OH!! Janisj I see it now!! So you aren't psychic?? Bummer! I was hoping you would be able to see into my future and figure out this whole thing for me!! hehe Too funny.

wow - there's lots of great advice here. I just got back from my 1st trip to London where we spent 6 days. 60 days wouldn't have been enough, though. so, a few tips.

First, resist the urge to over-plan. give yourself lots of "flex" time. Also, try not to make your trip into a check-list exercise. You may decide that The British Museum warrants two days and skip something else, for example. We found London to be an amazing place, with so much to do. Transportation couldn't be easier, too. The end result was we wound up doing things that we hadn't even planned.

Also, from your list, I'd like to recommend a hotel. We stayed at the London Premier Inn Southwark. Amazing location and reasonable price, too. We were right next door to Vinopolis, had a Waggamamas across the street, a few steps from the Clink Prison, a few more to the Golden Hind, a few more steps to Southwark cathedral and the Borough Market. Easy walk to the Globe, Tate Modern and Millennium bridge. tolerable walk to London Eye and St. Paul's. The London Bridge tube/train station was an easy walk, and from there, easy access to pretty much anything else on your list. Having that central location made things so easy.

In the end, we missed quite a few things that were on our "list", saw several things that weren't on the list and had an amazing time. Remember, London is far more than a collection of museums and historical sites. Give yourself some time to wander aimlessly, exploring the city. Some of my best memories are from these unplanned side trips.

Thanks griz_fan!! Glad you had a good time, and thanks for the recommendation for the hotel. Sounds great! I will look it up.

hi tds,

excuse me if someone else said this [I haven't read the whole thread, sorry] but a good idea is to group sights togeher - this saves time and energy, particularly in a place like London, where, IME, it takes twice as long to get anywhere than you have thought it will.

so - the Tower of London + st. paul's

westminster abbey + Houses of Parliament [just looking]

etc. etc. - get a tourist map and group things together, then see how long each will take. that way you're not wasting your time going back and forth across time.

I just wanted to say that that premier inn does have a great lovation - it is in our favourite part of London!

Anyone been on the "London Walk" tours? Do they typically take 2 hours or so? I tried to look all over the website, and all I could find was one place where they said they added 30 minutes onto the pub walk making it 2 hours...but the British Museum tour was 2 hrs as well. Was thinking about joining a walking tour for British Museum, Westminister Abbey, St Pauls Cathedral, and Tower of London. Does this sound like a good idea?? If it's better to use what they have at the museum or try and do it yourself let me know.

I just thought taking this tour might give us better insight at these places....that way we aren't walking aimlessly not knowing where to look first or next...I have been mapping and clustering things together, so i'm sure I will have plenty of questions once I get my itinerary down.

When I looked at europeannovice's trip report about seeing Tower of London I don't remember seeing anything about taking a walking tour. Maybe it's better to obviously get there first thing, see jewels, then get w the Yeoman Warders?

As much as we would like to, I think we are only going to stay inside London since we only have 4 nights there. Lots to see and MANY of you would be proud of my much SMALLER list. I have been "chewed up and spit out" by my London city guide! Been reading for almost a week now every chance I get!

Learned about the MILLION things to do in London, Outside of London, Around London, Under London, ANYWHERE near LONDON...also brushed up on London History from the beginning! Interesting! OH and maps...dont get me started on highlighting routes on a map! haha!

It's been ten years, but I did a couple of those London Walks tours (I don't even know if it's the same company but that sounds right). Some of the tours were terrific. (I'm a big Beatles fan and did a couple of Beatles fan talking tours that I enjoyed too.) Other tours were OK.

What I suggest is trying one or two of the walking tours when you get over there and if they are to your liking, do more. If not, don't feel obligated to keep doing them. This is one of those things I would try to be flexible on. Know ahead of time (check right before you depart) what the walking tour schedule is but don't microschedule your London itinerary around them.

"<i> . . . MANY of you would be proud of my much SMALLER list</i>"

Congrats!! - you have officially graduated from 'newbie overload' to 'smart & doable'

I love LondonWalks and yes, go on one or two if you find ones that interest you.

Having said that - I personally would <u>not</u> take a LW of the <blue>British Museum</blue> (the museum does their own free tours throughout the day), <blue>Westminster Abbey</blue> (the Abbey Vergers do a wonderful tour and I just think they are a tad better - but book ahead because they do fill up) or <blue>the Tower of London</blue> - The free Yeoman Warder tours are wonderful

<blue>St Paul's</blue> is sort of a toss up IMO.

