While in London, do we need to plan our sightseeing before we go (i.e.- booking trips and buying tickets, transportation, etc) or do we wait until we get there and arrange tours, say a day or so ahead of time,- or even the same day?

The short answer - it depends.

It's definitely good to have a list of what sights you want to see, where they are located, and what days/hours they are open.

Some tours are probably popular and fill up in advance, so if you can post specifically what you want to do, people may be able to offer help on that.

Otherwise, if you're more comfortable "winging it" and just doing whatever sounds good on a particular day, you can certainly do that if you've done a little research in advance. Some people like to have more scheduled itineraries, but whatever works for you will make for a happy vacation!

well - first of all there are very few tours you would need. Almost anything you want to see you can do on your own.

If you mean a verger-led tour of Westminster Abbey or a Beefeaters tour of the Tower or a docents tour of te British Musem - just go to the site and take the tour.

Walking tours in w/ London Walks also don't need advance booking.

From reading your other threads it seems you need to tour with groups to see Stonehenge or Canterbury - there is really no need. The one exception might be the Astral tour inside the ropes at Stonehenge. But just visiting Stonehenge on your own is easy and a LOT cheaper than going w/ a tour company.

oops - menat to say "From reading your other threads it seems YOU THINK you need to tour with groups to see Stonehenge or Canterbury . . . . "

If you want to see the Ceremony of the Keys at The Tower in the evening you have to write ahead for the free tickets. I received them in the US about 10 days after I requested them. If you're interested, I'll look up the address. I took the Eurostar from Paris, arrived in London at 10AM and had very little time to see anything. I had thoroughly researched everything I wanted to see, had my London Transport ticket in hand (which I heard you can't buy once you get to the UK) and was on my way. I wouldn't have had time to decide once I got there what I wanted to do or see. I had already made reservations to fly for a day to Edinburgh from London and had my reservations on the Gatwick Express to the airport also. I'd do whatever you're comfortable with, but I'm a Virgo and I have to be organized. It certainly paid off on this trip.

A very interesting thing to do in London is attend a session of the House of Commons. You can get tickets for the Strangers Gallery by writing to the American Embassy. We chanced to be there the day that Britain's entrance into the Common Market was being debated, and it was the experience of a lifetime. No holds barred!