My husband and I will visit London the first time in Nov.
Need some help.
We will arrive on 10/31 and will be there for 6 days. I have a list of places and attractions we want to do, but I have trouble to put it together.
Ghost Tour - since we arrive on 10/31
Changing of Guard,
Kensington palance,
Tower of london,
St Paul Cathedal,
Chislehurst Caves,
Chelsea FC Stadium,
Take a tour to Windsor, Bath and Stonehenge,
British Museum,
Notting Hill,
Westminster Abbey,
Trafalgar Square,
and may be Greenwich.
Can I do all the above in 6 days?

My husband is a football fan. How much does a football jersy cost? Where can I find it?

I am thinking to purchase 7 days tube travel card. Is it unlimited ride in 7 days?

Thank you for your help in advance.

This is a bit too ambitious for mere mortals.

Some specific points to ponder.:I am unfamiliar with the Ghost Tour, but , assuming you are coming from North America, would you be able to do that the first day you arrive?-most folks are too jet-lagged to contemplate guided tours...

You need to get hold of some maps of England, side-trips like Bath and Stonehenge are not doable in the time lines you suggested.

The football jersey question is not something I can help with, but you certainly can visit the stadium, but you would have to figure out about tickets in advance to get access..

And, yes, I think that the Thames cruise down to Greenwich is a fun part of any trip to London.

The rest you can probably manage with careful planning, decent city maps and guidebooks (Here is a novel idea, try Fodors!)

When I was last in London (last December) I bought a - "football" - soccer jersey as a Christman gift for a friend. Harrod's had 10 or 12 teams represented. Quite colorful and very sturdy. The cost was about $120.

That's too much in 6 days considering you might experience some jet lag but a hop on, hop off bus tour will let you see main sights even if you don't hop off at all of them.

Places like St. Paul's and Westminster take at least an hour to see. And the British Museum, well, that would take days to see all it has to offer.

www.walks.com to check for the ghost walk which I've done and is good fun.

Guy Fawkes Day is Nov 5 and there are fireworks displays along the river, I believe.

www.changing-the-guard.com for times and days

The caves are outside London in Bromley, Kent http://www.chislehurstcaves.co.uk/

Bath and Stonehenge is pretty well an entire day out of London.

Tube travel cards are sold for different zones; I don't think a 7 day pass is worth it for you - but I suppose it depends on where you're staying.

A 7 day travelcard loaded onto an Oyster card should be cost effective for 6 days of travel in London.

Football jersey's can be found in every sport shop or the club shop

I agree with LJ. We were only able to stay awake that first night until 8pm. I do recommend any of the London Walks mentioned by Sally. We did the Jack the Ripper walk and really enjoyed it.

I think Sally is right, that's a lot for 6 days. I do recommend Stonehenge if you want a tour outside the city, but as Sally said it will take a day.

Enjoy London!
Amy

You don't say what time you arrive on 10/31 or where you will be staying. The Ghost Walk is on Wednesday nights only, so you would have to do that your first night, and that will be pushing it due to jet lag. But, say you REALLY want to do it, my suggestion would be Kensington Palace (not much to see aside from whatever exhibition they have - so its easy). Then to Trafalgar, where you can catch the Hop On/Off Bus tour. Then take your Ghost Walk.

Now, for the rest of your list. Changing of the Guard is at 11:30 a.m. Very little time to see anything before that. so that is one morning taken up. The Tower is best when it opens around 9:30. That would be another day, unless you want to spend a lot of time in lines. See the Jewels first, then take a Beefeater tour, then see what you want on your own.

Windsor can be done in a half day.

Chelsea FC Stadium (Stamford Bridge) has tours at 11, 1, and 3 ( http://tinyurl.com/gxm7z )

Bath and Stonehenge is a whole day tour (lots of tour companies have this).

Notting Hill is probably best on a Saturday when you can go to the Portabello Road Market, otherwise, it's just another London neighborhood.

Greenwich can also take half a day. Take the Docklands Light Railway to the Cyprus station and then walk under the Thames in the Foot Tunnel. DON'T think about all that water overhead!

I don't know anything about the Chislehurst Caves.

That should get you started on determining what you want to see. You have a lot of things that take up a good half day/whole to get to and then look around. You will have to figure out what is important to you.

Oh, I forgot. After you get the football jersey for your husband, be careful where he wears it. I have seen signs outside pubs that say "No Football Colors Allowed" or some such.

As far as how much you can/can't do on day one is up to you. We fly from the US (east coast) and it doesn't matter if we have a day flight or an over night flight, jet lag is never an issue with us. We land, go to the hotel, drop our stuff and go! First night we get a decent night's sleep and from then on it's like we never left home as far as adjusting to the time. However I realize that some can barley function after an overseas flight - it is an individual thing. If you can do the ghost tour I think it would be great - go for it!

