I need help planning my time in London! Please !

[kadey]

I am very frustrated! We love to travel and I think half the fun is in the planning. With all my experience I am surprised at myself that I am having such a hard time planning out our days in London! I think everything being so spread out is what's throwing me off on my planning . So I am calling on my experienced CC members to help me plan my daily schedule,please!Here is some info that may help:

 

-We arrive into London around 11:00am on a Saturday and fly out on Monday late afternoon.

-We are staying near Victoria Station

-We are open to public transportation but will happily jump in a taxi

-Main sights we'd like to see-London Tower and the jewels,Big Ben,London Bridge and Parliament building and Buckingham Palace (maybe see the changing of the guards but don't mind not going for an inside tour).

-High Tea-Maybe the BB Bakery Afternoon Tea Bus Tour-See the sights and have tea at the same time?!

-Evening ideas (Not a show)

-If you are able to give a sample schedule we are also very open to suggestions for meals .

Also very open to visiting neighborhoods /places that you think we should see!

 

So other obsessive planners… can you help a fellow planner who seems to have a London block?! I had posted before and appreciated the ideas. Now I need to put them in an order and figure out the quickest way to move between places that is doable with our limited time!

Thank you! Thank you!!

[nmg85]

Do you mean tower bridge? London Bridge is a very different bridge and not very exciting.

[kadey]

Do you mean tower bridge? London Bridge is a very different bridge and not very exciting.

 

Yes, Tower Bridge! Thank you!!

[nmg85]

I think it will all depend on how tired you are and how much you are happy to fit in. Tower bridge and the Tower of London are next door to each other so these are easy to do together. Big Ben and Westminster are also together so can be done in one go, this is also close to the London eye if you were considering this. I always find the easiest way to get around London is the underground (tube). From Victoria you could either get the tube to Westminster (2 stops) or walk. It may be a good idea to stick to this area on your arrival day as you wouldn't be that far away from your hotel. When visiting the tower etc it is a simple journey with no changes to Tower Hill (9 stops).

In regards to food it all depends what you enjoy?

I enjoy walking along the south bank of the river in the evening and certain areas have restaurant and pubs dotted along. If you are feeling energetic you can actually walk from tower bridge to Westminster but this take some time which you are limited in.

Another area people enjoy is Covent Garden with the street performers or perhaps one of the many parks.

[kadey]

NMG85, Thank you for the response. We will be coming on an overnight flight as we often do when flying to Europe. In the past ,we just keep moving when we get there! We try to keep moving until we just are too tired to go anymore! (Often about 10:00 or 11:00 pm).

 

I'd love to try traditional English food or anything that you feel is exceptional! Would you include Covent Garden also on our first day or is that too much as far as time and different areas?

[Hatters cruiser]

NMG85, Thank you for the response. We will be coming on an overnight flight as we often do when flying to Europe. In the past ,we just keep moving when we get there! We try to keep moving until we just are too tired to go anymore! (Often about 10:00 or 11:00 pm).

 

I'd love to try traditional English food or anything that you feel is exceptional! Would you include Covent Garden also on our first day or is that too much as far as time and different areas?

 

If you like to try different foods then Borough Market near the Globe theatre in Southwark on the Southbank is a great place to go, many food stalls and street food vendors.

It is quite easy to get off the tube at London Bridge walk through the market, which is closed Sundays go to the Globe, then onto Tate Modern, cross the Millenium bridge and walk to St Paul's Cathderal, something I have done a few times.

If you are a good walker I would also second the Idea of getting off the tube at Embankment station seeing Parliment and the Queen Elizabeth Tower, (Big Ben is actually the bell contained in the clock tower not the clock tower itself). Then walk across Westminster bridge to the London Eye and along the Southbank . Eventually this will lead you to the Millenium bridge which could be crossed to St Pauls.

Edited August 19, 2015 by Hatters cruiser

[Pet Nit Noy]

I am very frustrated! We love to travel and I think half the fun is in the planning. With all my experience I am surprised at myself that I am having such a hard time planning out our days in London! I think everything being so spread out is what's throwing me off on my planning . So I am calling on my experienced CC members to help me plan my daily schedule,please!Here is some info that may help:

 

-We arrive into London around 11:00am on a Saturday and fly out on Monday late afternoon.

