cardinalthecolor

After lurking for several months and planning our trip to London, I have put together a loose itinerary for 6 days in London. My fiancé and I will be in town from Sunday morning to Friday afternoon. It is his first trip and I’d love for your comments on what we have planned, and any tips on places we should add in.

Sunday –
Arrive Heathrow at 10:00 am
Taxi to hotel near Temple tube stop (the tube changes seem unwieldy to get to this area, but would love to know if I’m mistaken!)
Pub crawl (Lamb and Flag, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, Seven Stars, Ye Old Mitre?)
Mini Cooper tour to get our bearings around town

Monday –
Courtald Gallery
Afternoon Tea at the Savoy or Wolseley
Tate Modern
Oxo Tower for drinks

Tuesday
Tower of London (mostly to see the Crown Jewels)
Thames River Cruise
London Eye (if sky is clear)

Wednesday
The British Museum or National Gallery
Evening: musical in West End (determined by tickets available at TKTS that morning)

Thursday:
Borough Market

I wanted to leave our schedule open to explore on a whim. Now I’m on the hunt to find a few good pubs or bars with some history or cool atmosphere (he and I both love a good unique cocktail). I would also love any suggestions on shopping districts with local flavor.

Thanks so much for your advice and comments!

annhig

hi cardinal,

well, this is a first - someone who sees the Temple as a major destination for their trip to London! and welcome to fodors, BTW.

From LHR you could of course get the tube into Paddington and then change onto the circle line, which will get you to Temple tube station. A cab might be no dearer though.

it's sadly a long time since I've been on a pub crawl around the Temple and Fleet street , but you might like to consult the CAMRA [CAMPAIGN FOR REAL ALE] guide to London or similar to make sure that you're going to the best places. if you are there at lunchtime, do make time to wander around the Inner Temple gardens - they are very well tended and planted, plus they have the advantage of a unique position. Temple Church is also worth a visit as are the Royal Courts of Justice over the road. ["over the road" being the way in which lawyers who work in the Temple refer to the Royal Courts as you have to cross Fleet Street to get to them]

you can tell probably that this is my specialist subject!

apart from that i like your slightly quirky itinerary - hope you have a great time.

cardinalthecolor

Hi Annhig, Thanks for quick response. The Temple is not really a "major destination," but happens to be where our hotel is located for the duration of our stay. We are staying at the Apex Temple Court, and hope that it lives up to its excellent reviews. Thanks for the tip on CAMRA...it will be a great resource for us!

annhig

nice location, cardinal.

Fleet street is a relatively unusual place for tourists to stay, but the no 11 bus which goes along there will give you excellent access, both east up Ludgate Hill to St. Paul's and the City, and west to Westminster, Victoria and South Kensington. you can also walk to Covent Garden, and through to Leicester Square and China town, though the bus will also take you to Trafalgar Square which is nearby.

so many memories!

to get to the Tower, it's an easy hop on the tube from Temple tube station.

how long are you staying there?

Mary24

Look up the website fancyapint.com for pubs - you can search by area. However, next to the Royal Courts of Justice is a terrific pub, The Old Bank of England - an old banking hall now a pub.

alihutch

You could visit the Bank of England Museum http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/educa...m/default.aspx

annhig

However, next to the Royal Courts of Justice is a terrific pub, The Old Bank of England - an old banking hall now a pub.>>

since my time, Mary.

janisj

"<i>Taxi to hotel near Temple tube stop (the tube changes seem unwieldy to get to this area, but would love to know if I’m mistaken!)</i>"

The tube is easy enough . . . Take the Piccadilly line from LHR to Hammersmith station. Exit the car and walk a few steps across the same platform and board the next District line train. Exit at Temple.

But if you decide against it, <B>DO NOT</B> take a taxi in from the airport. It will cost an absolute fortune. Instead, pre-book a car service like justairports/com

Much cheaper than a cab.

cardinalthecolor

Living in the San Francisco area, we are familiar with walking/public transportation, so thought this location would work for us!

We will be arriving Sunday morning and leaving Friday afternoon.

Thanks for the fancyapint.com tip! And it looks like we have two votes for The Old Bank of England...so we will have make a stop there.

cardinalthecolor

JanisJ,Thanks so much for the instructions from LHR to our tube stop. It definitely sounds doable!

BigRuss

Yeah, don't take the Heathrow express - the cost will meet or exceed the direct car service from just airports. And the Circle Line is soooooooooooooo slooooooooooooooooow.

<<Tower of London (mostly to see the Crown Jewels)>> Gosh no, there's too much else for him to explore there.

Also: Windsor Castle, Hampton Court Palace, Cabinet War Rooms, Westminster Abbey and Imperial War Museum.

Shopping? Jermyn Street for him (a lot) and you (a good bit). Fortnum & Mason > Harrod's for food. Don't shop Harrod's for actual department store items. Regent Street and Oxford Street have every chain store you can imagine.

jamikins

I will add black friars pub to your list, lovely old pub with great atmosphere just outside blackfriars station...

PatrickLondon

What you have in your list looks very manageable (apart, perhaps, from your pub crawl list, which is a bit random, but you can have fun with the sites mentioned working out some in closer proximity to each other). For your Borough Market visit, for example, check out the George and the Market Porter.

If you haven't already done so, check out the TfL visitors' guide (particularly the bus map which shows you bus routes in relation to the main attractions - you will probably want to make friends with the 15):
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/gettingaround/15101.aspx

annhig

talking about food, if you would like the opportunity to have lunch in historic Middle Temple Hall [where amongst other things the first performance of Twelfth Night took place] you may pre-book it:

http://www.middletemplehall.org.uk/food-lunch.html

the food isn't gourmet standard, but it's pretty good and the atmosphere is quite unique.

bilboburgler

You might want to add the V&A museum (you know these are free right?) as some of the materials are as good as some of the Courtald's stuff.

cardinalthecolor

Thanks to all for your recommendations.

I learned that the Temple stop is closed on Sunday so we will be using JustAirports for a private transfer.

We will be visiting the Courtauld gallery during their free hours since it is a stone's throw from our hotel, and houses my favorite Manet painting (A Bar at the Folies-Bergere).
I'll certainly try to fit in the V&A.

At a friend's suggestion, we are going to do a day trip to Bath. Very much looking forward to that!

Many thanks, again!

janisj

Justairports is good (I've used them several times) but if you want to take the tube you still can even on Sunday.

Your hotel is actually a bit closer to Blackfriars station than to Temple.

stokebailey

Check out the Jewellery Gallery at V&A. Dark room with sparkly backlit jewels as worn in historic portraits. Especially if you're there anyway.

Kate

Nice hotel! I actually think your location is good.

For cocktails, if you want something a little more salubrious you are a hop and a skip from One Aldwych – a hotel with a very popular cocktail bar. I often go there when I'm looking for somewhere convenient in that locale. Of course if you want to go mad, you could visit the famous American Bar in the newly refurbished Savoy Hotel. Just don't make the mistake I made and avoid jeans or sneakers, or the bouncers won't let you in.

annhig

dont' forget the Waldorf [now part of the Hilton chain, but never mind] on the Aldwych too. They used to do a great breakfast [I went there a few times to set myself up after an early drive into London during train strikes] and there's also afternoon tea. it's also a very convenient place to nip into if you need the "conveniences".

http://www3.hilton.com/en/hotels/uni...AHI/index.html

loads of great theatres in that area too.