London Itinerary 12-22 Jan
 

The planning of this trip (#4) was a lot easier than in the past, since I’m going solo. I hope to receive some great input from the board regulars as to whether or not I’ve grouped things together correctly. Btw, I’m a 36yo male, whose main interests for this trip are, museums, theatre, London walks, and after X-Mas sales. The 14 Jan is my birthday, so I haven’t figured out where I’d like to go for dinner. Price is not a concern, but I’d like to keep it casual dress. Any cuisine is fine. Since I’m not able to see a play that night, any suggestions for what to do after dinner is appreciated. Also, if you think there’s a site/museum worth checking out that I may group with something I’ve listed, let me know. The British Museum and The Tower are 2 things I’ve seen on every trip so I purposely left them off this time around. Thanks, Jeff.

Arriving on 12 Jan BOS to LHR at 19:40. I will take the HEX to Paddington, then a taxi to Arosfa Hotel on Gower St.

13 Sat: “Somewhere Else” walk 11:00
Westminster Cathedral – view
Walk around Westminster/pm
Play/musical in the evening

14 Sun: “Old Jewish Quarter” walk 10:30
Spitalfields Market

15 Mon: Oxford St Shopping Day
“Old Westminster” walk 19:00
Parliament – Q&A/debates

16 Tue: York – day trip

17 Wed: Natl Gallery/Portrait Gallery
Regent St/Piccadilly shopping
Play/musical in the evening

18 Thu: V&A
“Old Kensington” walk 14:00
Kings Rd shopping

19 Fri: “Soho in the Morning” walk 10:15
Sir John Soane’s Museum
Covent Garden shopping
Play/Musical in the evening

20 Sat: Borough Market
Imperial War Museum
Play/Musical in the evening

21 Sun: Hampton Court Palace

22 Mon: British Library
Charing Cross Rd – books

York's a very long way to go for a day trip. If it's cathedrals you're after Canterbury, Winchester (the best) and Salisbury are all much easier to get to.

I really like this itinerary! Some of your days are similar (or identical) to some I have planned for London in February. Your groupings make sense.

The only thing you might want to do is move the Soanes museum to Saturday because I think they have guided tours on Sat only. I'm not 100% sure on this, so have a look at their website.

Another thing - London Walks also has a walk called something like The Unknown East End on Sunday afternoons. You'll be in the area anyway, so it might be interesting.

I would say go for York. It's only a two-hour train trip from King's Cross, and it's a wonderful city. Yes, more time in York would be great, but if you leave early in the morning you can do a lot in one day. King's Cross is not far from your hotel and trains are frequent.

Please give us a report on the London Walks when you come back!

I'm pretty set on going to York, the 2 hour train ride doesn't bother me at all. I'll have to check out the other walks going on in the East end.

That's a good itinerary as you've left yourself plenty of time for everything. You'll be able to fit in a few 'spur-of-the-moment' things as well when something catches your eye.

<<< York's a very long way to go for a day trip. >>>

110 minutes to York, 90 minutes to Salisbury, £19 for 2 singles to York,
£25.60 cheap day return to Salisbury

Tricky decision to make

York was on the top of my list for day trips, even though it's a few hours away. I'll take a peak at Salisbury, but I'm still leaning towards my original choice.

You want to go to York, go. So it's a long trip but I think sometimes people forget that the train trip is itself part of the travel experience. You see lots from a train window. If you leave at 8 you'd be there by -say 10? leaving you six or seven hours to see York before catching a late afternoon train (It'll be dark by then).

For someone who's been doing a lot of walking, it's also a great way to ensure a time for just sitting, reading, maybe even catching up on some quiet reflection, journal writing or nap time.

I like the way you haven't crammed too much into your itinerary - plenty of time for serendipity.

Your right, part of the fun is the experience. Last Friday I rushed home in order to catch the late night bus to NYC, just to spend a short weekend visiting my relatives. It was a great Saturday in Manhattan, almost 70 degrees. On the one hand I was tired from spending 9 hours on a bus over the course of 2 days, but who'd of thought I would walk around in NYC in January w/o a coat on?

So 6 or 8 hours in York will make a perfect day IMO.