montyesther

My girls still want to see Madame Tussauds, so I am trying to book combination tickets for London Eye + Madame Tussauds for cheaper price (saving 20% on line). My questions are :
1) The tickets to London Eye are dated but not timed. What happened if the line up is too long and we can not make it?

2) Is there a better way to purchase both tickets?

Many thanks.

alanRow

1) it would mean you've turned up very late in the day
2) I wouldn't buy London Eye tickets until the day - even if you nip onto the internet to do so - just in case the weather is poor.

janisj

"<i>2) Is there a better way to purchase both tickets? </i>"

yes -- try very hard to talk your kids OUT of Madame Tussauds.

And no, you do not want to pre-book the EYE. Even if it saves you 20%, what good is that if the weather is bad that day. You'd 'save' 20%, but lose 100% . . . .

walkabout

I agree--wait until you know what the weather is before you book.

janisj is an expert on London, but I must respectfully disagree about Madame Tussaud's. I really like it and have been there 3 times over the years. Granted, it's overpriced, crowded, and a bit cheesy, but apparently my tastes are pretty lowbrow ! I'm in good company, though, because it gets over 2.7 million visitors a year.

OTOH, most visitors rave about the London Eye, but I think it is vastly overrated and overpriced. I don't recommend that you skip it, though, because my opinion is a minority one. Have a great time in London!

StCirq

Madame Tussaud's is one of the most overpriced attractions in the world. Totally not worth the exorbitant price.

Why would you and your girls want to pay through the nose to see wax representations of famous people? Is that stupid or what?

janisj

walkabout: "<i>but I must respectfully disagree about Madame Tussaud's. I really like it and have been there 3 times over the years. Granted, it's overpriced, crowded, and a bit cheesy, but apparently my tastes are pretty lowbrow</i>"

Don't assume things. I can be low brow too -- fer sure I've been to mme Tussauds more times than I care to admit Maybe every 7 or 8 years. First time in the mid 70's, most recent maybe 3-4 years ago.

However I never ever EVER recommend one go there on their first (or even 3rd) visit to London. It is very crowded, very expensive (even at a discount), and there are so many wonderful, less touristy, cheaper sites in London. (heck - even the Tower is 'touristy' - but mme. Tussaud's is over the top touristy)

montyesther

Thanks for the advices. I already talked about Tussauds again to the girls and they are ok now for not going.

OK, I won't buy the ticket to the EYE until the day.

So, my London itineraries now are:

Thursday - Aug 18
- Arrive at Gatwick @9.55am
- Take FCC to Victoria Station + taxi to the hotel
- Covent Garden - simple lunch there
- Trafalgar Square
- Soho + China Town - dinner there

Friday - Aug 19
- Tower of London+crown jewels+free feefeater tour
- Walk across Tower Brdige
- Borough Market + lunch there
- Shakespeare's Globle Theatre
- Millenium Bridege
- London Eye (if the weather nice) if not TKTS for show

Saturday - Aug 20
- Day trip to Bath

Sunday - Aug 21
- British Museum
- Line up to get tickets at the TKTS (if not going on Friday)
- St. Paul's + Evensong service @ 3.15pm
- Watch the show (if done on Fri, do the London Eye at night)

Monday - Aug 22
- Buckingham Palace
- St. James'Park
- Westminster Abbey
- Parliament + Big Ben
- Churchil War Room
Any tickets for the above that I should buy in advance?

