Sunburns3

I would like to thank you all who have helped us put together our LONDON Itinerary. I could not have done it without you! We leave August 5! Please check our itinerary over and let us know if it is "do-able" Any suggestions are greatly appreciated! Thanks, again...

Here's goes....

Day 1 Arrive
Heathrow Airport 8PM Justairports.com reserved car to Hotel in South Kensington

Day 2
Double Decker bus tour
Big Ben Tour at 11:30 AM (have tickets)
Victoria and Albert Museum
Harrods
Thames boat cruise to Tower of London Ceremony of the Keys 9:30 PM (Have tickets.)

Day 3
Tower of London 9AM
St. Paul's Church
British Museum
dinner/theater (half price tickets at Leicester Square)

Day 4
Buckingham Palace (Horse guard changing at 10 AM)
Westminster Catherdral Sunday Mass
Westminster Abbey
Covent Gardens
London Eye (evening)

Day 5
Depart London for Germany 9AM

janis

Basically a good plan but you do have a couple of problems:.

Day 4 - Westminster Abbey is not open for touring on Sundays.

your day 3 is a real trek. The British Museum and the Tower each take a minimum of 3 or 4 hours and St Paul's (Cathedral) is worth an hour or two. Plus some time during that day you plan on stopping by Leicester Square to buy tickets for that night. Consider dropping St Pauls since it is in the midst of a massive restoration project w/ scaffolding and closed off areas. That would give you more time for the Tower and the museum.

Daisy54

Regarding your day 4 - Are you thinking 10:00 a.m. guard chaging is AT Buck. Palace? Because they are two separate things - just in case you're confusing the two - the guard mounting at Horseguards Parade is held at 10:00, and the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace takes place at 11:30 on odd numbered days only in August (canceled in very bad weather). Horse Guards parade is just across St. James Park from Buck Palace so you should be able to catch both in the same day if you hustle.

Also you can go to Westminster Abbey on Sunday but I'd recommend a different day since the main sanctuary will be reserved for church services. The other areas will be open, but with missing the main part, I'd go on Sunday ONLY if that's the absolute only day you can get there.

also yuor day 2 is a little unrealstic IMHO - I'd be prepared to be flexible with the thins for which yuo don;t have committed tickets - each of the thigns you have planed could easily take half a day in htemselves excet for the Tower ceremony.

Christina

Day 3 is something I could never plan, but you know your own stamina and interests -- maybe you only want to drop by the museum for an hour or so. It just seems like a lot including getting around to all of them. Perhaps you just didn't put this in your itinerary, but I'd make a plan as to when you plan to get those half price tickets. That takes some wait, usually, and I think you have better selection if you go soon after it opens. I haven't used it enough to be sure of that, however, just my general experience with half price ticket places.

samejia

Here's an idea for your discounted theatre tickets. Try www.lastminute.com. We had a tight schedule and I didn't want to waste time trying to buy half price tickets. They do offer some half price tickets. Also, check theatremonkey.com. Oh, lastminute does not allow you to pick seats. We went to Complete Works of Shakespeare and got 4th row for 10GBP rather than 34.50GBP. Picked them up at the theatre. Others told me that they were given decent seats by lastminute.com. Again, it saves you the time going to the ticket booth. Susan

Louiseee

Re: Day 3 -- This seems a very lot to try to do to me. Of course, it depends on each individual's style of touring. In our case, we had planned 3 hours for the Tower of London because I thought that is what I had read. We went on our last day in London, were there 5 hours and still had much left to see but had to skip it in order to get back and pack and get to the airport. But our style of touring is to see thoroughly whatever site we are at even if it means only doing a very few in any one trip. Others I know would just not want to spend that much time (or examine everything in that much detail).

Have a great trip; it was my first time to London earlier this month and I loved it! (Where are you going in Germany? we did London and Berlin on our trip).

bettyk

Too bad that you haven't really left yourself any time for just strolling through one of London's many beautiful parks. I especially love Regent's Park and St. James Park. It's one of my favorite things to do in London.

FromAtlanta

I have to agree with everyone on your day 3. My eyes almost popped out when I saw that. The British museum is HUGE. (I mean H-U-G-E). They do offer tours though, so maybe that is a good idea for you. Look at the website.

