London in 3 days?

You can do plenty in a couple of days. It would take forever to see EVERYTHING anyway, so don't stress about how much you don't see, just enjoy what you do.

What sort of things do you like doing? Museums? Galleries? Historic sites? Quirky stuff? Shopping? Music? Parks and gardens? Is food a big deal to you?

Well, shopping is my HUGE passion, but I would love to see a bit of everything...Quirky would be nice, history is a must i guess in Europe...

I have some sights that I would definitely wanna see:
Tower of London
Buckingham Palace
Big Ben
Westminster Abbey
Thames River Cruise
London's Eye
Harrods (but of coz...hahaha)

My problem may be in planning the routes to take properly so as to make full use of my limited time there...Do you think it would be better to do a walking tour with a guide? so that I dont miss anything out?

Im pretty easy with food, hoping that my hubby (who is quite traditionally Chinese in taste) would not starve for the 10 days we are in Europe (I am NOT going to look for chinese food in Europe, we have it at home everyday!!)
But in keeping with our anniversary tradition of having Japanese for dinner that night, we are hoping to go to Nobu.

oops think im blabbering...

Actually, what you want to do is pretty easy. You could consider staying at the Guoman Charing Cross hotel. It isn't the "greatest" but it is pretty nice and the location is perfect.

http://www.guoman.com/charing-cross/

So, say by the time you get in and freshen up it is about noon. From the hotel, walk down about a block to the Thames. Turn right, you'll see the Eye on the other side of the river, Big Ben and Westminster will be a few blocks up on your side of the river. I'd walk up to Parliament first, then you can also see Westminster. Do the eye on the way back. Depending on how tired you are, Trafalgar Square is only a couple of blocks up from the hotel.

The hotel sits right on top of the Charing Cross underground station, so using the tube is easy.

On Thursday you can walk down to Buckingham from the hotel, maybe 8-10 blocks. Get there by about 10am to get a good spot to see the changing of the guard. Take the tube from St. James to Tower Hill (or a cab). You are a couple of block from the Tower of London. You can probably plan a cruise for the evening.

Friday you could do the British Museum, but another thought is at Trafalgar is the National Gallery. Too bad you aren't there on Sunday, Speakers Corner is always fun.

argh.... you are making me feel torn between spending the weekend in london or paris!!
thanks though dave...

I am trying very hard to visualise everything... any other sights to recommend? i dont have to see all on my list if there are others that will be more worthy of my time...

Covent Garden in the evening is fun, maybe 5 blocks from the hotel. Lots of street performers and stuff. We also make it a habit to go to Picadilly at midnight, just to see the crazies.

On the day for the Tower, you could also drop by St. Pauls. I personally like walking down the banks of the Thames in the early morning or sitting in one of the beautiful small parks.

It is really easy to get to the train station for your Paris trip from Charing Cross.

Many people recommend the Rembrandt hotel in London. What's your budget for hotels?

Here's what I'd do with the limited time you have:

Wed arrival day:
You'll be tired, so take it easy
I'd walk around Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, and do London Eye

Thurs:
early start with Tower of London
St Paul's cathedral
walk along thames, cross via Millennium bridge and take a peek inside Tate Modern
Borough Market for food

Fri:
Westminster Abbey
Victoria & Albert Museum
Harrods

Sat:
Walk around Covent Garden & Trafalgar Sq before your train to Paris.

I would not bother with a Thames cruise. It's time-consuming and not particularly scenic (compared to Seine cruise).

I just returned from London and paris, I just posted my trip about paris, we were there 3 days, but I am starting a new post on london in 2.5 days, so if you want to see how we did you can read my thread,
PJ

yk has given you a very good - and easy going - plan. Buckingham Palace and Big Ben are just "walk by's" w/o going inside. So they basically take no time - just the walking from one point to the other.

As for taking a walking tour - the places you want to see are spread over most of Central london and some are several miles apart so no single walking tour would cover more than a couple of them.

The Rembrandt, Rubens at the Palace, and Royal Horse Guards are all moderately priced (for London) traditional hotels in good locations. What is your budget.

thanks for all the advise... my trip is starting to take a more solid shape...
thanks yk for the detailed planning, and the heads up about the thames cruise (i will DEFINITELY do the Seine one of course), will give it a miss.

