9 hour layover in London
 

I have a 9-hour layover scheduled in London from late-morning to early-evening on a Friday in mid-March '04. I've never been to London before and would like some advice on what to do with the short time I have there.

Which airport will you be at?

Keith

I'll be connecting through Heathrow.

With a 9 hour layover you will actually have about 5+ hours free for sightseeing. You can get to Paddington station in 15 minutes on the express train (after a fairly long walk from the terminal). Once you are at Paddington your choices are very wide -- take a taxi to Westminster Bridge and see Big Ben/Parliament, Westminster Abbey, the River and the Eye all withing a few of minutes walk of each other.

Or, take the tube to anywhere - the V&A or The British Museum or even the Tower of London.

or finally, you could catch one of the hop-on-hop-off bus tours and just ride around on the open to double decker. You can get off anywhere along the route and then catch another bus in a few minutes.

Just be sure to be back at LHR at least 2 hours prior to your on-going flight.

I like Janis's itinerary of Westminster Bridge, Big Ben/Parliament, Westminster Abbey, the River and the Eye. That's a good little compact snapshot of London. Enough to whet your appetite for a return trip.