We arrive at Heathrow at 2:30 pm and leave at 10:30 am the next day. We have booked a hotel near our departure terminal with easy access to Heathrow Express. The plan is to check in the the hotel, drop off bags, then head into London for a few hours walking around and dinner. Any ideas on which neighborhood to visit. Piccadilly Circus is the obvious choice....but I'm wondering if there are any other suggestions for a very short look around.
Posted by
3122 posts
I agree with Emma: if I only had part of a day in London, I'd go see the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey and the London Eye over the river. If you arrive at the Abbey entry kiosk at the right time, you can attend the Evensong service (check the time but I believe it starts at 5:00; try to get in line by 4:30). It is free and lovely music with the choirboys singing. Then walk up Whitehall to Trafalgar Square then onto Piccadilly Circus and dinner in the surrounding area.
Bring rain gear just in case, because you'll be outdoors for much of this jaunt.
Posted by
Mid-Atlantic area
6534 posts
Depends if you’ve ever been there before. If you haven’t, then you could do a whirlwind tour of the city via the tube. I did it on a business trip with a coworker who had never been. We took the tube and went to see parliament, Westminster abbey, Tower of London and tower bridge, black friars pub, monument, Buckingham palace, and Kensington palace. It took about 3 hours. Granted, we went into nothing, but at least he can say he saw them. In the evening we hung out in a pub near Earls Court tube stop since it was near our hotel.
Posted by
Olympia, WA, USA
6502 posts
With due respect, the last suggestion is just what I would not do, unless your goal is to check off boxes.
Posted by
Land of La
8668 posts
Piccadilly Circus? Take Emma's word nothing but a large traffic island.
Paddington Station is where the Heathrow Express will arrive and depart from.
Are you walkers?
Easy walk from Paddington through Hyde Park then Green Park ( you can see the Palace) and then via Birdcage walk thru St James Park to Parliament Square.(Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey) Would take about an hour. Could then stroll up WhiteHall to Trafalgar Square and then walk back to Paddington via SoHo.
This way you'd really get a good look at London.
Posted by
Mid-Atlantic area
6534 posts
Dick, that is exactly what he wanted to do, so that’s what we did. I’ve been to London multiple times and other than some museums I have no interest in, I’ve visited the main sights. I had no issue taking him around so he could check the boxes as he had never been there before.
One could start at Picadilly Circus and walk up Oxford street to Carnaby Street and Liberty London. Then, continue up Oxford street to Bond street, make a left and walk down Bond Street to visit Selfridges. Or, leave the Circus in the other direction and head towards Trafalgar Square, then up to Leceister square and over to Coventry Garden.
When we were there in December it took about and hour to walk from Covent Garden over to Selfridges.