I have done a ton of international travel but have never been to London. My flight from the US arrives at Heathrow at 13:00, and I leave from Heathrow at 17:00 for Jordan four days later. So, I have 3 full days in London and 2 partial days. I will be staying in south Kensington fairly close to the tube station. My main goal for my London time is to recover from jetlag and get a taste of the city; I don't want to run around like crazy trying to fit in a ton of the typical tourist "biggies". If at all possible, I would prefer to just wing it and be flexible rather than having lots of things pre-booked. Since I will be visiting around April 1, I would also like to take in some parks and/or gardens with attractive spring displays. I like classical music and would like the option of popping into a short lunchtime performance in an interesting place or of attending evensong in a lovely church.

Since I think sightseeing by bike is a great way to get an overview of a place, I am thinking of taking this cycle tour along the Thames. https://www.fattiretours.com/london/...et-lunch-stop/

So, after reading through the guidebooks, here is the overly long list of places that could interest me.

Churchill War Rooms, National Gallery, Westminster Abby, Mayfair to stroll and look at the houses, St. James Park, Burlington Arcade, the Wallace Collection, the Courtyard Gallery in Covent Garden, Covent Garden market, St. George's gardens in Bloomsbury, British museum, Sir John Sloan's museum, Tower of London, the Charterhouse in the city, St. Mary Abbott gardens in Kensington, Hyde Park, Kensington gardens, Highgate Cemetery, Kew Gardens, Kew Palace and Queen Charlotte's Cottage, and Green Park by Buckingham to see the daffodils.

Obviously, way too much.

I am looking for tips and comments on what to absolutely do and what to easily eliminate. I am someone who doesn't just focus on seeing the typical must-do list and frequently find that lesser known places and areas prove to be most interesting and memorable. And, as we all know museum fatigue and overload can hit in a couple hours.

Thanks so much for your thoughts.

Just a few general comments (I'm a bit bedraggled just now having spent the last 6 hours on a hot tarmac at a big air show with the Blue Angels / Spitfires / F37 and other fabulous stuff. May not be totally lucid til tomorrow thouh)

• "I have 3 full days in London and 2 partial days. " You really have 3 usable days. If you have no jet lag on arrival - that could be a good day to fit in a park since it would get you outside. You don't want to plan much of anything for your departure day - You'll want to be at your hotel collecting your bags around noon or 1PM.

• IMO/IME exploring London by bike is not a great idea. There are lots of bike lanes but the traffic is crazy and everythigj wil be the wrong way around. Your instincts will be for driving/pedaling on the right when it will all be on the left. And in the parks -- like Regents Park -- the cyclists are total speed demons and don't much abide 'sightseers'.

• Few things in London other than major exhibitions need pre-booking. Most museums/galleries are free and you simply walk in -- sometimes after a bag search. The issue for some places like the Tower or Westminster Abbey is that w/o a pre booked ticket you may have a long queue to get in. That can be solved bt arriving a opening time before the queue forms.

• Not a lot of strolling/beautiful houses in Mayfair. Several fabulous 5* hotels and great restaurants. But if you want to see either big glorious houses or pretty ones -- you'll want Chelsea, Notting Hill, Holland Park -- those sorts of places.

• "Sir John Sloan's museum" . . . great - very quirky - BTW it is Sir John Soanes's

• When are you traveling -- the daffodils will be over by very soon if not already -- I'm not in London at the moment so don't know how early/late things are blooming. but daffy's bloom early

You have a few small gardens in your list that take minutes to see. I walk through St Mary Abbott's regularly, but would never have thought it worth a special visit, it's tiny. But if you are in the area, it's a lovely walk through there, follow Kensington Church Walk up to Notting Hill Gate, or towards Holland Park. Very pretty residential area with beautiful houses.
Highgate and Kew are a bit further out of the centre, I would drop those unless you are really keen to get to Kew Gardens. Maybe do Chelsea Physic Garden instead, and go through Royal Hospital grounds and across Chelsea Bridge to Battersea Park.
You would need to book Churchill War Rooms, otherwise you can just wander around and decide on the day.

I'm so not a London Expert but I posted this recently https://helenilus.com/explore-the-lo...eenground-map/ which might interest

If you want to go to the British museum I would book a reservation (you pay a donation starting at 5 GBP) otherwise you could wait for a long time in line to get in. You can do it on their website.

Highgate cemetery is pretty far out there and would take the better part of a whole day. I would leave that one for another time.

The line at the BM is for security. You will still stand in line with a timed ticket. You donīt need to pay, though a donation is welcomed. Many people queue before it opens, better to go later in the afternoon. The other entrance on Montague Place is usually less busy.

Great advice! This has certainly helped me cull things out or add them to the "make a quick stop if nearby". And, it sounds as though there may be other spring flowers but not daffodils. It seems like I should stick to closer in places rather than trying to hit the ones that are more towards the outskirts.

bilbo--great link

Finally, the idea of a cycling tour. janisj got me re-thinking this. I am a very experienced cyclist (many week-long European cycling tours under my belt), and this would be a group tour. But, after closely reading reviews, I would choose a different company than the one I linked. There are some tours that are on the city streets and some on cycleways. Do you all agree that a cycling tour in London is a bad idea?

