strosini

My husband and I are going to be in London in June 2014 for 2 days then off to paris. We are interested in seeing Westminster Abby, buckingham palace, Big Ben, Tower of London, all the major sites. Can anyone give recommendations as to what to see and do. Also what's the best way to see and do things. Is it best to do sightseeing ourselves or guided or just audio tours. All help and advice is appreciated. Thank you.

nytraveler

Sorry - but to see all of the major sights will take a lot longer than 2 days. You can do a walk by and see the outsides of quite a few places - but to actually "see" a major sight is going to take several hours - so you can count on 2 major sights per day - 3 if you can do one at a place that is open in the evening.

For instance:

Tower of London - 4 hours minimum (more if there is a long line to get in - quite possible)
Westminster Abbey (at least 3 hours)
Big Ben and Buck House you will see just from the outside

Not sure what your other major sights are: I wouldn't miss

British Museum
National Gallery
Tate Modern
A boat ride to Greenwich or ?

Also - you don't say if you have 2 full days - of if the first is the day you arrive in London - so you really only have 1.5 days.

If you do Westminster Abbey I would reserve the Verger tour and do the Beefeater tour at the Tower - but you don't need a guide to get around the city - and I think HoHo buses are a huge waste of time.

lanejohann

i went to lomdon back in 2005 late may and was meeting a friend to join a european tour that was starting from london

i arrived from sydney on a saturday afternoon having caught a train from heathrow to picadilly where i was staying...
i was out sightseeing by 2pm..it only got dark around 8 or 9pm so lots of daylight

i bought a ticket for the hop on/ off bus that afternoon and spent the first run just sitting and observing and getting my bearings
the second run i started to get off at stops
i had the pass fro two days and found i covered lots of ground including a river cruise with a live guide
there are three routes the bus takes so check the map you get and youll see a coloured triangle on the front of the bus denoting what route it takes

i was too tired to do anything at night but if youre ok then id go to the british museum..it stays open til late at least on some nights from memory or you might get to halftiks in leicester sq for a show if youre lucky...go at 11am and check out whats available

i went to the tower on the monday but i do suggest that you brush up on english history (i am watching british history docos on youtube at the moment because listening to a guide telling me bits and pieces in isolation isnt satisfying for me)
westminster abbey has enormous history so again if you read up on whos who of the british royalty it would make more sense when you visit
of course not everyone is into history and you can find joy just in looking at the architecture and sculptures and paintings and not really worrying about the underlying stories and thats fine
my daughter and i are going to london in a few weeks time ( going for ten days) ...we are busy studying and madly making notes ...we are determined to get the most out of this leg of the 6 week trip we're embarking on this time ... it is (sadly) winter so we wont have the luxury of daylight hours you will enjoy

we will also be in paris for 8 days ...theres a lot to research there but fodorites are wonderful generous folk who have enormous experience ..youll get loads of good advice here
lots of people recommend londonwalks too...so if the weather is fine you might want to join a walking tour but personally i loved the hopon/off because it allowed me to see lots in just the weekend...
i did stay in london for six days all up and did have two daytrips in that time...but had i only had that weekend using that particular bus i would still have had a good taste of london

others will say that it is expensive but i did like the live guide commentary...try to get a bus with a live guide rather than just the audio...lots more fun and you can ask questions at times
loads and loads to see
do bring wet weather gear..you get lots of showers and it gets cool even in summer
have a lovely time~

latedaytraveler

Hi Strosini,

I agree with Lanejohann – “others will say that it is expensive but i did like the live guide commentary...try to get a bus with a live guide rather than just the audio...lots more fun and you can ask questions at times.”

Many on this board discourage using the HOHO bus in London because it is pricey (can’t argue that). Certain posters may suggest that you will have the same perspective by taking public buses. But if you have only two days, I believe that this tour will give you an overview of the city (enormous) that is worthwhile. I have been to London several times and the more often I go, the more I want to see. Regard your visit as an introduction for an inevitable return trip.

June is an excellent month to see London with pleasant weather and long daylight hours. Enjoy!

texasbookworm

I'm hoping you mean two whole days. If you are counting arrival as one of your days, then that makes quite a difference.

As said above, no way to see "all the major sites" in 2 days--or even twice that many! But you can enjoy what you see.

Since you already have a couple "must sees" (and good ones they are), I would concentrate on getting to them and enjoying them, rather than use a bus to get an overview. You will just see all kinds of things from the outside/fleetingly that you won't have time for--might as well just use an on-line video! Ha. And the HOHO is certainly not an economical way to get to what you DO want to visit.

Assuming 2 whole days--Do the Tower one morning first thing and do Westminster Abbey one morning the first thing. That leaves the afternoons to do other things in the area. Like the whole Westminster/Big Ben/Parliament/back to St. James Park/Buckingham Palace/maybe Hyde Park for the afternoon after the Abbey. After the Tower you could cross the bridge and walk along the South Bank OR ride the Tube somewhere like the British Museum.

Plus since you have the June light, you have after dinner til near 10 with light for walking/shopping/etc. "Stuff" to tour will be closed but lots to walk around and see (the Eye is open, and some things have later hours on different days of the week)

as latedaytraveler says--Regard your visit as an introduction for an inevitable return trip.

annhig

The no 11 bus will take you from Westminster, up to Trafalgar Square, along the Strand and Fleet street, up Ludgate circus to St Paul's. or if you start at the Tower [a good idea is to get there early in the day] you can do it the other way round. That is to say you can cover a lot of the sights of London on one public bus at minimal expense.

janisj

>>Assuming 2 whole days<< to be clear - that requires 3 nights.

Re the buses - you could take the tube to the Tower of London (Tower Hill station) early one morning and stay there until early afternoon. Then catch the #15 in front of the Tower and take it to St Pauls. That will kill one day - or if it is one of the 'Late nights' at the National Gallery, British Museum or V&A, you could squeeze in one of them in the evening. The second day you could hit Westminster Abbey first thing and then another biggie in the afternoon -- or do a walk about (Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden, the Embankment, etc.)

euromom

If you are a WWII history buff don't forget Churchills War rooms in trafalgar square. This is a fantastic museum as they are authentic. Google the website! Then go to churchills pub and through the pub to the back for a great Thai restaurant!

annhig

BBC radio 4 extra is presently serialising the correspondence between Churchill and his wife, Clemmie. I believe there is an app that you can download so you can listen to this on an i-pad or tablet.