We're leaving for our first trip to London next Friday. Does the itinerary below seem reasonable? Are we missing any must see sites? Does anyone have a recommendation on how to get to the Notting Hill area from Gatwick? Thanks in advance

David and Simone

Saturday 6/28
Arrive at Gatwick at 9:10am
-Portobello Road
-Hyde Park
-Kensington Palace
-Notting Hill

Sunday 6/29
-St. Paul?s Cathedral
-Tower of London
-Tower Bridge

Monday 6/30
-Trafalgar Square
-National Gallery
-Courtauld Institute Galleries

Tuesday 7/1
-Big Ben and Houses of Parliament
-Westminster Abbey
-Tate Gallery
-Buckingham Palace

i don't know where you are flying from but may i suggest that you will be very tired when you arrive on day one and even so i do not feel that you could do all of that...it will essentially be noon before you get into london....

how about dropping portobello road---its a bit passe anyways by many accounts....do hyde park and stroll around the neighborhoods in that section of london and get to know the lay of the land a bit....also do kensington palace while in the area...walk over to harrods and do some stuff in that area...

just my thoughts or better still take the harrods london tour where you can see a lot and not expend too much energy and get aquainted a bit....i like it the best of the organized tours...call them for a reservation (730-1234)..this is a few years old so you might want to check it and also get the pre-fixes....

you could do lots more on sunday, especially museum type things as london is pretty quiet on sundays...do some of the monday things on sunday freeing up more time on monday....take the boat out to greenwich--lots of antiques there to make up for missing portobello rd....or take the train to windsor castle one of the best sights around london (allow at least 1/2 day)

have a blast...i've been 33 times and can't wait to return again....

gatwick by the way is very easy to navigate and small in comparison to heathrow....take the train into london---very fast

First of all - you will not be into London early enough to visit Portobello Road on Saturday. It is best to be there by 6 or 7 AM - and by 9AM at the VERY latest. By 10 it is simply too crowded to walk or see anything. You will be lucky to be to your hotel by noon and Notting Hill by 12:30 or 1PM. (It is ceratinly NOT passe - but your timing is just not good)

Sunday is not the best day for the Tower - it id by far the most crowded day. So if you can - re-arrrange things and go to the Tower another day.

On Tuesday you are really only scheduling two things - Tate and Westminster Abbey (BTW - which Tate do you mean?). Both Big Ben/Parliament and Buckingham Palace are "walk by" sites. Neither is open for tours so they only take minutes to see.

Are you staying in Notting Hill Gate, or did you just want to know the way because you were planning on Portobello Rd? If you are staying there just take the gatwick express train to Victoria and then the circle line to NHG.

You can easily fit more sites into your plans if you want - like the V&A, the southbank, London Eye, British Museum or the Museum of London.

Since it sounds as if this might be your first visit to London, may I suggest one of the double decker bus tours? I always recommend it to my visitors and it is very useful because it hits most of the attractions on your list and you are allowed to get off and back on the bus whenever you like. In addition, the tickets are good for a full 24 hours, so you can buy the ticket when you feel ready on Saturday and you can use them on Sunday, as well. Finally, I think the bus is the way to go, as it will help you sort out where everything is located.

One final thing, I would add the London Eye to your itinerary - it provides a unique perspective to London.

You don't say which Tate you are going to, but I would suggest the Tate Modern ---it is more conveniently located to other attractions (Tower not too far away) and is located on a nice walk on the Thames.

If this is your first time in London, I would highly suggest the British Museum over Kensington Palace. The British Museum is one of the top museums in the whole wide world, with the Rosetta Stone and the Elgin Marbles. At a minimum, just run in and see those things while you have the chance. There's not much to see inside Kensington palace, in my opinion, but it is a nice walk in the park there.

Hi
I'd take some of the advice above and switch the the Sunday activities to Monday and vce versa. Then I'd add the Courtauld onto the Tower day since it's sort of on the way back toward the center.
I also have to say that, having done it, if you're going to the Tower Bridge Experience, I personally don't think it's worth the time on a short first visit.

And your Trafalgar Square/National Gallery Day could be extended to include Big Ben and W'minster Abbey, it's a pleasant walk.

Don't know about admission to Parliament this day, security concerns have changed access, unless you mean just walking by. Check the Parliament website for current info if you haven't already.

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

Thank you all for your suggestions. We made several changes to our itinerary based on your feedback. We replaced portobello road with greenwich and switched arounds several things (Sunday and Monday things). Thanks again for your help.