My budget for the hotel is prob 200,220euro per night (we are thinking of staying 1 more night in London). I am considering The Rembrandt and Ruebens (in fact I love all the redcarnation hotels: 41, Ruebens, Montague,Chesterfield)
Thing i have to confess is, I am not a no fuss, no frills person when it comes to hotels. I love pretty, posh rooms...but I was a bit taken back at the prices I had been seeing for London and Paris. In Singapore, I will pay 400SGD for a Ritz Carlton weekend, but in London and Paris, that doesn't seem to go very far... and this coincides with our Anniversary, so we wanted to have a nicer room if possible...
Initially was tempted by the suite at Chesterfield Mayfair, but 3nights would cost 862GBP...

Read some of Rick Steves' suggestions like go around the corner from the palace to the barracks and watch the beginning of the guard ceremony- the guys get inspected, the band starts up, and then they march out the gates toward the palace. You will see a lot more than standing in front of the palace IMHO, also horse guard changing of the guard is up close and personal. Get your tickets for the Eye at the tourist infomation place and you won't have to stand in line. Don't forget Harrod's food court in the basement. Leave yourself pub time. There is a little pub just down the street from the Goodge tube station which is tiny and famous for their sausages. We have had some really good Chinese food in the Chinatown (my husband is half Japanese),and we spent a lovely morning get umbrella lessons from the traditional umbrella shop salemen. By the way, we stayed at the Scala House penthouse (because there were two couples-) great balcony 200+ feet which we LOVED!
Tower of London is a must - go early and start with the jewels. Three days will go by in a nanosecond!

If you want to stay in in the heart of London an you want a good standard check out Dukes Hotel off St James's. It is just in front of St James's Palace (Prince Charles home in London). Bond Street is the best street for shopping. Harrods is just huge and you can loose the will to live if you are in there too long. Harvey Nichols is great and they have a great restaurant. A real must is afternoon tea at the Berkley, it is best to book, I promise that you will remember it for ever, Have a look at the pictures of it on the web. Rules restaurant in Covent gerden is the oldest in London and is very good and interesting with typical English fare.
Take some comfortable shoes and top up your credit card. You will have a great time

I would skip Buckingham Palace and visit:
British Museum
National Gallery
Victoria and Albert Museum
all three of the above museums have a "highlights tour"
Tower of London
boat ride on the Thames (absolutely wonderful!!)
walk along the river on the Southwark side; drop in the Tate Modern
walk around City of London (the square mile)
hop on/hop off bus (stay on for the whole circuit)
Hampton Court is GREAT but you may not have time for it (it's a whole day)
Harrod's food court
Any amount of time in London is worth having!!

3sica--What is the date you will be leaving London for Paris? If it is Saturday, June 13, the Trooping of the Colour will be going on that morning (up until 1 p.m.)

Here's a tip on the London Eye. You can avoid long lines by buying your tickets the day before your 'flight'. My wife and I, and four friends, bought our tickets on a Monday afternoon; we showed up thirty minutes before the Eye opened the next morning, and were the first people in line. (Not only did we have the whole day ahead of us, and get great views of morning London - but also we were able to get some interesting photos of the empty pod ahead of us.)

Scene24 - So you're saying that there were NO LINES when you bought your ticket on Monday afternoon? Or did you buy them online? If there were no lines for the EYE on Monday afternoon, why not just take the "flight" at that time?

And you still lined up for 30 minutes before the Eye opened... I don't get it. Couldn't you have just bought your ticket on that Tuesday morning when you arrived 30 minutes early??? I'm not sure what kind of "tip" this is. Please enlighten me.

FWIW, we went on the London Eye with advance tickets (it was a gift, picked up at Will Call) at sundown on the last Sunday in August last year and there was pretty much nobody else there.

yk - there is seldom a queue for advance tickets" sales. They are sold in a different counter than current tickets. So I can only assume Scene24 meant there was no line to buy tix for the next day.

Nowadays there usually isn't a long line at either counter -- except for some weekend afternoons and holidays. So buying ahead of time or at the time probably doesn't make that much difference.

BTW - you don't have to queue up at all to buy tix - you can order them by phone and pick them up a few minutes before your timed flight.

