Reccomendations for only 1 day in London

Coming in the day before our cruise and staying in the St. Pancras area. Since we only have 1 day and night in London, (first time ever in London) I am looking for ideas on what to do and the best place to experience the english fish and chips and/or other not to miss places?

Check this for the sites to visit:

https://www.londontoolkit.com/mnu/london_tours.htm

Suggest you take the HOHO bus in London.

https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Attraction_Products-g186338-zfd240,1440-London_England.html. you will have better luck finding an Indian Curry than you will fish and chips. On saying that, most pubs have pretty good menus. London is very compact busy but full of history so hard to sort to one day.

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Coming in the day before our cruise and staying in the St. Pancras area. Since we only have 1 day and night in London, (first time ever in London) I am looking for ideas on what to do and the best place to experience the english fish and chips and/or other not to miss places?

Tower of London and Westminster Abbey are fantastic places to visit. The Portobello Market Road is a fun place to take a stroll. Suggest you check on line to see if it is operating on the date you will be there. There are a lot of restaurants there and I'm sure some decent fish and chips can be had.

Use the Tube to get around London. It is very easy.

Edit: Forgot to mention the very interesting British Museum (free!).

Coming in the day before our cruise and staying in the St. Pancras area. Since we only have 1 day and night in London, (first time ever in London) I am looking for ideas on what to do and the best place to experience the english fish and chips and/or other not to miss places?

A couple thoughts. First, borrow or get a guidebook for London. See what interests you; what strikes your fancy. Pick one or two things, give yourself time to savor the town.

Second. Pace yourself. Assuming you are flying in from The States, you are possibly jet lagged and a bit disoriented. Take your time. Walk around.

Fish and chips? So many places. Check out a guide like TripAdvisor or Yelp. Also consider a visit to a pub in the area. Later in the day, many get quite busy. An opportunity to get the local flavor.

Neal

Neal from Cincinnati.

Thanks for the great suggestions. I think the British Library and a local pub is what is in the works.

British Library?

http://www.northseafishrestaurant.co.uk/

Enjoy:)

The best "English" fish and chips we ever had was in a small cafe on the South Island of New Zealand :). We always laugh about London and say its a hard place to find decent fish and chips or somebody who speaks English!

But a single day in London is hardly enough time to even dent a single neighborhood. You are going to have to carefully choose based on what interests you. If I had a day in London, and the weather was dreary.....I could easily spend the entire day in the British Museum (one of our favorite museums on earth). On the other hand, friends of ours who were recently in London (for their first visit) enjoyed doing things like the London Eye, visiting Parliament, shopping at Harrods., etc. You might want to Google something like (London Tours) and look at what is done by some of the major tour companies. They tend to focus on the most popular tourist attractions...which may or may not be of interest to you.

Hank

So sorry you don't have more time...we did a week post cruise and didn't feel like that was actually enough time.

Definitely take the HOHO (Original red bus) this will give you the best overview and so easy to HOHO.

Enjoy this amazing city if only for a short time...that will give you a reason to go back.

Hi all!

I second the idea of taking the Hop on Hop Off bus. It's a great way to see what's available in a new place.

I usually just stay on it to see the whole route then decide if there's anything I want, or have the time to go back to.

London has so much to offer, you could probably spend weeks there seeing the sights.

~ Jo ~ :)

I also recommend a HOHO bus if you have little time....as for evening fare I would recommend a west end show but maybe thats just my taste. If you have time the the Tower of London and dungeons is the best historical attraction.

Also...don't eat fish and chips in London. You have to be near the coast and further up north for the full experience and best fresh taste. If you are in a pub (don't go near any wetherspoons pub though) get some pie and mashed potato or suet pudding pies. If you want to go really authentic London for food though you need to go and find Pie,mash and 'liquor' which is an eel juice gravy (although usually now just parsley sauce) loved by certain parts of the capital. My personal preference is a curry though and Indian restaurants are all over...go for the English favourites such as Chicken tikka Masala or a Korma. Also wash it all down with proper room temperature english ale.

I am actually not London's biggest fan but I guess I can see why people like it.

The best "English" fish and chips we ever had was in a small cafe on the South Island of New Zealand :).

 

Hank

...............and the best fish & chips I had was in the wheelhouse bar on a Princess ship !!

OK, with puree'd peas instead of proper mushy peas - I guess when the chef followed the instructions for mushy peas it looked so awful he decided he must have done something wrong & whacked it in the blender. ;p

BTW - a ho-ho.

Original's yellow route, with corny live commentary

https://www.theoriginaltour.com/p/tickets/the-original-tour/?gclid=CO7c4_O7jtUCFcqd7QodDKsIIg#n

JB :)

I would suggest Westminster Abbey and Churchill's War Rooms Museum - close together - for a London experience not duplicated elsewhere. Fish and chips, after all, can be prepared almost anywhere in the world.

Definitely take the Eurostar to Paris for the day.

;) j/k Agreed, for an excellent "sampler" the HOHO bus is great. Maybe work in a sightseeing boat ride on the Thames.

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Thanks for the great suggestions. I think the British Library and a local pub is what is in the works.

Good choice, the British Library will be close to your hotel. I used Rick Steves' British Library walk map, have enjoyed his mp3 tours and maps elsewhere. https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/audio/audio-tours/london I don't know if the audio and map are up to date, museum displays get changed around.

