5days in London

For starters: visit Regent's Park, British Library, Charles Dickens Museum (Bloomsbury), Sir John Soane Museum (about a 12-15 minute walk from Brit Museum). I love that small museum. Very close together are the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery and St Martin-in-the-Fields Church, crypt. Delightful music programs and evensong,

That is wonderful Lynn

I spent 6 days in London last October and it was not enough.

I stayed on Bayswater Road across from Kensington Gardens. I highly recommend exploring Kensington Gardens. It is big and wonderful and beautiful and interesting. Great nature and people watching.

I walked through Hyde Park on my way to Victoria Coach and wish that I had explored Hyde Park more. If possible, try not to pass up Hyde Park.

Most, if not all, museums are free and there are many beautiful parks and gardens. Sounds like you will be kept busy.

Might try strolling Old Bond Street which has shops from all the designers that most people can not afford. Great browsing.

My friend and I took buses as well as the tube. London has great public transportation. Don't be worried about getting caught up in London traffic while on the bus because that is a good time to look around.

We went to a small Serpentine gallery. There are two but we only made it to one.

I loved the V & A gallery as well as The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square .

Good idea to group the attractions. This bus map of Central London, while not to scale, does show the main attractions and parks, and the bus routes and Tube stops serving them:

https://content.tfl.gov.uk/bus-route-maps/key-bus-routes-in-central-london.pdf

The Victoria and Albert Museum, Science Museum, and Natural History Museum are all in one area just south of Hyde Park. You could visit one, take a break and walk a loop through Hyde Park ( which might be abloom with daffodils) then visit another museum. The Serpentine Bar and Kitchen in Hyde Park is a nice spot for lunch.

https://www.royalparks.org.uk/visit/parks/hyde-park/serpentine-bar-kitchen

On a different day, you could combine Westminster Abbey, Parliament buildings, Elizabeth Tower, etc. with a walk through St. James Park, our favorite London park. It should be beautiful in April (we will be there later that month). The Churchill War Rooms are there, as is 10 Downing Street (you can’t go in, of course). Horseguards Museum is right there too. We enjoyed that, although the final room is sobering.

We are going to combine Holland Park (for the Japanese garden there) with the Design Museum and a walk through Kensington Gardens, but these may not be on your list.

I personally would not choose Borough Market for oysters and champagne. It is a busy, noisy place. We ate at a sit-down fish restaurant in the market and were bothered by traffic noise, including sirens, through the meal. Couldn’t wait to finish and leave. But maybe others can suggest a quieter corner of the market, or a different place altogether for your oysters and champagne.

Make time for Kew Gardens, Kyoto Gardens in Holland Park and if you enjoy mirth the Crystal
Palace Dinosaurs. Explore the neighborhoods they are in.

Walk along the Thames River or the Regents Canal paths. Explore Brick Lane, the Horniman Museum, Sir John Sloane Museum, Regents Park, Hampstead Heath, Dennis Seaver House, and Leighton Museum.

Visit Liberty just to see how unique it is. IMHO if seeking small gifts the gift shops at the V & A and British Museums are stellar. I also loved having tea and a scone at the gorgeous V & A cafe.

Borough market is a zoo but if it’s what you wish to try then go. Personally I find Maltby Market a more pleasant experience.

Love London. Been visiting since the 70’s. Never fails to make me smile.

Mind The Gap and enjoy your 5 days.

Your challenge will be to prioritize what really interests you and you will still have to pare things down. I don't see many of the traditional major attractions such as Westminster Abbey, Tower of London, etc on your list. Are those types of sites less interesting to you?

You can go to Google Maps, enter the name of a place you want to see, then click on "Save". Do that for every place you're interested in, and you'll be able to identify your personal clusters.

Consider London Walks tours. They are fabulous. When we visited in 2018, we did one to see British Museum and it really helped to have a guide navigate the museum with us. We did another one the day we arrived in the Westminster area.

We are returning in May and I spent several hours today going through all the possibilities for our upcoming trip. Just like London itself, there are too many choices!

Way too many choices but thank all of you for your wonderful suggestions... especially the google suggestion. I also heard that a walk through the 5 different cemeteries on the periphery of London was quite nice but that might have to be in my next life.

It might help if you buy (or print out) a map of London, and then sit down and figure out where everything is. It makes it much easier to group that way. I will be in London for 5 days the 3rd week of March and that's what I did. It really makes it easier to see everything.

acraven also had a very good idea, which is to "save" your interests in Google maps, then you can look at the online map and organize them into "clusters" so to speak. Here's a quick link that will help you organize this way if you are not familiar with Google maps. Note: that link is for iPhones, but just click the tab for Android if you have one. You can also save places using Google maps on a laptop as well.

Take boat from Westminster Pier to Kew Gardens. You can take the Tube back to London. Since you are staying close to the British Museum, you might want to visit that museum twice-there is too much to absorb on a single visit. It is my #2 museum I've ever visited-#1 is Vatican Museums. I also really enjoyed the National Gallery and Victoria and Albert.

Purchase tickets to Westminster Abbey and Churchill War Rooms well in advance. They are very near each other.