LynAK

I'm overwhelmed with the options and would really appreciate some guidance in what to do when.

The dates:
Arrive Thursday June 25 9:35 am into Heathrow from US
Depart Wednesday July 2nd 9:50 am from Gatwick

The people:
My husband and myself, ages 58 and 54; first trip to London for husband, 3rd trip for me but first trip to UK since 1976, husband does not like crowds (!) or things too "touristy"...he's a great cook and interested in food, markets, etc.
Daughter #1, age 30--first overseas trip, up for anything
Daughter #2, age 12--does not like "tours", OK with museums that have hands-on exhibits, doesn't like art museums much. Good with parks, botanical gardens, prefers to be outside.

Where we're staying:
Flat near Sloane Square Tube Station

Some places I think we'd like:
Tower of London
Ceremony of the Keys (have tickets for Saturday night)
Hampton Court Palace
Harrods
Speaker's Corner
A market or two(Borough? Portobello? Others?)
Science museum and/or Natural History museum
Kew Gardens
Play or Musical (recommendations?)
Anything else?

I'm going to try to not think about money TOO much, but we want to minimize costs when possible...picnics, free stuff, etc.

I have traveled a lot and I enjoy just spending time watching people, hanging out in parks, browsing in markets and shops, etc. but I don't want to my family to miss out on "must-see" things. I don't want to try to pack in too much stuff...must have time to relax and soak up the scenes.

Trying to figure out what to do when is being difficult for me.
Thanks for any help.

texasbookworm

I would include the British Museum--enough variety for the 12 year old to enjoy most likely.

Google "walks in London"--there are so many varieties both free and to pay a small price for. I've got a million maps (not really but lots) for all sorts of different walk itineraries for our upcoming July visit. There are some free ones to put on your ipod. These walks--whether off the internet or in a guide book or on an ipod--are extremely varied, so you can all find something you like, and will get you in different neighborhoods--and mostly just free look-at-this stuff! When I was there in 2005, walking around, whether with a plan or not, was just about our favorite thing.

(On my previous visit with my then 16 year old, she loved best the Tower, the British Museum, a musical at night, walking to and through all 5 major parks, Hampton Court, and the tube!)

And keep checking the Fodor threads; I've picked up a lot of ideas since I started planning the trip in January.

avalon

You must take DH to Borough Market, preferably on a Friday.....he'll tink he's in Hog Heaven. We go to London about twice a year and wenever miss going. Make sure you check out all the stands and then some of the permanent shops , like Neal's Yard cheese shop. Wright Brothers is a good place for a sit-down lunch...or just graze thru the market,

janisj

If you husband does not like crowds - you may have a huge problem. Borough and Portobello Rd markets are terrific but also <b><u>extremely</u></b> crowded. And London in general is a very busy/crowded place. Just so you can prepare him.

You can get away from all those folks by taking a walk across Hampstead Heath -- you will think you are out in the country and the views across the entire city from parliament Hill are amazing

RM67

Harrods is horrible. Liberty is much more interesting and much more 'British'.

janisj

Harrods will be VERY crowded too - Liberty less so. . . . . .

(They sometimes have to close off the Harrods exit from the tube station when the entrances to the store back up so much no one else can enter)

Ceidleh

Your daughters may like the Camden Locks market - a little funkier than the others if they want to buy clothes, jewelry or other accessories (and they have some good takeaway food stalls if you are there around lunch).

The London Eye is another option provided it isn't raining or foggy out...especially good right around sunset.

I think the Victoria &amp; Albert Museum used to have an area where kids could try on clothing from the past (hoopskirts, corsets, etc.) and it's a great museum. It's right near the Natural History Museum (also really good). And both museums are a short walk to Hyde Park where you can picnic, see Speakers Corner, the Diana Memorial Fountain and rent a paddleboat or lawn chair.

Bree

Your husband would probably enjoy the Books for Cooks bookshop in Notting Hill. In addition to a vast selection of cookbooks and other books about food, they also offer cooking classes, several of which will take place while you're in London, according to the listing on their website:

http://www.booksforcooks.com/

Londonres

Borough Market now opens on a Thursday as well (11am - 5pm), and it tends to be less crowded then.

Close to your apartment is Partridges Food Market - Saturdays (10am-4pm) in Duke of York Square.

This article gives other options:
http://www.timeout.com/london/features/1968.html

You can get to Kew by Tube from Sloane Square (get a westbound train going to Richmond). It's a 5 minute walk from Kew station. There's lots of space for walking about and having a picnic.

You are staying close to the Royal Court Theatre which is known for producing new plays. See the following:

http://www.royalcourttheatre.com/default.asp

Hampton Court has interesting kitchens. The V&amp;A Museum British Galleries might be worth a visit.

