We also loved the V&A museum.

Glad you enjoyed the Orangery. We are not a fan of the Orangery at Kensington Palace--we all had the tea and that was okay but DS insisted on ordering the shrimp salad and it was bad. At first we didn't know if it was his appendix or something else so he ended up at University College Hospital and was diagnosed with a case of bad food poisoning. It had to be the shrimp because that was the only thing he ate different from us over those few days.

Was Hamley's and Liberty just as crowded as Harrods? We didn't get there on our last trip.

I imagine Hamley's to be a bit like the Toys R Us in Times Square NY which is also 4-5 floors of all types of toys.

SB-Travlr...We found the flat on VRBO. We sadly learned that the owners are planning on selling ithe flat at the end of the year and when I just tried to search for it tonight it appears they have already taken it off the VRBO site.

europeannovice....So sorry to hear of the food poisoning at the Orangery. That would certainly make me afraid to return. Fortunately, our experience was pleasant. Hamley's and Libery were crowded, but not to the extent of Harrods. Saw some interesting toys at Hamleys---one was a game with a toy dog and the object was to see who could pick up the most poo....we passed on buying that for the little ones!

SBTravlr: These flats are also in the Marina if you'd like to stay in the same area

http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~hamlet_uk/

Day 7 (Sunday)……Church service, British Museum, Thames cruise, Madison Terrace
We left the flat at 9:30AM, took bus #15 from Tower Hill and with the light traffic, we arrived at St. Paul’s 20 minutes later—plenty of time for the 10:15 service we wanted to attend. On Sunday, the cathedral is closed to visitors and is only open for worship. As soon as we got off the bus we could hear the church bells constantly ringing. I could imagine those same bells ringing in celebration of Charles’ and Diana’s wedding. At this service, there was an all boys choir singing—about 30 of them. Beautiful voices.

After church we headed to the British Museum using bus #8 to Holborn. From there it was a short walk to the museum. It was a beautiful morning and our main objective was to see the Rosetta Stone and the mummies (and gift shop) before cruising on the Thames and soaking in the sunshine. Mission accomplished there. We checked out a few more things, but it was so warm in some of the rooms, we wouldn’t have been able to tolerate staying to see much more.

To get to the Westminster Pier from the British Museum, we took the Picadilly line at Holborn to South Kensington and changed to the District line to Westminster. By the time we reached the pier, the weather changed to cloudy with sprinkles.  Oh well, at least we can say we cruised the Thames. We took the City Cruise (not narrated, officially, anyway) from the Westminster Pier to the Tower of London. Using our Travelcards saved us 30% (cha-ching!) Cost was £6.50/ea. We sat on the upper level of the boat under our umbrella and made the best of it.

We returned to our flat to get ready for dinner. When we couldn’t get into Madison at One Change mall for lunch on Friday, we decided to make reservations here for our last dinner in London. (Thanks, jamikins and janisj for pointing this restaurant out!) We were looking forward to taking in the views. As we were about to leave for dinner, the skies opened up! Our plans to take the bus were dashed and we hailed a taxi—best £10 spent! Because of the rain, the views & sunset were not ideal. I must say the best views from the restaurant would be from the lounge seating area. Those who plan to eat here at the tables have a more distant view. The food was fabulous. By the time we left, the rain had stopped and we took bus #15 home to start packing for our return home.

Day 8 (Monday)……. Jam at the airport
Our flight was scheduled to leave Heathrow at 4:30PM. Check out time at the flat was 11AM. We were glad to have plenty of time to get to the airport and not be rushed. Unlike our Paris trip when the taxi we requested never showed (due to a taxi strike that we were unaware of---the thought of which still gets my heart racing thinking about the panic—but that is another story…), the driver from justairports was prompt and curtious. We waited to see how we liked justairports with our drive in from Heathrow before booking them for our return to Heathrow. We were delighted with the service, so we called them on Thursday and booked the ride. The fare was £33 this time—much cheaper than our ride into London for a couple of reasons…. we paid cash and the other was the time factor. Our ride only took 1 hour as the traffic was light once we got out of the center of town as opposed to the 90 minute drive into town.

