London Itinerary to Share?

This guide from Rick might help london plan.

This part of the website is a bit hard to find if you dont know where to look, but I think its very useful for people who dont want to get a guidebook.

Look at the RS London tour for ideas. Better yet, get his London guidebook. Three days (not including the day you arrive and are jet lagged) is a very short time for this city with so much to see. Try to do at least 5 days, a week if you can. Get confident with using the tube, it’s actually quite easy.

Most seem to be in agreement that Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London are A+ sites that just about everyone likes.

Think about what you like. Are you into history? Consider the Museum of London or the British Museum. War stuff? Churchill War Rooms or Imperial War Museum. Culture? Harry Potter studio tour or Beatles sites. Theater? Plays on the West End, second only to NYC's Broadway (and often plays premier there first). Day trips? Windsor Castle, Bath, Stonehenge. Shopping? Harrod's, etc.

Know that you can't see it all, and plan to go back. There's so much to do that you're going to have to skip something so go ahead and make peace with that.

We are planning on going back to London for the 2nd time next year and it's a really nice feeling, planning on doing those things I missed the first time around.

Oh, and in answer to your original question: Here was my original 4-day London itinerary.

Day 1: Changing of Guard at Buckingham (IMHO, a total bust and not worth the time)
River Thames cruise (enjoyed)
Westminster Abbey (loved)
Churchill War Rooms (liked, but not as good as I was expecting)

Day 2: Tower of London (loved)
Tate Modern (I loved, husband hated; depends on your view of modern art)
Harry Potter movie premiere at local theater (this was back in 2004) - very cool to see how Brits do movies differently, also ended up sitting in front of Simon Cowell

Day 3: Bus tour to Bath/Stonehenge (liked Bath, felt Stonehenge was overrated)

Day 4: Piccadilly Circus for lunch (meh), Harrod's to people-watch (pretty cool), Abbey Road to get Beatles' pic (touristy but fun), hang out in Hyde Park (nice break)

On our upcoming trip (still in planning stages), I am thinking the following:

Day 1: Windsor Castle
Day 2: St. Paul's and British Museum
Day 3: Harry Potter studio tour
Day 4: Imperial War Museum and a matinee at West End, prob. Aladdin or Lion King

Keep in mind, you won’t be living like a local, central London has some of the most expensive real estate in the world. The places where most locals live have nothing to offer the tourist and, especially on a short trip, aren’t where I’d suggest staying.

Kelly, if you haven't seen Lion King-it is fantastic. We saw it in NY and I was amazed at how effective the stick puppets were.

Day 1: Kensington
Hyde Park/Kensington Palace/V&A Museum/Natural History Museum/Harrods Food Hall
Lunch: The V&A café.
Dinner: Comptoir Libanais

Day 2: Mayfair
Shepherd’s Market/Oxford Street/Selfridges/Regent Street/Piccadilly Circus/Walk down The Mall from Trafalgar Square towards Buckingham Palace/The Royal Mews
Pub: Shepherd’s Tavern
Dinner: Sofra or Le Boudin Blanc, Shepherd’s Market

Day 3: City of London
Sky Garden for great views of The Thames, Tower Bridge and Tower of London/St. Paul’s Cathedral/Millennium Bridge/Tate Modern
Lunch: Tate Modern Café or the Sky Garden Café

Day 4: SOHO/COVENT GARDEN
Leicester Square Half Price Ticket Booth (Lots to choose from. Definitely see a play)/London Transport Museum/Covent Garden/Trafalgar Square/ National Gallery
Lunch: St. Martin-in the-Fields Café in the Crypt or Rock & Sole Plaice
Dinner: Belgo Centraal or Punjab
Pub: The Marquess of Anglesey or The Nell Gwynne

Day 5: Westminster
Westminster Abbey/Changing of the Guard at Horse Guards Parade (Not the Buckingham Palace ceremony)/The London Eye (across the Westminster Bridge from House of Parliament.)
Lunch: ITSU on The Strand not far from Trafalgar Square. For picnics, any Tesco or Sainsbury or Marks & Spencer will have inexpensive lunch items or sandwiches to go. Find a nice park bench in St. James’s Park or on The Queens Walk (south bank of the Thames) for a picnic with a view.

Pub: The Albert

Thanks Kelly-I like having your opinion of the things you did-we have 7 days in London and of course, there is much overlap, this is helpful :)

Oh, and in answer to your original question: Here was my original 4-day London itinerary.

Day 1: Changing of Guard at Buckingham (IMHO, a total bust and not worth the time)
River Thames cruise (enjoyed)
Westminster Abbey (loved)
Churchill War Rooms (liked, but not as good as I was expecting)

Day 2: Tower of London (loved)
Tate Modern (I loved, husband hated; depends on your view of modern art)
Harry Potter movie premiere at local theater (this was back in 2004) - very cool to see how Brits do movies differently, also ended up sitting in front of Simon Cowell

Day 3: Bus tour to Bath/Stonehenge (liked Bath, felt Stonehenge was overrated)

Day 4: Piccadilly Circus for lunch (meh), Harrod's to people-watch (pretty cool), Abbey Road to get Beatles' pic (touristy but fun), hang out in Hyde Park (nice break)

On our upcoming trip (still in planning stages), I am thinking the following:

Day 1: Windsor Castle
Day 2: St. Paul's and British Museum
Day 3: Harry Potter studio tour
Day 4: Imperial War Museum and a matinee at West End, prob. Aladdin or Lion King

My general rule for London is to pick three things to do each day ... one in the morning, one in the afternoon, and one in the evening. For example,
Morning - London Walk
Afternoon - Museum visit
Evening - Theatre

For really popular sites like Tower of London, aim to get there when they open.

For visiting neighborhoods, I really like London Walks. Choose a tour in a neighborhood that looks interesting to you. You just show up at the designated meeting point and pay 10 GBP.

http://www.walks.com/

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