London Itin. Help / Review & Tube Question

Airports recommend getting to airports for international flights about three hours before your scheduled flight. That's what I did at Gatwick a couple of days ago. I did not encounter any lines and was basically at my gate within an hour of arrival, but since you can't predict how crowded Heathrow will be that Monday (usually a heavy travel day), I'd play it safe and stick to the airport recommendations.

The Picadilly line is the one to take the tube to the airport. This sight gives times and other alternatives: http://www.visitlondon.com/travel/airport/heathrow-airport.

As for the sights you have planned to see, they look do able as long as you are prepared for a lot of exercise and aren't planning to go inside all of those sights, but I do recommend that you move some of your Friday planned sights to Saturday and/or Sunday (Westminster Abbey is open to visitors on Saturdays from 9:30 to 2:30, National Gallery is open Sat and Sun, and Buckingham Palace Changing of the Guard is scheduled to occur on July 18 according to their website). I've heard that you need to be in place before 10 A.M. to get a good position, so since that's about two hours out of your day, I personally haven't been willing to give up that much time and so haven't seen the Changing of the Guard after visiting London three times.

My personal favorites from your list that I recommend going in to see: St. Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, National Gallery, Tower of London, and the British Museum. I love walking over Tower Bridge in the late afternoon or evening and having a meal on the south side on the Jubilee Walk overlooking the bridge and the Tower of London.

Hope this helps.

Thursday and Friday are REALLY ambitious, Saturday more realistic.
Thurs: hop a cab from hotel to Borough Market, stroll a bit maybe nosh. On to Tate Modern which can captivate for hours, judge how much energy you have. Globe is right nearby, stop to see about tickets (but not for that evening, you will be crashing.) Next walk across Millenium Bridge to St. Paul's. After that walk to Tower of London, not a walk by but worth a visit. Then back to hotel to go into a coma.

Fri: Fortify yourself with a good breakfast at the hotel, then off early to Westminster for look see at Big Ben, Parliament, visit Westminster Abbey (opens 9:30). Visit Cabinet War Rooms, then grab a bite before walking across the bridge to ride the London Eye to see Buckingham Palace from the air, forget the overrated changing of the guard. Afterward head to Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery, maybe stop by St. Martin in the Fields.

Sat: British museum is incredible, can spend hours. Picadilly Circus is a drive by - nothing there but congestion, trinket shops, tourists, and pickpockets. Covent Garden shops are better. Leicester Square is primarily tourist traps. If you are at all into theatre check out the TKTS both at Leicester Square. Beware of the burgeoning imitators - there is only one TKTS booth, a nondescript concrete building right on the edge of the square itself.

Sun: Harrod's is open 11:30-6, fit in when you can; it's an icon but if you are looking to economize it will be gazing only. Don't miss the Food Hall, if you go. Never been to Kensington Palace but others have reported that it is a nice visit.

To save time, get tickets in advance - London Eye, Tower of London may be available through your hotel concierge, or if you see a stop for the Big Bus tour you can but tickets from the agent.

As for your return flight, be there and in line at the counter no later than 11:00 AM, a little earlier is better. Lines can be onerous. If you can do online check-in and get your boarding pass and have no bags to check you can head right to security but still allow time. What airline are you flying?
You can take the tube to save money if you have only easily managed baggage. Transfer to the Picadilly line at South Ealing is OK or go to Paddington and take the definitely more expensive, maybe slightly faster Heathrow Express. Allow at least an hour for transit either way. Otherwise I recommend www.justairports.com, have used them a couple times and they were great.

There are Fodorites with better knowledge of London, perhaps they will chime in to add/correct what I offer.

The Big Bus tour is a waste -- very expensive. From where you will be, take the 15 bus. It is one of two routes still running the iconic Routemasters. It goes past the Royal Courts of Justice, down the Strand, through Trafalgar Square, up Regent Street past both Piccadilly and Oxford Circuses and to Marble Arch. There's a tour for you. And if you pair that with a ride on the 9 bus from Trafalgar Square or Piccadilly Circus, you can get to Harrod's, Royal Albert Hall, and to Kensington High Street. The Eye costs 17 GBP. That's now pushing $30. It's on you if you want to pay that price. Guaranteeing a specific time on the Eye costs 27 GBP -- about $45. And it's London, which means the weather may be grey, overcast, rainy, some combination of the same.

You have no chance to pull off your Friday list. Move one of the things you actually have to enter and view (the Abbey, the War Rooms, the Nat'l Gallery) to Saturday because that day is just a bunch of wandering in different plazas (is there a Soho Square?). You can wring all possible amusement out of Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square in about 30 minutes.

I agree that the Changing of the Guard is not worth it.

Transfer from the District line to the Piccadilly at Hammersmith or Baron's Court -- one of those is a cross-platform transfer. Take the Piccadilly to the airport. The Piccadilly will skip four stations that the District will stop at, so why go to S. Ealing? Going to Paddington will mean taking the Circle Line all the way around, then getting out of the Tube and going through the morass at Paddington to catch the train to Heathrow. The Circle Line is sooooo slow and there are probably 2-3 District lines for each Circle line train.

