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

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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.