London suggestions, please
 

My husband and I (late 60's) will be in London in late September/early October for a conference he is attending. We will have a few days before his conference for sightseeing, and then will be staying an additional week post-conference. While he is at the conference I will be on my own for activities. Our hotel for the first half of our stay is the IBIS Earl Court (conference hotel) and for the second week I have booked an apartment near the Tower. Size and price was right and it is near the Tower Hill Tube and Aldgate East tube stations. This was the easy part. There is so much to see and do in London that I'm struggling with what I want to plan. My husband and I are "slow" travelers and do not like packed days of sightseeing and we do not shop. We prefer one or two museums/activities each day and plenty of time to wander around and explore on our own. Must-do's are a day trip to Stonehenge (and I'm sorely disappointed that I can't find an after-hours tour for the time period we are there) and the British Museum (please suggest specific exhibits as we can't possibly do them all). Other than those two things, there is just so much I want to do that I can't make decisions. I am looking for suggestions for day trips and for suggestions on best museums/activities for both my on-my-own days and for us as a couple (and if there is an airplane museum for my husband you win a prize.)

What fun! Here are some rather random comments:

For British Museum, I would just go to whatever "area" appeals to you. For me the Elgin Marbles (for beauty and for role in an ongoing controversy--they're important) and whole Greek area, the early Britain/Sutton Hoo exhibits, and the Assyrian "stuff" musts. But it's pretty subjective--what eras of history interest you the most? Go there.

The National Gallery is wonderful in all ways.

The Tate Modern is in a wonderful area and in a wonderful building. I'm not fan of most of the actual art, but it's another museum that's important in many ways and its site makes it a must-see, too.

I "assume" you or you and hubby will tour the Tower? And I recommend Westminster Abbey and/or St. Paul's.

The Imperial War Museum is terrific and has some planes along with marvelous WWI and Holocaust exhibits; the Churchill War Rooms is terrific in a different way.

On your Stonehenge day--what are your plans? DIY? It's very doable--train to Salisbury, catch The Stonehenge Tour bus at the station. Salisbury Cathedral is a must-see.

Planning 1 major site for morning and 1 for the afternoon, grouped by location, should still allow you to slow-travel.

We're headed in 20 days for my 8th trip!

You might check out LondonWalks to see what is offered on the days you are there. They might have some day trip you'd like or some walks for you alone or with DH.

With just a week together in London after the conference, probably one day trip (Stonehenge) is plenty, but here are a few day-trip-able places:

Oxford (my fave)
Bath (long day but great)
Canterbury
Dover (also a long day, if try to get to Cliffs--the castle is top notch)
Winchester
Brighton (not my fave, but some like it and you can dip toes in English Channel)
Cambridge (actually still on my "someday" list but it's highly recommended)

Windsor, Greenwich, and Hampton Court are good half-day trips

My favorite London museums are The Tate Britain and the small Guildhall Gallery with gorgeous paintings and Roman ruins on view in the basement. We also like the National Portrait Gallery.

There is a free and really informative tour of St Paul's that takes guests into an unseen staircase and points out a lot I had missed on previous visits on my own.

Re the British museum, the Tates, National / National Portrait Galleries, V&A (A must IMO), Imperial War museum, Museum of London, British Library, etc - all are free so no need to devote hours to any of them. You can come and go as you wish so explore say the British for an hour or two then head out someplace else. Then go back another time if there are more departments you want to explore.

Useful are the evening open times at many of the biggies.

British - Fridays til 8:30
V&A - Fridays til 10PM
National Fridays til 9PM
National Portrait - Thrus & Fri til 9PM
Tate Modern Fri & Sat til 10PM

Definitely take advantage of Borough Market to stock your Flat kitchen. There is also a very nice Waitrose supermarket in St Katherines Marina.