But think about some of their neighborhood walks - like "Legal London" or the "Jewish East End" those sorts. Or, the evening pub walks are fun

When I took my young niece and nephew, we took the London Walks to the British Museum. We saw the "biggies" and got a good commentary. I like the Verger's tour of Westminster Abbey. You can read about it at the Abbey's website. The Globe Theatre has its own guides. Unfortunately, they wonderful tours if you get a good guide and terrible if you get a bad one, and I have had both! Take a look at your map and group things together. I have been to London many times, and I love just being there!

Exactly, marty. Some of the tour guides are much better than others!

tds0212--For the Tower of London we went first thing in the morning on our own, saw the crown jewels and then went back to the entrance to pick up the free Yeoman's tour. After that we covered the White tower and some other areas of the tower. We were there from 9-1:30.

Regarding London Walks--we took the Royal London and Westminster Abbey walk with Tom and we loved it. They took us through two parks and then we stood where the guards walk right by us--great photo op and you don't have to line up for hours! Afterwards we get a 45 tour of Westminster Abbey where they cover the highlights.

We also did a London walks tour of the National Gallery. Margaret is also an excellent guide!

Each of the London walks tours we went on lasted approximately 2 hours.

Thanks for your comments! I will keep all this in mind.

Sorry about the repeat. It looks like janisj and I were posting at the same time!

Another vote for London Walks www.walks.com We have done lots over the years and the guides are either very good or excellent. We did one last week which was based in The City of London - the Square Mile. It was terrific. They are generally 2 hours but two we've done - Greenwich including a Thames River cruise and also the Friday night pub walk - both took almost 3 hours. You can leave earlier if you want though. One thing we really like is you don't have to prebook, just turn up and pay the guide.

Kay

Still attempting to research a place to stay. Emailed uptownreservations.com for bed and breakfast places...(this is a site I got out of my guidebook) They have suggested a place in the St Pancras area, according to my map. It's not very far from the British Museum, but seems a little further out than what I wanted to stay.

I have seen some posts mentioning Bloomsbury is a good area to stay (just south of St Pancras on the map). Just wondering if you guys had any suggestions on areas that are nice and somewhat close to everything. Almost all the "must see" places seem to be close in proximity to the Thames spanning between Lambeth bridge and Tower Bridge...looks like most everything is w/in a mile or mile 1/2 out. I could be wrong, just looks that way to me. With the exception of the British Museum...may be a little further?

I'm sure shopping is splattered all over the place, but looks like some of the places that interest me are on/near Oxford St-Regent St. I also saw that a couple of big Dept. stores are near Brompton Rd.

As far as places to stay, I would like to keep the price below 165 USD/night. I like a nice place to stay, but am not concered w staying in the Ritz... just as long as it is in a decent area, bed large enough for 2!, clean, and private bathroom. I am not opposed to bed and breakfast places...the idea sounds kind of fun.

Anyway, any ideas/areas to research?? Also, there are so many other things to do I don't know if shopping will make the list...but I have researched and will cont to research just in case I can SSSSSqqqqquuuueeeeeze it in!

I have a rough draft of what our itinerary may look like...when I say rough draft I mean this is the first thing I have put tg EVER!

Just wanted to get any thoughts, suggestions, "absolutley nots", or advice from the Pros. There are several things that are considered "must sees" I had to leave out, just thinking there may not be enough time to see them. Also, as of now we are walking A LOT...if some of this seems silly or unnecessary let me know. This draft does not include place to stay, places to eat, etc. Just what we will be seeing that day.

Day 1 Friday (arriving in London at 7:00 am)

>airport,hotel check-in, gathering ourselves
>We will need to make it to Westminister Station
>1:00 Westminister Abbey Tour (90 min)
>Cabinet War Rooms by 4:00 for tour
>Walk around passing by "Big Ben" as we call it, Parliament House, walk to Lambeth Bridge for picture (suggested in book)
>Back to hotel--free

Day 2 Saturday

>Will need to get to Russell Sq station
>British Museum at opening 10:30 (90 min highlight)
>Walk passing Russell Sq and Bedford Sq (maybe find lunch?)
>Get to Covent Garden Station
>approx 3:00 or so?? Take walk of West End area passing by/through Covent Gardens, Leicester Sq, Piccadilly Circus, Buckingham Palace,St James Palace/Park,(stop at bridge in St James park for pic of Buckingham palace-book suggest)Trafalgar Sq, and Admiralty arch (approx 2.5 miles)
>End at Charring Cross -hotel for freshen up
>Dinner,Free time, Gordon Wine Bar?? open til 11:00

