jerseyucf

Hello fellow travelers!

After much feedback, I have adjusted the itinerary for my July trip to London. I will be taking a red-eye from the States and will arrive at Gatwick at 1PM (1300). Some additional advice/feedback is appreciated. Please let me know if you feel the schedule is practical, if I should move things around/remove something all together, or if I am missing any important stops. Restaurant recommendations are also welcomed.

* * * * *

Day 1 (Fri)
1300: Red-eye Arrives in London/Gatwick (Capital Connect to Hotel in East London)
*Unpack/Relax in East London
1900: “The Along the Thames Pub Walk” (Mansion House Tube)

Day 2 (Sat)
730: Breakfast near Westminster (recommendations?)
800: Walk through Houses of Parliament & Big Ben
930: Tour Westminster Abbey
1130: Walk down Whitehall/Downing St.
1230: Lunch near Downing (recommendations?)
1330: London Pride Parade (observe)
1530: Stroll through Southwark (Pubs/Borough Market/Southwark Cathedral)
1800: Dinner in Southwark (recommendations?)
1930: Shakespeare Play at Globe Theatre (already bought tickets)

Day 3 (Sun)
800: Breakfast in Covent Garden (recommendations?)
1000: National Gallery
1300: Lunch @ Trafalgar Square (Crypt of St Martin in the Fields)
1400: National Portrait Gallery
1530: The Mall & Buckingham Palace (walk by)
1700: Walk through Speaker’s Corner/Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens (are there specific times we should try to get to Speaker’s Corner?)
1930: “Jack the Ripper Walk” (Tower Hill Tube)

Day 4 (Mon)
930: British Library
1100: Walk through Piccadilly Circus/Bond Streets/Oxford St/Grosvenor Square
1300: Lunch near British Museum (recommendations?)
1400: British Museum/“The British Museum Tour” Walk (Is the walking tour worth it or should we just stroll around ourselves?)
1700: Stroll through Regent's Park followed by dinner (recommendations?)

Day 5 (Tue)
900: Tower of London
1200: Lunch near Tower (recommendations?)
1330: Tour St. Paul's Cathedral
1530: Millennium Bridge
1500: Tate Modern
1800: Stroll South Bank followed by dinner (recommendations?)
2000: London Eye

Pat_in_Chicago

Your itinerary looks very good to me. I've never taken the British Museum Tour Walk but have been to the museum several times and have enjoyed strolling thru spending time at exhibits I found interesting and skipping stuff I didn't care for.

No supper on Sunday?

Is there something specific to see in Regent's Park? I stayed near there once and passed by on the bus but never saw any reason to stop especially since I've usually already strolled St. James and/or Hyde Park.

Have a great trip.

jerseyucf

How about I scrap the Regent's Park tour and instead, walk through The City?

janisj

OK -- a few 'issues'

"<i>Sun. 1530: The Mall & Buckingham Palace (walk by)</i>"

You will have been right there on Sat and now you are heading back there on Sunday. Maybe look at a good map of central London. Westminster Abbey, B'ham Palace, Whitehall, Downing St (you cannot see anything there BTW), St James's Park and Trafalgar sq are form a small triangle in central London.

oops -- just got an important phone call -- will be back in a bit . . .

janisj

back again . . .

"<i>Day 4 (Mon)
930: British Library
1100: Walk through Piccadilly Circus/Bond Streets/Oxford St/Grosvenor Square
1300: Lunch near British Museum (recommendations?)
1400: British Museum/“The British Museum Tour” Walk (Is the walking tour worth it or should we just stroll around ourselves?)
1700: Stroll through Regent's Park followed by dinner (recommendations?)</i>"

This is sort of all over the place. The British Museum and British Library are pretty near each other - w/i easy walking distance. But you have yourself hitting the Library, leaving the area to go to Piccadilly Circus/Bond St and Grosvenor Sq (and particular reason for Gr. Sq.?) and then back to Bloomsbury for the Museum and then on to Regents Park. This really doesn't make much sense.

To show I'm not just a nit picker -- your plan for Tues is pretty darn good For lunch 'near' the Tower -- I'd just eat AT the Tower. Saves time/hassle and there are several places to eat right there.

Which hotel? "East London" is a big area.

Also - I would 100% skip the Jack the Ripper walk. No question.

Pat_in_Chicago

I don't remember seeing anything of great interest in The City, which doesn't mean there wasn't anything there. But I do remember lunch/pint at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese.

http://www.pubs.com/main_site/pub_de...php?pub_id=154

And many years ago I'd just read the DaVinci Code so I wandered around the area until I found a church/temple that had been mentioned in the book. Took me forever to find it and I worked up a thirst and headed to the Cheshire Cheese pub.

Amanda_H

Re:1900: “The Along the Thames Pub Walk” (Mansion House Tube)

If that takes you along the south side of the Thames, try and visit the Anchor (don't bother eating there, the service is usually terrible and the food mediocre), it's a lovely old riverside pub with lots of little rooms and the nicest along this stretch of the Southbank, loads more character than the Doggett Arms, Old Thameside Inn and Founders Arms although if you are a beer drinker the Founders is well known.

http://www.pubs.com/main_site/pub_details.php?pub_id=21

Behind the pub is the wine museum Vinopolis and if you walk past it the start of Clink Street. If you look at the coat of arms on the Clink prison you will see keys that have two linked hearts which were emblems of the Bishops of Winchester's (whose palace was in Clink Street) main source of income, prostitution, having their own licenced Bankside brothels!

http://www.offtolondon.com/hiddenlon...ter_house.html

For dinner in Southwark try Taz Pide, just along from the Globe theatre,

http://www.visitbankside.com/listing...rants/tas-pide

or just opposite the Globe is Pizza Express, not fantastically exciting but great river views. Ask to sit upstairs. If you walk away from the river up New Globe street and turn right at the top there are lots of new eating places behind the Tate Modern and a cool cafe for coffee or teas:

http://www.visitbankside.com/listing...urants/delaziz

Borough Market closes at 4pm on Saturday. Grab a coffee at Monmouth Market and the most delicious cakes at Konditor and Cook.