-We are staying near Victoria Station

-We are open to public transportation but will happily jump in a taxi

-Main sights we'd like to see-London Tower and the jewels,Big Ben,London Bridge and Parliament building and Buckingham Palace (maybe see the changing of the guards but don't mind not going for an inside tour).

-High Tea-Maybe the BB Bakery Afternoon Tea Bus Tour-See the sights and have tea at the same time?!

-Evening ideas (Not a show)

-If you are able to give a sample schedule we are also very open to suggestions for meals .

Also very open to visiting neighborhoods /places that you think we should see!

 

So other obsessive planners… can you help a fellow planner who seems to have a London block?! I had posted before and appreciated the ideas. Now I need to put them in an order and figure out the quickest way to move between places that is doable with our limited time!

Thank you! Thank you!!

 

 

The line to see the Crown Jewels gets very long the later in the morning you arrive so I suggest you start a day visiting the Tower -- specifically the Jewel House -- as early as your body will allow. (The Tower opens at 9:00 in the summer).

 

You'll likely arrive at Tower Hill station via the Circle or District lines. It will take you at least 20 minutes to get from the station to the Jewel House, somewhat inside the Tower walls. We arrived at the Jewel House by 9:45 AM and there was no line to go in. By the time we finished seeing the jewels, the queue snaking outside the building was filled with waiting visitors. How long you stay at the Tower after that can vary widely. At the least, you'll probably want to visit the White Tower. However, there are other buildings to visit, walls to walk, historical re-enactments to see, and more.

 

What you do next can vary. Yes, Tower Bridge with it wonderful engine room tour is close by, but so is the Sky Garden on 20 Fenchurch Street. We found that after a reasonably full time at the Tower of London (on our second day) we only had the energy to eat lunch at an excellent Indian restaurant en route to Sky Garden and, then, show up for our reservation at Sky Garden. (Sky Garden is in an office building. I doubt it is open on weekends.)

 

Another day, we coupled a start at Borough Market with a visit to Tower Bridge. (Borough Market is a Friday or Saturday activity.) That day, our touring ended somewhat early since we would be attending a show in London's West End theater district. (GYPSY. Highly recommended.) You don't want to go to the theater, so you could plan on seeing more of the East Bank destinations like the Globe.

 

Borough Market surprised me since more stalls sell prepared food for tourist grazing than raw food for local shopping. Bring a packet of wet wipes. The food is delicious but the stalls don't always have napkins to provide and the wash rooms are quite far away.

Buy tickets in advance for Tower of London. Reservations required for entry to Sky Garden. (The Shard's viewing platform is higher than Sky Garden, but the Sky Garden is free.)

 

Strolling around Covent Garden makes for a fun evening. (Take the usual pickpocket precautions.) Lots of street performers and lots of restaurants.

Edited August 19, 2015 by Pet Nit Noy

[Pet Nit Noy]

NMG85, Thank you for the response. We will be coming on an overnight flight as we often do when flying to Europe. In the past ,we just keep moving when we get there! We try to keep moving until we just are too tired to go anymore! (Often about 10:00 or 11:00 pm).

 

I'd love to try traditional English food or anything that you feel is exceptional! Would you include Covent Garden also on our first day or is that too much as far as time and different areas?

 

If you want to try traditional English food, then reserve dinner at Rules in Covent Garden. It's quite formal and somewhat pricey, but Rules is the oldest restaurant in London. The decor doesn't go all the way back to its founding in the late 18th century. The decor is "only" Edwardian. (If the prices are too high. Definitely plan on going to the bar upstairs and having a drink. You'll experience the period decor with a bit less sticker shock. Also, the bartender makes good drinks!)

 

Other than Rules, I don't know that I'd recommend traditional English food. Modern British cuisine is great! My husband and I love the London restaurant scene, but Rules is the only traditional place I'd suggest.

 

Also, remember that London's restaurant scene still shows the lingering effects of Empire. There is great Indian and great Chinese food to be found in London.