Assuming you are flying in from the west coast, you won't have time for much. Getting to your hotel and eating a meal or two will take up a good chunk of day 1 and you will need to make your way to your ship on day 2.

I generally took a guided pub walk on arrival day. London Walks does a great job: http://www.walks.com A circuit on the hop on/hop off bus may be nice, however, one of my party slept through it on arrival day. A walk in daylight should combat jet lag better.

Another vote here for doing the Big Red Bus HoHo tour, which is narrated. It just takes a few hours to see some of the more important sights of London, and you will have seen quite a bit of the city even if you just stay on the bus for the entire loop. If you have time, taking the optional boat ride on the Thames that is included in the the price of the bus tour is a great way to see the city from a different perspective..

I'd suggest you ask at your hotel where there's pub in the area for fish and chips. We stayed in the Westminster area, and were directed to a pub called the White Swan by the concierge. What we had was quite tasty, and it was only about a 10 minute walk from our hotel.

If you have time, taking the optional boat ride on the Thames that is included in the the price of the bus tour is a great way to see the city from a different perspective..

Yes, a river cruise from the Tower of London / Tower Bridge to Westminster Bridge near Big Ben or on the opposite bank by the London Eye, or vice-versa, is included in both Original and Big Bus ho-ho tickets.

Mebbe take that Original yellow route that I mentioned & hop off at the Tower of London, take the cruise to Westminster Bridge near Big Ben, then on foot explore Parliament Square / Westminster Abbey and walk up Whitehall - Churchill's war rooms if you have the time, the Cenotaph, 10 Downing Street (prime minister's London residence), Banqueting Hall (sole remaining building from Whitehall Palace), Horse Guards Parade, etc - to Trafalgar Square. A sights-filled walk of little more than half-a-mile, then re-board a ho-ho at Trafalgar Square.

BTW Buckingham Palace isn't visible from the ho-ho's, they're not permitted to go past it. So if you want to see it you have to alight at the Buckingham Gate stop (the guide or recorded commentary will tell you when you get there), walk a hundred yards or so to the front of Buck House, then walk back to the stop for the next ho-ho.

JB :)

All these great tips has made me aware that 1 day just isn't enough and I now will plan to stay longer post cruise. I especially like the idea of seeing the city from either a HOHO or from a river cruise (I'll let the weather make the decision for me) and it looks like Indian curry for dinner. However, I am confused about the British Museum. Is the British Library and the British Museum the same venue or are these two different places? I am referring to the one by the St. Pancras station. Thanks again for the great suggestions.

The British Library used to be in the British Museum before moving to St. Pancras.

All these great tips has made me aware that 1 day just isn't enough.. .

Visited London twice, each for a week, and I don't think that's enough, lol. Enjoy your trip.

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Another vote for HOHO if you want an overview of London. I would recommend the Changing of the Queen's Guards over the Buckingham Palace guards - it is across the park (ask someone for directions or look it up online to get details), the horses walk right past you and you could touch the guards they are so close - much more intimate, fewer people, much better experience.

I would also recommend doing enough research to pick your top 3 things to see that are within walking distance of each other in case you are so jet lagged you don't feel like dealing with HOHO that day. Then you can take the tube to whatever area you pick and spend the day wandering on your schedule. I know I wouldn't feel like HOHO day after traveling US-London - but then I am assuming you are coming from the US - that may not be the case.

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All these great tips has made me aware that 1 day just isn't enough and I now will plan to stay longer post cruise. I especially like the idea of seeing the city from either a HOHO or from a river cruise (I'll let the weather make the decision for me) and it looks like Indian curry for dinner. However, I am confused about the British Museum. Is the British Library and the British Museum the same venue or are these two different places? I am referring to the one by the St. Pancras station. Thanks again for the great suggestions.

The Library and the Museum are 2 different places, both are near St Pancreas but the library is closer. The museum is one of the great depositories of the world. With apologies to my English friends I always like to say that the British were equal opportunity thiefs. They took objects from everywhere when Brittania ruled the waves and the sun never set on the empire. Think Rosetta Stone, Elgin marbles, countless Mummies, etc. problem for you will be time.

If you are doing a single day at the front of cruise I would do the HOHO as suggested, then if you have more time at the back end you can visit places in more detail. Love the museum, churchills war rooms were very good, Westminster is a must, the Tate and the Tate modern are up there. I am still trying to get to the Imperial War Museum which gets raves. Then there is just walking about as well including some of the funkier parts of the east end. Last but not least is to take in some theater at night. If you are not choosy hit the half price booth at Leicester square.

Visited London twice, each for a week, and I don't think that's enough, lol. Enjoy your trip.

 

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When asked how much time one needs to visit London I generally suggest 2 lifetimes. LOL

All these great tips has made me aware that 1 day just isn't enough and I now will plan to stay longer post cruise. I especially like the idea of seeing the city from either a HOHO or from a river cruise (I'll let the weather make the decision for me) and it looks like Indian curry for dinner. However, I am confused about the British Museum. Is the British Library and the British Museum the same venue or are these two different places? I am referring to the one by the St. Pancras station. Thanks again for the great suggestions.

Something to consider if you are now staying longer---when we took a bus from London to Dover where our cruise was departing from, we noticed many tour busses to Stonehenge. We both said to one another that that was something we would want to do if and when we were ever back in London.