Kristina_Bona

Hi everyone!

I'll be arriving (along with my parents and aunt) in London 8:35 p.m. on July 4 and won't be leaving until 10:25 a.m. on July 5.

I know the time is not ideal, but I would like to see if I can have a quick tour of London while we're there. Mind you, it's not my first time in London, but I would like my dad and my aunt to see the city REALLY quick while we're there.

I tried to do some research and see if we can go watch a musical/play, go to museum, the hop on hop off bus tour, etc...but they seem to end/start before we arrive.

Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks!

lincasanova

Where are you arriving at 8:35pm? Airport, train station?

Kristina_Bona

Arriving at Heathrow

jent103

You could give them a little walking tour if they're up for it. Take the Tube to Leicester Square and see Trafalgar Square and walk down to the Westminster area, for example, then maybe take the Tube over to the Tower of London or St Paul's. That hits several of the highlights, and they're all lit up at night. If you take the Tube into town you won't get there till 9:30 at the earliest.

Are you staying in central London or out by Heathrow? The Tube stops running around midnight.

Kristina_Bona

Thanks for the input!

I'm not sure yet. I'm trying to see if it's feasible to do something once we get off the plane or if we should just book a hotel near Heathrow and get some zzz's before our plane leaves the next day.

Yea, I (along with friends) figured out the hard way when the tube stops running...we had to fork over some pounds to get back to the hotel.

lincasanova

Will you be slepping your luggage with four people on the train? Hire a car service, have him give you a tour and take you back to LHR to sleep when you are done. Enjoy it.

Or go to bed at LHR and save this couple hour tour of London and freeways from LHR to London and back for another trip.

jamikins

If you land at 8:35 you may not even get to the tube until 9:30ish depending how busy passport control is. It is then an hour long tube ride into central London which takes you to 10:30. That gives you time for maybe dinner or a walk around and then back out to the airport or you could stay in town and take an early tube back to the airport.

Where will you store your luggage? I am not sure the left luggage at Heathrow will be open by the time you pick up your luggage after passport control. That means you have to take it with you and then take the time to check into a hotel in central london or carry it around with you.

Only you can decide if this is worth the hassle.

jent103

The luggage is a good point - I was assuming that any big luggage would be checked through and you'd only have small overnight bags or something. Full suitcases make it a different story.

If you can get into town early enough that your parents/aunt are fine walking around for an hour or two, seeing the sights is available 24 hours a day. You just have to decide if the logistics of getting to/from whatever hotel you pick, and dealing with any luggage you have to carry with you, is worth them seeing Big Ben and the Eye.

janisj

Left Luggage at LHR is open from 05:30-11:00 so that really isn't a problem. But you likely won't be on the tube until nearly 10PM depending on which terminal (it can be quite a walk to the tube station), and later if you have to queue at left luggage.

You might be in the center of town by 10:30/11-ish. And have to be back at LHR by around 0700 (especially if you need to retrieve your bags because Left Luggage can be pretty busy in the morning.

I'm not sure it makes sense to go into town. But it would be a bit faster/easier if your bags are checked through . . .

Kristina_Bona

I think from what everyone has suggested on here, it seems more prudent that we just check into a hotel at/near LHR and just sleep rather than head out to London and find something.

I probably wouldn't mind going through the hassle of venturing out into London and checking out the nightlife and hitting a few pubs/bars. However, my parents and aunt aren't as young as they used to be (they're in their 60s, while i'm 23).

Thank you, everyone, for your input!