We'll be in London for 4 full days. Working on an itinerary. Would appreciate any input.

Friday_ Tower of London Tube to Westminster Abbey and visit. Hoping to catch a Verger's tour. Follow Rick's walking tour Westminter to Trafalgar Square. Eat dinner somewhere in the area. Possibly a quick view of National Gallery if we're not too tired.

Saturday- Hop on Hop off bus tour in the morning. Use the free cruise ticket from bus tour to take a cruise to Greenwich for the afternoon. Tube back to London.

Sunday- Walking tour of Hampstead village Victoria and Albert museum or maybe Tate Not sure about the rest of the day.

Monday- St Paul's Rick's City walk which will bring us to British Library for a visit. British museum If possible walks of london Westminster by gaslight tour. Are we attempting too much/too little? I know we'll need to be flexible. Weather, crowds etc.. TIA

What are the things that you want to do but haven't put on this itinerary yet? What are your interests? Personally, I would fit in more per day but that's a very personal choice.

When? Who is "we"? Where are you staying? Are these 4 days completely separate from your travel days?

If you list your sites in a simple list, it doesn't look like too much. But if you look at a map and then look at your list for that day, you seem to not have things grouped too well.

On Friday do you mean you will go to the Tower? Then tube to Westminster? Well, definitely include the Tower if you can. But that takes all morning at the least and you need to be there first thing to avoid some of the crowd.

If you just mean you are going to Westminster Abbey first, then walking, ok. But if you're trying to combine the Tower and Westminster, I'd say no.

Some will say to bus tour; I haven't done it but never would. Just walk around yourself. The cruise to Greenwich is fun. But by Saturday afternoon Greenwich may be packed. I'd try going there first thing. If you do, you might look into walking in the tunnel under the Thames back across the river when you're done and then catching the Tube at Island Gardens.

Sunday--You do realize that Hampstead Village is WAAYY far away from the V&A; and the Tate not close to either.?

Monday looks ok except don't say British Museum if possible. Make it possible! The Library is fabulous but can be "done" in 60-90 minutes, even for book-lover-me (unless you read every word on every display!) But the British Museum is not to be missed, even if it's only for an hour or so, too. Go in.

Suggestions: Friday--The Tower, then across the Tower Bridge to the south bank, Borough Market, along the South Bank--maybe all the way to the Tate (it's NOT far)

Saturday--Westminster Abbey first thing, look around Westminster/Parliament area; catch boat to Greenwich for afternoon.

Sunday--?? I guess you could do those 2 things but they are very far apart and travel will eat up a lot of your time.

Monday--ok but definitely go in the British Museum

Do get yourself a good map; London is HUGE and travel takes TIME. People may dump lots of ideas for OTHER things to see as there are hundreds. I think you have a good short list of things to do and see (I'd personally scrap the bus thing) but you need to regroup perhaps.

The we is husband and I. We have 4 full days separate from travel days.
Friday we planned to go to visit Tower of London at opening time and grab a bite then head to Westminster Abbey for an afternoon visit. We would then walk to Trafalgar Square.

You've given us much to think about. We're reworking things now. Thans so much for your input.

Day one - You can go from Trafalgar Square to the National Gallery - open late on Fridays. Then go to Leicester Square which has many many restaurants for a meal (2 mins walk away)

Trafalgar is near Covent Garden, walk over there to see street performers, grab a bite.

I did both of the London Walks for Hampstead Heath. Nice area, good tour.

Have a look at the other London Walks. I did their St Paul's one and it was a nice introduction to the place...and ended just as evensong was beginning.

St. Martin-in-the-Fields at Trafalgar Square and near the National Gallery has a restaurant in the crypt. (http://www2.stmartin-in-the-fields.o...ypt/crypt.html)

It would be a lot of walking and time to try and see everything that's on the hop on, hop off bus tour.

There seems to be a trend developing on this board that is getting a bit obsessive about grouping tourist sights geographically. Yes, London is huge and Hampstead is a long way from the V&A, but it is only a 30 min journey on the Underground. Seems like a nice chance to sit and rest one's feet between a 90 minute walking tour and slogging through a museum.

I see no problem doing the Tower and Westminster Abbey on the same day.

I think the Hop on/off bus is a terrific waste of time and money. With so many things to visit in London, why one would waste a morning driving around is beyond me. If you want a Thames boat ride, why not take the river boat between the Tower pier and Westminster pier on the Friday?

Which Tate are you talking about? If both, there is a river boat running between the two.

Agree with Ron, save your cash for something useful and forget the hop on/hop off. You want to see London from a bus, take the 9 or 15, aka the "Heritage Routes" that still run the old Routemasters and cut through many of the city's most notable sites. The 15 runs near the Tower, so you can take that to Westminster . . .

