My husband and I will be taking a day trip from Paris to London in a couple of weeks and I was wondering how much sightseeing we can squeeze into one day. We will be arriving at Waterloo station at 8:30am and departing around 7:45pm. Some of the places we are interested in seeing include:
Buckingham Palace
Changing of the Guard
Kensington Palace
Parliament
Tower of London
Westminster Abbey
Windsor Castle
Harrods
We would like to see as much as we can in the time that we have. Also, what would be the best way to get from place to place? The tube? Bus? Is there some sort of 1-day transportation pass? Any suggestions or possible itineraries would be greatly appreciated.
London Day Trip
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Ah,Beth, this is an easy one. Take the "hop on, hop off" bus tour. It's a double decker that will take you all around the city, and you can stay longer at the attractions that interest you the most. There are a couple of different companies, and a couple of different routes. It costs about $20 USD. Now, Windsor is out there aways, and it would be a separate trip. Also, the Changing of the Guard might take some extra time. I prefer the Big Bus. You can find them on the web at http://www.bigbus.co.uk
You'll have to decide what you really want to do from your list or you will need to be very brief with your time anywhere.
However, one easy suggestion is to skip Windsor Castle, which actually isn't in London but nearly 30 miles west of London in Windsor, Berkshire. You definitely can't fit this in sensibly.
From what other visitors to London say I would be inclined to miss out Changing of the Guard (you can still go and have a look at Buckingham Palace) but many people say the time spent waiting and watching the Changing of the Guard is not worthwhile.
The Hop-on, Hop-off bus is a good idea and will probably take you past many of the places on your wish list. One of the companies is Big Bus:
http://www.bigbus.co.uk/uk/html/uk_home.html
Take a look at their map and identify your "must-sees" and you can then start to form an itinerary based on their route.
There are other companies but they didn't show up on my quick Google search.
If you go in the Tower of London you will need 2-3 hours and you may be advised to do this as soon as you get to London if you can as people say queues are shorter soon after they open. Also bear in mind you will be there in mid-August and so many places will be busier than usual with the school holidays.
If you are interested in the London Eye, this is very close to Waterloo station so if you find yourself with some time towards the end of the day you may wish to go on it then. I don't know if you can just walk on in August but the queues are not as big as they used to be a few years back when I last went on it.