I was a bit worried that our checked bag was going to be over the weight limit. (Yes, between the two of us, we had just one checked bag! + 2 carry-ons.) I had purchased some large jars of Rose’s Lime marmalade and they were pretty heavy. I had the foresight to bring some bubble wrap with me in case I needed to pack anything breakable. At the airport they had several scales…apparently, I’m not the only one who gets carried away with bringing things home! I held my breath as the scale read 22.9kg. Whew! Maximum is 23 kg. Next we went thru security. For some reason my carry-on bag was flagged. I could not imagine what they had seen. We did put all of our phone chargers in my carry-on and I assumed that was what they wanted to check out. Wrong!! I forgot that I purchased a box of 4 small jars of jam that I bought as a gift and placed in my carry-on on the day of the purchase. I had no idea that jam was a no-no. Since the individual jars were each less than 100g, they didn’t confiscate them. There was a family of four ahead of us that had security issues so it took about 45 minutes for us to get through security. So glad we had that extra time. I must admit, it was comforting to know they were doing a thorough job.

We flew out of Terminal 2. There were lots of great shops. Bought some things at Cath Kidston at great prices and no VAT!

We were blessed to have two passes to the United Club and we spent the rest of our time relaxing there and taking advantage of the food/drinks available.

Our flight home was uneventful except for the woman at the window seat who insisted on leaning toward me and pressing her arm against mine nearly the entire time—AND she had BOTH armrests—AND she had her right foot in my foot space—AND she was sneezing and coughing!! Oh well, I was not going to let this spoil the fabulous trip we had just had.

Final thoughts:
I wore a FitBit that keeps track of my steps and flights of stairs. We walked nearly 65 miles and climbed 163 flights of stairs during our week stay. So many busy intersections have underground passage ways for pedestrians to use which require walking down stairs and then up. We definitely got a workout. No worries on eating all that fried fish & chips!

We found London to be a safe city. With all the closed circuit TV’s they have on each street corner, it appears to keep crime to a minimum. Unlike Paris, not once were we approached by strangers in attempt to draw us into a scam.

“Look Right” and “Look Left” painted on many crosswalks prevented our getting run over. It does get confusing on which way to look with the drivers driving on the left-hand side of the road.

We found late June to be a great month to visit London. Daytime temperatures were in the upper 60’s-mid 70’s. Lots of flowers (a passion of mine) were in bloom. Sunrise was at 4:45AM and sunset at 9:30PM so there was lots of daylight!

Staying in St. Katharine Docks was a delight. It was a quiet location with beautiful views of the marina—a welcome respite from being in the city all day. We enjoyed renting the flat as it had more space than a hotel room. Having access to a kitchen and a washer/dryer was a plus.

We could have easily spent another week in London. There is so much to see and do. Wish we could have made it to one of the theatres, the National Gallery, Portrait Gallery, British Library, Windsor and Greenwich (I’m sure I’m forgetting something...)—guess those will have to wait for our return.

Interesting selection of toys! Not too sure how many would be interested in purchasing those though.

A great trip report. Thanks for posting.

There is definitely a lot to see/do and never enough time to do it all. As you said, reasons to return.

Hi MARLENE,

Thanks for the great trip report - with a good summary too.

I have the feeling you'll be back.

Just found your trip report (thanks to a comment by janisj on another thread. )

I really enjoyed your viewpoint of a city that I have come to love.

And I also admit to being totally hooked on clotted cream. Yum! Any calories consumed are quickly spent on all the walking one does in London.

Thanks so much for posting.

Marlene-

Had to laugh. I bought that game for my nephew's son for this past Xmas. Doogie Doo Doo. What a riot! It was all sold out at the toy store so Toys R Us had to order it. Who would have thought? But the other thing he wanted was a fart blaster! What will they come up with next!

We did the Ceremony of the Keys too but back in 2008 and got our coupons at my local post office. Used the coupons from day's out too!!

Planning a return trip so your report with updated info is very helpful. Making note of restaurants. My husband and I are also 60+ seniors.

We are hoping to have an apt. too this time as opposed to a tiny hotel room (my husband is 6'2'-a big guy) but never even thought to look in Southwark area. Did you find it convenient to the sights? Before we stayed in S. Kensington near Gloucester Rd. station.

Thanks for the heads up on the FitBit. I need to get one!

chris45ny..My DH is also 6'2" and we find the beds at most European hotels as being on the small side, hence our use of apartments. St Katharine's was about a 10 minute walk to the Tower Hill tube station & the #15 bus stop--most convenient for us.