Earl's Court is on the west side of the city, with a busy Tube station. The Victoria and Albert museum, Royal Albert Hall, Hyde Park, the design museum, science and natural history museums, Kensington Palace, Diana memorial, and a number of other attractions are within a subway stop or two in the Kensington region. If you put the hotel address into Google Maps and click on Nearby, you can see pubs, restaurants and attractions, most of them with links. The Google link varies depending on your residence. That website will plan journeys, as will the government's Transport for London: https://tfl.gov.uk/
And of course you will click on the Destinations menu at the top of this page where many questions are already answered.

"and then will be staying an additional week post-conference"

Considering there will two of you staying for a week, do the following:

(1) bring passport-sized photos with you.
(2) print out every voucher of interest on www.daysoutguide.co.uk - this will include the Tower, St. Paul's, Churchill War Rooms, Westminster Abbey and others; there is no limit (note that if you want to toddle around Hampton Court Palace for a day, there's a 2-for-1 deal for that, but you get to HCP by train from Waterloo and can just use that ticket with the voucher).
(3) When the conference is over (or you have 7 sightseeing days left), go to the nearest national rail station (Victoria/Waterloo/Paddington if you're at Earl's Court, Liverpool Street or London Bridge if you've moved to the Tower area) and get a seven-day PAPER travelcard for zone 1-2. Go to the ticket booth on the rail station floor, not the Tube station booth.The process takes a whole 5 minutes. You can use an Oystercard with "pay-as-you-go" fees for the other transport before you activate the travelcard.
(4) Go to place of interest and present voucher and travelcard. Paying one admission for two people (even if you get a discount for your age) beats paying two admissions for two people.

The Oystercard is NOT valid for this. The travelcard loaded onto an Oystercard is NOT valid for this.

V & A - a neat museum don't miss it! Eclectic collection - not your stuffy art museum (few in London are) - especially liked collection of copies of famous statues from antinquity. check National Rail Enquiries - Official source for UK train times and timetables for train fares for day trips - buses may be better from some London venues to Oxford than trains - www.seat61.com has oodles of goodies on train tickets and specials. Greenwich is a close-in easy day trip.

If he's truly an aviation nut, consider Brooklands Museum in Weybridge (30-40 minutes by train from London Waterloo and 20 minute walk or quick bus trip from Weybridge station). It depends what he wants to see but Brooklands has a huge aviation heritage (airplane manufacturing, etc). There are hangers and fields filled with aircraft and they have a Concorde which you can tour (the only one in the london area as the LHR one is not publicly accessible). It also has a big motorsport heritage and was the site of early races. Considering the travel and visiting time, it would be a good part of a day as you travel slow and don't like to pack too much in. So for long distance visitors to London, I would only recommend making the journey if he has a "special interest".

Another vote for the Imperial War Museum. Don't be put off by its boring and stuffy sounding name. It's anything but!

Depending on when you visit, be prepared that the major London museums can be absolutely heaving at times. Especially the BM. Some patience may be required.

Thank you all so very much! You've given me so many ideas and travel tips! The Tate Modern and the Guildenhall Museum for its Roman Ruins (my favorite sightseeing is wandering around ruins), the Imperial War Museum, Churchill War Rooms, and the Victoria and Albert are now on the must-do list. He is absolutely an airplane nut - was an AF pilot, owns his own plane, works in the industry, and obsesses over airplanes - and the Brookland Museum will be planned as a special day for him. I took him to Le Bourget museum outside of Paris and I think it was his favorite part of our 10 days there! Thanks so much for that idea. That trip will buy me lots of goodwill for many art museums and galleries! I'm looking into tickets for the Frida Kahlo exhibit ASAP. That would be an amazing treat for me.

I especially appreciate your travel tips on buying Oyster pass, travelcards and train travel. I still have my Paris Navigo Pass ready to use on my next trip. Those travel tips are so important when you are there for more than just a couple of days.

Please keep your ideas and tips coming. This is so important to planning a trip that includes more than the standard "what to see in 3 days in London" kind of help.

jkm: Before I went to the British Museum, I listened to the podcast British Museum - A History of the World in 100 objects
There were some stories that spoke to me and I searched out those items. I agree with the Elgin Marbles and Sutton Hoo treasures.

