Dear Forumites,

Hi there, my hubby and me will be in the UK for 2 weeks begining from May. This is the first trip for us. We will be doing a loop starting from London (3 nites), flying to Paris (4 nites) fly to Edinburgh (3 nights) Cotswoulds (3 nights) and our final stop back in London for another (2 nites) before we head back home. I am so looking forward to this trip and seek your kind thoughts on what we have planned out for our London trip- whether it is sensible and how best i can optimise our limited time in London. There is so much to see and do. We like to take it easy, enjoy London and don't want to rush around- however that's the toughest part i keep adding things onto the list to do and wonder if i can even achieve half of what i have on the list. Please help.

Here it is:
10th May- Arrive late at night - crash out. We are staying at a holiday house in Acton.

11th May- Tower of London (first thing in the morning- not sure if we will be successful in rising early ( do the jewel tour )
- Millenium Bridge
- St Paul's Cathedral
- Lunch at The English Pig Restaurant (got a 2 for 1 deal through groupon)
- Theatre ( either Les'Miserable or Lion King) or
- The Medieval Banquet ( sounds fun although there are mised reviews on the forum)

Questions for 2nd Day-
1) From Acton, shd we take the bus or tube to Tower of London?
2) Initially i thought of doing a self walk tour begining from Tower Hill Underground Station right to St's Paul, however i am having second thoughts and think that it would be a better idea to take the hop and off bus. It might save us some time. If that's the case, should we take the tube straight from Acton to Tower Hill Undergrd and commence our hop and off after our Tower of London tour.
3) I am not sure if we can squeeze any other tours once we have toured tower of london and st's paul. I am guesing not if we want it to be on a leisurely mode right...


12th May- Planned to do the Royal self walk tour which starting with
-Westminister Abbey, Parliament Square, Big Ben, St James Park, Buckingham Palace, Piccadily Circus/ Trafalgar Square.

Questions for 3rd Day-
1) If i take the hop and off bus as planned for 2nd day, i would have to purchase tickets for the hop and off again to see these sights for the 3rd day. As such should i just focus on doing a walking tour for the Royal Tour. Would the hop and off tickets be valid for 2 days or 1 day?

2) On this day, we also have a 1.45am easy bus coach to take to Luton Airport for our flight to Paris and have to be at Baker STreet to take the coach. We plan to leave Acton early, have dinner and perhaps do another thearte (). Would there be any cafes/ theatre near to Baker Street which we can park ourselves until 1.45am- would like to avoid doing too much of moving around with our luggage. Really need your advise on this.

23rd May- Back to London at 4p.m- Plan to stay around Covent Garden ( Haven't booked anything as yet)
- Relax
- Dinner ( would like to try Gordon Ramsey's restaurant)
- Watch Lion King

24th May- Time to head down to Oxford Street, Hamleys ( toys for our kids) enjoy the streets and later catch up with friends.

25thMay- Our last day in London. Relax , walk about , last minute sightseeing of the courts, the inns, etc before we catch our flight back home at 11p.m.

Look forward to your thoughts if i shd improvise on the abovesaid travel plans for London. Thanks so much.

I'll have to come back and chew over more of your post -- but just one quick comment:

Is there some reason you are staying in Acton? If you are near Acton Town tube station it will take you more than 45 minutes to get to Tower Hill. And if you are in some other part of Acton it will take even longer. From Acton Town it is about 40 minutes to places like Buckingham Palace. That is not at all a convenient place to stay for a short London visit.

I chose East Acton as rent was cheap but on hindsight now regret making the bookings/payments as you have coorectly pointed out- its not central. The Landlord told me that it is 20minute tube ride to city. Can't do anything abt it as i have paid for the 3 nights stay. Plan to stay at Covent Garden for our second part of London trip. Thanks

Questions for 2nd Day-
1) From Acton, shd we take the bus or tube to Tower of London?

