jlub

As the Christmas song goes (or something like), "I'm sure this has been asked many times, many ways" ... but we've never been to London (unless you count a brutal 10 hour layover with 6 hour delay in LHR many years ago). We're planning to arrive London around June 11 or 12 and then take the Eurostar June 15 where we have a rental home arranged in Paris. We have a 16 year old daughter (so far there are 3 of us), and are not fascinated with art museums, but would love recommendations on what area to stay, must see highlights for a quick stay in London.

mjs

You need to buy/borrow some guide books to London to discover what you might be interested in doing. Three to four days is not a lot of time for London and i for one have no idea as to what you should do with your limited time. Also hard to recommend places for you to stay as we have no idea as to what you want and what is your budget. Probably safe to stay somewhere in fare zone one.

KTtravel

Given that you don't like museums, the first suggestions that come to mind would be Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London, strolling by Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and Trafalgar Square, strolling across Tower Bridge, going for tea and seeing a few plays. Other places I have enjoyed include St. Paul's, the Churchill War rooms and "window shopping" at Harrod's (be sure to check out the food halls.) There is so much to see and do there that I second the suggestion of reviewing a guidebook to see what interests you most.

janisj

Start by clicking 'Destinations' at the top of this page and read up on London. You told us what you don't like, but not what you DO enjoy. Give us a hint . . .

(Is your Paris apartment legal - most aren't )

jlub

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm off to the library tomorrow for guide books for London. I think the issue for me is that there's so much to choose from in the short stay we have in London so I don't know how to narrow it down. mjs, I think our budget is in the $2-300 per night range. If we do end up with just the 3 of us, hopefully a room that will fit us all. I'll do some research on what fare zone 1 means. KTtravel, I think probably every one of your suggestions is on our list to try to see and especially the Churchill War rooms you mention that I have never heard of. Any suggestions for high tea that is affordable? janisj I guess our interests are varied, we like pretty much everything except art museums and opera. My 16 yo is a Harry Potter fan and has a lot of interest in history of WWI and WWII. Our house rental is Paris is through VRBO, I'm not sure how to confirm if it's legal?

greg

Musicals? Shakespeare? Gardens? Castles? Palaces? Ceremonies? Mechanical things? Rides? History?
It is difficult to narrow it down when you don't have anything listed to narrow down from.

thursdaysd

Why not try the V&A, which is a museum but not an art museum. Something for everyone. Plus a very good scone with clotted cream at a very reasonable price in beautiful tea rooms. Or the full works on a Sunday:

https://www.vam.ac.uk/info/va-cafe/

janisj

>> Our house rental is Paris is through VRBO, I'm not sure how to confirm if it's legal?<<

vrbo doesn't mean it is legal . . . or illegal. The only way to tell is if the city registration is included on the vrbo listing. If there is no registration number, it will be an illegal rental.

Re London: Your first day will be pretty much a wash out after accounting for transit, checking in, jet lag -- so don't plan on doing any serious sightseeing that day. That only leaves you 2 or 3 days for the largest city (by a long ways) in Western Europe (by a long ways). It is enormous - much larger than Paris - so don't have a laundry list of things in London. Basically plan on 2 major sites a day and maybe a play or concert in the evening. There are many mega-major sites so no matter what you do you will only see a teensy fraction. I'd consider the Tower of London, one of the major museums (V&A most likely but could be the British), Westminster Abbey, the Cabinet War Rooms -- if you have a total of 3 days in London that would be about all you could manage. With another day you could plug in St Paul's the Imperial War Museum. If you were staying longer you could squeeze in the Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studio. But with her interest in WWI and WWII and Harry Potter - I'd put the Cabinet War Rooms, Imperial War Museum and WB at the top of the list.

https://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk

'High Tea' is not what you want -- it is called Afternoon Tea. All of the posh hotels do very good Afternoon Teas - all need to be pre-booked. Or you could do Tea at Fortnum & Mason in the Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon.

Some good central neighborhoods to look for your hotel (Booking.com is good) would include South Kensington, Victoria, Covent Garden, Bloomsbury/Russell Square, Sloane Square, St James's and others.

Gardyloo

In a previous thread you mentioned that home is the SF Bay Area, right? If so, don't underestimate the fatigue factor with an 8-hour time change and (likely) a 10+ hour travel night/day. So I'm going to recommend something a little out of the ordinary, take it or leave it.

Upon arrival at Heathrow (likely in late morning or early-mid afternoon) instead of heading into central London with all its congestion and expense, think about staying the first night in Windsor. Windsor is very close to the airport and can be reached in 15 or 20 minutes by minicab or car service (NOT a black cab) for around £20. You could stay in the middle of Windsor, near Windsor Castle, almost certainly more cheaply than in central London, and spend the first afternoon and (long) evening strolling around the pretty central part of the town, walking around the castle, maybe even the Long Walk, along the Thames, or across the river to Eton. Get a meal in one of the many cafes or pubs, load up on oxygen after having spent a whole day in a metal tube, and rest up so that your assault on London over the next couple of days isn't spent in a zombie-like daze.

