Please review London itenerary...
 

My husband and I will be traveling through London, on our way to Denmark in July. I have gotten A LOT of great advice on here. I would like to put our itenerary out for review.

Day 1
We will arrive around 11:00am at Heathrow and plan to have a cab meet us and take us directly to the hotel (Morgan). Once we're ready to sight see (mid afternoon?), we plan to get a ticket for the Big Bus and mainly ride through the route to get oriented to London and determine if there is anything we want to add to our true sightseeing day. I would like to take the river cruise also, if we have time. That night, we are open to either rest or go out, depending on how tired we are.

Day 2
We will use the remainder of the Big Bus time to get to around to see the sights. I would like to see the Tower of London (have gathered here to make it our first stop), Westminster Abbey, and War Rooms. I also want to see Buckingham Palace and Parliment/Big Ben. Since I mostly just want to "see" these, going by on the bus may be enough. I am thinking about doing the "Royal Walk" offered by Big Bus, which is supposed to include the changing of the Guard. Any comments on this segment of the Big Bus program would be appreciated. After Big Bus time runs out, will probably walk and use public trasportation. The second night, we have tickets to Les Mis.

Day 3
We are staying by the British Museum, so would like to poke around in there for a while (also can visit there during open times on other days). We will need to leave for Stansted mid-afternoon to arrive by 5pm to check in for our flight. Still up in the air about the best (cheap, but not too many connections)way to get from Bloomsbury to Stansted.

Return trip
We will arrive at Stansted around midnight and will wait for the 2am night bus (thanks for all the tips)to go to Heathrow to wait for our morning flight home.

Don't worry, the rest of our trip is not this "scheduled". I just want to make the best use of our short time in London.

I would appreciate any comments or suggestions. Thanks!

The Changing of the Guard is probably not a good use of your limited time; to get a good view, you must be either very early or very tall. As one poster pointed out, it's just two guys getting off work. Also, it would conflict with being at the Tower at opening time.

Buckingham Palace is open to visitors only when the Queen is elsewhere, usually August and September.

There's almost nothing to see above-ground for Churchill's Cabinet War Rooms -- their whole point, and the reason they survived largely intact, was that they're buried underground.

You're coming all this way for three nights?

Katharine,

We were in London last month and also stayed at the Morgan Hotel.

We had arranged for JustAirports Car Service to pick us up at Heathrow and return. We were most pleased with their service. The cash option made it well worth it.

For that first night, if it is a Thursday or Friday, I would recommend going to the British Museum. It is open until 8:00 or 8:30PM. It's free and best of all - no crowds at night. Two dinner suggestions - one is a place called Wagamama, only 1/2 block away. It's a no frills noodle type place. I was a bit skeptical, but we went one night when I needed something quick, easy, inexpensive and good - it definitely fit the bill.

Another place that's a short 4 or 5 block walk is North Sea Fish Co. It's more of a neighborhood spot. Good Fish & Chips, good fresh grilled fish too. Also great beers and a really decent and reasonable wine list.

We also did the Big Bus that first day. We took a short nap upon arrival and then we were good for the rest of the day.

I'll admit we were Mass Transit Challenged, but with encouragement here from Judy (starspinners) we took the tube everywhere. There are two stations, three really, within walking distance of the Morgan. But really, so much is within walking distance, especially in summer.

I'm so jealous.

Joe

Anonymous-I would just like to see the outside of Buckingham Palace, since it will not be open for tours when we are there. Is there anything to see, or will it just be a gate?

I would like to actually tour the War Rooms. It is my understanding that they are now open for tours.

As for Changing of the Guard, it just seems like something we should do in London. We will certainly think on your advice, though.

m-kingdom-We are stopping in London on our way to Denmark.

This is most irregular!

Whilst I am an enormous fan of Denmark, a good friend is from Copenhagen, it seems most unusual that you stop in London for a few nights, but presumably, will be in Denmark for more. I just find it a little odd to say the least, after all, London is a much larger city with many more attractions for the tourist.

If you buy your tower tickets on the big bus tour, it allows for fast track entry (no waiting on lines). We were there in the late morning Easter week and it was very, very crowded.

I also recommend JustAirports.com. We use them on this recent trip for roundtrip to and form airport. They were right on time, and very reasonable (compared to a regular taxi).