The British Library is worth a look, too.

Another suggestion for your hubby - this is an easy daytrip from London:-

https://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-du...r_listing_4540

If you visit the Tate Modern, be sure to go up to the open viewing terrace to enjoy great panoramic views.

We also recently enjoyed visiting the Sky Garden where we had a reservation for the Sky Pod Bar for Breakfast at 9:30 on a Monday morning. Coffee (or tea) and a nice pastry was £5. Wonderful views. No crowds when we arrived, but when we left an hour later it was much busier.

Viewing Level at Tate Modern | Tate

https://skygarden.london/sky-garden

The world's most important airshow by far is in Farnborough this year (alternates each year between Paris and F'boro). Maybe you should change your trip to July! If he's never been, it would blow him away. That's where the big arms deals and civilian aviation deals get done and the exhibitions are amazing. A quick train ride from London. But since it's very unlikely you'd change your travel dates, I'll clarify that Farnborough Airport has no real attractions outside of the week that the airshow is on there every other year.

We loved Westminster Abbey, Tate Modern, Cecil Court for its quirky little shops and Hyde Park. Have you considered wandering Queen Mary’s Rose Garden at Regent’s Park? Not sure what will be in bloom that time of year, but we even enjoyed crocus and daffodils on a snowy March morning.

Hi, Jkm321. If you and your husband want a day trip from London to see the Cotswolds, I can't recommend The Secret Cottage Tour highly enough. I had the loveliest day with Becky (the cottage owner), her drivers and the other tourists. It was even a bit of a drizzly day, so was perfect to be chauffered around and fed (extremely well) through the day. You definitely won't go hungry. It's a bit pricey, but I thought it was really a nice day out, and a chance to pick the brains of the locals to get a feel for the challenges the residents there face. (In the case of Great Tew, the arrival of Harry and Meghan to their neck of the woods.)
https://www.cotswoldtourismtours.co.uk/

You leave London for Moreton-in-Marsh, the tour van meets you right at the small train station, and the tour drops you back off at the station to go back to London.

Your vacation sounds lovely. Have a great time! Definitely do a London Walk. Also, Hamilton tickets seem to be less expensive (at least for better view seats) in London than in America.

Hi Chgo girl, it’s been a while. I have always enjoyed reading about your adventures in London.

I am returning this June. That day trip to the Cotswolds really looks inviting.

Many thanks…

I'm following this thread and am so excited as we'll be in London for a week at the end of September. I just looked at the website for the Guildhall Museum, and discovered that they have self-guided walks which are in PDFs or can be either downloaded as an app! Fantastic resource:
https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/thin...lf-guided.aspx

For more ideas which you will never have enough time for, please see Welltraveledbrit's report on her 3-month visit several years ago. This will undoubtedly make you want to plan yet another trip - as I now suspect will be happening for us, too ;)
https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...eport-1041671/

Loving this thread and am very excited for our own upcoming trip in the fall.

RM67, how long does it take to get to Duxford from central London? This looks great, thanks for the tip!

>>RM67, how long does it take to get to Duxford from central London?<<

Duxford is near Cambridge. The best way to get there from London is a train from Kings Cross to Royston - about an hour. From Royston take a taxi. Royston to Duxford is less than 10 miles.

When I was there in 2014, there was a free shuttle boat between the Tate Modern and the Tate Britain.

This was my 3rd London visit but here is the link to my TR:

Trip Report Madrid and London - Page 7 - Fodor's Travel Talk Forums

Go down to May 2 to get to the London portion.

Have a wonderful time and please report back!

I want to thank Southam -- I bought two tickets for the Kahlo exhibit for our last day in London. They were going fast!

Thank you all so very, very much! Your input is so much appreciated. The Frida Kahlo Exhibit and the Secret Cottage Tour look perfect for my days touring by myself. And without you all I'd never know about getting a reservation for breakfast at the Sky Pod Bar for the wonderful views. Keep all your ideas coming. I love the special things that you are suggesting for us.

