annhig

I'm pretty sure that I don't need to tell you this but I'm going to mention it anyway - London is a big place and getting around it takes more time than you think. So it makes sense to group the places you want to see together - eg The Tower and St Paul's - or places that are easy to get between eg from the Tower you can get a boat to the Globe theatre, then cross the river by the Millennium Bridge, and then pick up the No 11 bus which will take you along Fleet street and the Strand, round Trafalgar square, down Whitehall to Westminster where you can alight or carry on to Victoria. [much better than any HOHO bus IMHO and much cheaper]. Also some places like the Tower get very busy so you might like to make an early booking of one such place a day then arrange your programme around that.

Definitely try to allow 4 whole days as you will never run out of things to do in London and apologies if I am teaching my grandmother to suck eggs.

Southam

London's theatres have lots to offer a 12-year-old. I always look at Theatre Monkey to get ideas. It has advice on discounts, bad seat locations, and some reviews.
More useful, in my out-of-date experiences, than the discount ticket operation mentioned above.

https://www.theatremonkey.com/

michaelpianko

I spent 8 days in London in July 2016. I wish I had traveled to Bath and Stonehenge. You won't have time for Bath or Stonehenge. When I was there I wasn't sophisticated about travel - I didn't have a written itinerary. I had a list of places I wanted to see. I ended up seeing the British museum twice; the Victoria and Albert museum, Buckingham palace; the Royal gardens at Kew (I would have been as happy if I had skipped it); portobello road market; the national gallery, the park by the ferris wheel, the Tate Britain museum (except I only arrived when there was an hour until they closed. I wish I had given myself more time there); the Wallace Collection (its less popular that a lot of other sites); the Tower of London, the Tower bridge; I missed seeing the Churchhill war room and the Tate Modern museum. Make sure you see the remains of Lindow Man in the British Museum. I bought advance tickets to the play Ivanov by Anton Chekhov. The ticket might have cost the equivalent of $42 US dollars.

kimberlyb

HappyTrvlr - ice cream sundaes at Harrod's food hall would be fun. Thanks for sharing where you went with your grandkids. They are all on the list.

KTtravel - appreciate the suggestion. Strongly leaning towards 4 full days. Now to decide if we spend a 5th on a day trip to either Bath, Oxford or Hampton Court Palace.

Annhig - I do appreciate the reminder about the congestion and size of getting around London. Great idea to group them geographically. Thank you.

Southam - Haven't heard of Theatre Monkey, so thank you! It's been quite some time since our last London visit so TKTS is all I knew.

michaelpianko - thank you for sharing! very much appreciate it.

As always, this forum is amazing! All of our international trips have benefited from the feedback, ideas and knowledge from all of you! Thank you!!!

janisj

Comments re Harrods (or per some of our Brit-based Fodorites -- Horrids )

It is a sight to see for sure -- the Food Halls are amazing. There are Twenty-four different restaurants/cafes scattered over all floors. There is a VERY upscale commercial art gallery, many many designer boutiques, fine Jewelry and amazing leather goods. Plus the big Harrods Shop selling all the teddy bears, tote bags, key chains, tea towels etc that mere mortals can actually afford to buy. Over 1,000,000 sq feet.

BUT -- it can get (extremely) crowded. During sales it is pretty common for the Harrods end of the Knightsbridge tube station be closed off for crowd control and one cannot exit without going to the other end of the station (the Harvey Nichols end).

Instead of fighting the hordes I'd maybe do afternoon tea at Fortnum & Mason in the Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon instead (advance booking necessary -- but you'd have to pre-book at most of the restaurants in Harrods too)

For actual (real) shopping I'd think Selfridges would be better than Harrods - lots of departments are just as 'posh' as Harrods - the fine jewelry is breath taking, but there is also more 'normal' stock. (Selfridges is 'only' 550,000 sq feet and has 21 restaurants/cafes)

kimberlyb

Thanks Janisj! Having been to Harrods, I couldn't agree more. The food halls are amazing, but I personally like your idea of tea at Fortnum & Mason and shopping in a place we could actually enjoy (and afford)! Thank you for the candid feedback. Appreciated very much!

annhig

<<Thanks Janisj! Having been to Harrods, I couldn't agree more. The food halls are amazing, but I personally like your idea of tea at Fortnum & Mason and shopping in a place we could actually enjoy (and afford)! Thank you for the candid feedback. Appreciated very much! >>

Talking of shops if you find yourselves in the vicinity of Oxford Circus and would like a different shopping experience, if you nip down Argyll Street you will arrive at the unique emporium, Liberty's. Even if you don't buy anything it's full of the most gorgeous things, Or if you are in Tottenham Court Road you might enjoy Heal's which is a very eclectic furniture and home wear store with a very strong emphasis on design.