annettetx

Good evening, all;

DH and I have a quick 2 days in London on our way to France to catch a cruise. We first went to London 30 years ago for our honeymoon, and have been back several times since then. This will be our 9th opportunity to spend time in London. (I'm not as frequent of a visitor as janisj, but it's my goal!).

We have our two days pretty well plotted out, I think:
We're arriving from the U.S. on a Thursday night 9:30p, and we're hoping that by flying during the day, we're tired when we land, can go to sleep at a reasonable time, and avoid most of the jet lag. (If anyone has a experience with a daytime flight over, I'd love to hear it.)

Day 1 --
Tickets to tour the Palace of Westminster at 9:40a (the tour should last about 2 hours)
Lunch at Borough Market (one of our favorite places)
Temple Church -- There is a London Walks tour of the Inns of Court at 2p. Does anyone know if this tour goes in to Temple Church as well?
Dinner reservations at 8p.

Day 2 --
We're looking for a good place for a full English breakfast somewhere near our hotel (Hotel Indigo -- Paddington, located on London St.). I'd love suggestions if anyone has someplace specific in mind. I think we'd like someplace where we can linger over tea and the paper.
We're planning (weather permitting) to spend the rest of the day walking down the Thames Path from Putney to Richmond.

Thanks in advance!

MmePerdu

"We're planning (weather permitting) to spend the rest of the day walking down the Thames Path from Putney to Richmond."

An utterly useless comment, you'll be walking up, not down, the Thames in that direction. Maybe more useful, when you get just past Kew Bridge make a left for a detour through Kew Gardens, a world of wonder. Three weeks ago I walked in the other direction, from Ham House, and saw my favorite gallery in the world, well, maybe 1 of 2 favorites, the Marianne North Gallery in the gardens, all shiny & restored to it's Victorian glory since I was there last. Also Kew Palace which I'd never visited before. Just off the path past Kew and before Richmond Bridge are the remains of Richmond Palace where Elizabeth I died. Then past Richmond is Ham House, if you've got an another mile or so in you. Have a wonderful walk and just take an umbrella.

someotherguy

To add another useless comment: at Richmond Bridge (on the south side), you can marvel at the bust of Bernardo O'Higgins and wonder "why does the liberation hero of Chile have a bust in Richmond, and why does he have an Irish name?"

A Full English does not require exceptional culinary talent--but do make sure they use proper ("field") mushrooms--so any place with other customers should be OK.

I always take the daytime flights. They save days of disorientation. A daytime flight in coach is better than a redeye in business.

annettetx

Gotcha. Up, not down. Should have just stuck with "walking the Thames Path from Putney to Richmond."

Thanks for the advice about Kew Gardens, the Palace there, and the Marianne North Gallery! (Just out of curiosity -- what is your other favorite gallery?)

Our main objective is to get to Richmond, since we spent quite a bit of time there when DH's company had an office in the area. We're definitely planning to get to The White Swan pub, and then perhaps take the ferry over to Ham House and walk back over to the Richmond Station via Richmond Park.

One of my best memories is from our first visit to Ham House, when we walked out to the Cherry Garden without knowing what to expect, and found the lavender in full bloom. Beautiful! I'd love to see that again, but our visit at the end of this month might be a little to early for the lavender...

Cheers...

MmePerdu

From the White Swan Pub in Richmond you're about a 1 minute walk from Richmond Palace, tucked away down an alley a few steps from the pub. Pub is on left as you come from the path, a few steps more, a right turn will take you to Old Palace Yard. I felt like I'd found a secret place.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richmond_Palace


My other favorite is the National Portrait Gallery, London.

annettetx

That's exactly what I was hoping to hear about the flight, someotherguy!

And puzzling memorials are part of what makes London fun. Good to have something to look for!

annettetx

MmePerdu -- I misspoke again. It's The White Swan in Twickenham that's our favorite...

I completely agree about the remains of Richmond Palace! I quite felt that I had found something special when we found the Gate House of the Palace. Now I know to be a little more persistent and walk down Old Palace Yard.

MmePerdu

Well, I walked past the one in Twickenham, too! The day before I walked the path from Hampton Court to Ham House, took the ferry across and passed it on the way to Twickenham station, took pictures along that pretty road with the footbridge going over just to the west of the White Swan, thinking now wouldn't this be a nice place to live.

lolfn

The day flight was always my preference when I traveled frequently to UK for business. I'd suggest a sleep aid for that first night as you will be trying to go to sleep hours earlier than you are used to. If not, you will probably wake up a number of times, like you had taken a nap. But it is so much better than the redeye.

annhig

which cruise are you going on, annette?

I only ask because I just got back from a cruise down the Rhone, and I'm interested to compare notes with people who have cruised other rivers.

Enjoy London!

Cathinjoetown

Do you want a splash-out English breakfast? Any of the grand hotels would do.

Around Paddington there are still, I believe, lots of cafs that serve full breakfasts for £3-4, sort of luck of the draw on quality and not great places to linger.

The Wetherspoons pub chain does reasonable breakfasts. There used to be some good spots for breakfast over on Queensway, one was an Austrian patisserie which did breakfasts, continental or traditional English. No idea whether or not it's still there.

The most comfortable and linger-able place might be your own hotel. I don't know your river walk, probably there are places along the walk.

annettetx

Thank you all for the advice!

I've got some melatonin, lolfn - may think about throwing it in the suitcase.

Annhig -- we're on the Oceania Riviera from Monte Carlo to Barcelona. We've not cruised on any European rivers (yet) - have only cruised down the Mekong River from Phnom Penh to Saigon. Fabulous trip! We were on AMA Waterways. Which line did you sail with?

Cathinjoetown -- our splurge meal will be dinner at the Four Seasons (where we stayed on our honeymoon. I'll look up Wetherspoons and see what else shows up on Queensway.

janisj

If you want to go as far as Portobello Rd -- I like the Electric Diner. Don't know what day of the week -- it would be crazy on a Saturday, but other days is a good option

http://www.electricdiner.com

annhig

Annette - we were on the MS Swiss Corona sailing from Lyon to Avignon via Burgundy and Arles, booked through a UK company called coincidentally Riviera Travel [I suspect that there's a lot of use of the name Riviera in the European travel industry]. I hope you enjoy your riviera cruise as much as well did.

Thank you for mentioning your Mekong river cruise - though I'd heard about them I hadn't thought of it as an option for us, but you have got me thinking. Off to do some research!