Tuesday - Aug 23
- Day trip to Oxford
- Dinner with friends

Wednesday - Aug 24
- Eurostar to Paris

Are they good now? IF..IF..IF, we have time (let's say on Sunday) and not spending time too much in British Musuem, what else from the below list that we can go:

- Camden Market
- Hyde Park, Harrods, Oxford and Regent St.
- Greenwich

Many, many thanks for all your inputs. Much appreciated.

janisj

I don't have time right this minute to check over the itinerary -- I'll get back to you or others will help. But the one thing you really must pre-purchase are the tickets to Buckingham Palace. The time/day you want may already be sold out so get on that today.

montyesther

janisj - no worries, i'll wait for you. i'll book the buckingham palace today. thanks.

montyesther

soooo sad .. no more tickets for us to buckingham palace any day when we are in london. what to do?

dorfan2

You could take the Thames river cruise from the Westminster Pier to Greenwich after the Churchill War Rooms. The pier is very close.

marysmommy

One suggestion to add to your itinerary early on is to take the "hop on/hop off" bus and ride around to get your bearings of what you want to visit more later. It includes a river cruise with the ticket. The one we took was the Original London Tour and it was great. There is also a Big Bus tour. Both have double-decker buses that are fun to ride. You just walk up to any of their stops and buy your ticket right there, it's a great way to get an overview and it may eliminate or add sites to your itinerary. It did for us!

Another suggestion for Buckingham Palace tix is to call your concierge at your hotel and ask them about tickets. Ours scheduled our Eye and BH tix for us and it wasn't any more expensive. They may have other ideas for you too.

Have a wonderful time--this is so exciting for your girls!

montyesther

Thanks for all inputs.
If we want to have an afternoon tea, any suggestion when and where to do it based on my above itineraries?

AtlTravelr

Just thought I'd throw something out having travelled with teens to London. My kids wanted to see Madame Tussauds as well. I thought my history buff husband would be adamant about not going to such an "overpriced touristy" thing but since I purchased tickets ahead of time ( because standing in line for this would have been a deal breaker), he was willing to give up a morning. We had a great time! And really, we rarely do this kind of thing because our kids also like museums, history, etc. But it was a very fun and different take for us. I've been to wax museums here and it was funny to see the British version - the Beckhams, royal family, Lord Baden Powell, James Bond, etc. When we went back another year, our son enjoyed going again with the other teen we had brought with us who had never been before. So my suggestion is to consider going as a family as long as you can get in and out quickly (I think we only spent about an hour), or if there is something else you and your husband want to see, then let your girls do this by themselves and meet you later. I find it to be beneficial to break up our happy family every once in a while on our overseas. So just something more to think about.

Michel_Paris

You could consider combining a London Walks tour of St Paul's with evensong. I did that my last trip. Tour starts at 2PM

montyesther

AlTravelr - Thank you, I will think about it.
Any trick to avoid line-up?

Michel_Paris - Thanks, I believe that I can just show up at 2PM if the time permits, right? Or do I need to book in advance?

Any idea about the afternoon tea please? I am not thinking to do the one at Savoy (too much for us), but I want the girls to experience this.

janisj

If you don't want one of the posh hotels, then do an afternoon tea at the Orangerie next to Kensington Palace.

As for London walks--you never need to pre-book. Just show up at the time/place.

janisj

Oh - meant to add if you actually do decide to go to mme Tussaud's, the only way to avoid a looooong queue is to pre-purchase the tickets. That doesn't necessarily mean before you leave home --even just ticket sellers (there is at least one w/i a few yards of the bldg.) in London, or from the website 1/2 an hour before you go. Just so you have a your tickets in hand.

Michel_Paris

Cancel idea of St Paul's London Walks. They moved it to a morning
In general I found them to be quite good. Yes, just show up.

AtlTravelr

janisj is right - you need to purchase the ticket ahead of time and then you just show up and walk right past the very long line. I purchased them over the phone once we were in London and had made the commitment to go.

Speaking of lines -it took us 3 tries to get into Westminster Abbey which was one of my kids favorite things. The lines were very long both afternoons that we tried, so we made it a morning priority on the last day. But it was very worth it. Also loved the newer Churchill museum that is incorporated into the old War Rooms museum - we stayed there longer than we had originally intended. Love London - so much to do and I would definitely do Theatre there - we've seen at least one show each trip. Have a great time.