Enough time in London?

[sej67]

I wil have 2 full days and 3 1/2 days in London. Is there enough time to see all these sites?

 

west end theatre

picadilly circus

trafalgar square

nelson's column

admiralty arch

the mall

buckingham palace

st. james park

hyde park

the whitehall

the cenotaph

horsegaurds parade

downing street

house of parliament

westminster abbey

madame tussands

tower of london

tower bridge

st. paul's cathedral

British museum

British Library

Big Ben

the London eye

kensington palace

kew palace & gardens

cabinet war rooms

[SelectSys]

I don't think so unless seeing means simply looking at things from the outside. Even this might be a stretch. For example, the ride to Hampton Court is probably an hour each way - let alone visiting the castle.

 

Going inside the tour of the Tower is at least a couple of hours. Do you want to walk in the parks or just look at them from the edge? How about Westiminster Abbey? What about lines at some of the attractions?

 

Good luck!

[sailingkiwi]

I think that it is all about priorities. Out of all the places you have listed, which can you not miss?

 

Have you got a guidebook and a good map, then you will be able to see where things are located.

 

Big Ben, Parliament Buildings, Trafalgar Square, Admiralty Arch, Buckingham Palace and St James's Park can all be seen on one walk - which will at least take a morning. It isn't a very far distance, but there is a lot to look at. You could put a visit to Westminster Abbey or the Cabinet War Rooms as well and that would be one very full day (you may not have time for both, but depending on daylight hours you could do it). Because of security, you can't really see anything of No. 10. In summer you can also tour the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace.

 

The Tower of London takes at least half a day, but you could fit in a walk across Tower Bridge as well. You would need to allow at least 3/4 of a day for both Kew gardens and palace and Hampton Court Palace as you are travelling out of central London for both of these. I would decide on one of Hampton Court or Kew and skip the other. If you love gardens, visit Kew. If you like history and palaces visit Hampton Court.

 

The British Museum, depending on what you want to see is another 1/2 day and the British Library is at least an hour.

 

You can do The London Eye at night or during the day, but depending on how you want to get your tickets, there may be a wait.

 

Picadilly Circus is not really special. I am presuming you also want to see a show.

 

Hyde Park is lovely for a picnic, again you will need to figure out what you want to do there.

 

Are your 3 half days the day after you arrive, before you travel to your cruise and a day after?

[RHefley228]

I wil have 2 full days and 3 1/2 days in London.

 

I'm unclear; do you have 5 1/2 days total with a cruise in between? Or...? I think if you plan this out very, very carefully you can do it all even in 3 1/2 days. Just beware of the "If it's Tuesday, this must be Belgium" syndrome...

[sej67]

One of the half days is when the plane arrives (around 10 AM, but then pick up luggage, travel to hotel, etc.). Two full days are at the start of a 14-day bus tour of Britain. The 2nd 1/2 day is the last full day of the bus tour (it's not really a half day - we're supposed to arrive in London by no later than 4:00 PM). The 3rd 1/2 day is the next day at the start of a cruise (again, at best a half day, because it's probably 2 hours to get to Harwich, and the ship leaves at 5:00).

[RHefley228]

In that case...no. You need to cut this list down to what's absolutely important (hint: ditch Madame Tussaud's House of Wax) and realize that you are going to be doing an overall sketch of what you will see in greater detail when you return.

[emrmom]

You also have to realize that most of these places close by 5. If you do the HOHO tour you can see a lot of things and get a nice historical commentary (if you go with the Original tour, I thought the tour guides were really wonderful, interesting and engaging). I think that would be your best case scenario. The buses are clean and run often and you can see all the highlights.

 

My husband and I started with a list like yours a couple of weeks ago. We started with the HOHO tour on our arrival half-day to get acclimated to the layout of the city. We were up early the next morning with a plan of action, but were completely thrown off all plans when we became so engrossed with the Tower of London. We were shocked to discover how much time we spent there (almost five hours!). That meant we really didn't have time to tour anything else that day, but I wouldn't have missed a minute of it. Instead, we walked around Picadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square and that area.

 

The next day, we headed out early again on the HOHO and spent a long while at Westminster Abbey. Then we walked over to Parliament and Big Ben and eventually wound our way to Buckingham Palace. It was a mournful walk past the British Museum on our way back to our hotel because we wouldn't have time to browse there --- easily a day trip in itself! The London Eye ... whatever. It was rainy and cloudy when we were there so we didn't think it worth the long line and time wasted.

 

We definitely missed more on our list of things we wanted to do than I hoped. But it all stoked our eagerness to go back and see all the things we didn't have time for.

Seems to me London is definitely not one of those places to do a "Disneyworld kamikaze-style" tour.

 

Whatever you get a chance to see, you will love. Just don't be disappointed by what you missed ... there will be a next time!

 

Cindy

[Kindlychap]

I wil have 2 full days and 3 1/2 days in London. Is there enough time to see all these sites?

