smschloss

coming to london for a week. What do you think of this itinerary for 2 adults and kids 18 and 14. PLEASE COMMENT!!! What did we miss???

1. Arrive Thursday Aug 7th at 9:30am. Taking a car from heathrow to kensington(we think this might be best for luggage etc. justairports was not too $$). checking in. walking to hyde park to relax. Going to kensington palace and then walk to Harrods and such. Grab dinner and SLEEP!!
2. Friday - Westminister abbey in the morning for the 10:00 tour, Big Ben, Parliament, Cabinet War rooms. Head over to covent gardens or Trafalger square (not sure which one has the best outdoor stalls for the teens). Dinner and then National Portrait Gallery (open fri nights until 9).
3. Saturday - buckingham palace for changing of the guards 11:30. Lunch then tour the Palace 1:30 or 2:00?. Go to the London eye in the evening. Dinner. Then to the Tate Modern Museum (open late that night)
4. Sunday - bus trip with premium tours to Warwick
5. Monday - Shakespeare Globe first (want to see it before a show begins), millenium bridge to st. pauls (no tour) then to Tower of London (I know this will be lunch time, but not sure where to fit Globe theatre into so we can see it without a show happening - ANY SUGGESTIONS?). then to Tower Bridge exhibition. then ???? OR>>>>> could do Tower first, then when to go to Globe??
6. Tuesday - British museum in the morning, then to covent gardens or trafalger square. Eating at Maxwells in evening then off to Spamalot.
7. Wed. leaving not until dinner time.
8. Thursday - home in the USA sleeping!!!!

Please comment on our routes!! Also - when is best time to fit in british library and kings cross station to see platform 9 3/4? (HP fans!)
thanks!

Cruiseryyc

Trafalgar Square does not have any sort of "stalls" for shopping. If that is what you are looking for, go to Covent Garden.

Cathinjoetown

The morning you're at the British Musuem--which could take two hours or a lifetime--puts you closest to the Library and to Kings Cross and platform 9 3/4 which is cute--a luggage trolley appears to be halfway through. I came across it on my way to a train.

smschloss

thanks Cath, will add that in!

dexters

ditto the above. Also, it looks like you have Trafalgar Square/CG twice in your itenirary, Friday & Tuesday.

From the British Museum, you could take the 73 bus to the British Library. From the Library, take the 73 again to Kings Cross to see platform 9 3/4, and then take the circle line back to Kensington.

janisj

Nope - no stalls in Trafalgar Square.

Your Monday really isn't easy the way you have it laid out. The Globe Theatre exhibition opens at 9:00 a.m. and takes at least an hour. Then 20 mins to walk to St Paul's and more than an hour to see just the basics. So it will be after lunch before you will get anywhere near the Tower. By early afternoon, the Tower will be very crowded w/ long lines to see the Crown Jewels.

Go to the Tower first thing in the a.m.. Then after lunch walk across Tower Bridge and to the Globe. Then around 2 or 2:30 PM go to St Paul's.

Or better yet - go to Tate Modern after the Globe since they are next door to each other and go to St Paul's another day.

smschloss

janisj - good idea again! However, I am trying to figure out how to see Globe theater when there is not a show happening. I will have to check their site again. I think TOwer of London will now be our first stop. thanks.smschloss

ron

Regarding stalls in Trafalgar Square, perhaps the OP is thinking of the St Martin-in-the-Fields Market, beside and behind the church?

When I see these types of proposed itineraries, I always wonder why Tate Modern? I find it hard to believe that there is such a broadly based interest in modern art that people go there instead of to the National Gallery and the Tate Britain.

smschloss

Tate modern has Picasso, Monet, Matisse etc. Like seeing that kind of art.... If you have ever been to the Musuem of Modern Art in New York - I am thinking it is kind of like that. Don't need to spend a lot of time there...just the popular artists for us!

janisj

ron: &quot;<i>When I see these types of proposed itineraries, I always wonder why Tate Modern? I find it hard to believe that there is such a broadly based interest in modern art that people go there instead of to the National Gallery and the Tate Britain. </i>&quot;

Tate Modern is a wonderful place, but it does not preclude one also going to Tate Britain, the National or any other gallery. It is &quot;modern&quot; are but is also much more - great building, wonderful views of the river, impressionists/post Impressionists, good restaurants, thought provoking exhibits.

JMWTurner is my be all and end all in British Art so I usually go to Tate Britain at least every trip or two. But for just an afternoon stroll - Tate Modern is a very good choice. Plus I've see much more radical/modern art at Tate Britain what w/ the Turner Prize installations, etc.

ron

I agree, Janis, that it is a great building, as is the Battersea power plant. I have sat and admired the Bankside building numerous times since I first noticed it while on a London Walk in 1993. And I'm glad a public use was found for it, as I hope will be for the Battersea plant.