[Canugess]

If you are near London Bridge with some time to spear, the Imperial War Museum is close by. Its free, an worth a look around.

 

Depending what interests you, the National Portrait Gallery is near Charing X station and is fascinating. Science Museum and Victoria and Albert Museums are good and all free too.

 

Then of course, there is Changing the Guard at Buckingham Palace. (keep out the way of the Guards if you see them coming! They have right of way)

 

There is a very good website called walkit.com. Worth looking at to plan routes.

[Pet Nit Noy]

If you are near London Bridge with some time to spear, the Imperial War Museum is close by. Its free, an worth a look around.

 

Depending what interests you, the National Portrait Gallery is near Charing X station and is fascinating. Science Museum and Victoria and Albert Museums are good and all free too.

 

Then of course, there is Changing the Guard at Buckingham Palace. (keep out the way of the Guards if you see them coming! They have right of way)

 

There is a very good website called walkit.com. Worth looking at to plan routes.

 

I know we're all trying to be helpful -- and I'm as guilty as anyone -- but I'm actually struggling to see how the OP is going to fit in a meaningful visit to all the places listed in the original post, much less the great places we keep suggesting in our replies!! LOL

 

OP, are you going to be happy with a stroll past the places you've listed or will you want to go inside? For example, some visitors are happy to stand outside of Buckingham Palace and others want to go inside and take the tour. Obviously, the amount of time you'll need to allow is wildly different for the two approaches. So which approach do you want us use when we make recomendations?

[kadey]

You all are being very helpful and I really do appreciate this! I think that we will be happy to walk past most places.I was 16 the last time I was in London and DH has never been. He'd love to see the inside of the Tower of London and I remember it being pretty cool! I think he'd be happy to just "see" the main sights. We love to see new cities ,shop and eat! Since going into the Tower is a priority,it seems we need to do that early on Sunday since we would rather not wait in a long line (Jewel House fist thing!). Now what to do next?

.

How's my schedule progressing?

Day1-Buckinham Palace (I think this is kind of near our hotel)

 

Big Ben/Westminster

Tube to Borough Market/Globe Theater

dinner/sleep

 

Day 2-Tower of London

Tower Bridge

afternoon tea

Covent Gardens

 

Does this schedule make sense?! Am I missing a must see neighborhood or activity?

 

I will look into the restaurant suggestion in Covent Gardens.

Again, Thank you to all responders. I don't know why I am having such a tough time with this city! Please keep keep adding or making suggestions my two day agenda. I know it has some kinks! Thank you so much for all this help!

[Pet Nit Noy]

I think that we will be happy to walk past most places.I was 16 the last time I was in London and DH has never been. He'd love to see the inside of the Tower of London and I remember it being pretty cool! I think he'd be happy to just "see" the main sights.

How's my schedule progressing?

 

Day1-Buckinham Palace (I think this is kind of near our hotel)

 

Big Ben/Westminster

Tube to Borough Market/Globe Theater

dinner/sleep!

 

Check the hours for Borough Market. As I mentioned, it is a place for tourist visiting and grazing, but I don't know how active it is after the lunch time. (Roast, a real brick and mortar restaurant is open in the evening. And there are lots of little food shops and cafes that have sprung up around Borough Market, but it's not quite the same.) That means there might not be much to see or nibble by the time you arrive, given the schedule you're proposing. Do you really want to graze so close to your dinner hour?

 

Also, go to the web site for the Globe Theatre. There's a photo of the exterior. (It's the photo taken looking up a short flight of steps at a small fraction of the building.) Look at this and decide whether this will be enough for you to see if you only do a walk by visit. I don't think I'd bother visiting the Globe unless I were willing to go inside and see the actual theater; I can make a case for skipping the exhibits given your extremely limited time.

 

So here's what I'd do instead:

 

I'd remove the Globe from Saturday and add it to Sunday after the visit to Tower Bridge. At least that way, even if you don't go inside the Globe, you haven't invested as much time getting there. I might follow up the visit to the Globe with a walk across Millennium Bridge and a walk past St. Paul's.