Lynclarke: Two little notes 1) Harrods Food halls are not in the basement and 2) Scala House closed a couple of years ago. ( a sad loss for visitors for sure )

Thanks for the explanation, Janis. I guess it's a good idea to buy the advance ticket IF you know what the weather forecast is for the day of your visit... Sounds like calling is the easiest option - eg, call in the AM for an afternoon ticket.

lynclark - YES i definitely wanna see the Crown Jewels! Hmm... what do you mean by highlights tour?

TeresaJolly - I think my husband is going to confiscate all my cards for this trip! HAHA... I have heard soooo much about Harrods in London, the one we have in Singapore is simply a small corner at one of our big malls (I loved some of their vinyl bags!)it is like a MUST visit for me, just live the LV flagship boutique in Paris Champs Elysees!

charlieandann - i like the idea of the hop on/off bus...
is there a website that shows the bus routes? so that i can know where i can board the bus?

evecolorado - sadly I will not be in Europe anymore on the 13th, I will be gng back to Dubai on that day from Paris/Nice. Really wish I have much longer than 12 days!

Thanks everyone else for the tips on booking tix for the London Eye... now... if anyone can vote if I should see it in the morning or evening....

3sica: "what do you mean by highlights tour?"

Most of the major museums and galleries offer highlights tours from the information desks. Some are free, some cost a small fee. Several times a day, a staff docent takes groups around to the most famous/popular exhibits in the museum. They are a great option for folks who have limited time like you guys.

For instance in the British Museum you'd see the Rosetta Strone, Elgin Marbles, Mummies/Egyptian relics, and other famous displays w/ having to figure out where they are on your own.

meant to add:

here is the pdf file of the Original hop-on-hop-off bus tours map

http://www.theoriginaltour.com/files/cukdyaghyu.pdf

The Big Bus tour has a similar downloadable map here http://www.bigbustours.com/eng/international/custompage.aspx?id=maps

BTW
i just saw No. 5 Cavendish Square, the suites look really cool...anyone has any thoughts on that location? compared to Chesterfield Mayfair?
how will it fit into yk's itinerary?

thanks janisj!
will take a look...

Your least expensive way of getting around London is one of the Hop Off and On or Big Bus tours. Your ticket is good for all day, and they take you to most of the places you have on your list. You can get on or off the buses as often, and for as long as you wish. And some include a boat trip on the Thames.

One of the most fun things I ever did in London was to watch a Shakespeare play at the reconstructed Globe Theater. It was like traveling back to the Elizabethan era.

As for the London Eye, I had a flight several times during my last stay and I definitely enjoyed a flight at sunset. You can check the weather website for sunset. Purchased tickets about 15 minutes before I wanted to start the flight, which was about 15-20 minutes before sunset. It weather cooperated and the view was great. Then, as the sunset, there was a nice view of the London city lights. The weather is the wildcard, but the evening/sunset view was tremendous.

Your least expensive way of getting around London is one of the Hop Off and On or Big Bus tours.

Hardly. The Hop On Hope Off bus costs 20 £ for an adult for 24 hours. That's quite a bit more expensive than a 1-day travel card.

We used the Big Bus Hop On Hop Off bus tour and it was a great way to see the most popular London sights in a short time and to get an overview of the city.The bus does stop at all the tourist sights and also includes a cruise on the Thames.We used the cruise portion to get to the Tower Of London. The ticket was good for 24 hours..If I remember correctly we did one full trip around and than after getting a feel for the city we started getting off at different places.There are 2 Hop on Hop Off bus companies and we used The Big Bus Tour. We had a week in London and still did not get to see nearly what we wanted to.We had a hotel near Westminster and we were able to walk to many places. We also used the regular London bus service a lot in our 6 days there.We were lucky enough to be in London for the Queens birthday and saw the Trooping of the Colors.What a great show that was!!!

Like sf7307 says, the 24-hr Hop-on-Hop-off bus is £20, fairly expensive, esp when you compare that to the all-day bus pass from TFL for just £3.80.

I'm in the middle of planning a trip in early August . . . so I spend most of my nights dredging the web. You say you aren't too fussed about accom. I've booked us into several Travelodge hotels. You can get real cheap deals by booking/paying in advance. For instance the most expensive I have booked is GBP32 a night, and I have several at GBP19 a night - per room. Triple rooms when my family is with me. You'll find them at http://travelodge.co.uk They aren't the flash-for-cash type hotel . . . but we just want a crash pad at night.

