do you think can i allow a 1/2 day for each? taking a boat down the thames to greenwich and a train back....

yes, if you don't count the time spent on the boats.

they take a long time.

if time is at a premium, take the train there, tour windsor/greenwich, and then decide whether you want to dawdle back on the boat, or get the train back.

You don't mean on the <i>same</i> day - right?

annhig: I think the upset about DS's passport may have frazzled the brain just a bit >><i>take the train there, tour windsor/greenwich,</i><< doesn't make sense. Windsor is 25 miles west of London and Greenwich is east of central London.

Windsor can be done in a bit over a 1/2 day starting and ending at Paddington or Waterloo - but 3/4 of a day is better.

Greenwich can take anywhere from a couple of hours to all day -but it is in the wrong direction to do w/ Windsor. Greenwich is a better match w/ something like the Tower since you'd already be in east London.

OR -- did you mean >><i>take the train to <u>either</u> windsor or greenwich, tour, and then decide whether you want to dawdle back on a boat</i><<

Now --that does make sense

yes, it does make sense, if you read the "/" as an "or"!

keep up!

sorry jj - I just re-read what I wrote. I didn't mean that to sound like that!

i meant on separate days.... i heard the commentary on the boat to greenwich is worthwhile but no cride back to westminister

alane - I knew you meant separate days - so did I!

i think that in the way to Greenwich you go past the Thames barrier which might be quite interesting. I suspect that most boats have a commentary of sorts though.

another day trip option of the "boat one way, train the other" sort is Hampton Court. closer than windsor i think and lovely on a nice day as the garden is beautiful.

I did the London Walks trip to Greenwich. I highly recommend the boat trip. Very good commentary. I really enjoyed it. At Greenwich we were given information about the various buildings but all was done outside. Then we toured the buildings on our own. Didn't care much for that part as I like to view what's being discussed. However, the boat part can be done on your own, without London Walks. The National Maritime Museum is excellent.

I took the tube/Docklands Light Railway back. Interesting ride as some of it is above ground and gives you a glimpse of the Docklands/Canary Wharf area.

hampton court palace would be more like a full day, right? i thought it was more comprehensive...
and deserved a full day as wondsor and greenwich i am thinking 1/2 day each....differetn days
thansk

Doing both in one day is not possible - being on opposite sides of London - and boat trips take forever. Frankly I think 1/2 of a day isn't really enough for either - we spet more in both - but did Greenwich by boat and Windsor by car.

alane - the visits themselves might be 1/2 days but getting there and back, especially if you are planning doing one way by boat, will make them more like whole day trips.

anyway, here's the website for the boats that go to Greenwich:

http://www.thamesriverservices.co.uk/

the boat takes an hour each way, but it's another hour if you want to go and look at the Thames barrier.

and here's the link for boats to and from Hampton court:

http://www.wpsa.co.uk/timetable_new.html

you'll see that there's only one a day that goes all the way there and back, and it would make sense to get the train there and boat back, due to the timings. you can of course spend as long there as you like, but a few hours would be well worthwhile, IMHO, especially on a hot day.

BTW, i can't even find a boat that goes from London to Windsor - something to do with there being 10 locks in the way, apparently.