2 Days in London
 

Stopping for two days in London on the way back from a meeting mid-May. Will be spending a Sunday and Monday with a couple of co-workers (ages 25-30). We'll be flying into Gatwick at 9:40am Sun and flying out of Heathrow at 11:30am Tues. Would love any suggestions on where to stay and what to see in only 2 days. Because of the short time we won't want to spend a lot of time traveling around the city, but focus on one area. We are thinking about taking in a show of some sort, looking for cafes and good food, nightlife and market type shopping. Any suggestions for hotel, sites, and food would be greatlly appreciated. By the way, if it's not obvious, I haven't been to London before and have no idea where anything is (planning on doing some internet research soon). Thanks!

You are going to have almost 2 full days in London so you can actually see quite a lot.

I would book a hotel near Paddington Station for Sun and Mon nights. You take the Gatwick Express from LGW to Victoria station and then a taxi or the tube to Paddington/your hotel. Then on Tuesday a.m. jump on the Heathrow Express from Paddington right to the terminbal at LHR. The HEX takes 15 minutes and is a snap to use.

Now for what to see/do. You can probably drop your bags at your Paddington hotel by about 11:00 or 11:30 a.m. and head out from there. On Sunday afternoon I would consider taking one of the hop-on-hop-off bus tours. It will take you around the whole city and you can get off anywhere to see sites up close and then get on another bus to continue your tour.

There are very few plays on Sundays so you may have to wait until Monday evening to see a show. Two exceptions are Lion King and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged). The Complete Works is hysterically funny and you can easily get tix the day of performance.

Not an awful lot of "night life" on sundays - there is some, but that would be a good evening for either Complete Works or a concert of some sort.

There are some good markets on Sundays but by the time you'd get there most would be winding down. But thare are area w/ a lot of small shops/stalls that you can shop on either Sun. or Mon. But in only 2 days it would be a shame if you didn't see some of the sights - Westminster Abbey (on Monday), the London Eye (either day), maybe the British or V&A museums, or the National Gallery if you are interested in world famous art.

All of these places are on the bus tour routes . . . .

Hi Janis,
Can you please expand on the good Sunday markets? I will be in town over a Sunday and would love to check a few out - thanks in advance!

I missed it on my trip a few weeks ago, but I think that a classic for Sunday markets is Spitalfields in the East End (along with Brick Lane and Petticoat Lane).

Some Sunday Mkts:

Brick Lane - but you probably wouldn't get there in time since it runs from early in the morning til about 1 p.m.

Greenwich - antiques. runs just about all day

Petticoat Lane - from about 8 a.m. til early afternoon

Covent Garden - It runs all day. On Sunday it is mostly clothing w/ some home made crafts.

And spitalfields which closes up aroud 3 p.m.

Check out full English breakfast for less than 4 pounds at Gigi's cafe in Spitalfields.

If you can't get into Lion King (and its very Broadway anyway) try "Stones in His Pockets" at the New Ambassador for a truly UK theatrical experience.

Thanks Janis! I'm definetly interested in the hop-on hop-off tour bus. We're thinking of seeing "Thoroughly Modern Millie" on Monday. Does anyone have any dinner suggestions close to the Shaftesbury Theatre and is there a pub or dancing close by for afterwards or should we head somewhere else?