Re getting around London: When I was there a good few years back we used to grab black cabs - not cheap, but quick and time is of the essence. May not be the same now, however. The Underground is also a great way of moving from location to location. Investigate whether their Oyster Cards could be a good buy - it's a pre-paid card that slashes the cost of the average trip. http://tfl.gov.uk

Just caught gthe comment re the Globe Theatre. Yes. Yes. Yes. My two 12 yr olds went wild when I told them I had tickets for As You Like It. They're doing it at school - and to see it at THE GLOBE. Oh yeah. You can get standing in the Yard for only GBP5, or cheap seats for GBP15-23. The most expensive are only GBP33. Find out more at http://www.shakespeares-globe.org/

I have yet to venture into the complicated tubes world yet!
We have the SMRT (fast trains, above as well as underground) in Singapore, which is really simple... since we probably do not have that many criss crossing lines and not so many stations (we are a tiny country afterall)...
hope i have no problem taking the tube in london and the metro in paris.

Whatever you do, do NOT pay cash fares for bus and tube: these are deliberately set high to get you to use a prepaid pass or Oyster pay-as-you-go card.

all this about the tube is a little overwhelming...
i am in the midst of preparing my 3,4 day itineraray...will update and ask for further advice and suggestions when it is done.
right now i have to figure out all the tube stations near to the places we are going (coz the map I got do not show the tube lines or stations! it is on a separate map! grrrr)

By the way, where are the interesting markets that i can squeeze in to see, other than Borough? I like to buy quirky stuff as souvenirs and keepsakes and would really love to see some vintage stuff especially jewellery and bags!...

Hi 3sica -

Here's a dumbed-down version of the bus routes/map geared for tourists, which I find very handy:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/central_bus_map.pdf

Here's the standard tube map:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/standard-tube-map.pdf

Other markets include Camden Market, Portobello Market, Spitalfields Market, Petticoat Lane etc. And also Covent Garden. Any London guidebooks should mention all these and which days to go.

thanks yk...
I didnt buy any guidebook yet...just an Explorer Mini map...
and MINI it is... grrrr

You *don't* need to buy a guidebook. Just go to your local library and pick up the latest version of any London guidebooks. At least, that's what I've been doing for a few years now. But if you are going to buy one, I like Lonely Plante and TimeOut London.

I would have gone to the library if I were in Singapore... problem is, I don't think you will find that much English books in Dubai libraries, much less to say travel guides.
I am relying heavily on this forum and whatever I can get of the net... since London is English speaking, I am not so worried about not knowing how to ask for directions as opposed to my week in Paris (which i DID buy a guidebook for)

I have managed to squeeze an EXTRA day out of hubby to spend in London, now I have 3 full days, starting from Wednesday (But I realised that weekday hotel rates are much higher! )

An idea I had for an anniversary present would be to rent my hubby a Harley (He is a biker back in Singapore and is a HD die hard) to run around for 1/2 or 1 day. Anyone can tell me if the roads will be hard to navigate?
Also since I will have 3 full days, is a trip out to Stonehenge a ridiculous thing to do?

I would spend all that time in London; IMO you really don't have time for a day trip to Stonehenge.

Lee Ann

I'd normally say that renting a Harley is a death wish - but if he manages to ride one in Singapore he would probably survive

here is one site to check http://www.rental-motorcycle.com/europe/uk/london_rental.html

evecolorado, thanks for that post about Trooping the Colour. My son and I will be in London on June 13th. I don't want to highjack this thread so will start another with my questions. But wanted to thank you for making me aware of it.

CAPH52 - no worries about hijacking, the more the merrier!

ElendilPickle - I really wanted wanted to see Stonehenge, saw quite a few documentaries about it...but i guess i am stretching it a bit too thin...

janisj - i think he can handle the bikes, but i wonder where can we go on the bike around London, where we may already have problems looking for the places we wanna go to on foot!!

thanks janisj...
the site is really useful...i found the model my hubby really wants which isn't available in London but in the Paris branch. Perfect since we have 6 days there!

For funky vintage purses/bags/jewelry go to Alfie's Antique Mall on Church St, as well as a couple of Vintage shops on Church St. As far as a hotel that is super central, oft overlooked, and has a grand old lobby and large rooms (for London) try the Landmark, and get the breakfast package. Beautiful breakfast in a beautiful atrium. Alot of bang for the buck.

thanks joan...
will check out the Landmark and the antique mall...
Where is Church Street near to?
my current toss up is between Chesterfield Mayfair or going to Priceline to bid for a 5* in Mayfair-Soho area...