Edited August 19, 2015 by Pet Nit Noy

[Cotswold Eagle]

(Sky Garden is in an office building. I doubt it is open on weekends.)

 

Sky Garden is open 7 days a week and actually is open later at weekends :)

[Hatters cruiser]

Borough Market does wind down in the afternoon, I was there last Saturday after watching a performance at the Globe and by 4.30 many stalls were shut.

 

It is also worth noting that if you did want to visit the Globe, if you do so in Summer in can be very busy when a performance is about to start with audience members milling about. If you did want to see a performance then Groundling tickets to stand are only £5.

 

If you visit Tower bridge then HMS Belfast a cruiser from WWII is moored nearby and is now part of the Imperial War Museum, although a fee is charged I think.

[Pet Nit Noy]

Sky Garden is open 7 days a week and actually is open later at weekends :)

 

Thanks. Good to know.

 

No wonder the access to the viewing terrace is through a different door than the main one for the building itself.

[kadey]

You all are wonderful! I feel like I'm getting a handle on this city. We have traveled to different places around the globe and yet this town had me so flustered!

I will move the Globe to Sunday. I would like to go inside. If we happen to be there at a performance time I think we'd pay the 5 pounds and stay as long as we can!

I'm thinking of turning my Day 1 (Saturday) schedule around. After dropping off our bags at the hotel I could take the tube to Borough Market for lunch. Then back to Buckingham Palace area (Westminster,st.James Park,Piccadilly Circus),

dinner.

Day 2

Tower of London,Tower Bridge,The Globe, afternoon Tea and Covent Gardens

 

Sky Garden looks lovely and I'd like to fit that in! It's open until 9pm on the weekends!

 

How am I doing?! Does this sound reasonable and am I hitting the main attractions I should be seeing with my limited time?

[Bob++]

That looks do-able assuming that you are fit enough. My experience in London tells me that everything takes longer than you think it will and whatever you want to do will be affected by the weather.

 

Tower Bridge to the Globe will be best done by River bus by the way.

[Pet Nit Noy]

Day 2

Tower of London,Tower Bridge,The Globe, afternoon Tea and Covent Gardens

 

Suggest you take a look at the spacing between afternoon tea and you dinner time. If you can find a place that serves a light afternoon tea, then, your plan is probably just fine. Some of the famous, hotel teas are such extravaganzas that you'd likely end up skipping dinner.

 

Sky Garden looks lovely and I'd like to fit that in! It's open until 9pm on the weekends!

 

How am I doing?! Does this sound reasonable and am I hitting the main attractions I should be seeing with my limited time?

 

Seeing London at night certainly sounds like a nice evening activity. Unless you include drinks in the indoor garden area, I don't think you can spend too much time at Sky Garden. We probably spent about 45 minutes looking at the city. Lots of time spent trying to figure out the buildings and bridges.

[fabnfortysomething]

sky garden is free but you do need to make advance reservations within a particular time frame as they open up I have today made reservations for 1st September so that's the time frame you are looking at

[SteveH2508]

I'll throw in another option/curve ball here. A river boat trip down to Greenwich and back gets a good flavour of our great city. Greenwich is worth a visit in itself (Observatory and Cutty Sark). Time it for down in daylight, back at twilight, improves the experience greatly.

 

Another option is to do the London Eye at dusk so you get daylight going up and dusk coming down.

 

The bottom line is I have lived in London for 55 years and i have not seen all of it yet!

[flamomo]

A friend and I are doing a spring 2016 T/A cruise from FLL to Southampton, and then staying on the ship for a British Isles cruise (total 30 days), and are going to spend disembarkation night and the following day and night in London. We are older ladies who have not visited London before, but don't want to do a huge amount of walking. It's not that we can't ... but we get tired more quickly than younger folks. LOL

We've have been looking at hotels ... thinking of probably something in the general area of Buckingham palace. There's so many it's hard to settle on one. For sightseeing, we think we want to use one of the HoHo tour buses so we can see the high points that tourists tend to go, so need to stay somewhere close to a pickup spot for the bus. We're not comfortable with the idea of using "the tube".