The next morning, you can take the train from Windsor to Paddington in around an hour (one change) for around £10 per person, or arrange another minicab for door-to-door service. Drop your bags at your London hotel and hit the street, this time more rested and less grimy. Just a thought, anyway.

laurie_ann

I think London is one of the best major cities for people who think they don't like museums. Most of them are free. So you can just pop in for an hour or even less and have a look at just one topic that interests you and not feel like to have to spend all day to get your money's worth. Many of them have good casual eating. And are in interesting buildings. Top in that category are the British Museum, Victoria & Albert and the the Natural History Museum. Also many have free docent guided tours either of highlights or of a special topic. Check out their websites to see their schedules.

tuscanlifeedit

There are fairly endless suggestions on the internet for places for afternoon tea, in most price ranges. Googling things like Best Afternoon Tea, Cheap Afternoon Tea, Unique Afternoon Tea, etx, will give you several lists.

I like Fortnum & Mason, but mostly because their jams are my favorites, the room is pretty but serene, service is nice, and you can eat a lot. However, there are certainly cheaper Afternoon Teas. Two that come to mind and The Orangerie and Kensington Palace, and The Wolseley. I've enjoyed both.

Christina

Teh OP never said they didn't like museums, she said art museums.

The City of London Museum is fantastic for history of the city, unless you don't like history either.

I think Kensington Gardens and Palace are nice.

jlub

Wow! This is why you ask Fodorites. Fantastic inputs and suggestions. A brief glance at their websites, V&A museum doesn't look like it's for us. thursdaysd, I do want to try a scone with clotted cream though. On the other hand, both British museum and Natural History do. Having said that, my 16 yo sometimes gets bored and a "bit negative" with some of our ideas - I know no one else has that problem. Gardyloo, you're correct, we're from SF Bay Area and we're getting older (this is actually my "retirement trip"). I love the idea of staying In Windsor for one night and will definitely look into that when we start to book and firm our exact arrival date. We do have about 4 days up front if we decide to extend our trip for extra days in London. janisj, I'll have a look at our booking in Paris to see if it's legal. It was pretty much the only thing large and nice enough for 10 of us in Paris that we found even 6-7 months out. I think your list of priorities will be pretty close to our final list. Now that I'm educated on Afternoon Tea (I previously thought it was high and low tea?) we'll have a look to find something that fits a budget

Gardyloo

"High tea" is a hot meal that originated in working class areas in the north of England and Scotland, usually comprised of something stick-to-the-ribs like a pie and chips, fish and chips, etc. Some people think it was high class tea, but it's quite the opposite.

janisj

One warning re the Natural History Museum. It can get extremely crowded - sometimes really uncomfortably so. Lots of really 'enthusiastic' (read screaming) little dinosaur lovers Since it is free -- you can pop in and if it is overwhelming you can leave and try again another time if you want.

crellston

We found this useful for a few ideas:
https://www.thelondonmother.net/home/teenagers-london

Odin

The Science Museum next door to the Natural History Museum is really good too.

https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/

Bellarosa70032

We're taking our 22-year old granddaughter to London in May, and one of her interests in the Greenwich Observatory, where the Prime Meridian is. I don't know if you have an interest in it or the time, but we've paired it with a boat ride on the Thames before and it was lovely.

isabel

I have to disagree with the suggestion about Windsor. With the short amount of time you have I wouldn't 'waste' time changing hotels, and while Windsor is a nice town, it's small and not 'that' nice - very touristy. The castle requires advance tickets or waiting in line for several hours (even the advance ticket line was huge this past summer). So with only a total of 3-4 days I wouldn't think it should be a priority. Basically I think anything requiring standing in line for more than a hour it not worth it unless it is a very specific interest.

So by that logic I'd reconsider the Museum of Natural History which also seems to have huge lines in recent years.

I would look into some walking tours that are published in most major guidebooks - there are tours you can join but I'm talking about doing it yourself - but with a bit of advance research so you know where you want to go and how to group things. I would think you certainly would want to see the Tower of London and Tower Bridge, and touring the tower might be the one thing worth standing in line for. Westminster Abbey would be the other. But study some maps and guidebooks and design your own walking tours.

Here's my photos of London - they are all labeled so you can see what's what
https://andiamo.zenfolio.com/p398383764

KTtravel

How about each member of your family choose a top priority (or two) for visiting? That way perhaps your daughter will be more enthused if she has a stake in some of the plans. It's worth a try!