London for a day
 

I have just a few questions. We will be flying into LHR at 7 am in the morning and will be flying out the next day. What can I do in london for a day? Would the bus tour be good or is there something specific that would be worth seeing? We will have three days in london later that week so we dont need to see everything in one day. Any comments would be great! Also, How long will it take to get through customs?

You could take the bus tour, which would orient you for your trip later in the week, and would not be too taxing, what with jet lag etc. Or you could visit a "destination" for instance Windsor Castle (and Windsor itself), Hampton Court or Kew Gardens, and leave the city centre for your main visit. Any of these would take between a few hours and a day to see properly. Are you travelling with young kids? They might enjoy Legoland, Windsor, for the day. You can see the sights of London and elsewhere built out of Lego! It also has the usual theme park rides, shows, and plenty of hands-on activities.

Can't help about customs/immigration times as it depends greatly on what other flights come in at the same time. (Customs, in my experience, does not usually cause delays - you just walk through, once you've collected your checked bags. It's immigration that has the queues) Allow an hour or more before you're on your way out of the airport.

thanks so much! We are not traveling with kids. It will be my husband and I. It will be kind of a whirlwind trip but much needed. Windsor sounds good... but how long does it take to go from windsor to stanstead (this is where our hotel is)???

Thanks

The bus tour sounds like an excellent idea as you can get on and off as you please. It will give you a feel for the city, and keeps your options open if you find you have a sudden burst of energy! You could possibly get off at one of the stops and do a river cruise which is also a pleasant way to discover London.
Carolena

You left out a VERY important detail - that you are flying out of Stansted. Windsor, Hampton Court Palace, and Kew were suggested (I assume) because Ruth thought you were flying out of Heathrow. They do not make sense for a Stansted departure.

You say you're staying out at Stansted - so you can go into London and leave your bags w/ Left Luggage at Liverpool Street Station. Then you can go sightseeing in London before going back to the station, retrive the bags and take thetrain to Stansted/your hotel.

OR - you can go to Victoria Coach station and leave you bags. Tour around london and then catch the Stansted bus from teh coach ststion.

Absolutely agree with Janis. Windsor is very near Heathrow, and not near Stansted at all! If you did go to Windsor, you'd do best to go back to Heathrow and then take a bus (National Express) to Stansted (note spelling) which goes at least hourly and takes about 2 hours. But from Central London, follow Janis' advice - don't go back to Heathrow!

You could go straight to Stansted from LHR, and spend the day sightseeing from there. It is close to the following sights - Cambridge, Ely, Duxford Air Museum, and stately homes such as Audley End. You can easily reach Cambridge by train or bus from Stansted, and it is a lovely place to spend a day (but I'm biased as I was born, educated and married there!). Ely is a most delightful small cathedral city, also reachable by train.

Going straight to Stansted has the advantage of being able to leave your bags at the hotel (even if your room isn't ready, I'm sure they will let you leave your bags).

If this plan is of interest, I can be more specific about the sites (especially if you say what your interests are). But the London hop-on hop-off bus is also a good plan.

I agree w/ Ruth - unless your heart is set on going in to London, I'd take the direct Heathrow/Stansted coach and then spend the day in Cambridge, or somewhere else in that neck of the woods.

Those are some good Ideas! I will have to think about it... As far as bags go, we are not heavy packers. we will both have a backpack and that will be it. We are in our early 20's and very energetic. I think I would still like windsor but if it is out of the way then that may be a bit of a waste of time. The only thing is that if we dont do windsor that day then we may not see it at all. Is it a must?

would it work If we leave heathrow and go straight to windsor and then back into town for dinner and then take the train to the hotel?

Have a look at http://www.windsor.gov.uk/ to see if Windsor is a "must see" for you (or google Windsor tourism). Yes, your plan of seeing Windsor then going into London for dinner is fine. Check rail times on http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/ to see when the evening trains run to Stansted.

how long does it take to do windsor. is it an all day thing?