What about those Thames river cruises, perhaps hon on and hop off?

Thanks.

I think the bike tour is a great idea. It would seem to me that many of the caveats do not apply if you are following a tour leader rather than going by yourself.

I dislike most of the tourist magnets, certainly the idea of traipsing from one to the other, fighting crowd after crowd. Ugh. Pick one per day, maybe? I'd avoid the Tower of London.

I disagree about avoiding the Tower of London but I am a big fan of British history. If that interests you, I would either go early, when the Tower opens or later in the day a couple of hours before it closes. When I last visited, we went first to the see the Crown Jewels and then joined a Yeoman's tour which we enjoyed.

I went to the Tower of London last year in May on the last day of school break (American didn't know that until then) and it was hot, and crowded and miserable. I was so disappointed because I remember as a child being absolutely fascinated by it. We went at like 10 in the morning I think. I could skip it next time.

I went to Sir John Shane's museum several years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. I also suggest staying up as long as possible on your first day. We strolled through Leicester Square and other areas our first night and staying up greatly helped us adjust.

What I haven't seen mentioned is anything Harry Potter. If that's not your thing, fine, but if you have any interest, the studio tour was great. We had late afternoon tickets and thought it was a great, we had the full day in London, then stayed a couple hours out at the studio.

williamscb13: That's unfortunate. And you probably didn't have any idea to ask about UK school hols. We could have warned you. Two places that are especially crowded during English school holidays are the Tower and the Natural History Museum. During school holidays/summer/etc. the Tower opens earlier at 9AM, so 10 AM wouldn't be a good time to visit. By then the queues to get in, and especially the queue for the Crown Jewels would be daunting. If one arrives at opening time and heads straight to the Jewel House they could basically have the Crown Jewels to themselves. So I wouldn't tell others to skip the Tower but to use some of the tricks.

"I went to Sir John Shane's Soane's"

Julies, I happen to know the creator of this quirky and oh-so looooong London TR. They have given permission for us to post it here and said also to 'wish Julies well.'
I am done. the end.
Back to Brick: London TR w. fotos

I am an experienced cyclist, have no problem cycling in Amsterdam. But I usually don't in London. There are cycle paths but often these are just a part of the main road. Sometimes they end abruptly, busses pull over, cars don't always respect cyclists. Where I live a cyclist will have the right of way when go straight ahead and the car is making a turn. Not so in London, if you cross a side road look over your shoulder to make sure a car is not cutting you off. I do cycle in London sometimes, but mostly on Sundays. Even through parks, some lanes are pedestrian only. There are some good traffic-free cycle paths, the one along the Thames for example. I'm sure if it's a tour the guide will know where to go.

jeeze . . . stupid typo.

• "Sir John Sloan's museum" . . . great - very quirky - BTW it is Sir John Soane's

Maybe I’ve been doing it wrong all along, but there are separate entrances for those with prebooked time slots and those without. And I did not know you could prebook for free, on the website there is a “donation” which is fine. How do you do it for free? I’m curious..

Last week I went without a reservation and waited in the security line for 30 minutes. Kicked myself for not reserving.. as bag checks at that entrance don’t take so long…

There is an option īadmission - standardī for 0 pounds. That is halfway down the list.
Last time I was there there was a queue on the street that was the same for members, timed tickets and others. Once you got to the gate, there was a separate queue for members and timed tickets to the exhibition, which requires a paid ticket. I did not see a separate line there for those with timed general admission, but maybe that has changed. Will check next time I am there. But if the queue is too long, I turn around.

I'm also an experienced cyclist and have ridden in London many times. Probably for someone from outside the UK and not used to our traffic an driving on the left I would not recommend cycling by yourself but I see no problem with joining a cycle tour. By definition they will be dealing with tourists, most not from the Uk and will be used to the safety issues involved.

I have no experience with Fat Tire Tours but all I have heard about them has been positive.

I soooo miss that long-ago world where there weren't long lines for bag checks and when one didn't need to plan way ahead to do something like visit a museum. I'll take all of your museum tips into account.

And, perhaps a lesser-known museum like Sir John Soane's rather than the biggies might just be the ticket.

I am going to book a cycling tour (if there are still spaces available), but I found this company that looks better to me. And, the tour begins and ends only a mile from my hotel rather than having to go halfway across the city. https://www.nottinghillbiketours.com/

@zebec You were no help at all in narrowing down my list. In fact, your linked TR had the opposite effect; it made me wish for many more weeks in London) all on sunny days. In the middle of your Kew Garden flower shots, you ask for assistance in identifying a yellow, flowering plant. It's a shrimp plant.

If music is of interest, julies, St. Martin in the Field might be a nice stop:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acad..._in_the_Fields

Please share your experiences when you return.

There are still museums have no lines and are not busy. Wallace Collection is a case in point, Iīm always amazed at the quality of the collection and the lack of visitors. And Apsley House is another one to maybe add, itīs right on Hyde Park Corner and really worth a visit. Never seems to make the īmust visitī lists. And if you are there on a Sunday, the tour of Spencer House. Not that you need more things on your list