I always use aircars2000.com - superb service with an all Mercedes fleet.

Hi
whether it's for 3 nights (which I've done myself) or 10, I'm glad for you that you will see some of London.

At Buck Palace you will mostly see an iron fence. On the outside of the fence you may see a guard or two on horseback,, but the crowds that are up against the fence will probably be blocking your view to the Changing inside the courtyard, as others have mentioned. You may see the guards and band approach the palace from Wellington Barracks.

If you want a better experience and better pictures, with none of the crowds, see the Inspection of the Guard Ceremony at 11:00 in front of the Wellington Barracks, (500 yards east of the palace on Birdcage Walk.)
The Buckingham Palace gift shop (near the Royal Mews and Queens Gallery) has inexpensive souvenirs--you can give someone one of the "Queen's" bookmarks or tea towels.

At the Horse Guards, on Whitehall halfway between Trafalgar Square and Parliament, you can see a guard changing every day at 11am (10 am on Sundays) also with many fewer tourists to block your view. The nearest tube station is Westminster or Charing Cross. From the Westminster tube stop, walk away from the river towards Parliament Street and turn right. Parliament Street becomes Whitehall.

You?ll find the Horse Guards on Whitehall on the left, just across the street from the Banqueting House. Go through the entrance to the parade grounds at the rear. The new guard leaves Hyde Park barracks, about 35 minutes before the Changing, rides via Hyde Park Corner, Constitution Hill, and the Mall, and arrives at the Horse Guards building. There is a ceremonial dismounting of the sentries every day at 4pm.

http://www.changing-the-guard.com/sched.htm

Yes, Churchill's Cabinet War Rooms are now available for touring, and they're very worthwhile. I have a personal prejudice in favor of "real places" rather than museums, so this is near the top of my list.

But i thought that you might just want to see the outside of it, so I wanted to alert you that there's nothing to see. Re-reading your OP, I see that I might have misread, and just the clock tower and Buckingham are on your drive-by list.

At the Tower of London, head first for the jewels, before they get crowded, then go back to the entrance to pick up a Beefeater Tour (included with admission).

Also, if possible take a verger's tour of Westminster Abbey, you'll get so much more out of it, they're very well-informed and entertaining. You sign up separately after you enter; the schedule is probably on the Abbey's web site.

elaine-Thanks for the tips on seeing the pageantry of the changing of the guard without the crowds!

m-kingdom-The reason for our trip is primarily to visit Denmark, where I was an exchange student ten years ago. Flying into London was much cheaper than Copenhagen. We decided to spend a few days there. We will be spending 11 days in Denmark, seeing friends and relaxing.

Anonymous-Thanks for all the tips. I watched a tv program on the War Rooms and their use. When I found out they were open for tours, they went right to the top of my list, too. A friend went there and claimed it was the one "must see" site in London.

The British Museum is jam packed with stuff. We took the 90 minute docent led Highlights tour since we had limited time. Saw all the major things: Rosetta Stone, Elgin Marbles, etc. We would have had to spend hours trying to find all of the "Must see's" on our own.
You can check for the tour times on their web site.

We were just in London for 2 1/2 days. We were on a very fast pace, but saw everything you listed and even took a trip to Windsor Castle and went to Harrods for an hour.

We went on the Big Bus Buckingham Place walking tour. It was great. They took us to the exact place at the exact time. We got to see the horse guard change as well as the changing of the guard. We almost did not go on the tour, but decided to do it since it was included in the price. It was one of the highlights. Would encourage you to take the tour.

Buy your Tower of London tickets in advance -to avoid the lines. We bought our big bus tickets on line before we left the states.

We saw Mama Mia there - it was very good.

Enjoyed the River Cruise - but it was not worth the time investment - would have preferred to have spent more time other places.

We took the tube on the non big bus days. Took the tube / train combo to Windsor.

Thanks for the pointers. I think we will spend the Big Bus morning doing the Royal Tour and the next morning getting to the Tower early. Then, back to the British Museum both afternoons.

Does anyone have any advice on the BBC tour? I was able to find the website in a previous thread and get basic info about times, reservations, etc., but the posters' advice in it was quite old. My husband is interested in this, since he works in television.