Have to agree about the Big Bus not being a very good deal, we only did it because niece wanted to ride the open top double decker. Sure is handy to be able to buy advance tickets from the agents, though - don't think it is necessary to buy the bus pass to do so. Note that at the tour bus stop closest to an attraction the agents are prohibited from selling tickets for that attraction.
I would not buy a ticket for an appointed time at the Eye.

just a few random notes:

• You cannot visit the Princess Diana Playground. No one w/o young children in hand is allowed to enter and you really can't see much from outside.

• Your Thurs Itinerary is not only crazy -- it is just about impossible. Arriving at 6AM means getting to your hotel about 9:30 if you are VERY lucky. Many long haul flights land in the early AM so immigration can be slow. Then you have to get all the way across almost to Whitechapel. If your room is ready then it will be another hour before you will likely head out.

The only "walk by" is Tower Bridge -- "walk across" is more like it. Tower of London takes 2 - 3 hours minimum, Tower Bridge, St. Pauls Cathedral - at least an hour. Tate Modern - depends on how much of it you tour - but a minimum of an hour - 3 or 4 is just as likely. Shakepeare's Globe Theatre - to walk by - nothing except the time to get there, touring 60-90 minutes. Borough Market - an hour to wander - longer if you eat there.

So you are up to 7-8 hours of "sites" not counting the 60- 90 mins total travel time between all those places. plus meals. Impossible on a good day -- REALLY impossible on arrival day. Places have opening hours - mostly closing between 5 and 6 PM except for St Pauls which closes at 4 PM.

• You need to group things geographically - for instance you are going to Trafalgar Sq one day and then Leicester Sq/Piccadilly/Covent Garden another day (grouped w/ the British Museum). Trafalgar Sq and Leicester Sq are a five minute walk from each other and Pic Circus and Covent Garden are 5 minutes farther in opposite directions. All 4 are very close to each other.

• Ditch the Jack the Ripper walk

• Ditto the Changing of the Guard (you just don't have enough time in your brief visit to devote 2 hours to standing around outside Buck. Palace.

You've gotten good advice from others. As it sounds like you know, you need to prioritize what you want to visit vs. see vs. skip. It's not realistic to visit the Tower, St Paul's and Tate Modern all on your arrival day (it would be really pushing it to do it on a "regular" day). So if you want to visit all three, you'll have to reorganize a bit. The Tower is a good half day; Tate Modern depends on how much you like it. I felt so-so about it and spent 1.5-2 hours seeing most of the rooms. St Paul's is probably a couple of hours.

I agree that skipping the Changing of the Guard is in your best interest. You'd be standing around and waiting when you could be doing so many other things. Your Friday is pretty tight - I think it would be a stretch to visit Westmisnter Abbey, the Cabinet War Rooms and the National Gallery all in one day. Two or those would be doable. If the Jack the Ripper walk is one of the nighttime ones and you'd rather do that instead of a play, go for it.

Not much to see in Leicester Square or Soho, and Piccadilly will take five minutes. Covent Garden is nice for a half hour or an hour, or more if you plan to do shopping there. Otherwise I think you can do the British Museum in the morning and perhaps the National Gallery in the afternoon, or vice versa (leaving the War Rooms and Abbey for the day before). You'll need high museum tolerance for this trip!

I do not find Harrod's very exciting - the only things I can afford to buy are in the food hall or the cheaper souvenirs. It's up to you whether you want to go just to say you've been (or whether you do actually want to shop - clearly some people do or they wouldn't stay in business!).

I agree with most of the replies that have been posted:
- the Changing of the Guards is overrated because most people don't really see anything.
- I would give the Tate Modern low priority unless you really like modern art. There are many other excellent galleries in London - Tate Britain or Courtauld, for example, that you would otherwise find more interesting.

I also recommend the British Library.

Don't forget to buy a copy of "TimeOut" the day you arrive.

Thanks everyone for your thoughts and feedback. My wife has been finishing up a masters class so hasn't seen this post or any responses yet. We know we had a lot on the list especially Thursday. I thought the market might be fun because we enjoy an activity like that and we could walk casually. No plan to hop on the Big Bus. Regarding Harrods, we want to browse & would maybe by some small food items. I know she would like to try to go up in the Eye around dusk. I'll look at the routes suggested to get back to the airport. The route I asked about looked like the most convenient on my map. Thanks again. After my wife looks at this she might have additional questions.

What I tried to post earlier (computer bonked) was that if you're looking for confectionary items, Fortnum & Mason (near Piccadilly Circus) may be preferable to Harrod's food halls. The F&M biscuits were better and the offerings a bit more interesting.

Harrod's confections were geared to the tourist crowd and just about every last one of their shortbreads were made by contract with Walker's -- the shortbread company whose offerings are ubiquitous in the US.

And F&M is just off Jermyn Street, which is a more interesting shopping street than the chain-infested areas of Oxford Street, High Street Kensington, etc.

This is for those that know London better: isn't there a "DAY" for Borough Market? I think maybe it is Saturday, no?

I've been researching my own trip to London next month, and it seems to me that I left BM off my list because I will not be in London on Saturday.

Although the OP will be there on the market day, shouldn't he plan on being there on the right day?

Or is BM a lively area even when the market stalls are not open? That isn't making sense to me, but I would love to hear from someone who knows.

tuscanlifeedit, Borough Market is open Thurs-Sat. Double check its website for opening days and times. Thursdays is probably the least busiest, and Sat is the worst.