3 days in London help, please
 

We will be arriving in London on Sunday morning at 8 a.m. on July 31, and leaving Wednesday, August 3rd in the early afternoon.

Here are our basic plans for the 3.5 days. Please give us whatever advice you think will help us out!! Thanks! (We are a married couple in our early 50's. I can't walk as far or as fast as I used to.)

Sunday - arrive at hotel around 10 or 11 a.m. Have lunch, take short nap. Take the Hop on Hop off bus tour in the late afternoon. Caual dinner, go to bed.

Monday - Tower of London from 9 till around noon. Lunch somewhere close. Go to Museum of London for the afternoon. Stop at St. Paul's Cathedral. Nice dinner somewhere that evening.

Tuesday - Westminster Abbey tour, Cabinet War Rooms. Lunch somewhere closeby. London Eye. Maybe a boat ride? Not sure what else that day. Any suggestions? Nice dinner that night. Maybe a London Walk.

Wednesday - V & A early. Lunch and shopping at Harrods. Leave around 2 pm for airport to go to Stockholm for Baltic cruise.

Any suggestions or ideas?

Thanks,

Ginny

Is the London Transportation Museum good? We are not interested in the British Museum for this trip.

If it were me, I would try not to sleep until after dinner. It's a way of overcoming jet lag that's worked for me for years. I'm not saying that I think you should do it, I just want you to know what the rationale is.

A bus tour (two companies* run them) is a good way to rest while seeing some of the city. The boat ride you're contemplating on Tuesday is included in both of them. Since the bus tickets are good for 24 hours, you might want to rearrange the Tower visit if you missed anything the first day. See the Crown Jewels first thing in the morning to avoid long lines. Then join the Yoeman Warder's Tour.

The Transport Museum is interesting if things like how to drive a Tube train or dig a subway tunnel intrigue you. I spent a half a day there.

* bigbus.co.uk & theoriginaltour.com offer various bonuses and their river trips are different.

Actually you've done a pretty good job - not too full/busy for the most part.

Just a couple of suggestions - mainly about Monday. You can eat lunch at the Tower. There are a couple of restaurants w/i the Tower itself and an outdoor cafe just outside the walls at the foot of the bridge. That will let you get a bite to eat and stay longer at the Tower if you wish. Then after the Tower, go to St Pauls before the Museum of London. St Pauls closes to tourists in the late afternoon to prepare for Evensong so it will be closed by the time you finish at the museum. The museum is open later so you can do all three IF you do them in that order. Tower > St Pauls > Museum of London.

Consider going to the theatre on Tuesday night. You can go to the TKTS 1/2 price booth after riding the Eye to see what appeals.

I'd suggest taking the walk up Whitehall from Westminster to Trafalgar Square...hang out with the lions there, and maybe duck into the National Gallery for a little Van Gogh, and/or check out St. Martins in the Fields church (it's also in the square). Wander up towards Leicester Square (if you keep going between the National Gallery and St. Martin's, there's some lovely little streets to get lost on there...

There are great little pubs/restaurants in the area, and it's relatively close to Picadilly a few blocks west of Leicester if I recall correctly...

I think the only thing I wonder about is the Victoria & Albert museum...I'd skip that for a trip up to the special documents room at the British Library...everything from a copy of the Magna Carta, the stamps that sparked the American Revolution, to the napkins The Beatles wrote lyrics to Ticket to Ride, Yesterday, and other songs...not to mention the complete works of Shakespeare. It's quite a room, it's free, and there's SO much to see...but that's me, the history buff talking, as I'm not much of a Royal watcher, even if they are "history". ;)

We're going back in September for a couple of extra nights, and I can't wait!

Happy Travels,

Jules

We will be in London for 4 days in August. How do I set up tickets/tours of these sites from here? (USA) I have been told to purchase tickets now rather than wait til we are there. Any suggestions? Thanks

halcyon: Which sites are you asking about? If you mean the museums -- the V&A, British, etc are all free and no tickets are needed.

For other places like St Pauls, the Cabinet War Rooms or the Transport Museum - you do have to buy tickets but it isn't necessary to buy them ahead of time.

The bus tours run all day every day and you just buy a ticket when you board, or sometimes from a ticket seller standing on the pavement (sidewalk)

For the Tower of London, you can either buy your ticket in the tube station on your way, or if you go there early just buy your tickets at the Tower ticket window. If you go after opening time the lines do get very long so buying at a tube station makes sense.

Thanks for all the replies and ideas! Every tidbit of information is so helpful.

Ginny

There is a deal at londonpass.com that gets you admission to dozens of sites. Whether or not it's right for you depends on what you're planning to see, and how much it will cost.

In any event, it allows you to cut into the head of the line, which can save some time at a few attractions. And it includes a river tour, too.

If you feel like conducting your own bus tour, get a transport pass (bus only or bus/Tube) and print out this map:

<b>http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/pdfdocs/cen_bus.pdf
</b>

If you go in the &quot;original bus tour&quot;, it will take you to the Tower of London.

Suggestion: I would not take the bus ride on the first day. You will be tired and get sleepy on the bus. Besides, the bus stops on all the sights you want to see. If you take the bus early monday morning, you can see most of them in one day - and even take the boat tour at day's end.

Have Fun!

Give yourself enough time if you are going to do the Eye. You will wait on long lines and the Eye itself goes very very slow. I was not that impressed with the British Museum. Lots of Mummys. I hear the Tate and British Tate are excelent.