montyesther

Couple+2 teen girls from Toronto, will be in London from Aug 18th to 24th. We booked St. Ermins Hotel and need your advice for our itinerary :

Thurs - Aug 18th
- Arrive at Gatwick @ 9.55am
- Take FCC (bonus: unlimited tube for the day) to Victoria Station + taxi to the hotel
- Early check-in if possible, if not just drop the luggages
- Simple lunch, any idea?
- Covent Garden OR Trafalgar Square
- Soho + dinner at China Town

Fri - Aug 19th
- Tower of London (first thing in the morning) and do the crown jewels
- Go back to the entrance and pick up the free beefeater tour
- Walk across Tower Bridge
- Borough Market + have lunch here
- London Eye if the weather is nice

Sat - Aug 20th
- Day trip to Bath

Sun - Aug 21th
- Museum of London
- Millenium Bridge
- St. Paul's + Evensong Service (what time is the service on Sunday?)
- Shakespeare's Globe Theater OR the girls prefer to see the show if we can get the half price ticket from TCTKS.

Mon - Aug 22th
- Buckingham Palace (do we have to buy the ticket in advance?)
- St. James' Park
- Westminster Abbey
- Parliament + Big Ben
- Churchil War Room

Tue - Aug 23th
- Day trip to Oxford
- Dinner with friends

Wed - Aug 24th
- Eurostar to Paris

Some other things that we would love to see if the time permits :
- Camden Market
- Cruise to Greenwich
- British Museum (which one to pick between British Museum and Museum of London)

Many thanks for your advice.

janisj

just a few details:

Thurs: W/ a 9:55 arrival at LGW you may not get to your hotel til 12:30/1:00 PM. So more than likely your room will be ready

Friday: If you walk the whole southbank from Southwark to the Eye - a nice/interesting route- you'll pass the Globe and Millennium Bridge (and Tate Modern) enroute so they sort of fit better here than on Sunday.

On Sunday: St Pauls and the Museum of London are walking distance from each other- on the same side of the river. So you wouldn't walk the bridge between them. If you still want to do those things then the sensible order is Museun > St Paul's > bridge > Globe. Sunday Evensong is usually at 3:15 but you need tocheck the website for your specific date. TKTS doesn't normally handle tix for the Globe

Mon: Yes - definitely pre-book tickets for the Palace. Bookings are higher than in recent years because of interest in the wedding so you need to book ASAP if you must go at a certain day/time. That is a lot on Monday --but all are close to each other so you can fit it all in.

Which to do British Museum or Museum of London . . . The <B>British Museum</B>

As for your other "hope to's", I don't see how.

bilboburgler

Pretty full but doable, if you want to do a river cruise you could come back up the river from the south bank walk which Janisj suggests.

Have you considered the V&A and yes the British Museum is way better than the museum of london

montyesther

janisj - ok, we will move globe, millenium bridge & tate modern to Fri (is it doable and isn't it to far to walk?)

so sunday, we only have museum of london, st. paul's (but the evensong is at 3.15pm). what should we do in between? can we buy ticket from TKTS and watch panthom or wicked at night?

if the british museum is way better, where it can be fit on our schedule?

we are still hoping to do cruise to greenwich if possible, what should be remove from our our current schedule?

many thanks.

Mimar

On Sunday replace the Museum of London by the British Museum. Was there a particular reason you wanted to go to the Museum of London -- other than its convenient location?

I see you've taken to heart the idea of grouping your sights geographically. But the Tube is convenient and fast -- except when a line is closed down. I see the Circle Line is closed on the weekend of the 20th and 21st.

Getting tickets at the half-price booth in Leicester Square takes a little time standing in line. It's open 11:00 to 16:00 on Sundays.

You have a full schedule. And you haven't allowed for jet-lag. Depending on opening days and reservations, you might move your days around according to how you feel.

montyesther

ok, thanks. now our Sunday will be :

- british museum
- line-up to get tickets at the TKTS (hope it's worth to save
for for of us)
- st. paul's + evensong service
- see the show at night (any suggestion for dinner before
the theatre?)

texasbookworm

Another vote for, with your limited time, the British Museum instead of the Museum of London.

