London Itinerary Review
 

We arrive in London on Monday 10 September at 7.10am.
I have been to London (8 years ago) but my Husband has not.
Draft itinerary is as follows:
Monday 10 September 2007
Arrive Heathrow 7.10am, will travel by tube to Base2Stay Kensington and leave bags.
Big Bus Blue Tour from Gloucester Road to see Tower of London, walk Tower Bridge, HMS Belfast, river cruise to Westminster Pier (part of Bug Bus Tour), reconnect to Blue Tour back to Hotel.
Dinner: Pub near hotel
Tuesday 11 September 2007
Walk through Kensington Gardens – Diana Memorial, Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace (Changing of the Guard), down the Mall to Trafalgar, Downing Street, Westminster Abbey, House of Parliament, Big Ben, London Eye.
Dinner: Covent Garden/Leicester Square
Wednesday 11 September 2007
Harrods, Harvey Nics, St Pauls Cathedral (to the Whispering Gallery),
Dinner: Soho
Any comments?

You're going to be there on 9/11? You might want to stop by the memorial to the Brits who died that day. It's in Grosvenor Square, not far from the American embassy.

Also, do you have any theatre planned? You already have a packed itinerary, but hey, this is London! :)

I'd rethink day one. The bus tour is a good idea - but w/ a 0710 arrival at LHR you won't be at you hotel until probably around 10:00. Even if you got on the tour bus by 10:30 it will be nearly noon before you got to the Tower. It will be <b>very</b> crowded by then. W/ even just a quick look-see you won't be out of the Tower until at least 3 p.m. The queue to get in to see the crown jewels will be very long, and you need to plan on at least 3 hours in the Tower.

So if it were me - I might take the bus tour but get off/back on near some of the sites you had planned for Tuesday. I'd forget about the Changing of the Guard. In order to see anything you need to be there quite early and then just stand around waiting.

If you flip/flop sites on days 1 and 2 you can get to the Tower right at opening time, when there are no queues and you can get into the Jewel House w/o waiting.

janis, if you go to the tower first thing is it not nescessary to get tickets in advance? thereyet

I agree on the theater. Start at Broadwaybox.com/london for disocunted tickets, listings and reviews. I recommend Wicked.

I have spent 3 hours at the Tower of London both visits; there were not many people when we went (weekday afternoons in March), and we still didn't see as much as we'd like.

Unless you plan to do a serious amount of shopping in Harrods/Harvey Nichols, you could fit a LOT more into your Wednesday. St. Pauls - up to whispering gallery - should be about an hour or maybe a bit more if you plan to look at all of the tombs, etc in the undercroft.

Thanks for your replies.
I will change the Tower to first thing on Tuesday and get tickets in advance.
We are in New York prior to London so we may catch a show in New York, though the theatre is not really a priority for us.
Harrods and Harvey Nichols are &quot;just to say we have been&quot; so we wont spend a lot of time there.
Any restaurant/pub recommendations for Covent Garden/Leicester Square/Soho in the evening?

Me again....in the US there is a wesbite called Hopstop.com where you can measure distances/get directions between attractions either by subway or walking, is there a UK version?

Walkit.com for walking
journeyplanner.tfl.org.uk for tubes and buses, etc.

It's easy to give in to the pressure to do what everyone expects you to do in London. I don't know how many people have asked me if I'm going to Harrod's or Madam Tussaud's or to the Changing of the Guard. But they don't know anything about the Ceremony of the Keys or Trooping the Colour. I'm giving the first three a big miss in order to spend plenty of time at the Tower of London, the British Museum, Westminster Abbey, etc. THEY can shop and look at wax figures when it's their vacation. Ha!

bookmarking

Tuesday sounds like a bit too much.
Day 1 might find you more jet lagged than you think you will be.

I know London is fascinating, but enjoye it; don't torture yourself trying to see it all because all is not possible.

azzure if you want to &quot;bookmark&quot; then click using the right mouse button on the appropiate posting &amp; select &quot;bookmark this link&quot; (firefox) or &quot;add to favorites&quot; (IE).

Have updated itinerary once again, will continue to tweak.
Monday 10 September 2007
Full Blue Tour to Tower of London Pier (stop #19) then boat cruse to Westminster Pier (stop #21) (every 20 mins), back onto blue tour to hotel and check in.
Wander to Harrods/Harvey Nics
Hyde Park
Kensington Gardens Diana Memorial
Royal Albert Hall
Dinner: Pub near hotel

Tuesday 11 September 2007
Tower of London (3 hours) GBP16.00 (Opens 9am)
Walk Tower Bridge
HMS Belfast GBP9.95 (Opens 10am)
Monument (view from top GBP1.50)
St Paul’s Cathedral - 259 steps to the Whispering Gallery, crypt and dome (Opens 8.30am)
Dinner: Covent Garden/Leicester Square (Oxford Street?)

Wednesday 12 September 2007
Buckingham Palace (walk past) down mall to Trafalgar Square, Downing Street, Houses of Parliament/Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, London Eye after that whatever we feel
Dinner: SOHO (?)

hi, humphmurph,

Looking at your first itinerary, you were dotting around too much, IMO, especially the day you were doing Harrods, HN, then ST. Pauls - never underestimate the time it takes to get from one part of london to another.

the current plan is much better, but have a good look on the map to make sure that you are not going to be backtracking too much.

regards, ann /:-