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I've been reading everyone's post for a while and I found some really useful stuff. My wife and I will be traveling to London for the first time. Based on what I have read, here is our schedule. Please feel free to pick it apart and offer any advice. Day 1 Arrive at 7 am. Travel to hotel in Chelsea and upload luggage. Take a bus tour of the city to get bearings. Check out Westminster Abbey region, St. James, Piccadilly area. Day 2 Chelsea area, Victoria and Albert Museum, Science Museum, Kensington area Day 3 Thinking about going to Bath. No tour, just exploring on our own. Thoughts? Maybe check out Kew gardens if time permits. Day 4 Hyde Park, Tea someplace?, Shopping, London walk in the evening Day 5 British Museum, Covent Gardens, Soho and the National Gallery Day 6 Evan Evans tour to Warwick, Oxford, Stratford Day 7 Tower of London, Greenwich, last minute scramble to catch anything we missed. I think we are going to see a play at least one night. I can't decide whether to book ahead. (They had tickets available to Mamma Mia) or see what is available at Leicester Square. So am I missing anything? Any advice on place to eat in those areas. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I think you have a very ambitious programme and may well need a holiday when you get home. London is a wonderful city and you can never see it all. For my first three visits I refused to enter a museum or an art gallery as I knew that, if I did, I would write off the day. What I wanted was to absorb the atmosphere. Your first day is fine and will give you a taste of the place. You will probably be surprised at how small London is. Doing the V&A and the Science Museum in one day is going to be hard work. There are seven miles of galleries in the V&A alone and if you do them all you will have walked far more than the seven miles. The Science museum is smaller, but even so it takes most of a day to see it all. Going to Bath will occupy a whole day; there is a lot to see in addition to the Baths. I don’t see you doing Kew Gardens on the same day. Your fourth day is good. Try a walk along the river and perhaps a pub or two. The British Museum is about half the size of the V&A, but somehow it seems to take longer to see. I saw what I wanted to see in the National Gallery in about three hours, my wife spent three days there and can’t wait to get back. Convent Gardens is well worth a visit, but personally I wouldn’t waste my time in Soho. You will probably have seen it on the first day when you went to Piccadilly. Nothing wrong with your planning for day six. Get to The Tower early, the queues can be dreadful, if you don’t linger you could do that and St Paul’s in half a day. Then Greenwich (you should be able to take Docklands from the Tower Station) where there is the Observatory, the maritime Museum and the Royal Park. They will fill a good afternoon. What are you missing? Well inevitably a lot of course! But you can’t do everything in seven days. What would I consider doing instead? Well the museum of London, because it is just that, the history of London. Takes three or four hours. St. Paul’s. Hampton Court takes most of a day but is one of the best house/castle visits in the United Kingdom. The changing of the Horse guards is, in my opinion, better value than the changing of the Guard. I would seek an invite to the Ceremony of the Keys. It will only take a couple of hours one evening, but it can be magical. If you don’t already have a good Guidebook, have a look for Eyewitness’ London. Anything else, please email me.

