London In 4 Days
 

I will be traveling to London for 4 days and would appreciate any ideas on the most important things/attractions/areas to see while I am there.

Have you looked at the miniguide to London at www.fodors.com.

London is by far the easiest city to get around in. Get a underground map and mark your routes. Must sees: Harrods, Big Ben, Westminister Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Guard house, Trifalger Sq., Piccadilly, Tower Bridge. These are all cheap and you can group together and walk to each.

I would add the British Museum, St. Paul's Cathedral and Tower of London. Enjoy! :-)

greenwhich is also very cool. you can do it in about a half day which includes a boat trip on the thames.

Include some London Walks (www.walks.com), tea(or whatever) at the Orangery in Kensington Park, the Museum of London(near St. Pauls Cathedral),the Courtauld Gallery is excellent and not overwhelming, The National Gallery & The National Portrait Gallery both at Trafalgar Sq. and the Victoria & Albert Museum. The British Museum has been mentioned, but I'd advise doing one of their tours instead of walking around on your own.It's also a good idea to take a tour of the city when you first arrive, and the double decker buses are a good way to do just that. The parks in London are lovely and St. James as well as Green Park are great for a short walk through.

MoeDogger-

Here is the link to a very recent thread titled "100 Great things to do in London"
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34481251

hi moedogger,

is the 4 days with or without travel...ie do you have 4 full days with a travel day to and from not included, or is the 4 days including travel?

IF you have 4 full days not including travel, you can do alot in london.

1) buy yourself a london visitor travelcard for 4 days from www.tickets-on-line.com for the metro and buses.

2) schedule each day in a certain area of london to maximize your siteseeing time.

I would consider the following a must for 1st time visitors that have at least 4 days:

Open bus tour of London
Buckingham Palace/Changing of the Guard
Tower of London
St pauls Cathedral(last tour at 4pm)
Westminster Abby
Kensington Palace
A walk thru kensington gardens or Hyde Park
A theatre show
One of the night walks (ie Jack the Ripper)
British Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum
Shopping on Oxford Street and then Harrods
Windsor Castle (1/2 day trip or full day with shopping in Windsor)
ride the Millennium Eye at dusk

I am not sure of your schedule but the following would be a sample iteniary for 4 full days in london:

Most people arrive in london early morning: take the express train into london either from heathrow or gatwick, it is faster than private transfer.

Store luggage at hotel, most have a 12-2 pm check in, but most hotels will let you store your luggage. Go ahead and check in and tell them you will be back later in the day.

Head to Marble Arch area to take a scenic tour of London on one of the open bus tours either the Original London tour, or the Big Bus tour. (2 hours). this will introduce you to london and the major attractions.

then Kensington Palace 1 1/2-2 hours
Lunch at the orangery 1 hour
Walk thru Kensington Gardens and or hyde park

check in hotel by 2-3pm
rest for 1 hour then head back out to the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Dinner and depending on your energy, a london walk.

day two:
Buckingham palace and changing of the guard.
Westminster Abby and/or
st Pauls cathedral
lunch
Tower of London
back to hotel for late afternoon siesta
Dinner and theatre or a london walk

day three:
Windsor Castle 1/2 day or full day with shopping in Windsor.

if half day return to london and shop at oxford street and/or harrods or pick a site you have left out.

day four:

Morning, the British Museum
and anything you have not done yet
leave the rest of the afternoon for shopping or last minute stuff

last night in London, millennium eye at dusk then dinner at a nice restaurant to celebrate.

this is just a sample and of course you may have other things you wish to see and do. a four day trip is just long enough to include that day trip to windsor or hampton court. If you are not into shopping, I would only go for 1/2 day. I would not try to do both windsor and hampton court in 1 day.

hope this helps!

erinb

HI
Take the above advice and review the info here at fodors.com by clicking on Destinations at the top of this screen.
You will also need a good map; Streetwise London is a good basic map for a short trip. It includes a map of the Underground.

You don't mention your interests so I don't know if I should second some of the excellent suggestions already given, or not. Do you like art museums?
History? Even if not so much, the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey are very popular with most people for good reasons. Both offer guided tours at various times during the day, and the tours are excellent.

I have a long file on London; if you'd like to see it, email me at
[email protected]