Definitely take the tube – the bus will take AGES. I imagine you wont get to the Tower until at least 10:30 - 11 and will want to spend about 3-4 hours there. (The Jewel Tower is by Westminster, the jewels are kept at the Tower of London)

I don’t see how you will be able to get to the English Pig restaurant in time for lunch based on your time at the tower above. Looks like they only serve lunch until 2:30 and it will take you will likely be just getting done at the Tower then you would have to walk/tube there which will take about 20 – 40 mins assuming you know exactly where you are going.

2) Initially i thought of doing a self walk tour begining from Tower Hill Underground Station right to St's Paul, however i am having second thoughts and think that it would be a better idea to take the hop and off bus. It might save us some time. If that's the case, should we take the tube straight from Acton to Tower Hill Undergrd and commence our hop and off after our Tower of London tour.

The HOHO bus is a hugely expensive and gets all caught up in traffic and usually its faster to walk. I would save your money and do the self-walk. There are local buses that are included in your tube pass (can someone provide them please?) that give you the same views.

3) I am not sure if we can squeeze any other tours once we have toured tower of london and st's paul. I am guesing not if we want it to be on a leisurely mode right...

You wont have time – this is a full day as it is.

Here is what I would do – head to the Tower and spend from 11 – 2/3 there, picking up lunch there or at a sandwich shop during your walking tour to St Pauls. Do the walking tour to St Pauls and then spend 1.5 – 2 hours touring st Pauls. From there head up to The English Pig for a nice dinner and then maybe a walk along the Thames and you will be ready to crash.

Will look at the other days in a min….

ok Day 3:


Questions for 3rd Day-
1) If i take the hop and off bus as planned for 2nd day, i would have to purchase tickets for the hop and off again to see these sights for the 3rd day. As such should i just focus on doing a walking tour for the Royal Tour. Would the hop and off tickets be valid for 2 days or 1 day?

2) On this day, we also have a 1.45am easy bus coach to take to Luton Airport for our flight to Paris and have to be at Baker STreet to take the coach. We plan to leave Acton early, have dinner and perhaps do another thearte (). Would there be any cafes/ theatre near to Baker Street which we can park ourselves until 1.45am- would like to avoid doing too much of moving around with our luggage. Really need your advise on this.

Again, I think the HOHO is a waste of time and money. I plan days like this for my family every time someone new comes. I recommend you start at Victoria tube and bring your suitcases and use day storage there http://www.left-baggage.co.uk/locations.php to save yourself the trip back to Acton (that will waste 2+ hours going back and forth later in the day), walk to Buckingham Palace. Walk through St James’ park (my favourite park in London) and grab something for lunch at a sandwich shop at Parliament Sq and picnic in the park, or eat at a pub. Parliament Sq you will see Big Ben and Westminster Abbey. Book yourself on the verger tour at Westminster Abbey for about 2pm http://www.westminster-abbey.org/visit-us/tours

Aftr this is done head up to Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus. You can pick up cheap theatre tickets at the TKTS booth in Leicester Sq, grab a meal and then see a show, head back to Victoria and pick up your luggage and take the tube to Baker St. There are lots of things around to entertain yourselves there.

Here's whats available through TKTS booth today:
http://www.officiallondontheatre.co....hats_on_today/

And some last thoughts:

23rd May- Back to London at 4p.m- Plan to stay around Covent Garden ( Haven't booked anything as yet)
- Relax
- Dinner ( would like to try Gordon Ramsey's restaurant)
- Watch Lion King

Are you landing at 4pm or getting back to London at 4pm – it will take you about 1.5 – 2 hours to get back into London from the airports into Central London so factor that in.

If you want to eat at GR be sure to make reservations far in advance.

24th May- Time to head down to Oxford Street, Hamleys ( toys for our kids) enjoy the streets and later catch up with friends.

This is fine, you can add Regent St and Carnaby St as well (I personally HATE Oxford street due to the crowds!) One of the best kept ‘secrets’ is St Christophers Place. There is a tiny alley on the North side of the street beside the HMV and if you walk down there you will find a small square with restaurants and cool shops – MUCH better than Oxford St itself I think and you wouldn’t even notice it normally.

You could also head up to Regent’s Park for a walk – its lovely that time of year.