I've eaten at St martin in the Fields, good for lunch. We also did the brass rubbings and one night a classical concert (upstairs).

I did the Hampstead Pub Tour. As others stated, not really that far from 'central' London.

My last trip, I was staying near British Museum, I walked to City, Blackfriars Bridge, St Paul's, Covent Garden, Trafalgar Sq.

I think Friday you can do the Tower and Westminster Abbey but you will probably arrive at Westminster Abbey around 3PM. The Tower of London takes a long time to see if you want to make the most of it and take the free Yeoman's tour and spend time in the White Tower (arms and armor--highly recommended) etc.

We took the boat right from the pier at the Tower over to Westminster. We did not do the Abbey that day but rather went over to the Cabinet War Rooms which was great. We did Westminster Abbey on a different day. It was on a Friday with London Walks. It was called the Royal London Walk that included the changing of the guard and a tour of the Abbey which met at Green Park tube at 10:45AM. Probably not as in depth as a verger tour but we spent 45 minutes in the Abbey and we thought the London Walks tour was ample. We loved being close when the changing of the guards passed right in front of us and really enjoyed that walk. Of course, if you do that you will not have time for the Tower. I think "must sees" from your list include the Tower of London, British Museum, National Gallery and I would include Cabinet War Rooms too. The National Gallery is open late on Friday. There are plenty of places to eat nearby in Covent Garden. We ate at J. Sheekey which is an excellent fish restaurant if you like fish.

"<i>I see no problem doing the Tower and Westminster Abbey on the same day.<?i>"

I agree -- but more than likely that means missing a Verger's tour. They often sellout for the entire day w/i an hour of opening.

So 9:30 to about 1:30 at the Tower (eat Lunch there to save time) then tube to Westminster. Don't delay any longer than that because the Abbey's last admission is at 3:30 and it closes at 4PM.

Two major sites on one day is totally doable - as long as you are up to being on your feet the entire day except for lunch and the tube ride.

I think if you spend all your time at one tourist attraction or another, you miss something. So I would suggest spending some time just walking around Picadilly, visiting Harrod's for a half hour, ride the underground, sit in, or walk through, Trafalgar square awhile, spend an evening in a pub, walk through some of the residential areas, window shop, and generally just hang out. Having said that, of course you will want to visit the Tower, the Abbey, and the other places. Some places a little off the beaten track: Sir John Soane's house; the Duke of Wellington's house; the Tower Bridge Experience. I liked the London Eye, but I wouldn't do it if it meant missing something else. The British Museum is a whole day at least. I'd skip it, and did the first 5 times I was in London. If you want to take a day trip, you might consider Hampton Court Palace, or Windsor Castle. I think it's worth the trip. You can spend a whole day in Greenwich easily. The boat trip down is nice. We did a couple of London Walks and they were informative and enjoyable. The verger's tour is excellent.
Just random thoughts.

If you do a Thames cruise to Greenwich I suggest you take the bus back to London.It is a bit longer but you get to see bits of the city you would not normally see. We found in fascinating on many levels. But then again, we don't live in a city.

The hop on hop off is a bit of fun and the commentary is very good, but I agree that the value is dubious.

HMS Belfast is well worth a look, as is the Imerial War Museum.

We also loved Samuel Johnson's house.

The Great Fire monument is great too.

Thank you all so much. So much information but I think I can now formulate a doable itinerary.
I do think we'll skip the hop-on bus and do more exploring on our own.

We've made 2 trips to London in the past couple of years. I'd also suggest the Imperial War Museum - a reasonable walk from the London Eye. I spent 3 hours at the IWM. Another great visit was to the Cabinet War Rooms. We did not allow enough time there and had to hurry through. I would allot at least 2 hours there.
The British Museum is another "must see" visit. I could go on and on. Just have a super time!

Have been to London 3 times and on the last visit in Oct finally did the hop on bus.....shouldn't have bothered. Waste of time and energy. Spent a lot of time standing on the side of the road waiting for driver changes etc. London is sooooo easy to get around and as others have said you can walk to may attractions or use one of the travel cards. I'm hopeless at finding my way in strange places but even I can find my way around London.....looking forward to visit number 4 next April

Agree with everyone else--nix hop on hop off bus .The quality of the narrators varied immensely, and there ae so many public busses withroutes are marked at the omipresent bus stops. For faster journeys, take the tube.
When i was last in Greenwhich--5 yrs ago-- it had one of the few London High Streets that still looked like the neighborhood HIgh Streets I recall from decades ago. It's a quick walk from the ferry dock. If you want to see the prime meridian at the Royal Observatory--check on closing times as your current itin shows you taking an afternoon cruise.We missed it, which will require another trip someday to see zero longitude!