We're strongly considering booking a post cruise transfer from Southampton with International Friends tour company, so we can visit Stonehenge and Salisbury before ending up in London.

We will probably prearrange transportation from the hotel for our early afternoon flight back home.

 

Any thoughts/suggestions of hotels or anything else we should know about to help our our little plan work . Any help would be much appreciated.

Edited August 19, 2015 by flamomo

[wowzz]

Can I just say to the OP that the 'problem' with London, is that apart from a few other cities [Paris, Rome] there is far too much to see in only two days. I would suggest that you decide upon 3 or 4 'must sees' - only you can decide - and once you have done them, just stroll about and enjoy the ambiance. .

[markeb]

Can I just say to the OP that the 'problem' with London, is that apart from a few other cities [Paris, Rome] there is far too much to see in only two days. I would suggest that you decide upon 3 or 4 'must sees' - only you can decide - and once you have done them, just stroll about and enjoy the ambiance. .

 

Agree. I say this all the time about NYC. London isn't a city you "see", it's a city you experience. If you try to see too much, you'll never experience the city.

 

Having said that, so far the OPs plans aren't too overpacked.

[kadey]

DH and I are both 55 and can be pretty active! I love the idea of a river bus from Tower Bridge to the Globe!

 

SteveH-Thanks for the alternative idea! I'll look into it! It sounds like a way more relaxing day then what I have planned!

 

Wowzz-Paris and Rome are a piece of cake next to London for me! One day I'll figure out why I had such a block doing this planning.

 

I've learned a long time ago that making a agenda/schedule is all good but its always a FLEXIBLE schedule!!

 

I will look into making reservations and getting tickets for Tower of London and Sky Garden.

[Flainefan]

I'll throw in another option/curve ball here. A river boat trip down to Greenwich and back gets a good flavour of our great city. Greenwich is worth a visit in itself (Observatory and Cutty Sark). Time it for down in daylight, back at twilight, improves the experience greatly.

 

As a long-time resident of Greenwich, I fully endorse Steve's recommendation.

 

You might like to take the train to Greenwich to get quickly to Greenwich from Central London (or the slower DLR light rail to Greenwich Cutty Sark, depending on where you are staying). It is a short walk to Greenwich Town Centre where there is an interesting covered market with lots of food and craft stalls. Nearby is the Cutty Sark, in her day the fastest sailing tea clipper. You can see inside the ship, walk the decks and even go under the hull. The glass roof surrounding the underside of the ship makes it appear as if she is riding the waves.

 

http://www.rmg.co.uk/cuttysark

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutty_Sark

 

From the Cutty Sark you can walk eastwards along the river to view the Oll Royal Naval College. You can enter by the central gate from the river path. Don't miss the Painted Hall under the right dome and the chapel under the left. Entrance is free but you may wish to make a donation towards the upkeep.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Royal_Naval_College

 

Just over the road is the Queen's House and the National Maritime Museum, and beyond that is Greenwich Park, a royal park since medieval times. On the hill in the middle of the park is the Old Royal Observatory and Flamsteed House with the East/West meridian. If you don't want to go in, you can still take a phot astride the meridian line by walking a short way along the little path that runs downhill just below the retaining wall.

http://www.rmg.co.uk/

 

The park is a great place for a picnic (perhaps with provisions from the market) or you can visit the Pavillion Cafe in the centre of the park.

 

To return to Central London, as Steve suggests, take the river bus from the pier next to Cutty Sark. Take it to The London Eye. You don't really need to take the slower tourist boat which is more expensive; instead, take the Thames Clipper commuter service which will take you past the old dock areas now developed into expensive apartments, under Tower Bridge, past the Tower of London, under London Bridge and all the other bridges before Westminster. You will see Shakespeare's Globe Theatre on the left and St Paul's between the buildings on the right as you go by 'the wobbly bridge' and Tate Modern art gallery. You get off the boat at the Eye near Westminster Bridge, with a great view of the Houses of Parliament. You could even take a ride on the Eye if you're not too exhausted!

 

As you can see, I think Greenwich is a wonderful place for tourists to visit. I hope you'll consider it.