London Advice Needed
 

Bringing our two mothers to England June 10-17. They are late 60's and walking long distances, more than 1/2 hour at a time, not desirable. We've booked a countryside bus tour but have a bit of time in London before and after. Before we have an afternoon and evening. After we have a full day and a couple of hours the morning we depart. We are staying at the Riverbank Park Plaza.

Goal is to see as much of London and best sites.

Considering a private driver-guide tour for the full day. Good idea??? Any recommendations???

Best sites to see???

Westminster Abbey or St. Paul's Cathedral???

London Eye, yes or no??? If yes, book ahead?

Changing of the Guard, will it take too much time in our day?

Are there any sites within 15-20 minute walk of our hotel?

Will appreciate any advice offered.

DJ

Your hotel is brand new and probably very nice. Unfortunately not much is w/i a short walk of there. The closest major site is the Imperial War Museum. It isn't too far from the Eye/Southbank. It is also close to Lambeth Palace.

You could book a day guide but I might just take one of the hop-on-hop-off tour buses and then get off at any sites you want to visit.

The Eye is great - but do not book ahead. You want good weather and can't know what conditions will be ahead of time.

&quot;<i>Westminster Abbey or St. Paul's Cathedral???</i> That is sort of like asking which is better Yosemite or Yellowstone. Both are amazing - but also totally different. If you have to choose one then probably Westminster Abbey simply because of all the royal tombs and greater age/history.


The Changing of the guard involves a LOT of standing around waiting. You only have two days in London so using a couple of hours to see the changing of the Guard really isn't a good use of your time.

Agree with previous poster. The hop-on-hop-off bus tours are good, and probably loads more afordable than a private guide. I belive both of the major companies have 2 routes, one with live guides and one with recordings, but I'm not sure if they do all the same sights. Also, if you get tickets to the bus, you'll generally get free tickets to the Thames River cruise, from Westminster to London Bridge. I'd consider paying the extra to go all the way to Greenwich and back, particularly if the weater is nice.

I do disagree about pre-booking the Eye. It's a great view, and I think you get a lot out of it, even if the weather isn't ideal. In the summer, sometimes they sell out, and the lines can be long and tiresome. I'd pre-book and try to go at dusk.

Definitely don't bother with the changing of the guard. The only thing it's good for seeing is every other tourist in London.

Westminster and St. Paul both very worthwhile, but require lots of walking. Nice places to just sit and watch London go by are Trafalgar Square, and anywhere on the South Bank, there is a nice cafe in the National Film Theatre.

How about afternoon tea? The Savoy does a nice one, and of course the Ritz. If you want something a little more boutique-y, the Capital Hotel in Knightsbridge has a nice tea. Note, at The Savoy, you pay more, but they keep brining out food as long as you're eating. At The Capital, the food is better, but you only get one batch of everything, and it's a bit cheaper.

hope that helped
Inessa

Great advice so far. Thanks,

Additional question on HOHO Bus, I have checked website but can't tell if stops are close to attractions listed. Can you advice?

We took the Big Bus Co tour during our two day stay in London last month. I printed a copy of this map beforehand (but they have nicer fliers on the bus).

http://www.bigbus.co.uk/uk/html/uk_maps.html

All the stops are numbered and there's a key at the top listing all the stops. The red line has a live tour guide (all of the guides we had were friendly, knowledgeable and entertaining). The guys working at the stops and driving the buses were very friendly, too. They were always willing to offer directions, etc.

The blue line has the recorded guide in various languages, I believe.

Sorry, I cannot comment on the other company's service. However, I noticed that they used alot of the same stops.

I'd say the stops are all quite close to the attractions listed.

I'd also say that you may want to have a look at the Transport for London page (http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/), specifically the bus section. Busses are cheap and easy to navigate.

Tube is also great for getting around, but be aware that as the lines were all built at the same time, many interchanges require a longish walk underground from platform to platform.

I wouldn't bother with a private tour/driver. Parking is a complete nightmare in London so they'd have to drop you off, drive away, search for somewhere to park, walk back to meet you, all a real palaver and it would cost you an absolute fortune.

My parents are in their 70s and still enjoy trips out all over the place but know how to pace themselves. There is a fantastic network of tube and buses that will get you within a few minutes walk of any attraction. If you get to the point of starting to get tired, start taking cabs.

There are lots of places to stop and have a sit down, cup of tea and cake for an energy boost. Places of interest will normally have their own cafes or be surrounded by them.

Regards the changing of the guards....

June 17 is the Trooping of the Colour, the annual parade celebrating the Queen's birthday (80 this year). For more info:

http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page4861.asp

Perhaps the fairly-spry 80 year old queen would inspire your late 60's mothers.....

I second the suggestion to walk and sit on the Southbank. There's a nice used book stall there. Along with some cafes, there's lots of park benches, where you can sit and watch the view of the river. I also favor the deck chairs in the parks. You can rent one for about one pound for four hours, I think. It's great to sit in St. James Park, read the paper, and listen to Big Ben chime the hour.