If you were advising average first-time tourists to London on the Top Ten Things not to miss seeing or doing, what would they be? (And not necessarily what your top ten things would be)

Mine:
1- The Tower of London
2- Riding The Eye Over London Wheel
3- Buckingham Palace (seeing it; Jul-Aug visiting inside)
4- Trafalgar Square
5- The South Bank Walk along the Thames
6- St Paul's Cathedral
7- British Museum
8- Covent Garden
9- Seeing a West End Play
10- Boat trip on the Thames to Greenwich

Houses of Parliament
Westminster Abbey
Trafalger Square
Tower of London
Tower bridge
Boat trip to Greenwich
London Eye
St Paul's
Buck house/Changing the guard
Covent Garden

Tower of London/London Bridge
Buckingham Palace
Trafalgar Square
St Paul's Cathedral
Houses of Parliament
Westminster Abbey
British Museum
Covent Garden
Boat trip along the Thames
Thames walk

In no particular order:

Tower of London/Tower Bridge
St. Paul's Cathedral
Greenwich Observatory & Market
Camden Market
Big Ben
Tea at Fortnum & Mason
Buckingham Palace
Covent Garden/Neal Street
Monument to Great Fire
Bank of England Museum

1. The Tower of London
2. Westminster Abbey
3. The Borough Market
4. Having lunch in a great historic
pub like The George
5. Victoria & Albert Museum
6. Hampton Court by boat
7. Wandering around the Old City
8. The Museum of London
9. The Imperial War Museum
10. Kew Gardens

I agree with all of these! mnapoli where is the George, I must go. I have not visited Kew, because it's always been winter or early spring! I have not been to Hampton by boat either.

Borough Market - I agree with mnapoli.
Windsor Castle and the little town of Eton - not that far out of central London.
Globe Theatre if you are a Shakespeare fan. We went to a play there and loved it. hint - hire a cushion to sit on!
Harrods - especially the vast food court.

1 - Tower of London
2 - double-decker bus ride
3 - Westminster Abbey
4 - London Eye
5 - Harrods
6 - having a pint in a pub
7 - St. James Park
8 - Cabinet War Rooms
9 - Museum of London
10 - seeing a West End show

Not in any order:

1. Westminster Abbey
2. Walk by Houses of Parliament and Big Ben
3. Tower of London
4. Victoria & Albert Museum
5. British Museum
6. British Library
7. West End play
8. Churchill War Rooms
9. Walk by Buckingham Palace and through Green and St. James Parks
10. St. Paul's Cathedral
11. Bonus--Afternoon tea

Oh this is hard...I pretty much agree with all the top 10's already posted. But I also would add the National Gallery. There are some masterpieces in there that I love, like Van Gogh's Sunflowers. I am awestruck every time I see it. I also love the Portrait Gallery, there are some Tudor portaits that you always see in books and I find them intriguing.

I have not done the Eye, but I may try it this summer, since PalenQ recommends it. You give such good advice!

Although The Eye was worthwhile for the sights I felt it was so touristy and I would not do it again. We had to wait in line for a long time to go up. I preferred less touristy things to do. We loved relaxing in Hyde Park.

Palenque--So many people are in agreement on the top 6 or so, I am listing the top 10 I think tourists should see, MY top 10 that I've seen, and the top 10 things I still want to see:

Top 10 Tourist Recommendation:
Westminster Abbey
Tower of London
West End theater performance
Boat Ride on the Thames
Double-decker bus tour
Trafalgar Square
London Eye
St. Paul's Cathedral
Parliament/Big Ben
Harrod's(especially the food halls)

MY Top 10 So Far(2 visits)
Westminster Abbey
West End Theater
Opera and ballet at Covent Garden
Tower of London
Boat ride on the Thames
Double-decker bus ride
The Courtauld Museum/Somerset House
Harrod's food halls
Trafalgar Square
Parliament/Big Ben

The Top 10 I want to do on my next visit in May:
Borough Market
Hampton Court Palace
West End Theater
British Museum
National Gallery
St. Paul's Cathedral
Kew Gardens
Natural History Museum
Candlelight concert at St. Martin in the Fields
A day trip to Oxford

Loads to see in London, some of it more than once, so hard choices have to be made. I really recommend both the boat trip and the double decker bus tour, as you get to see many highlights, in a moderate time period, and can go back to the things that you want to spend more time on.

The George is on the south bank of the Thames, not far from the Borough Market.

Barb;

I loved how you organized your lists!

Out of everything you mention, the only one we haven't yet done is the Courtauld Museum/Somerset House.

Can you tell me what you love about it? We're going to be in London for a repeat visit this summer, and trying to put together a list of what we want to see.

Thanks!
Annette

In random order:

St. James Park
Embankment Gardens
Tower of London
Harrod's
St. James, Piccadilly
Trafalgar Square
Green Park
Hyde Park
Regents Park
V & A
Horseguards
St. Martin in the Fields (once it's unwrapped again)
and (lol) that's only the first day

To Annettetx about the Courtald Museum...it's my favorite in London. They have a marvelous collection of Cezannes and they will be showing them all this summer and fall. They also have a great many other fine impressionist paintings, as well as other periods of art. I wouldn't miss it. I also love the Victoria and Albert Museum for decorative arts.

Those are some great lists...thanks for posting!

1- Tower of London, especially the Crown Jewels
2- London Eye
3- Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace
4- Westminster Abbey
5- Big Ben and Parliament
6- Tower Bridge
7- Windsor Castle (technically outside of London, but taking the poetic license)
8- Take a ride on the double decker bus
9- picture next to a red phone booth
10- Kensington Palace and accompanying Hyde Park

bookmarking

My list of ten is nearly identical to carolinetaylor's post, but I'd say the Thames boat ride could be subsituted with a double-decker bus or black cab ride.

Of course, the next ten are just clamoring to be listed!