Iza

We will be in London on an organized business/pleasure trip and will have one or two free afternoons in London. The trip already includes some attractions like the London Eye, a play at the Globe Theatre (with pre-play dinner at a pub) and a couple of walking tours: Old Westminster and Legal London.

Any advice for the free time we will have: don't want to visit museums but rather get a general feel for the city which we have never visited. Are the bus tours worthwhile? Should we do another walking tour?

llamalady

On a nice afternoon a stroll around
Hampstead Village is a delightful
thing to do - a simple ride on the
Tube will get you there.

celticdreams

I'm not sure what type of things you like to do. The hop-on, hop-off bus tour might get you to places you missed on your planned events.

Camden Market and Covent Gardens are both nice places to spend a few hours, shopping, browsing, and eating.

bettyk

Depending on when you will be in London, I always tell people they must visit at least one of London's beautiful parks. My favorites are St. James, Regent's and Hyde Park. Then you will see how Londoner's spend their free time, especially if it is a nice day.

Junetravelfall

I'm a fan of bus tours as a way to get oriented, as they usually provide a good overview to get a layout of the city and its history, and if you are already doing 2 walks you might appreciate it. The Tower though super touristy, I remember as being worthwhile. I disagree about parks, depending on where you are from you can get city parks and if you aren't there for days you may feel you wasted your time. Make sure you walk by ... drat if I haven't forgotten.. it's the spot opposite Buckingham palace where people get on a soapbox and jabber on, some intelligent, some lunatic. You'll likely also get ideas from your walking tours. Otherwise think of what interests and you and London will likely have it and you can experience a different perspective.

Iza

We will be staying at the Waldorf Hilton (Aldwych WC2B 4DD) - which is probably not the hopping area of London! I would like to get a nice overview of some historic buildings/major tourist attractions and generally the layout of the center of the city and based on your recommendations, it sounds like one of those "hop on hop off" bus tours would be good for that. Any specific recommendations for those?

Is London and the major attractions as compact and easy to navigate as Paris?

Daisy54

Junetravelfall - I believe the place you are thinking of is Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park. It's at the northeast corner of the park near Marble Arch, not across from Buckingham Palace. I haven't made it there yet myself, but I understand Sunday afternoon is the best time to experience the soapbox orators.

Kayb95

Here's the websites for a couple of the more popular bus tours:

www.bigbus.co.uk
www.theoriginaltour.com
www.londonducktours.co.uk

IMHO, no first-trip to London is complete without a tour of the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey.

Nigello

Aldywch is right near to Covent Garden and just a 5 minute walk from the river. You could spend some time at the British Museum, or you could stroll around Lincoln's Inn Fields, parallel to Kingsway. Otherwise, there is an IMAX at Waterloo or you could hop on a train and see Windsor or Hampton Court. These will only be an option if in summer, when the days are long. If you are here in autumn or winter, you will have to deal with it getting dark as early as 4pm.

huebie

Go to Fortnum & Mason and get some snacks from the food hall, and then walk over to St. James Park and enjoy the scenery and the people. It's one of our favorite things to do.

KidsToLondon

Iza

Another vote for visiting a park...St. James's is a good choice for a stroll from Buckingham Palace towards Westminster Abbey. I'd put the abbey on my list of sights worth including on your itenerary. The Tower of London is a "must see" too, somehow, on your visit.

A boat trip on the Thames is another way to get an orientation to London, since the river plays such an important part in the history of the city.

Dave White
[email protected]

mclaurie

Since you give us little info on your interests it's hard to make suggestions. A day or half day trip to Hampton Court might be nice-take a boat in one direction. Otherwise, pick an area of the city you haven't seen (ie Notting Hill, Chelsea etc.) and just have a walk. There's an enormous amount of info already on this board too. You could try some text searches. There may be a 100 best things to do in London thread.

If you're lawyers (legal London) I <i>highly</i> recommend sitting in on a trial at the Old Bailey.

sundial

We were in London last month on a similar business/pleasure trip and found the &quot;tube&quot; to be an ideal way to get around the city during our free time. We enjoyed going by Buckingham Palace, touring the British Museum and Madame Tussaud's wax museum, browsing in Covent Garden, walking through Hyde and St. James' parks, and exploring Harrod's department store. There is no shortage of places to see and things to do.

BigRuss

London is NOT compact. It is the largest city in Western Europe and it will be a long walk from the British Museum to Westminster to the V&amp;A Museum (for example), so you'll need to prioritize.