The London Wetland Centre is easy to reach and less touristy. Take a tube west and get off at Hammersmith. (Don't get on a Wimbledon train) Then catch a 283 &quot;duck bus&quot; from stand K in the bus station, above the tube station. It takes you right to the entrance. see:
http://www.wwt.org.uk/centre/119/lon...nd_centre.html

LynAK

Thanks for all the great suggestions.

Here is a starting itinerary:

Thurs (arrive 9:45 am)--
afternoon get over jet lag, wander around our neighborhood, get groceries, maybe go to Harrods which isn't too far from us.

Friday
a.m. Tower of London (is this too much for first real day in London? could move Tower to Monday or Tuesday a.m.--but is it better to have seen the rest of the Tower before the Keys ceremony?)
p.m. Borough Market

Saturday
a.m. Museum (which one?)
p.m. ??
late p.m. Ceremony of the Keys back at the Tower

Sunday
a.m. Speaker's Corner/wander around Hyde Park
Changing of the Guard 11 a.m (is this right?)
p.m. Museum?
evening Play or Musical?

Monday
Hampton Court Palace

Tuesday
?? want an easy day as we have early flight out the next morning.

Any suggestions/alterations/additions are welcome.

lennyba

If you're planning to do Kew you might want to do it on the same day as HCP, they are not far apart.

janisj

Friday afternoon at Borough Market will probably be very crowded - but it makes a perfect &quot;two-fer&quot; w/ the Tower.

A reasonable day would be the Tower first thing in the a.m., walk across the bridge and head to Southwark Cathedral and Borough mkt. Then walk along the river to the Globe and Tate Modern.

Doing the Tower first or the Keys ceremony first really doesn't matter much one way or the other. It is just doing them on the SAME day that really doesn't work too well. You'd have to go to the Tower, then to some other part of town, then back across to Tower Hill late in the evening.

Sunday is not a good day for the theatre - most theatres are dark on Sundays. Only about 3 or 4 have sunday performances - the Lion King and a couple of others. There are plays every other night of the week. I'd re-think your entire Sunday - Speakers' Corner is worth maybe 30 mins max and the changing of the Guard REALLY eats up time -- you need to be there quite early to get a vantage point and then you just have to stand around waiting for an hour til something happens. As much as you want to see it - I really think about dropping it altogether.

texasbookworm

We will be in London the end of July, staying in Belgravia which isn't too far from where you will be, and I've been juggling possible itineraries, so I know your probable sense of &quot;too much!&quot; For DH and I, I had planned on the Tower on our first full day--Tower, walk across bridge, do South Bank on along long walk. I've now tentatively moved that day for us to a Friday so we can hit Borough Market, so I would say that unless you're really overwhelmed by jetlag, your Friday plan works (you will have all Thursday afternoon to recupe). Look at all the stuff along the south bank that you COULD plan to see, which will fill up a whole afternoon.

I am planning to avoid the Tower on the weekend. Also planning to avoid museums on the weekend.

Have you considered the Nottinghill/Portobello area? It's very crowded, but if your husband just knows that everywhere is probably gonna be that way, maybe he won't be surprised at least (my DH is the SAME WAY!). On our day in this area, I plan to drop by Books for Cooks store, as someone mentioned in post above--it's near this area and serves lunchtime food sometimes, I've read. So DH might like this stop.

Definitely think of taking your daughter to the British Museum one of those days.

Are you allowing time for all those typical photo ops, around Buckingham Palace/Westminster/Big Ben/Thames? You'll want to do that, maybe after guard change?

Would you be interested in Shakespeare at the Globe? Check out their website for what will be showing while you're there; Sunday shows are a little earlier in the day, and they have a few matinees--but maybe not into Shakespeare?--just a suggestion.

Vttraveler

It's hard for me to imagine visiting London w/o including Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament

The 12 year old might like doing a brass rubbing. There is a center at St. Martin in the Fields

noe847

Hi Lyn-

I'm around your age and have been to London several times with one or the other of my two daughters. My husband and I will be returning to London in 2 weeks and I cannot wait! Here are some thoughts about your trip:

You might want to go to the Westminster area on your first day. There's nothing like the 'wow' factor of coming face to face with Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster, etc. right at the beginning of the trip. In one sense they are 'touristy', but they really say 'London'. You could then walk across the bridge and ride the London Eye for great views of the city and the river. We did this our first day and it was really fun. On a pretty day there are street performers near the eye, and ice cream stands. We checked the weather forecast right before we left for the trip and bought tickets online for the first day.

I think going to the Tower before the Ceremony of the Keys would be preferable but not necessary. At the Ceremony you will not go very far into the complex, so it's nice to have a sense of the 'lay of the land'.

We found Borough Market to be very manageable crowd-wise on a late Friday afternoon. I've heard it is quite busy at lunch hour, though.

