My mom and I arrive in London mid-day on May 25, by train from Penzance, and depart the morning of the 29th, leaving 3 full days plus the afternoon of arrival to see a bit of London.

Our must see's include Westminster Abbey, the Tower, St. Paul's, and the Cabinet War Rooms, as well as Windsor Castle if at all possible. We are not interested in shopping or seeing shows, and as much as we'd like to visit the British Museum and National Gallery, realize we may not have enough time.

The catch is that we have already purchased the London Pass with Travel that covers all of the above sights, but only for our last two days (long story behind this - it's a done deal now!). We also have the Great British Heritage Pass, which covers very few sights in London but DOES cover St. Pauls, so we could go there our first full day.

My question is, given the constraints of the passes we've already purchased, how can we logically plan our time? I'd also thought to do a hop-on-hop-off bus tour the first day, but am wondering if it's worth the money.

Here's the tentative itinerary based on our passes, but I would love some input as to how practical it is:

May 25 - arrive by train to Paddington, check into hotel (Luna Simone), bus to Trafalgar Square or Westminster and do a self-guided walking tour along Whitehall.

May 26 - No London Pass this day; could see St. Paul's with GBH Pass. Do a HOHO tour? Need help with this day...

May 27 - London Pass/Travel Card: Bus to Westminster Abbey - get there upon opening, spend a couple of hours including verger tour. Cruise to Tower of London , spend 3-4 hours. Bus or tube back to Victoria. No plans for evening.

May 28 - LP again: Early train to Windsor, tour castle and see Changing of Guard. Head back to London after lunch; tube to Westminster, tour Cabinet War Rooms (open until 6 p.m.).

May 29 - National Express Coach from Victoria to Heathrow.

I think you have time to do the 7 things you mention--you have 7 half days (if you really get into London in time on the 25th to have half a day) and one major thing per half day is very reasonable.

Whatever order you do things in, it's wise to go at opening times to the major things (St. Paul's, Westminster Abbey, and the Tower) to avoid crowds, but if you go to Windsor, you only have 2 mornings so would have to change that. Not sure which gets busier, the Abbey or the Tower, but you need more time in the Tower so it makes sense to do the Abbey first.

The British Museum is open til 8:30 on Thurs (27) and Fri (28) but also maybe you could go to the BM after St. Paul's.

The first day maybe you could start by getting to Trafalgar and seeing the National Gallery for a bit and then walk down Whitehall.

Fun fun!

As texasbookworm said, you should have plenty of time to visit the places on your list, especially since you're not losing any time to jet lag.

Westminster Abbey and the Cabinet War Rooms are very close, so you could go to the Abbey in the morning, have lunch somewhere in the area, then visit the Cabinet War Rooms.

Lee Ann

"<i>you have 7 half days </i>"

The problem is though that the London Pass (Windsor, the Tower, Westminster Abbey and Cabinet War rooms) is only good for two consecutive days.

This really does complicate things a bit. The Cab War rooms are a natural pair. Unfortunately Windsor and the Tower could not be farther apart and aren't easily doable on the same day.

HOWEVER - w/ your train tickets you qualify for the 2for1's so you could pay for one of the sites that would otherwise be covered by the LP. That would mean paying a bit for something - but only 1/2 price so that might be a way to fit everything in.

Thanks for your replies. janisj - You've hit the nail on the head. I'd much prefer to do the Abbey and War Rooms on the same day. To clarify - we would qualify for the 2 for 1 offers with our tickets from Penzance to London?

Jeez -- you understood what I meant even though I somehow deleted part of it. Should have read >>The Cab War rooms and Westminster Abbey are a natural pair.<<

Anyway you got it.

Yes, your train tickets qualify for the 2for1's. As long as paying for something you could have done for 'free' (and not so free since the LP is expensive) won't be a budget buster, I'd consider either the Tower or Windsor w/ 2for1 vouchers.

You'd need to pre-print the vouchers from the website.

http://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/attrac...or1london.aspx

And there might be other sites you could squeeze in.

The best thing to do MAY be this:

(1) on Thurs, get out early and do the Abbey, CWR and be done by 1 pm. Go to Waterloo station and take a train to Windsor -- grab food at the M&S Simply Food shop -- and then visit the Castle.

(2) Friday = St. Paul's and Tower.

As for Wednesday, do something else on your list.

The 2for1 tickets do NOT cover Windsor and do NOT cover St. Paul's. They do cover the Tower, but the Tower and St. Paul's are close enough that they're just as much a natural double as the Abbey and CWR.

I'm thinking the GBH one-day pass would be more than admission at St. Paul's. I'm also thinking that the 2for1 deals with a series of one-day travel cards may have been less expensive than the London Pass.

Oops - I forgot about Windsor not being on the 2fo1 (so many are I forget to look)

St Paul's isn't an issue since they have existing GBHPs that will get them in there (there are no 1-day GBHPs).

I doubt anyone could want to do the Abbey and Cabinet War rooms and be on a train by 1PM. The Churchill Museum/Cabinet War rooms are easily worth 2 hours and the Abbey nearly the same - and that is at a dead run.

I didn't say my plan was <i>advisable</i>, just possible. If they have existing heritage passes, then go to St. Paul's/Tower on Wed, Abbey etc. on Thurs and Windsor on Fri bc only St. Paul's is on the heritage pass of the three (St. P, Windsor, Tower). That means pony up the 8.50 for the Tower on the 2for1.

But do NOT go on a HOHO bus. Aren't you wasting enough money? Use the No 9 or 15 routes to go on a public transport tour of London -- they go most places the HOHO would.

Take a look at the schedule for London Walks. You may well find some that are right for you. Our experience with them has been excellent and they do not cost much at all.

Thanks again for your replies. Texasbookworm - I think we will do what you advise the first day (Trafalgar Sq., Nat. Gallery, Whitehall walk), and possibly do St. Paul's and the British Museum on the second day.

With regard to "wasting enough money" (I assume that's in reference to the London Pass?), all I can say is that it seemed like a good idea at the time! Live and learn... In the meantime, we'll take all advice into consideration - especially forgoing the HOHO bus. We have considered dropping Windsor from our list altogether to reduce travel time and allow us to better group other sights geographically, but haven't decided.

I've twisted my brain trying to figure out how to get our money's worth out of the passes (probably should have done that prior to purchasing, I realize), but I think the bottom line is that we should see the sights most important to us in the most logical and enjoyable manner, and accept that we may not have made the most cost effective decision in purchasing the passes. Next time we'll know better.

If you have time take a boat ride to Greenwich and spend some time in Greenwich park, take a picnic. The National Gallery is open late on Fridays so will add to time you can spend. If you have time go to the theatre, can get discounted tickets at tkts booth in Leicester Square (don't go elsewhere). Best cheap eats: Stockpot, Pollo Bar (both in Soho) nothing fancy but will be able to have an evening meal for < £10. You should also walk along the Southbank to the Tate Modern (all free)
Have fun, London is a great city