BPJones

Trying to plan out which sites to see on each day while in London (will be there total of 4 days). I have the first day planned out, but I am wondering if it might be too much? Suggestions would be appreciated.
1. Tower of London at opening. See Crown Jewels first, then join tour.
2. Check out view from Tower Bridge (I am not actually tied to this, and would cut it if others thought it was not the best use of time).
3. Lunch. Somewhere in the vicinity and inexpensive (well, relatively speaking). Suggestions?
3. St. Paul's Cathedral.
4. Walk across Millenium Bridge to Tate Modern. Visit a bit.
5. Globe Theatre Tour.
6. If still able to function, watch show at Globe Theatre (begins at 7:30 pm).
Dinner will need to be in there somewhere; either before or after show, I guess.

Thanks for your suggestions!

noe847

Definitely too much, imo! Will you be staying in London the night before this day? Or are you arriving into London that morning, and from where? This would be a killer day after a long haul flight.

I think you are also underestimating the time it takes to see these sights and the transit time in between. For example, the Tower will take all morning - so lunch comes after, and then maybe 2 other things.

texasbookworm

Since you're planning on being at the Tower at opening, I assume this is your first full day in London. We have a similar day planned but I put St Paul's on a whole different day, so our plan looks sorta like this:
Be at the Tower at opening.

Lunch (we might just pack something light, or in 2005 I got a slice of pizza outside the Tower by the Thames--one of my fave memories because it was like--wow, I'm eating this not bad pizza with the Tower of London on one side and the Tower Bridge in the background!)

Walk across the Tower Bridge (we might do the Experience Tour)

Then on the South Bank, we will walk and explore as far and long as we can with these things as possibles:
Borough Market
Southwark Cathedral
Globe (We won't go in--we're seeing King Lear later in the week)
Tate Modern--just a peek inside, probably--not long at all
Then there we are at the Millenium Bridge

Then we might keep walking along, depending on time, weather, and our feet!

Couple comments on your plan--
1.Could you put St. Pauls another day? Then you could just stay on the South Bank without hurrying, probably.
2.Do you already have tickets for the Globe? I was surprised in April, 3 1/2 months before the showing we wanted, to find many many seats already gone. I guess if you're going to be a groundling, then it doesn't matter!

isabel

By first day do you mean the day you arrive (from where?) - or first full day, after spending the night? If you've spent the night in London then I don't think this day is too bad. Partly depends on what you want to do for meals. Do you want sit down restaurant meals? Those take time. But picnic type meals are quicker, and much less expensive. London has very good take away sandwiches available all over. You could easily spend the morning (9-12 or so) at the Tower, walk across the Tower Bridge and eat a picnic lunch. There's a nice little area - not really a park, but area with benches, etc, and great views of the Bridge and the Tower of London, just across the bridge. Then walk on that side to the Globe Theatre, then the Tate and then cross the Millenium Bridge back to St Paul's. I don't know how long the Globe Theatre tour is, but all the rest of that could easily be done in an afternoon. However, if you are doing this after flying from the US I think it's a bit much, especially if you then want to see a show in the evening.

BPJones

Thanks all!
It will be our first full day in London. We arrive @ 9am the day before, and I really haven't planned anything for that day. (I figured we might take an on-off bus tour and/or ride the London Eye, and that's about it).
Casual dining (including pizza slices in the park) are fine with me!
And we are planning on the groundling tickets. I would guess we won't make it through the whole show, but I thought it would be a neat experience for my travelling companion (who is my 13 year old son).
Do you think we should cut Tower Bridge altogeher? I have read various opinions about this, and I am still unsure.

texasbookworm

One consideration (and the reason we put St. Pauls on a different day) is the last tour of the day there is fairly early, at least early enough that I didn't think I wanted to rush over there. There's plenty to see on the South Bank. If you can't move St. Pauls to another day, though, definitely arrange to be there in plenty of time so you're not rushed.

(Hope you're taking your 13 year old to the British Museum!)

noe847

When we visited St. Paul's we didn't take the tour, but poked around by ourselves and also climbed to the top. Your 13 year old might enjoy that.

annettetx

Since you're already planning to ride the London Eye, I think you could skip Tower Bridge.

We've done both, and I think the Eye is more fun.

Enjoy!