I've also been there early on a Saturday morning. It got more crowded as the morning progressed. If you were to come in from the back side (near the fixed shops), the crowd is thinner. In the most crowded area I got slammed in the ankle with someone's market cart which really hurt! I don't know if this is still the case, but as of last spring the toasted cheese stand was only there on Saturdays (smells divine but I've yet to try it). You will definitely want to visit Neal's Yard Dairy, although they also have a location near Covent Garden.

Like yours, my younger daughter is not much for museums, especially art museums. She did enjoy seeing the dresses at the V&amp;A. She liked the Tower (the Crown Jewels, the White Tower and the Yeoman Warder's tour).

We enjoyed shopping along the King's road near Sloane Square. There's a vintage clothing shop which my girls liked: Steinberg and Tolkein, 193 King's Road. It's not cheap but fun poking around on the two levels and the sale room in the back.

Another thing to consider is going to Portobello Market on the Friday afternoon. We did that on our first visit to London, because we were not there over a Saturday. Lots of the booths were set up and my daughter found a fantastic vintage dress (that she was able to wear to an event during her high school graduation week). We got a feel for the market without the crowd.

I recently read a trip report of someone who went to Speaker's Corner and said that it did not get lively until later in the morning (or was it early afternoon?)

I've not been, but you can see the Royal collection of coaches and stables at the Royal Mews right behind Buckingham Palace. Personally I'd skip the Changing of the Guards and just walk by the Palace, see the guards in their watch posts, take a picture, etc. You can also see the Royal Horseguards in Whitehall. The changing of the horseguards is entertaining and much less crowded.

LynAK

How about this?

Thursday-arrival day, chill out, get supplies for flat.

Friday-Tower in morning, Borough Market in afternoon

Saturday-Museum, Hyde Park/wander in parks, Ceremony of Keys in evening.

Sunday-Hampton Court Palace and Kew Gardens (too much for one day? but they are nearby so maybe OK?)

Monday-Westminster Abbey, Parliament, Museum, theatre in the evening

Tuesday- ??

My husband knows there will be crowds at various things, and he'll be OK..but it is hard to figure out how to make everybody happy. For example, my husband LOVES museums. He could spend all day slowly moving through a museum reading all the information cards. My youngest daughter, though, tends to be pulling me by the arm to try to hurry us on when we're in a museum...so maybe we will need to split up sometimes. Somehow, the London Eye does not appeal to me...is it really so great?

Interesting comments about Liberty vs. Harrods. Harrods is relatively close to us, though. Daughters will really like to browse together in stores. Maybe they can do this while Husband and I do an art museum!

noe847

A great addition to your Monday for the entire family would be the Cabinet War Rooms which is now combined with a newish Churchill museum - which has lots of interactive displays. The rooms themselves are fascinating; the audio guide is great. It is very near to Parliament, and also across the street from St. James Park and duck pond.

Then your girls could go up to Covent Garden/ Seven Dials and explore - cute shops, street performers, lots of activity - and you and your husband could go to the National Gallery/National Portrait Gallery.

You could all meet up for dinner in the Covent Garden area - something like Belgo Centraal.

janisj

And don't count Parliament as a site/time commitment. You cannot go inside - it is just a &quot;walk by&quot; on your way to the War rooms or the Eye (yes, it is that great) or the Abbey.

Nothing wrong w/ splitting up now and then -- be sure to ask for a second set of keys to the flat.

Hampton Court in the a.m. through just past lunch time (eat in one of the cafes in the palace and Kew in the late afternoon is a great day. If it is stormy you can skip Kew and take the train back into town for one or another museum.

Londonres

I wouldn't go to Harrods for provisions on day 1. You are staying near a branch of Waitrose, down the King's Road. I suggest that you wander down King's Road, look in at Partridges (Duke of York Square) check out other shops, buy provisions in Waitrose and return by bus (eg number 11) or a taxi.

You can do Harrods any time, but early or late are the least crowded times. Get a bus up Sloane St (C1, 137, 19, 452 or 22). Opening times are:
Main Store
Monday to Saturday - 10am to 8pm
Sunday - 12 noon to 6pm

Selected Food Halls Open
Monday to Saturday - 9am to 9pm
Sunday - 12 noon to 6pm

Hampton Court and Kew in the same day might be too much. It takes over a hour to get from Hampton Court to Kew and you have to change buses. There could be more direct rivers trips, but they take hours. I would recommend just doing Hampton Court, and taking a picnic to eat in the gardens. You would then have time to go on the London Eye or walk across to Westminster when you return to Waterloo.

jay

Lyn,

The Kew/Hampden day is a good idea. Richmond is a nice area. We have been many times as our daughter goes to Richmond University. I also recommend the Camden Market. Your 12 yr old will love it. Probably your older one as well. The food court at Harrods is very fun but the rest of the store is out of my price range. You can get little mustards sauces etc. for a reasonable price. Also find out when the trooping of the colors is. I think it may be around the time you are there. You can email me with Q's.