent s Park with its web of peaceful walking paths, a lake and formal gardens. The London Zoo is here as well as Regent s Canal, edged by a path where locals enjoy leisurely strolls.
* Think music as well as theatre. Maggie Dobson, longtime owner of the B B booking agency thrifty car rental vancouver At Home In London, suggests the free concerts in the foyer of the National Theatre and free lunchtime concerts at St. Martin-in-the-Fields in Trafalgar Square.
* Restaurants are pricey. Scout out a neighborhood pub for a pint of ale or a traditional Sunday roast. For ideas, join one of London Walk s nighttime pub walks. These walks are a bargain at 9 pounds per person, plus drinks. Walks start and end at a Tube stop, so no worries about getting home.
* Try Manze s, 87 Tower Bridge Road, London s oldest pie-and-mash shop, or A. Cooke s in the Shepherds Bush market, a traditional London street market catering to the local Irish and Afro-Caribbean community.
* Walk off the calories with a country stroll. No need to research on your own. The Saturday Walkers Club has it all figured out with hikes every Saturday and Sunday and sometimes midweek. The walks are free, and organisers arrange a pub stop.
* For culture without the West End tourist crowds, head to South Bank complex on the Thames River in the heart of London. If you re visiting the London Eye, you re close. Guidebooks will point you to the Shakespeare Globe Theatre and the Tate Modern art museum along the south side of the Thames, but there s much more.
Take a leisurely walk along the riverside path that runs from the National Theatre near the Eye downriver to Tower Bridge and beyond. Stop at a pub. Browse through the bookstalls under the Waterloo bridge. You ll feel as if you re in a small village instead of the heart of London. No traffic noise, no sirens, no crowds.