A Day in London

Yes, you can see a lot in one day, but it will be strenuous, especially as your day starts with landing at 6 am.
"We intend to drop off our suitcases at the hotel . . . . and head into the city to spend the day" - where is your hotel? Is it not in central London?
"We will most likely have to be up early the next day for the next leg of our trip." - how are you travelling on your next leg. Flying from Heathrow or taking a train, which would be from central London.

Unless you have a very early flight it would be better staying in central London, otherwise you will be wasting a lot of time getting to your hotel and back to Heathrow to catch a train into central London.
Look up "Heathrow Express", which gets you to Paddington station on the edge of central London FAST.

London is easy to get around on foot. As a first time visitor I suggest taking a bus tour in the morning. This will give you the geography, and you can decide where to go back to in the afternoon.
If you still have energy, my suggestion is to get to the Tower (bus or tube), walk over Tower bridge to the South Bank, then walk upstream along the riverside all the way to Westminster (1-2 hours). This will give you views across the river to (for example) St Pauls. Then cross back over Westminster Bridge to see the Houses of Parliament.

Decide what one thing you want to see most and allow yourself plenty of time to enjoy it-for me that would be Westmister Abbey, the Tower of London or the British Museum. I suggest tea in the afternoon as your dinner then you can go to bed early.

You are flying on my birthday.

I advise you to post this question on the London forum. Trust me we will all chime in then with advice and suggestions.

That said I am PM'ing (personal messaging you) with my 2 cents. Check your spam folder

Many pubs lay on a Sunday roast as the major meal of the day. It's traditional cooking, and traditional to start serving around noon when the crowds show up. Waiting until supper hour could mean some of the specials will be sold out. Google Maps is useful for locasting pubs in a specific area, usually with links to the menu.

Our First Day in London ritual is to take a riverboat from Westminster Pier to Kew Gardens and spend the day walking the gardens. I am not a gardener or a plant-person by any means, but this Gardens will change your mind. A beautiful day out.

This tradition started because it fits nicely with my jet lag cure, which is to spend the day of arrival outdoors in the fresh air.

Where is your hotel and how are you departing London the next day?

Depending on the answer to those questions, you may want to use the Heathrow Express to get into London, as tickets bought now (90+ days in advance for a weekend day) are only €5.50 pp.

https://www.heathrowexpress.com/tickets-deals/prices-fares

This would be particularly easy if you are departing from Heathrow the next day, but even if departing by Eurostar or other train it could be advantageous. It would mean booking a hotel near Paddington or near your departing station.

As for what to do, we favor the walk along the Thames and boat ride back our first day. Once we went to Evensong at St. Paul's and I regret to report I fell asleep! So we try to stay outdoors. The park's, particularly St. James Park, are lovely in May, and a walk from there to the Thames can include Buckingham Palace, Westminster, Parliament buildings, and other iconic London sights.

My only advice is for your next trip to Europe. Take later flights that arrive later in the day'--preferably as close to noon as possible. We usually talk our way into the room about 2:00 pm and take a little siesta. The a light supper, walk the neighborhood and we settle back in for the night. We are ready to hit the road in the am.

Keep walking for sure. Skip the museums for anothr time. Walk thru Hyde Park to see Buckingham Palace and maybe chg of guards. Get to Portsmouth sq area and visit one of my favorite small museumswith free entry/ cafe. It is +called the Wallace Collection , have tea or a great meal in the atrium.
While I enjoy this museum, just do a quick browse at most.

Lower your expectations for that day. You'll be sleep deprived and jet lagged. How this affects folks varies from person to person. The excitement of being in London may overcome that to some extent, but you can't avoid it. You don't say what interests you have or where exactly you are staying. If you are lucky, there will be a room ready at the hotel. If not, ask politely if you can get the next available and ask them to text, call or email you when it's ready. Ask where you can get a nice breakfast or early lunch and go. If you're lucky, a room will open up and you can shower, a real restorative event. You've had some good suggestions here, but personally, I would avoid a museum unless that is your passion. I find being indoors with crowds on that first day intolerable. Think outdoor activity. We too visited Kew Gardens on our first day and enjoyed it. If boats are not your thing it's a fast ride on the tube. Don't have alcohol with your meals that day or you'll fall asleep in your plate.

