Danielle_yn

1st day : arrive London gatwick at 2300 hrs, ( stay at gatwick central hotel)

2nd days : gatwick express to victoria ( hostel check in at 2pm)
:bus tour for 3 hours

3rd day : natural history museum, science museum, V&A , kensington palace, winter wonderland.

4th day : westminster abbey, walking around house of parliament, walking around south bank, tate moderm and tate britain.

5th day : st james park,buckingham palace, queen gallery,royal mews, walking around st james palace, green park to westminster for themes river to greenwich

6th : st paul's cathedral, monument, tower of london, london bridge, city hall

7th :golden tour to windsor castle and hampton court palace.

8th,somerset house, london transport museum, covent garden,

9th : ( personal meet up friends),

10th :london eye, sea life aquarium, madame tussauds ( because this is one day ticket), Harrods.

11th : leicester square , national gallery,national portrait gallery, trafalgar square, china town.soho

12 : british museum, british library, wellcome collection.

13th : half day only ( play around oxford street) back to gatiwick airport by gatwick express.

any suggestion ?????

Danielle_yn

hope that can make a day trip to paris.... how should i adjust my itinerary ???

joannay

I never know quite what to make of itineraries like this one. Lots of good stuff on it but with as many days as you have to do them do you really need to know exactly which day you'll do what.

My preference is more of a free form list with addresses, tube stops, open hours, days closed. Then while I'm having my first cup of tea I think, what do I feel like today. Often I don't get everything on the list done but every day I've done exactly what I felt like doing and that seems to me more the point. I recommend it.

joannay

One suggestion, Dennis Severs' House (fantastic):
http://www.dennissevershouse.co.uk/

janisj

see my post on your other thread.

walkabout

You have grouped the sites by area, which is good, but you also have packed a <u>lot</u> into each day. For example, on Day 3 you are going to 3 museums and Kensington Palace, all of which are open from about 10 AM-6PM. That's a lot for 8 hours. Plus Winter Wonderland, which is open from 10 AM-10PM. Whew!

I think one of the biggest mistakes travelers often make is trying to pack too much into their first trip. You have given yourself very little free time each day. But everyone travels differently, and as long as you have the opening and closing times of each site, then you can adjust your schedule as your trip progresses. Perhaps decide which things that you most want to see, and decide which ones are on your "B" list.

Are you traveling over the Christmas holidays? If so, keep in mind that most museums will be closed December 24-26. Also keep in mind that daylight hours will be very short in December and weather will be chilly, which may affect some of your "walking around" time.

A lot of people frown upon long day trips, but I have done them several times. I would rather see a lttle bit of a city than none at all, so if you really want to go to Paris, then do it. Hard to say which day you should cut in order to do that.

You are obviously a museum buff, but I would probably cut Day 11. Or cut Somerset House and London Transport Museum, and combine National Gallery/Trafalgar Square and National Portrait Gallery with Covent Garden. Unless you are buying half-price tickets or going to the cinema, I would skip Leicester Square altogether.

Many people advise first-time visitors to skip Madame Tussaud's, but I did it on my first trip with no regrets. Same with Harrods. Not a fan of the London Eye, but most visitors like it, so you should do it and form your own opinion. The aquarium wouldn't be a must-see for me on a first trip, but again, everyone is different.

I doubt that you will be able to do everything on this list, but that's okay. Just enjoy the sights that you are able to see, remain flexible, and you will have a great time. Good luck to you!

janisj

As Walkabout said -- some of your days are grouped OK.

But not all. For example >>10th :london eye, sea life aquarium, madame tussauds ( because this is one day ticket), Harrods.<< Has you jumping from the your hotel to the Southbank to Marylebone, to Knightsbridge

And as i mentioned on an earlier post on your other thread, that Golden Tour costs £100 (actually £98 if you get the discount) which is a heck of a LOT of £££. Of the tour's 8 hours total - at least 3 hours will be on the coach. Central London to Hampton Court to Windsor and back to central London. Leaving you less than 5 hours - probably more like 4 hrs in 'real life' - for touring the Castle and the Palace. Neither site can be 'done' in 2 hours, but that is how much time you'll have. And paying £100 to get just a glimpse would be a huge waste IMO.

Just go to HCP on your own one day. Easy peasy by train. Then IF you decide you have time for it, another day take the train to Windsor.

nytraveler

I must admit I don;t plan this way - just have a list of what I want to see/do and when things are open. Then decide when to do what bsed on the weather and how late we;ve been up the night before.

I think you will have to be the energizer bunny to do all of the thngs on that list - and you won;t have time to do justice to many of them. Day 3 in particular is 2 to 3 days worth of stuff.

Also - I don;t see any evening activities. What shows wil you be seeing? Eat before or after? Still get up at 8 the next AM? (I must admit part of vacation for me is sleeping late some days and breakfast in bed.)

BigRuss

Yeah, here are some suggestions: stop listing museums to visit and decide what you want to see and why. If you live in NY or Chicago or DC, you don't need to visit a Natural History or Science museum. Similarly, if you live somewhere that has a decent aquarium, why visit the SeaLife Aquarium? It's not like it is some world-renowned aquarium like the one in New Orleans or Barcelona.

Considering that every site will be on winter hours, I have no idea how you can do the day 5 itinerary (and it's the Thames, not themes).

