One day in London
 

Hello!!
I am staying in Paris in June, but I would like to do a day trip over to London on the train early in the morning. My plan is to arrive in London by 9:30 am and leave around 9:00 at night. I have never been to London, so does anyone have any suggestions for what to cover in 1 day? Any good restaurants for breakfast, lunch and dinner?

Some people have suggested doing the bus tour cause it covers most of the city...is this a good idea?

Any suggestions would be awesome.

Thanks =)

Based on your other thread, it seems to me you're pretty budget-conscious. The hop on hop off is an easy way to see the city, but at a cost of £22 which I think is a major rip-off.

Consider this, you can get a one-day travelcard (valid for tube, bus, DLR, overground) for just £5.60 or a one-day bus pass (bus only) for just £3.80. Both give unlimited travel for the entire day.

Personally, I think the hop on/hop off bus would be a good idea in your situation. As you said, it covers most of the city and would give you a good overview.

I hate bus tours. I think they take a lot of time and you only see the outside of buildings; not what's inside. With 1 day in London I wouldn't waste any time sitting on a bus.

My favorites in London:

Cabinet War Rooms - totally fascinating!
British Museum (I'd wanted to see the Rosetta Stone and the Elgin Marbles for years)
Tate Gallery (love the Pre-Raphaelites and Turners)
Verger's Tour of Westminster Abbey (book ahead)
John Soane's house - eclectic museum
And the very best which you won't have time for with only 1 day in London - the Ceremony of the Keys - the Tower of London closing ceremony that begins at 9:00. Loved seeing something that had happened every night for over 700 years!

Things I could have lived without in London:

The half day bus tour
Changing of the Guard
Buckingham Palace (although it won't be open when you're there)

Museums in UK are normally free. The V&A is my favorite.

BTW, with this bus map, you can easily hit many sights in one day with just a £3.80 bus pass.
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...al_bus_map.pdf

However, it also depends on your comfort level when it comes to taking public transport. If you are someone who has never used subways or buses, you may find it daunting to DIY. OTOH, if you use public transport in your home city and have traveled to other cities and used their public transport, I think it's pretty easy to figure out the London buses yourself.

DH and I did almost the same thing last year as what you propose. I do suggest if you plan on using the Tube a lot is purchasing a 1 day pass. This could be a Travelcard if you plan on using any of the 2 for 1 specials that can be purchased at the rail station in London or an PAYG Oyster. There are many excellent threads on both options here. Another suggestion is you have a site you want to visit in mind, trying a London Walks tour will give you bang for your buck and time. Believe me, one day in London flies by!

You can get a "ride-by" most of the major sights on the ordinary service buses, which are covered by the travelcard, using this map:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...al_bus_map.pdf

One useful tip from flanneruk on another thread - there will be about a thousand people on your train from Paris, so don't queue up with them all at St Pancras to get your travelcard - walk through to the Kings Cross tube station concourse and get your travelcard there.

The travelcard will also get you one-third of boat trips - you could pick up the Circular Cruise and travel between say, Westminster and the Tower, without using up too much time:
http://www.crownriver.com/circular-cruise.asp

You won't have much time actually to go into major attractions, but depending on what interests you, bear in mind that the major art galleries and museums are free (National Gallery, Tate Modern, British Museum).

For breakfast, have something to eat on the train, however unimpressive.

Personally, I'd suggest, say, Covent Garden/British Museum area, then perhaps the circular cruise and stop off to look at the South Bank. But so much depends on your own interests.

Thanks for all the responses so far.

As for the public transportation, I am not really used to using it, I live in Miami, FL and I dont even think we have Public Transportation and if we do its very poor (miami isnt exactly run by smart ppl) so I would rather do a bus tour if I had to.

Also the NYTimes ran a great article about London, they said eat breakfast on the 5th floor of Harvey Nichols?? Anyone heard of that before??

I wouldn't waste time heading all the Harvey Nics for breakfast, esp if you don't arrive until 9:30am. by the time you get your bearings and get to Knightsbridge, it'll be 10:30am the earliest.

ditto what PatrickLondon said about having breakfast on the train. There is a Paul boulangerie at Paris Gare du Nord. Just grab a croissant or two to-go and eat it on the train. Or, if you buy a 1st class ticket on the eurostar, you'll get a free breakfast served on the train.

katie - Don't be afraid to try the public transport. People in London are so very helpful and will willingly answer any questions you have about the buses and direct you appropriately.

Ditto what others have said about Transport for London - if you compare their routes to the commercial ones, you will find that they overlap 100%.

In case you're in the dark about where to get on and off the public buses, here's a place where you can click on the alphabetical entry for each location and print out the detail street map showing where each line goes (these maps are also found in every bus shelter):

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/gettingaround/maps/buses/

Here's the one for St. Pancras international to get you started: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/gettingaro...ional-2225.pdf

Here's a public bus route from St Pancras (where Eurostar arrives from Paris) down to Westminster Abbey and Parliament. Bus 91 from stop R just across the street from St Pancras. Then get off at Trafalgar Square and walk down Whitehall to Westminster Abbey (about 15 minutes walk) or change there for Bus 11 from Stop: N towards Fulham Town Hall
or Route Bus 87 from Stop: N towards Wandsworth Plain
or Route Bus 159 from Stop: M towards Streatham Bus Garage/Ice Arena or Route Bus 53 from Stop: P towards Plumstead or Route Bus 88 from Stop: N towards Clapham Common / Old Town. If you need more help, www.tfl.co.uk has the journey planner feature which lets you search routes between addresses, stations or landmarks. It includes maps of each step in the results. If you want bus as method, just "uncheck" the train, tube, etc. other methods on the search page. On the way back St. James Park is just behind Whitehall or you could take a walk or river boat along the Thames and a different bus back, for example from Tower Bridge back to St Pancras.

Thanks soo much to everyone!! Iam soo excited and you all have helped tremendously! I have printed these out and will use them as guides!!

If you should decide to use The Original Tour, be advised that a river tour is included. I wouldn't go down to Greenwich on your tight timetable, but from Westminster to the Tower is a very interesting area.

http://www.theoriginaltour.com/speci.../page_148.html

Big Bus Tours offers a similar product:

http://www.bigbustours.com/eng/londo...d=river_cruise