For a quick London sampler, I'd go with the Hyde Park area, which has a nice cluster of major museums, Kensington Palace, Harrod's Department store, the park proper, and the Royal Albert Hall all fairly close together. With that many options, it's easy to wing it depending on energy and interest levels that day.

If the weather behaves, a walk along the south bank of the Thames is a real treat. Start at the London Eye and head east as far as you have energy for ... possibly all the way to Tower Bridge. Lots of things to see and do, and places for a quick coffee.

Normally I would recommend the Heathrow Express for such a short visit and being able to purchase the tickets in advance, however please see the notice below from the HE website.

"6 May 2018: No services
Due to Network Rail upgrade works there will be no Heathrow Express services on Sunday 6 May 2018.

Alternative routes includes London Underground Piccadilly Line services between Heathrow Airport and Central London."

Another option could be Heathrow Connect, but I am not sure if that is also affected by the railworks.

As far as I am concerned, any time in London is better than no time. Hopefully it will be nice weather and you can walk and enjoy the lovely parks and the atmosphere. Pick one or two places you would like to see, take time to eat and plan to return to your hotel soon after dinner to get a good night's sleep before your next flight (I am assuming that your hotel is at the airport). Take note of all the places you would like to visit and save them for your next trip!

Please clarify where your hotel is located. In London? Or at LHR?

On the May Bank Holiday weekend 5-7 May the railway is closed between Hayes & Harlington and Maidenhead which also affects Heathrow access for the express & connect.

Just my 2c worth.... I’ve landed in London early in the morning a few times., after flying from Australia without a stopover. That’s roughly 24 hours of travel (around 21 flying plus a plane change in Singapore). I’ve always been so excited to arrive! I wish it was only 7 hours away for us :-)!! The rule of jet lag is don’t sleep until the local night time.... so even though our bodies are thrashed we stay up. We don’t do any of our special sightseeing on the first or second day though.
Some ideas:
A hop on hop off bus to get your bearings
Thames cruise
A 2 hour walk with ‘London Walks’ (really good)
Walk along the Thames path from Westminster
Kew Gardens
Hyde Park

Enjoy London, it’s brilliant :-)

Can I please check what you have decided to do? I'm in a similar situation and wondering what options I have for the early morning some of the suggestions above are great!

Hi. You haven't said where your hotel is, but it kinda sounds to me like it might be at the airport. Given the day of week and the info others have provided re transportation, I would take the tube into London. Plan your journey here: https://tfl.gov.uk/plan-a-journey/. Buy Oyster at Heathrow.

Even if you are speeding along, it might take longer than you think to get out of Heathrow. When will you have breakfast? Factor that in. Depending on time, here are some options I would consider:

• Take the tube (Piccadilly) to Green Park - no transfers. Get some breakfast at Pret a Manger; walk down to Westminster. Here is a tube distance walking map: http://content.tfl.gov.uk/walking-tube-map.pdf. Give yourselves 30+ to walk to Westminster - get a detailed map you like. Myself, I like the popup ones.
• Alternatively, if you are running a bit later, go directly to Westminster. It is Sunday, so touring Westminster seems to be out (though the Cellarium Cafe seems to open at 10 - I had a yummy breakfast there once).
  
• I would consider this London Walks tour for (as they say) their Flash Bang Lightening Highlights tour: http://www.walks.com/our-walks/this-is-london-flash-bang-lightning-highlights-tour-1.
• Tour ends in Trafalgar. You could go over to St Martin in the Fields and eat in the crypt. From there, there are so many options.
• If you are feeling mentally jet-lagged and not particularly creative, it looks like you could even meet up with some afternoon London Walks circa 2:00 in the afternoon that start relatively nearby.

Others will chime in with eating suggestions. Repeat steps back to hotel. Enjoy your day!

PS. Some will say to stay in London in an instance like this. I have done it both ways. Sometimes it is a sheer relief to leave the luggage behind in Heathrow when travelling into the unknown, be it tube, train, or bus - a nice sense of unencumbered freedom.

Thank you all for your suggestions and ideas!.....we are planning on officially deciding what we do that day after we arrive and have a feel for our mood and level of exhaustion.

We’re leaving here in about 10 days and couldn’t be more excited about it!!