BrittNeal

I am working on planning a trip to Europe for June/July 2016

We will be spending 6 full days in England the first week of our trip (this does not include travel days). We are currently working on developing our list of must see sites. This is our first trip to England so we want a mix of the typical must see tourist sites, Geek fandom/tv movie stuff (harry potter, Sherlock Holmes, Downtown Abbey, etc), soccer, castles.

The way I see it breaking down so far is
3 Days London
1 Day Oxford and Cotswold with London walks
2 Days York
(Possibly drop York and replace with 4 days in London and 1 day in Windsor)

Here is our list of sites we want to see. Are we missing anything? Anything on here that is overrated and not worth seeing? Included our priority level.

Priority Activity
1 Tower of London
2 British Museum
3 British Library
1 St. Paul's Cathedral (May just attend Evensong)
1 Tower Bridge
1 Westminster Abbey
1 Wembley Stadium
1 Houses of Parliament
2 Churchill War Rooms
3 National Gallery
1 Buckingham Palace/
Changing of the Guard"
2 Hyde Park/
Kensington Gardens"
1 Harry Potter Studio Tour
2 Windsor Castle
1 London Walks Oxford/Cotwolds Tour

Thank you in advance for advice!

janisj

You have put together a nice list -- unfortunately you'd need nearly a week just for the London sites not counting Oxford, Windsor or the Harry Potter studio tour.

A couple are just walk-bys so don't take long - but most are 'bigges' and you really can't count on more than two major sites a day when figuring travel time and meals.

BrittNeal

That's a great rule of thumb I didn't know! Two major sites a day. I will keep that in mind as we narrow this down.

janisj

It isn't set in stone but is pretty close. For instance the British Museum is a BIG biggie and would take at least 3 hours for just a quick look-see. So by the time you factor in maybe 20 mins getting there plus lunch it fills half a day. The Tower of London - the same sort of time commitment - travel, 3+ hours and lunch and there goes more than half a day.

So you could do say the Tower, Tower Bridge (which is right there so you can't miss it) and St Paul's and your day is full.

British Museum + British Library and maybe some shopping or a smaller museum like Sir John Soane's or the Wallace Collection would make a VERY full day.

Westminster Abbey + the Cabinet War Rooms plus a walk by of Buckingham Palace/St James's Park -- there is a day.

Plan on 3/4 a day for the Harry Potter tour -- is is a long way from central London.

and so on.

annhig

I agree entirely with jj - London is a big and tiring place and you need to plan well to group the places you want to see so as to cut down on the travel time, or work out the transport to link places that have easy connections. [eg you can link St Paul's with Westminster by using the No 11 bus that runs between them and takes you past many notable London landmarks such as Downing street, Trafalgar Square and The Royal Courts of Justice in Fleet street].

Given the list of things you want to see, I would be inclined to stick to London, and do Oxford and wherever else as day trips.

bilboburgler

That is a big list.

I'd stick to London and do either a bus or train trip to Oxford as a day trip(no need for a tour bus), dead easy from central london, Oxford Tourist Info website covers the "town and gown" pretty well.

I think York and Cotswolds needs to be dropped.

pariswat

Hijacking the thread here for my own benefit...
I'm going to London next year, but we never spend much time (3 days usually). Been several times (we try to go evvery few years) but love to 'redo' where we've been (crescent street and Picadilly of course, big ben, then a park or another etc).
Not all the family is Harry Potter's fan and I was wondering if it it really worth it to 'lose' one day of visit to go there.
Thanks for your opinions.

nytraveler

I think Harry Potter is fine for big fans - but unless you are there are many more worthwhile things to see and do (IMHO the same for any TV or novel themed tour/visit unless you really want the color of the Brontes or Dickens or whatever).

pariswat

Thks Ny

welltraveledbrit

I'm not sure you have time for any additional suggestions but just in case there are lots more London ideas on my blog.

http://www.somuchmoretosee.com/search/label/London

When you go to the Tower and Tower Bridge

I love starting with visitors at the Sky Garden..
http://www.somuchmoretosee.com/2015/...ie-london.html

I'd start with a bacon sandwich at Leadenhall Market - which has a Harry Potter connection...
http://www.the-magician.co.uk/harry-...-locations.htm

-then I'd walk to Sky Garden for an amazing view (you need to book)
http://www.somuchmoretosee.com/2015/...ie-london.html
and then walk over to the nearby Tower of London. Cross the river and walk down the South Bank, it really is a lovely walk if the weather is good and you get lovely views of both St Pauls and if you keep going the Houses of Parliament.

northie

Absolutely loved the Sky Garden - a beautiful building - great idea to get an idea of The spread of London -see trip report as well .

RM67

The Changing of the Guard is unbelievably dull. I would scratch that. If you are intent on seeing Buckingham Palace it would make more sense to see if they are selling tickets for the period you are here so that you can actually go inside.

A few years back they did combined tix (on lastminute.com) for viewing certain areas of the palace, a jewellery/clothing exhibition and an afternoon tea at a nearby hotel. If that kind of thing is no longer available I would just chop it from the list altogether and spend the time somewhere else. Maybe stick in something like The London Eye or Borough Market.

janisj

>> If you are intent on seeing Buckingham Palace it would make more sense to see if they are selling tickets for the period you are here so that you can actually go inside. <<

Except . . . the palace isn't open during June/July.

RM67

I did say 'IF' it is open when you come.

They have had summer viewings before and may do so again - it's a year away yet.

janisj

The summer opening is Aug/Sept - and has been ever since they began after the Windsor fire. Depending on when the weekends fall, sometimes from the very end of July (like this year from July 27) but basically Aug/Sept (when the Queen is at Balmoral).

RM67

Are you being pedantic just for the sake of it? My main advice was to bypass the changing of the guard as it is dull beyond all imagining. The only valid reason to go is IF you can get into the palace and have a nose round - thus IF the palace is not open when the OP goes, do something else instead.

BrittNeal

Thank you all so much for your suggestions! This has really helped us curtail our list to what is doable and the biggest bang for our buck!

Your blog is an amazing resource @welltraveledbrit and I am sure we are going to see some off the main tourist round sites!

And a FREE view from SkyGarden! I didn't think that existed thank you!!

tahl

I too use the "two big sights a day" approach to travel planning. That said, you might go through your list & figure out which things you just want to do from the outside (i.e., just get a chance to see), because those are easier to fit in -- say, Tower Bridge, Houses of Parliament, Hyde Park, and Buckingham Palace (agree on skipping the Changing of the Guard).

You might consider taking a few-hour (narrated or not) bus tour around town on one of your first days, which gets you oriented and lets you "knock off" some of the "see from the outside" places. Keep that idea in your back pocket, too, in the event of a rainy spell.

welltraveledbrit

Glad you found the blog useful!

Trophywife007

I'll chime in and say that the changing of the guard can wait until your 7th or so visit to London. It's underwhelming in the extreme and during the summer crowds are so huge you don't see anything. I know it's something you always hear about but it's so not worth the effort unless you've Nothing better to do with your time.