And thank you for the recommendation for Skygarden. We will be there for 10 days in mid September and will try to fit this in

,,,,

Not quite sure how you 'quoted' a post that didn't exist LOL :) ah, the mysteries of Fodors . . .

As I understand it each of these rows is a day's plan:

1) Stonehenge Avebury tour
2) British Museum/British Library
3) Westminster/Churchill war rooms
4) Buckingham Palace
5) Visit Greenwich Day (Maybe take boat to get there)
6) Breakfast at Skypod Bar/Guildhall/StPauls
7) Imperial War Museum/Tate Britain
8) Hampton Court
9) Tate Modern / Tower of London
10) Brooklands airplane and car museum
11) Victoria and Albert (only have a partial day available)

If so, you've done a good job of grouping most things but I'll make these specific suggestions:

Unless you are booking a tour, Buckingham Palace is merely a walk-by. But even if you are touring the Palace, days 3 & 4 can easily be combined. The three sites are very near each other with total walking time less than 20 minutes.. That would free up a day for other things.

Day 5 -- I'd play the transport by ear depending partly on the weather, and partly on how early you get started. I'd more likely take the DLR or the tube to Greenwich and the boat back.

For days 6 & 7: On Day 6 I'd do the Sky Garden, walk to St Pauls, then walk across the Millennium Bridge to Tate Modern. On day 7 you could do the Imperial War Museum and in the afternoon maybe Tate Britain which is about a mile away. Or you could go somewhere else entirely in the afternoon - Wallace Collection, Covent Garden, National/National Portrait, wherever.

Day 9 -- what day of the week is it? (Having done Tate Modern earlier) You could do the Tower for a few hours then in the afternoon visit Southwark Cathedral and Borough Market. Or you could hit a matinee, or have a lovely afternoon tea in one of the posh hotels, or take a boat ride from Tower Pier up to Westminster.

Hi, jkm321. If you're there for the London Open House weekend, you may want to jot down some buildings that may be near your MAIN sites that day. I love the open house weekend for the opportunities it provides to see some buildings for free, but know that many of those places can be visited with the cost of a ticket. It's the other buildings, that only open to the general public a few times a year, that are more worthwhile for tourists like us! The guide will post on 8/21, but here's the link.

https://openhouselondon.org.uk/

(Oh... and I DO hope you take the Secret Cottage tour. I really loved it.)

For a nice variety of great London sights:

• National Portrait Gallery - history of Britain to the present day in portraits
• Churchill War Rooms - exactly as he left this underground control center when the war ended
• Tower - if you can only see one sight, this is it.
• Self-guided walk from Trafalgar to Westminster Abbey (or v.v.) - many tour books will have one
• Thames Cruise - nice overview of the city, and a good way to get to the Tower from Westminster bridge (or v.v.)
• See the musical Everybody's Talking About Jamie at the Apollo on Shaftesbury Avenue. One of the best stage shows I've every seen...and I'm not crazy about musicals.
• At the back entrance to the British Museum is a huge room with an eclectic variety of displays.
• Something odd? The V & A has a huge collection of snuff boxes.
• The "Treasures" room of the British Library is a wonder...and they also have a phenomenal stamp collection with each page in a separate pull-out glass display.

Three more thoughts:

• A not-so-well-known diamond in the rough: Courtauld Gallery (fantastic collection of late 19th & early 20th c.) and better than the Tate Modern - But it may be closed for renovations...a shame.
• An over-rated lump of coal: Tate Modern (a lot of wall space with very little decent art)
• A nice, much less crowded, alternative to the changing of the guard at Buckingham - changing the horse guard in Whitehall

Just my oipinion.
ssander

This thread is so helpful for our upcoming trip in September. Now the challenge will be to try not to fit it all in. There's so much I want to see and not enough time in a week.

Check to see if Buckingham Palace is open to touring for your dates. We visited it last August, a wonderful experience.

The Palace is open this year through Sept 30. Must be pre-booked

Re the British Museum: I think the Rosetta Stone is an absolute must-see.