Hi Here are my two cents (pence) I find on my first day with little sleep, that I avoid large museums and my motto is "keep moving", which means walking. I also try not to see more than one major museum on any one day--I love museums, but after 3 hours my eyes start to glaze over. Since your hotel is in Chelsea, why not just explore the area on foot on your first day. Lots of great restaurants and cafes and shopping. If you're feeling very energetic, work in a walk to and visit to the V & A museum which is truly overwhelming. This is one of my favorite ways to spend a day in London: Start at the National Gallery and afterwards stop into St Martin's in the Field church which is charming. There's also an ok cafe in the basement if you want a snack or lunch. I find on my first day with little sleep, that I avoid museums and and my motto is "keep moving", which means walking. From Trafalgar Sq walk down Whitehall. You can stop at the Banqueting House if you like (it's beautiful, and a short visit) and perhaps catch the changing of the Horse Guards. You keep hoing toward Parliament so you can see it. You can visit Churchill's Cabinet War Rooms which is pretty amazing to compare with today's computerized methods--we all won the war with pins on maps. You can stop into Westminster Abbey and do a tour. If you walk down Birdcage Walk and then turn you will end up in front of Buck. Palace so you can say you saw it. Then cross walk north through the Park and you will end up on Piccadlly, near the Ritz Hotel or the Dorchester, just two nice places for a formal afternoon tea. On your theatre night(s) it's good to go after you've had a filling afternoon tea. That way you don't have to rush through an early dinner and you can save dinner for after the theatre. If you're going to do a formal afternoon tea at one of the hotels you'll need to reserve in advance. When you come out on Piccadilly, you are also quite near the Burlington Arcade, Fortnum and Mason, etc and the latter has a wonderful food halls good for gifts of teas, cookies, jams, etc. Also has a casual restaurant on the ground floor for tea, ice cream, light food. As mentioned, a day in Bath is a day in Bath--no point in rushing back, especially not to head out to Kew Gardens on the same day. Covent Garden has no particular appeal to me, it just seems rather touristy and overpriced but perhaps I don't know it well enough. I also wouldn't save the Tower for your last day, unless you consider that to be an optional visit. I learned long ago (with Westminster Abbey, as a matter of fact) to never save anything very important for the last day--it can close unexpectedly, or you could feel ill, or some other disaster could befall you. Anyway, I think the last day of my trip is best for strolling, savoring, gift-buying, and perhaps fitting in one last "optional" item such as Greenwich or Kew Gardens (which also has a place for tea by the way). Keep in mind that major stores like Harrods, etc are not open on Sundays. I have a file on London; if you'd like to see it, email me.

I agree with the above. London has such great atmosphere! I personally wouldn't think of seeing two museums in one day... maybe see one and linger over a drink or long meal for the remainder of the day... stroll and take in the unique feelings of London. Also, just me, by the time I drive to the airport, spend 8-10 hrs on an international flight, push through customs,,, pick up luggage, negotiate a way to get to the hotel and check in, I am not got for much more then a shower and a nap or very occasionally a shower and a nice meal... If I were to hop on a city tour I would be in abject misery! I would save the overall tour for early morning day 2 to get your bearings... the above poster is correct, it takes a lifetime to get to know a city like London.. don't try to do it in a week. Relax and enjoy your holiday, leave time for adventure and Bon Voyage!

as i have said before, i can never find much interest in answering a post from someone who can't spell iterniary

Thanks for the suggestions especially the points about seeing two museums in two days. I think I may have to shift around some stuff because I can see how burn out can happen. I tried to avoid two consecutive days of such attractions in order to avoid the same. It is hard to resist trying to see it all. I suspect we will go hard for a couple of days and then pare it back. I guess the perfectionist post is sarcasm about my poor spelling?

Sean I tend to tour like you. Cram as much as possble in. Nothing to add. However I agree with the bus tour on the first day. This is what I do in every new city I visit. I feel I get to know the city better this way. Why not go to Convent Garden at night and eat at one of the restaurants around there. Have fun. I personally would give an entire day to shopping.

I was about to agree with Perfectionist's post, but since Perfectionist spelled Perfectionist incorrectly, well, no no no and tsk, tsk tsk! Still, there are some words travelers ought to be able to spell - itinerary is one of them. Accommodations is another. Iterinary? Do you PRONOUNCE it that way, too?

Our family went to Bath as a daytrip from London last summer. We took an early train (can't recall exactly, but 7:15 or 7:30, something like that). We arrived in Bath just as the Roman Baths were opening. It was great because we avoided the crowd. We also went to the costume museum and did a Guide Friday bus tour along with just some general roaming around. We returned to London on a 5:30 train, but there were some leaving even later. Allow a good, full day here - there is so much to see.