Day 3 Sunday

>Need to get to Tower Hill Station
>Tower of London at opening 10:00 (jewels 1st then Yeoman tour)
>Walk across Tower Bridge find lunch in area
>Back to Tower Hill Station need to get to Blackfriar Statn.
>Hopefully by 4:00-- walk from Blackfriar to Millenium Bridge, cross over to Shakespears Globe for tour (runs every 15-20 min and open until 5)
>After tour continue walking along Thames passing oxo tower, see jubilee gardens end a Waterloo Station go back to hotel
>Dinner/free time

Day 4 Monday

>Need to get to Chancery La station--thinking around 11:00(part of a suggested walk in book)
>Walk down to St Pauls Cathedral (Take tour 2hrs)
>Cont to walk past St Pauls passing Museum of London, Bank of England, Monument, London Bridge
>Take Monument Station need to get to Waterloo
>Ride London Eye
>Theatre/Dinner

I got a little lost on how to do this last day. I hope I have not packed my days too full. I think this is do-able. If you think there is smthing I should see or should see "this instead of that" let me know. I have PLENTY of time to revise and redo this! Just wanted to get an idea if i was doing ok or if i was still CLUELESS!

I would love to find time to go have afternoon tea. europeannovice mentioned Claridges which is actually close to some of the stores I had on my list...Top shop, French connection, liberty, selfridges. Ironic??

I have left out Harrods, V&A, Kensington Gardens and Palace, Museum of London (although i am passing on a walk ),and probably tons of other things!! ahhhh!!! I was just trying to be reasonable and there are just not enough hours in the day!!

I figure we might find places for lunch/restaurants/shops ect while walking so much! I am still going to research to see if there are HIGHLY recommended places we should go to eat.

I wanted to take a cruise down the Thames and wanted to do the London walk where you see the changing of the guards
(from europeannovice) but it starts at 1045 on Friday and I thought that might be cutting it close since we are arriving at 7 am Friday. I also wanted to see the Ceremony of Keys at the Tower but didnt know if we would have the time. Alas...we must come back one day! haha

I attempted to post approx times that we needed to watch for so we wouldnt be late and miss smthing. If we get there earlier that makes us have more free time! :keeping fingers crossed:

Are you planning to take the Tube (London's Underground subway train)? Buy an Oyster Card good for the duration of your stay? That's what I recommend. (And take the Tube in from Heathrow unless you are flying into Gatwick, then probably take a commuter train like the Gatwick Express.)

Expect that your hotel room may not be ready when you arrive and that you will probably have to drop your bags there and come back at some point to check in. You may be tempted to nap, but conventional wisdom says the best way to get over jet lag is to stay awake the entire first day which is hard THAT DAY but helps later. (Some people believe it's good to take a short nap instead.)

You've got two 2-hour tours planned for the first day. Keep in mind that you're going to be exhausted after the long flight and disoriented. By mid-afternoon jet lag will probably hit you, the yawns. Personally, I can't imagine trying to pay attention for four hours of tours the day I arrive in Europe - though to be fair, my attention span even on a good day isn't always up to that! Just something to consider. I myself would choose less focused activities the first day - more walking around to keep myself awake, getting oriented, seeing parks if the day is nice.

I do plan on using the Oyster card...and the Tube. I haven't had a chance to really sit down and research that part yet. Just saw on the map what station I would need to be at for each area.

I had day one and two switched to begin with. I was thinking that it seemed like a lot of walking and that we may not want to do that on the first day. But, if that is a better plan then I can switch those days back. Brit Museum is open until 8:30 pm on Saturday. Do you think we could make it through at least one place that day?? Then just spend the rest of the day walking and "seeing" things?

I tend to like to walk and move around more the day I arrive in Europe, to help stay awake, rather than be indoors most of the day. (Seeing one museum doesn't seem like a terrible idea, though two 2-hour tours the first day may not be ideal.) Hey, everyone has a different style and ways of handling jet lag and such, and since this will be your first trip, you'll have to figure out your style. I have one point of view - I'm expecting others will weigh in.

You may also need to adjust your schedule for the weather. If the first day when you arrive it's raining but expected to clear the following days, it may be better to tough it out and do more indoor stuff that first day anyway. As I said before, try to be somewhat flexible if you can.