But I have read nothing about the contents that would make me want to waste a Saturday night in London visiting it. A character flaw of mine, I guess. Perhaps if they had left the generating equipment in the Turbine Hall -- that would be a great installation of mid-20th century art.

janisj

you should try it at least once. I'm definitely not &quot;into&quot; most modern genres, but I find Tate Modern really fascinating. Some of the special exhibits leave me cold - or at least scratching my head. But some have been truly brilliant.

Cholmondley_Warner

Am I right in reading it as that you are going to go go to Tower Bridge exhibition but not St Pauls?

If so you've got it backwards. The Tower Bridge thing is generally considered a bit of a rip off and St Pauls is one of the most iconic sights in the world (and there's loads of good stuff inside)

Londonres

I love visiting the Tate, but the National Gallery (Trafalgar Square) has some really special paintings. You could see The Fighting Temeraire by Turner - voted Britain's greatest painting. Also, Van Gogh's Sunflowers and Monet's Water Lily Pond.

I wonder about going out to Warwick for the day. You might get more out of a day at Greenwich or Hampton Court Palace.

W9London

Thursday: Victoria &amp; Albert Museum is also in Kensington.

Saturday: you can take a riverboat (called Tate Boat) between London Eye and Tate Modern, though the last service finishes just after 5pm. I'm tempted to recommend you go to Tate Modern first, as you can &quot;board&quot; London Eye till 9pm in summer.

Wednesday: I think it's good you've built in some free time. Any interest in walking tours? Also, Rose Garden in Regent's Park are still in full bloom.

Also if your children are into Harry Potter, Leadenhall Market (entry from Gracechurch St near Monument) was used for filming Diagon Alley.

yk

<i>why Tate Modern?</i>

The room with the Rothko's Seagram Murals. My favorite place in London.

twk

I will second what janisj said about the seeing the Tower in the morning, and go one better: Be there when the gates open and head straight for the Crown Jewels if you intend to see them. Do not stop to catch the Yeoman Warder's tour (you can do that after seeing the Jewels), but instead, proceed immediately to the Jewels. If you do this, you will have little or no waiting for the jewels. If you delay at all, you will spend an awful lot of your time at the Tower snaking through those lines.

Also, I will agree with the others that say the Tower Bridge Experience is not a must. I did it simply because it was covered by the Great Britain Heritage Pass. If you have to pay separate admission for this site, with a limited schedule, I think I would skip it. When we did it, we skipped the tour of the engine room.

A bit of personal preference: I prefer the older art over the modern stuff, and would choose the National Gallery at Trafalgar Square as a consequence. If you are more modern art inclined, then your choice makes sense.

As to the Globe, it's not just a matter of avoiding performances, but you'd also like to avoid rehearsals, if possible. If they have one going on, all you get to do is sneak in and sit quietly for a few minutes. No photographs are allowed while they are rehearsing (although your guide will try to time it so that you get a chance to take photos when they take a break, but that's a crapshoot). At least that's what I ran into when I toured the Globe.

If you want any other ideas, you can look at my overly detailed trip report from last summer (I think the last reply was in July) by clicking on my name.

smschloss

thanks everyone. we added the national gallery to what we are seeing and will probably skip the tower bridge exhibition. My daughter went to london years ago touring with a singing group when she was 13 and LOVED Warwick castle and really wants to go back, so we are... thanks for all the suggestions.
One last question - if goint to changing of the guards at 11:30, what is a good time to book buckingham palace - 1:30?

Cathinjoetown

You in a way have two choices for the changing of the guard--position yourself slightly away from BP thus along the Mall thus getting a great view of the horse parade and bands. However, you won't see much once they are inside the gates.

For that view, get there early to get right up against the gates or on the Victoria monument-if they still let you go up the steps around the monument. If you see the whole thing out, I don't think it lasts longer than 30-40 minutes. Get there early to see everyone ride and march in--I think that's the best part.

janisj

If it was me - I'd book the first tour of the day at 09:45. Then when you are leaving the Palace around 11:15 you walk up Buckingham Gate to Birdcage Walk to the Spur Rd (look at a map of London and you'll see exactly where I'm talking about). Everyone else will be crowded 10 deep around the Victoria Memorial and the Palace forecourt. Plant yourselves on the Spur Rd and you can hear the music and the Guards will march right by you coming and going. Literally w/ 4 or 5 feet of you.

Otherwise - if you want to see everything from in front of the Palace you have to be there in place by about 10:15/10:30 and just stand around waiting until well after noon.