 

west end theatre

picadilly circus

trafalgar square

nelson's column

admiralty arch

the mall

buckingham palace

st. james park

hyde park

the whitehall

the cenotaph

horsegaurds parade

downing street

house of parliament

westminster abbey

madame tussands

tower of london

tower bridge

st. paul's cathedral

British museum

British Library

Big Ben

the London eye

kensington palace

kew palace & gardens

cabinet war rooms

 

Doing the open top bus tour will cause you to see some of these in as much details as I think is reasonable. The "original" tour is here which will give you an idea of the itinerary.

 

Those I've coloured red should be things that you see on the bus and then you don't need to do anything more about.

 

Those coloured green might be worth doing properly, and can be visited.

 

As to the rest - you can't do it all. A morning for the British Museum will scratch the surface, no more. Even if you spent all your time there you'd probably miss things worth seeing!

 

Is the British Library something to see? It isn't desperately attractive and is just that - a library. It is next to St. Pancras station (which is another thing worth driving past if you're in the area) but equally that area has precious little to offer otherwise.

 

Ditch Madame Taussauds. London can offer so much more than that.

 

The theatre would be a good thing to do on the half day that your tour ends - you'll not really have time for much more and the rest will be good.

 

Speaking personally, unless I have time to stop and take things in properly I find that these things just fly past and I see none of them properly. Please don't be too ambitious - I think you'll do better missing some stuff out, and doing the rest properly.

 

Also give consideration to a river trip from central London to Greenwich. There is much to see there - including the meridian and the Maritime Museum as well as the remains of Cutty Sark (very sad). London looks very different from the river.....

 

Your call however. It's a personal thing.

 

Matthew

[whogo]

Kindlychap gives good advice. I like the color coding.

 

You can make a sizable dent in your list if you are healthy, good walkers, and willing to knock yourselves out. A walk from Westminster Abbey onto Westminster Bridge and up Whitehall to Trafalgar Square would get you views of:

trafalgar square

nelson's column

admiralty arch

whitehall

the cenotaph

horseguards parade

downing street

houses of parliament

westminster abbey

Big Ben

the London eye

cabinet war rooms

 

Sidetrack off Whitehall a moment to walk through the Horseguards gate to the parade for views of the back of #10 Downing Street, St. James Park and Buckingham Palace (?, not quite sure of the view of the Palace). Watch a bit of the guard change if you are there at 11:00 (10:00 Sundays).

 

Continue through Admiralty Arch to take in:

st. james park

buckingham palace

the mall

 

Alternately, see st. james park, buckingham palace, and the mall from the Cabinet War Rooms.

 

If you tour Westminster Abbey and the Cabinet War Rooms this will be a very packed day. There is not much point to a walk past the War Rooms. You will only see a sandbagged door.

 

Choose between the following on your other day:

madame tussands

tower of london

tower bridge

st. paul's cathedral

British museum

British Library

kensington palace

kew palace & gardens

 

I consider Kensington Palace to be a minor sight and Madame Tussaud's an expensive waste of your London time. I would visit the Tower of London at opening time, see Tower Bridge from there, visit St. Paul's Cathedral and then see if there is time for another attraction.

 

I rate the British Library higher than does Kindlychap. Their Treasury room displays old bibles, a copy of the Magna Carta, a Shakespeare first folio, etc.

 

Kew Gardens has taken me more than a half day. It is a worthwhile attraction, but does not lend itself to a jam packed itinerary.

 

Theatre and the London Eye are after dinner options. The British Museum has some galleries open until 20:30 on Thursdays and Fridays. Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's will be closed to tourists on Sundays.

 

[pcur]

Not to put a damper on any of this, but let's allow for jet lag coming into London (from the U.S?).

 

I would recommend the first half day be nothing too strenous, and that's a good time to hop the HOHO. That will also give you an opportunity to check out much of what's on your list and rearrange it, if needed.

 

Schedule London Eye and the theatre for an evening, because they are open at night.

 

I agree about the British Museum and the Tower of London: these take time. We spent 3-plus hours at the Tower.

 

Your last day when you are on your way to the ship is a short half day. Also, you have to take into consdideration what you are doing with o

[pcur]

Not to put a damper on any of this, but let's allow for jet lag coming into London (from the U.S?).

 

I would recommend the first half day be nothing too strenous, and that's a good time to hop the HOHO. That will also give you an opportunity to check out much of what's on your list and rearrange it, if needed.

 

Schedule London Eye and the theatre for an evening, because they are open at night.

 

I agree about the British Museum and the Tower of London: these take time. We spent 3-plus hours at the Tower.

 

Your last day when you are on your way to the ship is a short half day. Also, you have to take into consdideration what you are doing with your luggage: leave it at the hotel after you check out? So, allow time for all the breakfast, luggage dropping, checking out, etc. stuff. Plus 2 hours to the ship, allowing at least an hour to check in there.

 

The way I figure it, you've got about 3 hours in London that day. I'd plan something that is very close to the hotel. However, if you've used a HOHO during your London time, you'll already be familiar with the area and can decide in advance.