3sica: You might want to check out the Sumner Hotel at www.sumnerhotel.com

It looks nice and not as expensive as other hotels. We are staying there in May 09 for 116GBP a night. There web site shows 150GBP and higher now I believe.

Red Carnation's Montague on the Gardens is lovely. Very British.

I love all the Redcarnation hotels, but Chesterfield gave me the best rate... so I have booked with them... and now for my to finalise my itinenary for 3 full days in London...
how would you all suggest I spend the time from 9-12noon on a Saturday (My train to Paris leaves at 1404 so I figured I should be there at 1320 or 1330?)

Since your train leave from St Pancras, I'd take my luggage to the station and leave it w/ Left Luggage. Then you will be very close to the British Library - or not far from the British Museum.

The British Library opens at 0930 and the British Museum opens at 1000. Both places have good cafes for brunch/lunch.

Oh! I didn't know I can do that a the train station. Never taken a train in my life for cross country travel, except the MRT in Singapore (which is like the tube in London and Metro in Paris, but lesser lines)

I will consider that. I was thinking of going to a market or something, like Covent Garden... since it is a Satuday morning and markets are bound to be lively.

Here is the thing. If I want to spend this few hours in London, I will take a later train to Paris. By the time I reach Paris and settle down in the apartment, almost every
where will be closed. Should I do that or just leave London early and reach Paris by 3,4 pm and still hope to catch some shops that are open?

tt

Is the British Museum doable in 2.5 hours (10-12.30pm)?
If so, then I intend to go there on Saturday, just before I leave for Paris from St Pancras at 1.30pm

Or is going to a market/walk in a park a better idea and go to the Musuem on a weekday? (I will be staying at Chesterfield Mayfair)

We rented the "highlights tour" audio guide and, by skipping a few exhibits, saw what we really wanted to see in about that amount of time.

Lee Ann

The Do-It-Yourself approach:

Download and print: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/central_bus_map.pdf

Get free at Tube station: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/central-london-bus-map.pdf

Buy at Tube station: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/faresandtickets/oneand3daytickets/1057.aspx

Get on any bus, flash your pass at the driver, ride as far as you like.

I would love to know the name of the tiny pub near the Goodge St Tube that is famous for their sausages, as mentioned by lynclarke. Anyone help me out?
Thanks.

does anyone know the exact opening hours for Covent Garden Market? I have been looking up the net and finding different hours mentioned, 8am, 9am,or 10am!!
I only have until 12, 12.30pm at the market... so hopefully it opens early! (Need to get to St Pancras at 1pm for the 2pm train!)

does anyone know the exact opening hours for Covent Garden Market?

My "London for Dummies" book says it's open 9:00 - 5:00

thank dorfan!
9 would be great!

i'm planning to go London for 3 days in Nov, then to Paris...was browsing around the site for ideas for 3 days in London. i cant believe there is so much information just here. thanks for sharing everyone.

The Covent Garden Antiques market opens at 7 AM on Mondays the shops start opening at 9. A few of the cafes open earlier

swtyboo: Welcome to Fodors! Just a hint to help you get more from the forums. It is usually (there are exceptions but generally) better to start your own new thread when planning a trip, instead of tacking on to an old thread.

Your posts can get buried/overlooked - plus many folks will end up answering the OP's questions and not even notice they are for a trip that was finished more than a year ago.

hi 3sia,

sorry to disappoint, but Covent Garden is no longer a market, but a rather twee shopping mall built on the site of the old fruit flower and veg market, which moved out to outer London about 20 years ago. the sort of place you are looking for is probably the market held in Berwick Street, in soho. Here's the link:

http://www.londontown.com/LondonInformation/Shops/Berwick_Street_Market/a42d/

and if your DH can't manage without a taste of home any longer, the chinese restaurants in nearby Lisle Street are probably closest to what he craves!

have a great trip!

annhig: See my post just above yours

" . . . . plus many folks will end up answering the OP's questions and not even notice they are for a trip that was finished more than a year ago."

3sica isn't wondering about Covent Garden any more . . .