What does "Bus tour for 3 hours" mean on day 2? If it's the hop on hop off, skip it - it costs a bundle and you can see whatever you want by regular London transport for a fraction of the cost.

Do you realize that the Tate Modern and the Tate Britain are not close to each other?

Leicester Square and Soho are thisclose to Covent Garden - the distance between the Leicester Square and Covent Garden stops on the Piccadilly Line is the shortest between two stations on the whole Tube. If you intend to visit them, you don't need to do so on different days.

The London Bridge is a cement arch bridge of neither cultural nor architectural significance. The original London Bridge (that was falling down) is in Arizona somewhere. The iconic bridge near the Tower is the Tower Bridge.

The Golden Tour is a rip off. Take the train from Waterloo rail station to Hampton Court Palace and spend some time there. You have more than enough time to drop something(s) else (Somerset House, Madame Tussaud's, Tate Modern and its modern "art") and take a 1/2 day trip to Windsor.

CarrieAnn40

Buckingham Palace, The Queen's Gallery and the Royal Mews aren't open in December unless you have a private ticket??

The London Eye - consider day / dusk / evening flight

The Churchill War Rooms may be of interest

jent103

I agree with the others that, while you've done some good planning in terms of geography, you are trying to cram a LOT into a lot of these days.

Some notes on your plans:

<i>1st day : arrive London gatwick at 2300 hrs, ( stay at gatwick central hotel)

2nd days : gatwick express to victoria ( hostel check in at 2pm):bus tour for 3 hours</i>

I believe there is a cheaper train to Victoria - do a search here for either Southern or First Capital Connect trains, I can't remember which. The Gatwick Express is nice, but not necessary unless you have a ton of luggage. Like BigRuss, I'm not a fan of the hop-on-hop-off tours in cities with great public transport. You could easily use almost the entire day to sightsee - many of the places on the tours are already on your itinerary anyway.

<i>3rd day : natural history museum, science museum, V&A , kensington palace, winter wonderland.</i>
This is fine for planning, but I would be completely museum-ed out. I'd prioritize these and accept that you'll either be running through all of them or won't make it to more than a couple.

<i>4th day : westminster abbey, walking around house of parliament, walking around south bank, tate modern and tate britain.</i>
I think you'll have to pick one of the Tates, at least if you only have one day to see both. The Modern is probably more of interest to a lot of people, but it's personal choice. Opening hours will also make this a bit rushed, since by the time you walk around Parliament and the South Bank after Westminster Abbey, you'll have more limited time to get to whichever Tate you choose and look around.

<i>5th day : st james park, buckingham palace, queen gallery, royal mews, walking around st james palace, green park to westminster for themes river to greenwich</i>
The palaces will be walk-bys - you can't get into St. James at all, and Buckingham is only open during August and September. Personally I wouldn't want to take a boat ride in December. Basically, I think you could cut this day and do your trip to Paris instead. You can see Buckingham Palace on day 11; it's only a five-minute walk from Trafalgar Square.

<i>6th : st paul's cathedral, monument, tower of london, london bridge, city hall</i>
As BigRuss mentioned, you're likely thinking of the Tower Bridge. Is there something you want to see at City Hall?

<i>7th: golden tour to windsor castle and hampton court palace.</i>
If the Golden Tour really costs that much, I agree - skip it. There are tons of threads here about getting to both these places on your own, though not in one day during the short days of December.

<i>8th: somerset house, london transport museum, covent garden</i>
This would also be a good day to cut. These are good places but not top of my list. Covent Garden can be easily combined with day 11.

<i>9th : ( personal meet up friends),

10th: london eye, sea life aquarium, madame tussauds ( because this is one day ticket), Harrods.</i>
The Eye is fun, but like others, I'd skip everything else. Personal choice, though. If Harrods is a must, it's much closer to Kensington Palace than anything else you have scheduled for this day.

<i>11th : leicester square , national gallery,national portrait gallery, trafalgar square, china town.soho</i>
Leicester Square will take 5-10 minutes - there's really not much to see. You could do Covent Garden on this day as well. Again, two museums in one day might be tough depending on your tolerance. I'm not sure there's much to actually see in Soho, but you're right there so not a problem to walk around.

<i>12 : british museum, british library, wellcome collection.

13th : half day only ( play around oxford street) back to gatiwick airport by gatwick express.</i>

europeannovice

When going to Westminster Abbey you should also see the Churchill War Rooms which is very close by.

You mentioned on the previous post you have the LP.

You can do the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, and take the city cruise to Westminster Pier on the same day. You won't have time for the Abbey but may have time for Churchill depending on closing times in the winter.

From St Paul's you can cross the millenium bridge and arrive at Tate Modern. Take a peek and then a few blocks away is the Shakespeare Theater which is covered under the LP since you want to make use of the pass.

latedaytraveler

“british museum, british library, wellcome collection”

Danielle, Do you mean the “Wallace Collection”? Fabulous, not far from Marble Arch off Oxford Street. But I think that it would be hard to appreciate on the same day that you “do” The British Museum and British Library.

Good luck, obviously you have done your homework but do not be disappointed if you can’t do it all in one trip…

Danielle_yn

i am going on early december,and between, i am not a lover of museum, might can skip certain museum, only go for 1 or 2 museum

walkabout

If you are not a lover of museums, and only plan to go to 1 or 2, why do you have at least <b>15</b> of them listed on your itinerary?

Did you not realize that these places are museums??