Chislehurst Caves?? - During an already too short first visit to London? In November?

Certainly would not be my choice. They are a fun but fairly hokey attraction near Bromley. I can think of - Oh, probably - 400 or 500 places that would be a nicer day out from London.

You simply do not have time for all of these trips out of town. Choose at VERY most one of: Windsor, OR Bath, OR Chislehurst, OR Greenwich. (And it is semi-likely you won't have enough time for even one)

While some might say what you propose is too ambitious, I say, Go For It!!

Here was our final 3 days of our 10 day UK trip in April. Realize we had a car for the 1st day...

Day 1...Bath, Stonehenge, Avebury, on to London. Midnight in Picadilly & Covenant Gardens.

Day 2...Westminster, Parliament, British Museum, Buckingham Palace. Our hotel (Thistle Charing Cross -- Priceline $90/night) was a couple of blocks from Trafalgar Square so we went through it regularly. Night trip to Covenant Gardens and the theater district.

Day 3-- Lovely stroll down the Embankment, Tower of London, Speaker's Corner (got into some great arguments, ha ha), bus rides all over central London.

Wife and I are in our 50s, so we aren't youngsters, we just like to see and do alot. You should see what we have planned for our Italy trip over Christmas.

Oh and the tube pass works well. We used the tube if we wanted to get somewhere quick, but preferred the bus when we wanted to see stuff.

Have fun, you can do it.

Dave

Thanks so much for all the advises.

I will arrive at Gatwick about 7:30am on 10/31 and stay at Holiday Inn Forum. We fly from US east coast.

I can't decide I want to go crazy do as much as possible or want a lay back relax trip. Both me and my husband are in early 30s. I guess I will know when I get there.

I need some suggestion about food.
Anything I should try other than Fish and Chip.
I would like to have one nice dinner budget about US$40/person, other time may be US$10-15.

Thanks again.

Ivy

It will be difficult to do dinner for 10-15 US per person; it would be okay in pounds maybe, but definitely not in dollars. You'd need to do takeaways from grocery stores or M and S. I second getting an Oyster card for transit. I think your schedlue is doable, but I think you have to many dayrips. Do Grenwich or Bath or Windsor. I'd recommend some of the free museums like National Gallery or Portrait Gallery and Tate Britain, unless you aren't so much into art. You can fit more in if you take advantage of nights when certain museums are open quite late.

If you meal budget is that low you will definitely have some problems. $10 is just barely over £5 - enough for a lunch of a prepared snadwich, small bag of chips and small soft drink - but not a sit-down dinner anywhere. $15 = less than £8 - so enough for a very casual sit-down lunch but not many dinners.

your "splurge" budget of $40 is about £21 - that is what you can expect to pay in most casual cafes/restaurants w/ maybe one glass of wine.

oops - just noticed JoeTro posted while I was writing this. Basically we agree on your food budget.

This may seem a cheeky comment - but if $5 to $10 is what you hope to spend for meals - then I would most definitely forget about (expensive) day trips out of town and use that money to improve your options in London . . . . .

Oops - that last bit should have said " . . . if $10 to $15 is what you hope to spend for meals . . . ."

Or if your husband doesn't buy a football jersey ($120), then you'll have an extra $20/day for your food budget.

Just to echo the others, with your food budget, you're looking at buying groceries at supermarket and making sandwiches at your hotel room.

You'll have better luck with your budget eating at small ethnic restaurants which are cheaper - such as Indian, Greek gyros, Chinatown, or all-you-can-eat pizza at Pizza Hut etc.

i'd get a ticket for the tourist bus - it last 24 hours and you can get on and off whenever you like - t will take you to all the main touristy bits. Plus if you see somethng interesting you can get off and explore.

I'd add Camden market for sunday morning - just for the atmosphere.

Don't bother with Chislehurst Caves. They are quite a way out from London proper, so will take up quite a chunk of time.
They are not beautiful natural caves full of stalegtites/stalegmites/interesting caverns etc. It's just an old shallow mine - literally just a network of man-made tunnels. It's not even interesting from a mining history point of view to be honest, not like going down an old coal or tin mine. You just walk round a load of tunnels that are like big corridors. It has it's appeal (despite sounding negative I do like it) but honestly only worth it if you happen to be in the area.

Also worried about your budget if you think $40 will be a nice dinner and you can normally eat for $10-$15. You need to at least double your food budget - and that will only let you eat in fairly normal way, not special holiday treats or anything.