One Full Day in London- Must See Places?
 

We will arrive in London late afternoon on May 30, 2005 and leave in the morning June 1. I think Monday May 30th is some type of holiday? What are the must-see places with limited time? I was thinking the London Eye, Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, and maybe a stroll through Harrods. There will be 10 of us ranging in ages from 9 to 71. Thanks for your advise.

With that limited time and diverse group of people, I think your best best would be the hop-on-hop-of bus tour to get a glimpse of all the main sites. Or split up into smaller groups and pick one or two places of interest for each little group - no sense in dragging people to things they aren't interested in if you only have one day in London.

Regent's Park is GORGEOUS that time of year - take a stroll through Queen Mary's Rose Gardens

seriously, the only "must see" place you all and we have in common is the restroom.... asking here will only further complicate the question.

go with your gut.

With ten people in tow (probably some with major jet-lag hang overs) you will be lucky to get through more than a couple of things on you one full day.

At that time of year on the major Bank Holiday many of the hop-on-hop-off buses will be running pretty full. easy for 2 or 3 to board one but hard to find 10 seats available. Plus everyone will have different food/drink requirements/schedules and different stamina. So don't even try to stay joined at the hip. Let everyone just go off and do what each wants. The logistics of 10 people getting a quick lunch all together is too much to contemplate.

The youngest one(s) will have to stick w/ an adult, but otherwise, just make sure everyone knows the name/address of the hotel.

Oh that wasn't very clear. The hop-on-hop-off buses are great and highly recommended for your situation -- Just don't try to ride them all together.

Regarding Harrods...when all is said and done, it is another department store (albeit a big, fancy and famous one). The other places you mention--especially the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey--are unique, historical sights that you can only see in London.

I would make a choice between focusing on a few places or doing the hop-on/hop-off bus tour that lets you glance at many of the major sights. The Tower of London, for example, is worth 2 hours of your time, or longer.

Have fun in Paris

Dave White
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Were it me, and I'm sorry it's not LOL, I would do the Tower and if time Westminster Abbey..The other poster is right, Harrods is just a department store in a sense and it's really hard to just take a quick walk around..you could spend a week in the food hall!!! But, you all will know best what your main interests are and I think the idea of splitting up is a good one. If this is your first trip to London, you are going to want to go back.

Dear UUHHH, are the restrooms nice in London? Got a laugh from your posting, thanks. I never considered Regents Park and think I will try to squeeze that in. Splitting up appears to be a must. My sister-in-law was planning on taking a 1/2 day tour to Stonehenge. Would that be worth it for her? I don't know London at all, but think she should stay the full day in the city. I think the Tower of London and Westminster is a must for me. Has anyone been to the London Eye, is it worth the ride?

My family enjoyed the London Eye quite a bit but it was on our second trip that we did that as there were so many historical things we wanted to see first. We're actually thinking about riding it again next February. If you can squeeze it in maybe you should prepay your tickets and collect them at County Hall to save time waiting in line. You could fly the Eye after your visit to Westminster Abbey.

Tower of London tour alone can take up about half a day, unless you want to just breeze through everything. It's a historical site very unique to London; good for the history buff in your group.

Set aside at least two hours for London Eye, depending on how long the lines are to get ticket and to get to the eyes. Realistically, it is probably impossible to drag a crew of 10 people to see all of the four sites that you mentioned.

Just returned yesterday from 2 days in London and 4 in Paris. We originally did not want to take the hop-on-hop-off buses but were strongly encouraged to do so. We took it and very much regretted it. With limited time--you don't want to be stuck on a bus seeing sites which aren't as important to you. It is also VERY expensive (well-EVERYTHING is expensive in London!). And, we got CLOSER to Buckingham palace after 10 p.m. in our cab than the hop on bus did the next day. Would instead recommend that you do your research and figure out the two or so things you REALLY want to do, check out a map about where they are located and walk or cab to them. We ended up not taking the tube because we would have been underground. The cabs are great fun. What we did in 48 hours: take heathrow express, sleep (at least 22 hours due to jet lag), eat breakfast at our B&B in Mayfair, see one musical (Woman in White) and one comedy (Solid Gold Cadillac), have afternoon tea at Claridges (too expensive--nice--but wouldn't do again), pub lunch at Alberts, see westminister abbey inside, see outside of big ben, buckingham palace etc., do 90 minute highlights tour of british museum, shopping at grocery store (Sainbridge) and british museum shops, pre-theater dinner at national portrait gallery. And, that was 48 hours. This was my daughter's first time in London and the cabs were a great way to see a bit of London while running to our next activity. Great for shopping and luggage too. This was my second time and 3 years ago my husband and I enjoyed the all day original walks walking tour that hits all of the highlights--unfortunately it wasnt going on the day we had free in London this time. Time versus money is always the decision to make.

I second Janis' suggestion of splitting the group up and everybody doing what they feel is their own priority. As for me, an hour or so in St. James Park (you can rent a deck chair) is an awfully nice place to eat, rest, and hear Big Ben.