London Travel Forum

We will be in London June 13th (arriving from the U.S. at 8:25am at Heathrow) and will leave London Wednesday morning, June 18th on the Eurostar to Paris.

PLEASE REVIEW THIS ITINERARY AND MAKE SUGGESTIONS/CHANGES. THANKS!!

We will be staying at the County Hall Marriott (2 adults ages 26).

Day 1 FRIDAY
- Arrive at Heathrow - 8:25am
- Check-in at hotel and get settled
- Lunch (ANY SUGGESTIONS in this area?)
- Royal Observatory Greenwich (mainly just to see the park and the time line)
- Greenwich Market
- (free time – maybe walk around Leicester Square or Piccadilly Circus or Trafalgar Square)

Day 2 SATURDAY
- Westminster tour (opens at (9:30am for a 90 min. tour)
- Parliament/Big Ben (walk by and take pictures)
- Lunch Cruise – Board from Waterloo Pier at 12:35 and return at 14:15.
- London Eye
- (free time – maybe walk around Leicester Square or Piccadilly Circus or Trafalgar Square if not seen already or do whatever!)

Day 3 SUNDAY
- Tower of London (arrive before opening at 10am – go straight to jewels and then tour)
- British Museum

Day 4 MONDAY
(From County Hall Marriott, take the RV1 bus which stops half a block from Tate Modern. Cross Millennium Bridge to St Pauls, then go to Lloyds from there.)
- Millennium Bridge
- St. Paul's Cathedral
- Lunch with co-workers (over by Lloyd’s)
- Lloyd’s Tour (couple hours at most)
- Leadenhall Market (next to Lloyd’s)…won’t take long
- Tower Bridge Experience
- WICKED MUSICAL (if we get tickets for this date!)

Day 5 TUESDAY
- Maybe changing of the guards...not sure
- Hampton Court
- Harrods ?? (maybe just for the fun of it)
- (free time – maybe walk around Leicester Square or Piccadilly Circus or Trafalgar Square if not seen already or do whatever!)

Day 3 is a bit top heavy compared with the other days. I think to do the Tower and then the British Museum in one day is too much. I think it is quite a good idea to go to Greenwich on the day you arrive. However, it is a bit of a walk from the tube/DLR station to the Royal Observatory but just as long as you are prepared to take it easily, it will be fine. Also at Greenwich is the old Royal Naval College with lovely ceilings and a fine church, the Maritime Museum, the Queen's House, the Fan Museum, the Ranger's House...... you can easily spend a day in Greenwich park. I personally wouldn't bother with the market. Hampton Court merits a fullish day. Harrods - give it a miss. A walk around Leicester Square or Piccadilly Circus is not ideal as a specific place to go, it's alright if you just pass by - both areas are rather tacky, with loads of traffic and people. Trafalgar Square perhaps is worth going to specifically but you shouldn't expect too much. I have a feeling that you are not doing your sightseeing in the most logical manner and I know there are VTers who will be able to point you in the right direction and suggest a more efficient use of time.

think I would get the musical booked first. pretty much everything esle can be done nay day, the british museum stays open late some evenings. because of where you are staying (will be great views of Houses of Parliament), you can get out early to do some of the sightseeing if you want. At the weekend this would be great. There will be matinee performances of musicas on saturday too, which might be better because tickets are more likelyto be available.
I am not sure if you can still get to Greenwich easily by water. it would be a good way to do it, and let you see the rest of the river, fromwestminster down.


it may be trooping of the colour that weekend, if so your whole plan goes out of the window.

it is trooping of colour. 14th

There's one thing you must NOT miss doing on Friday or Saturday evening..

Covent Garden
Leicester Square
A walk along Southbank, over some of the bridges.. etc

My all-time favourite thing to do in London is walk randomly on a friday or saturday evening... it is awesome!!

One word of caution I would add is that although walking randomly is fun and I would never advise you not to do that, it goes without saying that you look after your valuables especially in Leicester Square/Piccadilly Circus area. Personally I would not recommend Leicester Square as a good place to wander. Chinatown or Soho nearby are both better wandering areas with more of interest than the rather tacky and touristy Leicester Square. Or take a walk along the South Bank after the London Eye or before crossing the Millennium Bridge to go to St Pauls.

thanks to all of the posts so far! Really appreciated!

Rather than do a separate boat trip on day 2, I would choose to travel to Greenwich by boat, combining the two and freeing up extra time for something else. For instance, after visiting Big Ben and Parliament you could take a walk up Whitehall to see Downing Street and return through St James' Park (the prettiest in London in my opinion, and with great views of Buckingham Palace)

I agree with what others have said about Leicester Square and Piccadilly - they're worth seeing but aren't destinations for a walk. Try a stroll round Chinatown one evening, or Covent Garden.

Other ideas for Tuesday could be the Museum of London if it's wet, or a walk round some of the lovely squares in Bloomsbury - or better still, do this the same day as the British Museum and combine the Tower with the Tower Bridge Experience (best to do these the same day as they're so near each other) and a walk on the South Bank of the Thames near City Hall

Thanks! any other thoughts? Appreciate it!

did you look at "trooping of the colour"

I REALLY wouldnt do anyhting else on saturday except see what you can of that.
once you have seen it you wont need to bother about changing the guard, which is small fry in comparison.

if you are staying at county hall you could always visit the london aquarium or star wars exhibition which are in the same building.