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traveling2018

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    London Excursion Recommendations

    in Viking Ocean

    Posted

    Thanks. I have watched some of his Rick Steves Europe videos on HULU. I'll make a note to do that next time.

    Another source for opinions on the London Ten Best things to see is Rick Steves. You could borrow one of his books that cover London (London, England or Great Britain) and see what he suggests. He rates all the big sites with none to three stars, and he also has lists for "London in 1 day, 2 days, 3 days, etc." I always start with Rick for my trip planning, even though I don't follow his priorities exactly.

    London Excursion Recommendations

    in Viking Ocean

    Posted

    Thanks for the advice. I'm new to Cruise Critic and still figuring it out. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

     

    Perhaps OP has a reason for needing/wanting an excursion rather than doing it on their own.

     

    Traveling2018, while you are waiting for people to start telling you about excursions they have taken, here are some things you can do.

     

    1. Check out Trip Advisor. They list tour companies and people write reviews of them.

     

    2. Check out the Ports of Call section of these boards. Among other things, you can ask there, if anyone has used any of the companies you have been reading about on Trip Advisor.

     

    3. You can read on the Viking website about the various tours that might be on offer. Here is a link to the London page (it might not be your cruise but these port of call pages are generic and used for any cruise that calls in London/Greenwich). Click on the tour for a description and duration; pricing will have to wait until the details are posted on MyVikingJourney.

     

    4. Find the Roll Calls for cruises that have called in Greenwich (for instance all of the 2017 Midnight Sun sailings, 2 each on each of the Star, Sea and Sky) and see if there is any helpful information there.

    London Excursion Recommendations

    in Viking Ocean

    Posted

    Thank you so much for your advice especially about how to get from the ship to London.

     

    Only 2.5 days in London, I agree with Jim - don't waste money on a tour.

     

    Last year, we spent about 2 weeks in London and as a mariner, I spent 2 full days in Greenwich - Maritime Museum, Observatory, Prime Meridian, Cutty Sark, market and a few pubs.

     

    My suggestion is getting an Oyster Card for the Tube (London Underground). Don't buy the tourist version in advance, as it isn't refundable. The closest DLR station is a couple of hundred yards from the Cutty Sark and that provides access all across London. In addition to the Tube you can get a ferry from Greenwich to Tower Bridge. In addition to the Greenwich station, you can also walk under the Thames, from Greenwich to Millwall, then get the Tube on the North side of the river.

     

    May want to research the literally hundreds of London attractions that you find appealing - for us, we visited:

    - Tower of London

    - Ceremony of the Keys (Tower)

    - Tower Bridge

    - HMS Belfast

    - South Thames walk & Shard

    - Great Fire of London Monument

    - London Eye

    - Palace of Westminster Tour & Afternoon Tea

    - Harrods & Afternoon Tea

    - Westminster Abbey

    - St Paul's Cathedral

    - Florence Nightingale Museum

    - Buckingham Palace Royal Day out

    - Victoria memorial & changing the guard

    - Ho Ho Bus & boat cruise

    - Piccadilly Sq

    - Trafalgar Sq

    - Marble Arch

    - Canary Wharf

     

    London has numerous other attractions, depending on your interests. If you want to travel outside the city and M25, you literally have hundreds of options within 50 miles.

    London Excursion Recommendations

    in Viking Ocean

    Posted

    We are actually doing the Edinburgh pre cruise so luggage is taken care of. We will have most of the 7th before dinner and our London Eye tour and the remainder of the day following the included Greenwich tour on the 8th. We have not been to London so I was trying to figure out how we could do the most popular sites in the time we have. Thanks for the info.

     

    I'm assuming you mean you have the first half day when Viking arrives in Greenwich, and the second half day when you disembark the ship before you head to the airport for an evening flight? Also assuming you haven't been to London before? In that case, I would take the Thames Clipper from Greenwich to the City as soon as you can on Day 1 and stay as late as you can. On Day 2 you have to deal with your luggage, so it might be easier to hire a guide to take you somewhere interesting outside London for contrast (Salisbury and Stonehenge, perhaps?) and then drop you at the airport.

    London Excursion Recommendations

    in Viking Ocean

    Posted

    Thank you for the advice. I was leaning towards touring the main sites on our own. This really helps.

     

    Greenwich is a very easy "Village" to walkabout. Nice pubs, shops, and the Naval Observatory, Naval College all right there. Not to mention the Cutty Sark museum. We certainly would not take a tour. The river water taxi/tour boats also dock right at where you will be. Imho the best way to get about in Central London. Take the boat from Greenwich to Westminster with stop available at Tower Bridge (Tower of London, St. Katharine's Dock). At the Westminster stop very easy walk across the bridge to the London Eye, South Bank attractions. Also a very short walk to the Churchill War Rooms (highly recommended) Westminster Abbey, Houses of Parliament, etc. London is a great walking city and tours not really needed. For an overview there is a Double Decker Hop on Hop off bus too. Probably our favorite city.:cool:
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