I am heading to London on a 2-day pre-cruise package. This is a first time visit with my husband of 43 years.
Can anyone give me your thoughts on the "must see" of London keeping in mind the duration of my stay.
Thank you in advance to anyone who responds. Happy holidays!!

Well - first you have to tell us what sorts of things you enjoy. There are (literally) hundreds of must-see's in London so w/o at least some info from you it is hard to give you the best advice.

A good starting point is to click on DESTINATIONS at the top of this page and follow the links to London. There is a great overview and itinerary suggestions for short visits.

First of all are these 2 FULL days or is one of them the arrival day? With such a short time you need to define your interests, London has enough to see to fill up weeks (months, years !!).

Probably an over-view of the tourist sites on a Hop On Hop Off bus is a good idea, but after that it is individual interests. What appeals to me might not appeal to you.

I'd suggest getting a couple of guide books from the Library (Fodor's, Frommer's, Lonely Planet for instance) and reading up on the major sights, then narrow down your "want to sees". It is easy to get around London on the Tube/Bus but it's easier if you try and consolidate your must sees into the same general area. For example: If you are interested in the Tower of London go early (when they open), after that take the #15 Bus from Tower Hill and get off at St. Paul's, if that interests you. Most of the guide books have maps that show the major sights so you can use them for planning your sightseeing.

To Janisj and Lori,
thank you for your response. I know I was pretty vague about the trip. We actually have 1.5 days in London before boarding the ship in Dover. Have to allow for time to transfer to Dover.
We do want to see Trafalgar Sq., Tower of London, can miss the palaces, but do want St. Paul's. Not sure if we have time for the museum. Have you been to Stonehenge? If so, is it worth the trip?
Once again, thanks for responding.

Whoa! I know you are excited about getting to London - but you basically only have 1 day. No time to even consider going to Stonehenge. Assuming you are flying in transatlantic, you will have gone 24 to 30 hours or more w/o much/any sleep and will be pretty jet lagged.

So - pick ONE major site - maybe the Tower, maybe Westminster Abbey, maybe St Paul's - and plan on it for sure and then if you can squeeze in more have them on your "try to see" list. The Tower alone takes basically half a day - and that is only if you get there right at opening time when the lines are short.

London is huge and even w/ the excellent tube/bus service it takes a lot of time to get around.

If you do get to the Tower at opening time - then you could easily do St Paul's the same afternoon - but you need to get there by about 2:30 to have enough time to see much before they start closing to prepare for evensong.

janis is corrent, you do not even want to think about Stonehenge with 1.5 days in London. Factoring in jetlag you are going to be tired upon arrival so something like a bus sightseeing tour makes sense. Being outside is important to regulating your body and getting over jetlag quicker we have always found (in other words, fight off the urge to go to nap and get outside for awhile ).

i think you need to decide if you wish to SEE many things or VISIT just one or two.

if you like to walk, you can easily SEE many of the most popular sites on foot in one day. there is a lot of top sites within just a short walk of trafalgar square (times are by foot from trafalgar square):

london eye- can almost be seen from trafalgar square - 15 min to get to it

westminster - 10 min

buckingham palace - 15 min

piccadilly circus - 10 min

covent garden - 10 min

national gallery - 0 min

chinatown - 5 min

soho - 5 min

st paul's- 45 min (nice walk on south bank of thames)

tate modern - 40 min (same walk as above)

i can go on and on.

forget stonehenge.

london really has a lot of major tourist sites in a very concentrated area around trafalgar square. many tourists don't realise how close things are and will add a lot of time and complexity by messing unnecessarily with buses and the tube.

obviously some things are not close...eg south kensington museums (but they are very closely grouped). i would skip this area considering your available time.

tower of london and tower bridge (A-K- wrongly-A london bridge) is a short bus or tube ride away. i would not visit tower of london with your tight schedule but would choose to see it with tower bridge.

Only my opinion:
1. Tower of London
2. St Paul's - luckily not that far apart - you could do both in a morning
Arrive at the Tower when it opens
3. British Museum - don't do this unless you have at least 3 hours - half day is better. It is absolutely wonderful but an hour or two is NOT enough.
Any time left - consider a bus tour to "see" a little more of the city.
It will be hectic but I think that it is doable. Note you will have NO time for a leisurely lunch - so eat a big breakfast.

Sorry, but it would be VERY difficult to do both the Tower of London and St Paul's in the same morning. Even arriving at the Tower at 9:30 sharp and getting through the Crown Jewels first out of the shoot -- it will still be after noon before one could head over to St Paul's.

So doable on the same day - but not the same morning . . . . .

The Tower and St. Paul's are doable in a morning. http://www.mightymac.org/gb25a.htm

With time to take a ferry to Westminster, explore that area and go on to Trafalgar Square in the afternoon:

Keith

Sure one CAN hit both places in a morning -- but practically speaking unless it is just to check them off a list, one needs a minimum of 6 hours to see both.

2 hrs for St Paul's if one climbs to the dome or 90 mins minimum otherwise including the crypt (unless one just walks in, glances around and walks out in 30 mins)

30 mins travel between the two sites. No, the tube ride isn't 30 mins - but by the time one walks to/from the tube stations count on 20-30 mins minimum.

3 hours for the Tower - and that is skipping the crown jewels. Since it would be mid morning by then and the queues for the Jewel House will be really long. If one included the jewels - then you are looking at 4 hours.

When you include a short refreshment break at either place -- you have 6 hours w/o even seeing everything.

The queues for the crown jewels vary hugely depending on time of year and day of the week. if you get there early on a weekday in the off season you'll have them to yourselves (well, pretty much).

High season, you can wait hours.

True - that's why most of us recommend hitting the Tower at right opening time when the Crown Jewels lines are basically non-existant. The point I was trying to make is that really isn't possible if one tries to squeeze in St Pauls before heading over to the Tower.

Here's a suggestion
Day 1: Get on the Hop on off Red bus (be sure to get a live guide). Aim to do the entire route if good weather. Good if you are jet lagged and you get to "see" all the major sites.

Hop off and have lunch - perhaps at a Traditional Pub.

Afternoon - either the Tower or St Paul's.

It would be a big day but I'd try and have a quick dinner and slot in a show - perhaps Phantom. Take a cab back to your hotel.

Day 2: The other of the Tower or St Paul's in the morning (if not sunday). If you have spare time wander along the Thames or do a little shopping before your transfer to Dover.

This would still be very busy.

My suggestion is fly in early and have longer. London is just great!!

And congratulations on 43 years (I've just made it to 3!!)