We will be arriving at Heathrow at 11:25am on Monday, July 13. We will be taking the tube or bus (haven't decided for sure) to our hotel near Victoria Station. I'm figuring it will be 1:30 or 2pm before we get to the hotel. We'll need to keep moving, to adjust to the time change (6 hours from the midwest US). I was thinking we would visit Westminster Abbey, then ride the London Eye (we really want to do this), assuming it is a clear day. We'd definitely have to go to Westminster Abbey first, since it closes pretty early. Maybe we will stay for Evensong service. Does anyone know how long the lines would be for these 2 sites? Is this feasible?

We have 3 more days in London to see the sights, but want to visit at least one or two the first day, before we eat and crash for the night.

For the London Eye, you can save time by calling them to buy tickets over the phone when you arrive in London (be sure the weather is nice). If you call to buy tickets ahead, you won't have to line up for them when you get there.

I think Westminster Abbey is a bit heavy for arrival day, unless you think you can sleep fairly well on the flight over. There's a lot to see and absorb at Westminster Abbey, and only you can judge how well you hold up ...

I'll expand a bit more on our travelling group - there's 4 of us, myself, my 20 year old daughter and her best friend (also 20), and her BF's mother. The 2 girls will have spent 8 weeks studying in Spain, and will be meeting us 2 Moms in London. So, only the 2 of us will be jetlagged for our first day in London. Our daughters will arrive from Madrid the afternoon before us and are planning to do the Harry Potter London Walk and some pubbing before we arrive.

I hesitate to do Westminster Abbey right off, too, but it seems to fit the best with our planned itineraries. We need to tour one of our main sites the first day. The heavy British history/royalty angle may be a good introduction to London. We all want to ride the Eye, and that would give us a good overview of the city. Hoping that our first day will be clear!
Here's the rest of our plans:

Day 2 - Tues
St Paul's - first thing in the am?
Fat Tire Bike Tour of Central London
Kensington Palace/Tea at Orangery
Harrods, if time allows
Evening - We Will Rock You show

Day 3 - Wed
V&A and/or Natural History Museums
Harrods?
Wellington Arch and/or Apsley House (if time allows)
Evening - Old Thames Pub Tour London Walk
Ceremony of the Keys (we have tickets!)

Day 4 - Thurs
St Pauls (if missed before)
Globe Theater tour
Tower of London and Bridge
Evening - British Museum

Day 5 - Fri
10am train to Edinburgh

We already have Oyster PAYG cards, British Heritage Passes, and plan to use Travelcards/2for1 offers for at least 2 of the days. Wed and Thurs are interchangable, depending on weather. Any ideas for improving this itinerary are welcome. We really want to maximize our time in London - there is so much to see and none of us have been there before.

Hi-

Considering what you just said, I guess Westminster Abbey will be okay. I think the rest of your itinerary looks pretty good, but I have a few suggestions (see below). What are your interests?

<i>Day 2 - Tues
St Paul's - first thing in the am?
Fat Tire Bike Tour of Central London
Kensington Palace/Tea at Orangery
Harrods, if time allows
Evening - We Will Rock You show</i>

I'll probably save St Paul's for another day.

I looked up Fat Tire Bike's tour - I guess you're taking the 11am tour, which departs from Queensway tube station? I certainly would NOT head all the way to St Paul's in the morning and rush back for the tour, since you're staying near
Victoria.

What I'd suggest is have a nice walk in the AM to Buckingham Palace, through St James's Park, then tube to Queensway for your tour.

<i>Day 3 - Wed
V&A and/or Natural History Museums
Harrods?
Wellington Arch and/or Apsley House (if time allows)
Evening - Old Thames Pub Tour London Walk
Ceremony of the Keys (we have tickets!)</i>

I love the V&A, so unless you are much, much more interested in Nat Hist, I would suggest you go to V&A instead. DON'T MISS the dining rooms/cafe, even if you're not eating there.

I know with the GBHP you can get in Wellington Arch/Apsley House for free, but those won't be my first choice for first or second or third time visitors.

Since the Old Thames Pub walk starts at Holborn, I suggest you either visit the British Museum OR John Soane's Museum (quirky) and Lincoln's Inn instead. Both are very close to Holborn station. While you're there, you might want to grab some authentic fish and chips from a no-frills place called Fryer's Delight before your walk:
http://www.timeout.com/london/restau...iews/9396.html

Here's photos of the place (I was there last year):
http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...8/IMG_2705.jpg
http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/p...8/IMG_2703.jpg

BTW, you most likely will need to leave the walking tour early, in order to make it to Ceremony of the Keys.

<i>Day 4 - Thurs
St Pauls (if missed before)
Globe Theater tour
Tower of London and Bridge
Evening - British Museum</i>

I would start with Tower of London first, then Tower Bridge, Globe & St Paul's.

If you still have energy afterwards, perhaps stop by National Gallery or National Portrait Gallery, or British Library (assuming you went to British Museum the day before).

You can book tickets online for the London Eye if you are sure what day you will be going. The prebooked window seldom has a long line.

I second the recommendation to go to the Tower first thing in the morning. If you can be there when the ticket booths open (9a.m. I think) and then head directly to see the jewels, you shouldn't have to wait very long. I went in October and was able to walk back and forth by the jewels because there was no one there. Just an hour later, the line was out the door and snaking across to where the executions took place.

Thanks for the prompt responses. This is very helpful!

Mon - We will prebook tickets to the Eye, once we know if the weather will be favorable. Is Westminster Abbey going to have a huge line by mid afternoon? If so, I don't know how we can avoid that.

Tues - I agree with saving St Pauls for later, rather than going prior to our bike tour (which will cover many of the parks, monuments, sights, etc). It was just an option, that I think we will rule out...

Wed - My preference is definitely the V&A, but will have to go with our travelling group decision. I hadn't considered Wellington Arch or Apsley House, except that another recent trip report raved about both of them. They are not must sees for us. I would prefer visiting the National Gallery. My info on the Pub Tour Walk is that it starts at Mansion House tube, which is pretty close to the National Gallery. We wanted to visit the British Museum in the evening, since it would likely be less crowded.

Thurs - My only concern about going to the Tower first thing, is that the Globe tour only allows visits to the actual theater prior to the matinee. If we visited the Tower at opening (would love to avoid crowds), would we have enough time for a visit and still make it to the Globe prior to 12:30pm? (We will have had an introduction at our Ceremony of Keys visit on the night before. )We could visit St Pauls afterwards. Not sure how to best fit in the Tower Bridge? This is going to be a busy day...

Ah, there are 2 pub walks on Wed nights. I misread the one you wanted to take.
http://www.walks.com/Homepage/Wednes...s/default.aspx

Check the online prices for the Eye. The prebooked tickets were 27 quid when I was there. That's nearly $42 for a 30-minute ride.

Somehow a P.T. Barnum phrase seems appropriate . . .

Do St. Paul's on your Thursday -- it's walking distance from the Tower (decent-sized walk, but not all the way across town). London is a large city like New York. It's not like the downtown of a Southern US city that could be only 8 blocks long or a small US city like Boston or Cleveland.

If you're into history, consider the British Library's Henry VIII special exhibit (2for1 eligible) instead of the V&A or the Natural History museums. This is the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII's ascension to the throne and many British museums have special exhibitions regarding his life and times. The best of the ones I saw was the BL exhibition I mentioned.

Go to LondonTown.com for exhibitions and what's going on in London when you're there.