If it's a performance at the Globe you are most interested in, you'd better see if there are any performances and any tickets left at all NOW. Don't wait til there if you are trying to fit that in. If you want to see some other show, then the half-price tix make sense (except for the time involved in waiting for them--I've not done this so have no experience to share about that.)

montyesther

texasbookworm - as long as we see one of the show in london (either at the Globe or any other perfomances : phantom, wicked or other broad show), the girls will be happy.

is there any suggestion about the transportation that we have to take? should we purchase travel card or london pass?

montyesther

btw how to change the title? i want to add the word: "in London" on the title, so it will be easy for me to search.

julia_t

Many theatres are closed on a Sunday night. Not all, but Sunday tends to be a day off for the cast. You might want to check the individual theatre websites to see what's showing on a Sunday.

montyesther

julia - thanks.

is it better to switch our sunday schedule with monday or saturday schedule then? we are actually flexible in switching the days; the fix schedule is only the dinner with my friends on Aug 23rd.

janisj

"<i>btw how to change the title? i want to add the word: "in London" on the title, so it will be easy for me to search.</i>"

You can't change the title -- but it is VERY easy to find your thread. Just click on your scree name. When you first come on Fodors see the "Welcome montyester" in the upper right corner? (it will always display as long as you are signed in). Click on that and all your threads and other posts will display.

If you switch Sunday and Monday - then you can't visit Westminster Abbey. I'd leave well enough alone. There are a <i>few</i> shows on Sundays so I'd stop by TKTS between the British Museum and St Pauls (it makes more sense to go to TKTS first thing but the times just don't work).

You other opportunity is to pop over to TKTS on Fri afternoon. If there is a show you want, you could move the Eye to Sunday evening. Just be flexible.

Your plan very likely won't run exactly as scheduled. "Stuff" happens - someone doesn't feel well, or you discover something else that really interests you, or you just are delayed someplace. It just won't run like clockwork so enjoy what you do fit in and don't fret about the rest.

montyesther

janisj- thank you so much. it's so true: enjoy what we do fit in. i sometimes think and worry too much. lol.
i like the idea to pop over to tkts on fri afternoon.

how about the transportation? what is the best deal for 4 of us with the above itineraries?

how is the best way to go to oxford on our own on aug 23rd?

bilboburgler

Take the bus, its called the oxford tube but its a bus, there is an early one, alt take the train, but...

Mimar

In general the London Pass is not worth the money. For transportation in London, either the Oyster Pass or the Travelcard (for 2-for-1 entry fees). Their complications give me a headache. Search the forum for numerous discussions.

alane

forget paris that is another trip....i am leaving tonight for london 11 days .....including side day trips more than enough to do in london and areas 1-1.5 hours away by train including bath, cambridge, windsor,hampton court, greenwich.... hard to do it all even without paris

janisj

"<i>forget paris that is another trip....</i>"

I'd agree if it was a day trip -- but Paris is the next leg of montyesther's itinerary. More time in London would be better - but I don't think that is a possibility here.

montyesther

alane, janisj - we already booked eurostar from london to paris on aug 24 and flights back from paris to toronto on aug 27 (since the girls want to be in paris even thought it's only for few nights. well, that's it now ...

mimar - which one is complicated? i prefer the simple transportation even though may not be the cheapest one.

could any one tell us the difference between taking Gatwick express or FCC from Gatwick to Victoria St? From Victoria St to hotel, we will take a taxi.

janisj

"<i>could any one tell us the difference between taking Gatwick express or FCC from Gatwick to Victoria St?</i>"

The only difference really is The Gatwick Express is a bit faster/roomier and costs more.

"<i>mimar - which one is complicated? i prefer the simple transportation even though may not be the cheapest one.</i>"

I <i>think</i> mimar was talking about the paper travelcards needed for the 2for1 specials, etc. If you simply want easy transport -- go to a tube station and buy Oysters. Tell the ticket agent how long you'll be in London and your travel plans and s/he'll sell you the right option and load it on the Oysters. It will either be PAYG (pay as you go) or a weekly travelcard - even though you aren't there a full week a 7-day travel card might end up the best option. In either case -- it will be very easy and the ticket seller will take care of it.

montyesther

janisj - ok, thank you. i am good with the transportation now. i assume that i can use PAYG OR The 7-day travel card to anywhere i go as per my above itinerary (except bath and oxford for day trip, of course).

i think that i am almost done with my itinerary in london.
is there anything that i miss as the first timer in london?