One Day in London

Not certain there are necessarily any "must sees" within a 5-minute walk of your hotel, but as London is so well-connected by tube, bus, and/or taxi, you can get to many places easily. If you're a modern art fan, the Tate Modern is stupendous. For amazing historical artefacts (ancient Egyptian, Greek, and more) the British Museum is tops. The Victoria and Albert (V&A) museum is full of wonderous things, but might not be how you'd want to spend your 1 free day. Fancy a walk? Rick Steves' London or Great Britain guidebooks have interesting walks with details on sights and locations, and he has several downloadable audio tours on his Website. Do stop in a London pub.

If I were in London now, I would go see the poppy display at the Tower of London! I THINK they are keeping it up till the end of November but am not sure!! Lunch on the Tattersal Castle!!. It's docked across from the Eye.

If I had one day in London and had never been there before I would go to The tower of London, Westminster Abbey and Leister square to buy tickets for an evening show.

Hello Christine. I do not know the location of Edgeware Road. An easy way to see several things in London in one day :
* Start at Westminster Abbey (church) It opens for visitors at 9:30 a.m. (expensive admission fee). I suggest arriving there at 9:00 a.m. If you will walk to it from the Westminster station of London Underground (the "Tube") you will walk by the Big Ben bell Tower. Stop and look up at it. And you will walk by a side of the British Parliament bulding. Walk out of Westminster Abbey (church) at 10:30 a.m. I think you would not have time for listening to the audio guide.
*Walk along Whitehall Street to the place where the Queen's Horse Guards Parade starts. It starts there at 11:00 a.m. (every day). You can see and hear it all there. * Not later than 11:30 a.m. resume walking along Whitehall Street toward Trafalgar Square. Walk into a few rooms in the British National Gallery (of art), (free admission), to see some old paintings that you are interested in. I especially liked the big oil paintings of Landscapes in England painted by John Constable (British, early 1800s). Walk out of the British National Gallery at 1:00 p.m., or earlier if you feel hungry.
* Ride in a Taxi car from British National Gallery to Covent Garden (a short distance toward the north east), for lunch and people watching. Recommended places for eating lunch there are mentioned in the travel guide book "Rick Steves' LONDON", and in the travel guide book "Rick Steves' ENGLAND".
* From Covent Garden, ride in London Underground trains (London "Tube") to St. Paul's station of London Underground, and walk to the Museum of London. (Free admission). Walking through that museum takes one hour and thirty minutes. Two London Underground stations are near the Museum of London : St. Paul's station, and Barbican station. Carry a map of the London Underground train lines, with you. London is Great !

Get the tube from Edgware Road (note spelling) to Tower Hill. Walk past the tower, across Tower Bridge to the south bank, then carry on west (upstream, river on you right) as far as your legs will carry you. You get panoramas of the city (St Pauls), walk past Shakespeare's globe. If you get far enough you will reach the London Eye, them walk back across Westminster Bridge to the Houses of Parliament.
That is a good ½ day walk.

If you have any energy or time left go in Westminster Abbey, or walk up Whitehall (note small side street on left with gates across, named Downing Street). At the end of Whitehall is Trafalgar Square. Sit down, have a rest and say hello to the lions. In the unlikely even you have any energy left, walk through Admiralty Arch, up the Mall to Buck House.

If you're looking for designated "attractions" rather than a walk, here's Rick's London page: http://www.ricksteves.com/europe/england/london

If you click "At A Glance" you'll see his list of the top sights. These are only his opinion, but he certainly lists the most famous ones. Read up on these and decide which ones interest you.

I would want to see the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey above all else.

Follow Chris F.'s first paragraph. When you get to Tower Hill, enter and tour the Tower of London. Then, proceed following the walk Chris outlined for you. When you walk across Westminster Bridge and walk past Parliament, look for Westminster Abbey, and go there. You will not be disappointed. It is awesome (an overused word, but in this case, it fits).

Then proceed to follow the remainder of Chris's walk he outlined. Then back to your hotel and collapse.

If you are not up to that much walking, check out the Hop-On-Hop-Off Bus. You buy a ticket, and for 24 hours, you can hop off at any sight and then just hop back on another bus. If you stay on the bus without getting off, in it takes you on a 2-hour drive-by tour of all the major tourist sights in London. Then you can stay on for round two around the city, and hop off wherever you wish (and back on whenever you wish). It's a good way to see a lot in a short amount of time, and just get a quick overview of London. More details are in the Rick Steves London guidebook. The HOHO Bus tour also includes a short boat ride on the River Thames. It's very interesting to see some of the London landmarks from the water view.

Christine,

i would say see whatever floats your boat.

happy trails.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions! I appreciate everyone taking the time. It's extremely helpful.

Christine, our first time to London was just a day trip from Edinburgh (back in 2009). We literally flew in that morning and flew out that evening. We did the Hop On Hop Off tour and really enjoyed seeing the whole city. We wanted to do Westminster but it was closed. We did the Winston Churchill museum in addition to the tour. We knew we would come back one day, and we did! We spent five nights there in March and were able to see a lot more. Now we're going back next month and will be able to do all the stuff we still haven't been able to. I hope you love it as much as we do!

My number 3 London sight, after the Tower and the Abbey, is the British Museum.

It has some of the most amazing artifacts in the world. Go straight to the Rosetta Stone, then see the Egyptian stuff, then ask someone to direct you to the Ancient Britain rooms, the stuff they've found on archeological digs around Great Britain. It is located in the neighborhood of Bloomsbury, very easy to reach on the tube or bus.

Posted privately as well but forgot to advise don't give into the Metropole's ungodly internet charge. Outrageous!!! Simply walk out side cross the street and enjoy free wifi at the Costa Coffee. Downstairs space is quiet. Better coffee than Starbucks IMHO but if you must have Seattle brew the Starbucks is across the street on the same side as the hotel. Lastly, you'll get no sense of London inside that Hilton. Feels like ANY Hilton in the states. Alarmingly so. Get outside as quickly as possible. Head over to the nearby Edgeware Road tube station and take a circle or District line train (Green or Yellow) about 6 stops to Westminster. Mind the Gap, disembark and follow signage to EXIT 1. Walk outside. You'll see the piers for boats cruising the Thames, the London Eye across the river to your left, Westminster Bridge to your right. Turn right towards the steps, look up. You are in London! Enjoy your exploration.