If you're sitting down at the Globe Theatre make sure you hire a cushion otherwise you get very stiff!! If you're standing make sure you have a rain coat with you as there is no protection if there's a downpour.

I'm afraid I have to disagree with janisj. I would absolutely go on the Jack the Ripper tour. I went on it 2 years ago and it was great fun. Wear comfortable shoes, (mine weren't very and my feet ached by the end of it). I saw streets that I had never seen before, gorgeous architecture, several houses originally owned/built by the Huguenots and Jack the Ripper is a great mystery. Walking around the back streets of Whitechapel, you hear about the life and times of that era and it's facinating. Tracy Emin and Gilbert and George live there. Well worth the money. We had a woman doing the tour and she was brilliant! She's been doing it for years so hopefully you may get her....

http://www.19princeletstreet.org.uk/charity.html

The London Eye is wonderful on a good day. I hope you have a great trip!

janisj

OK -- JtR is a cottage industry for "the Donald" who uses it to flog his books. The groups are too large. None of the original sites still exist. The folks living in the area HATE the walks/walkers because they are large and loud.

And -- if one wants to see the Huguenot houses, a better option would be the Old Jewish Quarter walk which also gets one inside the lovely Bevis Marks Synagogue, as well as Spitalfields market.

Amanda_H

If you are interested in doing the Jack the Ripper walk the one I went on was a booked walk with only 20 or so people on it. It was a small group and you could stand very near the guide so we heard everything. I haven't any knowledge of "the Donald" walks and haven't been on one. I will check with my friend which company was the one she booked, but I think it might have been this one:

http://www.jack-the-ripper-tour.com/...er_reviews.htm

If I find out more info or this is the wrong link, I'll post you the correct one.

janisj

'The Donald' is Donald Rumbelow - is considered a major Jack the Ripper expert and historian

He is connected w/ London Walks -- which is the organization most mean when they post about walking tours in London.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Rumbelow
http://www.walks.com/

europeannovice

The Tower of London has an excellent cafeteria with some healthy options too.

We enjoyed the London Walks tours we took. In the British Museum they can naivgate you to all the "big items" so if you are short on time it is worth it.

BigRuss

Janis always bags on the Jack the Ripper tour, but it is interesting (if crowded). You can combine that with a ticket to the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower if you request tickets in advance for the Ceremony.

I take it you have no interest in the Cabinet War Rooms. If you do, need to add to the list.

Unless you really like looking at bizarre junk, there's no way you'll need nearly 3 hours in the Tate Modern.

You could just as easily visit the British Library and British Museum then bugger off to Paddington to catch a train to Windsor and I'm thinking that would be more interesting than strolling through another park. Are there none where you are?

How many people are on the trip -- you said "I" "my" "I" and later said "we". If "we" then look into the 2for1 deals. Just search days out guide and my name on this site and you'll find a bunch of replies telling you how to take advantage of the deal. Will save you a ton on the Tower alone and cost you nothing.

Mary24

I've not been on the JtR walk so can't comment but I believe London Walks have a variety of guides who run it and they split up large groups. I have done their British Museum tour (guide was Tom on the day I did it) and I thought it was very worthwhile - the BM is such a big place and he helped to highlight some of the major exhibits in a short time, which I couldn't have done by myself.

Mary24

I've not been on the JtR walk so can't comment but I believe London Walks have a variety of guides who run it and they split up large groups. I have done their British Museum tour (guide was Tom on the day I did it) and I thought it was very worthwhile - the BM is such a big place and he helped to highlight some of the major exhibits in a short time, which I couldn't have done by myself.

janisj

"<i>You can combine that with a ticket to the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower if you request tickets in advance for the Ceremony.</i>"

Can't really. The tour starts at 7:30 and you must be outside the Tower by 9:30 sharp. You cannot be even one minute late to the Keys Ceremony.

I do recommend the vast majority of London Walks -- but not JtR.

Not necessarily applicable to the OP -- but <u>especially</u> not w/ children. We aren't talking Disneyland here - but descriptions of women being disemboweled/slaughtered.

(and I'm not queasy -- I just don't think this is appropriate for kids)

rogerdodger

My concern is what are you going to do.

1-Someone wants to spend more time seeing something?

2- Someone needs to pee?

What if someone needs a bit of rest?

You can always say no, obviously your check list schedule needs to be maintained. My point...drop minute to minute schedule. Go with the flow, relax.

BigRuss

roger: tourists in London cannot relax -- they MUST see everything possible in the shortest amount of time and ensure that they do not miss anything because London icons like the Tower Bridge and the Tower and Big Ben may not be there the next time the traveler wants to go to London. After all, the original London Bridge is in Arizona!

I'm thinking if the OP tells the Ripper tour guide that s/he has Keys tickets, the guide will tell the OP when to bugger off to get to the Tower. The Walks guides were helpful for non-Walks questions IME.

margo_oz

1-Someone wants to spend more time seeing something?

2- Someone needs to pee?

I'm sorry - we'll have none of that non-conformist behaviour here, thank you!

Michel_Paris

Based on Amazing Race, pee on British Library

fredandgingermad

Never pass a free toilet thats what my grandmother would advise, she's lived in london since 1945