Here is another piece of advice. Don't get your heart set on the 1/2 price ticket booth. People start linining up before it even opens and there is no guarantee what they will have tickets for. (or if they will have tickets at all by the time you get to the front of the line) Try just going to the box office of the show you want to see a day or so ahead of time and ask if they have any deals. Sometimes they do. Also, theatres are built wonderfully here. They are built more up than back... so even if you are in the cheap seats, they are still pretty good (and all offer theatre glasses on the back of every seat)

BigRuss

No Cabinet War Rooms or Imperial War Museum? Too bad. You'll need to go back.

obxgirl

Don't be talked out of using TKTS. People line up before the TKTS booth opens because they mistakenly believe that all the day's tickets are available at 10 am. Not the case at all. Some evening performances don't get posted until afternoon. The lines move quickly even during busy times of the season. Certainly if you have your heart set on a particular show, don't rely in TKTS or any of the discounters.

Not diminishing Lastminute.com and going directly to (or calling) the box office as those are good suggestions too. Have used them both with great success.

DeborahAnn712

I'd agree it's a pity to miss the Imperial War Museum - my favourite. 1940's house, The Blitz Experience, Trench Experience and many more excellent and harrowing exhibits. It's south of the river in Lambeth.

FromAtlanta

All I meant about the ticket booth is that it is a gamble ... especially if one is pressed for time. (even obxgirl admitted that you don't know what you are going to get -or when they will be available)
If someone is planning a much more leisurely trip to London, FINE. I would never try to talk them out of the ticket booth .... But come on! I don't think a person who is trying to schedule the British museum, tower of London, St. Pauls AND the theatre all in one day has any time at all to stand in line for tickets that are hit and miss (no matter how fast the line moves)
I know I certainly couldn't do it...but if sunburns 3 wants to give it a go, more power to her. I certainly don't want to talk anybody out of anything - I was just shining reality on to it.

obxgirl

I didn't know this was a contest, so for the sake of keeping the peace, FromA, I'll cave. Only people with time to pi$$ away should endure the queue that is the crapshoot called TKTS.

Sunburns3

I appreciate everyones input! Sadly, we are thinking about removing Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's from our itinerary. We will buy theater tickets online, and adding St. James Park to our Sunday line up. We plan on visiting the museums for 2-3 hours. We know we are not doing justice to them...but, our time in London is very limited! Our itinerary is flexible....and so are we! We fly to Hamburg, Germany early AM on August 9. We are visiting relatives on an Island in the North Sea....Fohr. We are driving to Ribe, Denmark, from there, also. Thanks, again for your help!

obxgirl

The British Museum has a "greatest hits" tour that is really worth the money for people with limited time in a place with so much to see. The tour lasts about an hour and a half and is offered three times a day. You can book ahead.

I have always enjoyed special exhibits at the Brit Museum but admit to drifting into ancient artifact overload when left to wander too long on my own. The tour I took was excellent and I discovered areas on interest I've subsequently gone back to learn more about. Now the V&A on the other hand...I even find the dust bunnies fascinating there!

Sounds like you have a great trip planned. Enjoy!

smroan

Re Day 2: I am not sure with your plans for the Clock tour, Harrods, etc, you will be gettting your money's worth of the hop on, hop off bus. It is also not the quickest way from point A to point B if you are using it merely for transportation. I enjoyed my hop on hop off day, but I spent most of the day on the bus. I used Big Bus and there are three separate routes. To see everything I had to use all three routes. It was fun, but listening to the commentary (I am different from most people; I enjoyed the taped commentary on the blue line best). The red line is live commentary and is central London. The Blue will get you out Kensington way, and the Green is a half hour loop from Trafalgar Square up to British Museum/Bloomsbury.

At any rate, I enjoyed the pressure of not trying to do much that day except get a taste of London. I got off a few places but not for any scheduled activities or tours.

As it was my first time in London I wanted to get oriented. I was there eight days and loved it. I wish I could go back and do another eight.

I did make a mistake in trying to do and see too much. I had a couple of times I just got too tired to enjoy things to the max. (On the other hand I don't regret seeing anythign I saw.)

Theater recommendation: I loved Cole Porter's Anything Goes. Just a good, enjoyable funny show with a talented cast and terrific music.

h2babe

Sunburns-

I think you hit the key point here, as long as you're flexible, it's ok to try to schedule all of the activities, but dont be too bummed out when you run out of time to actually do them all.

I have a pretty good stamina, but I personally prefer to have a bit more time to really browse around in the area and get a feel of these places. When I was in London last week, I did 1) Changing of the Guard 2) London Eye 3) Tower of London 4) Shopping at Oxford Street and 5) Musical at the West End all in one day and I was exhausted at the end of the night, or I should say the next morning. When I got out of the show, I realized I forgot dinner!

Have a great time!

rj007

There is so much to see and do in London. I agree with the others to have some flexibility in your schedule. I think you will enjoy your visit more if you don't try to cram in as much as you can in a single day. Even after 7 visits to London, there is still sites and activites that I haven't seen or done yet. If possible, save some things for another visit. You will love London. Enjoy your trip!