7 night itinerary -Booked most mornings looking for-what would you do the rest of that day?

Play it by ear. It rains alot in London so have a back up plan for when it rains then you can spend the day at the British Museum. Include the British museum in your current itinerary in case it trains. Sometimes us vacationers only plan itineraries assuming the weather will cooperate in that particular city during the length of time we are there but at times rainy weather can ruin itineraries. When you do an itinerary , plan for both sunny days and rainy days so that you always have an alternative.

Your title says 7-Week Itinerary, but I only see 7 days here. Are you flying to some other part of England for the remaining 6 weeks?

Fixed! Yeah I wish I don’t get enough vacation time to even do a two week trip!

London's museums are free admission with donation requested. I loved the Tate Modern for the building and location as much as the art work. Also, you might check out the Churchill War Rooms. Reservations are required and admission is included in the London Pass (if your using that for your other sights) otherwise it is 22 pounds.

I would consider going to the British Museum on 2 separate days if possible. It's one of my very favorite museums, but I can't focus on it all in one day.

Thanks I like all of these recommendations. Our hotel is actually directly across the street from the British museum. Curious based on what I have planned as many days I have tickets purchased that are specific to that day what you would do which day?

We were in London last Fall and followed a similar theme as you and planned 1 major site a day and then winged the rest. It was a good mix. Is your Jack the Ripper tour with London Walks. If you're not familiar check out the London Walks website. Plenty of walks to fill out days. I'd really recommend their tour of Westminster Abbey. Everyone is different but if you like Tower of London as much as me you can spend an entire day there. Not as popular sites that we really liked that can be fillers include the London Film Museum, they have a permanent James Bond Exhibit-fun couple of hours if you're a Bond fan. If you go, there is a great restaurant across the street called San Carlo Cicchetti. Another fun place to wander is Leadenhall Market. Lots of shops and restaurants, perhaps wander close to dinner time, great restaurant we ate at is La Tasca. Last but not least, I think the Museum of London is underrated. It's exhibits a chronological history of London. We liked it much more than the British Museum.

thank you and I appreciate the meal tips! We are physically across the street from the British Museum so seems hard to not take advantage of that but good to know about the museum of London.

I took the LondonWalks tour of the British Museum yesterday (Monday) at 2:30 PM. The day was off-and-on rainy, and the museum was packed. The highly-popular, ground-floor, Egyptian Galleries were the worst, which the guide said was as expected. The rest of the museum was crowded but not quite to the point that you couldn't move.

I think you've definitely pre-booked "enough." The only other things to book would be the Churchill War Rooms (long lines for those who haven't prebooked a set entry time, and you get a slight discount besides), any very popular theatre shows (say, something with a major star), and any limited capacity tours that interest you. For instance, I saw the house at 18 Stafford Terrace; once a week an actress playing the "maid" shows you around the house, and I had to prebook this to avoid being shut out.

Otherwise, you can play it by ear. As said above, the weather is a great decider, as is your mood and your interests. For the Tate Modern, a great time for me was Saturday night, as it's open late and the nighttime views from the roof terrace were great. However, after some recent incidents, I'm not sure if the terrace is still open - check.

Note that for things that are not free and that do not need a specific timed entry, you can still often get a discount for advance booking online. The trick I learned is that the morning of your visit is far enough "in advance." So, before my trip I looked at the websites of the various museums. If they had a discount for online booking, I created an account while still at home (much easier to do on a computer with a regular keyboard than on a phone!). Then, the morning I wanted to go to Greenwich, I logged in and bought my ticket, and saved £5.25. I had my hotel print out the tickets, but it turns out they could have scanned the PDF's off my phone. Each place has different policies about this - check.

Of the places you listed, Westminster Abbey definitely has a discount for online advance booking, so be sure to set up an account on that website.

Trafalgar Square isn't much to see, but the National Gallery is my absolute favorite. The nearby National Portrait Gallery was not to my liking, but others love it. One great advantage of free museums is that if you're not having a good time, you can leave and go somewhere else.

I recommend going to Westminster Abbey. I am not big on visiting churches or museums but wow, that place is incredible.
Have fun at the Harry Potter studio. We loved it. Since you like HP if you are near King’s Cross Station you could check out the Platform 9 3/4s they have set up there.

I definitely second the recommendation for London Walks tours. When we were in London last year we did three of them and they are great. I also recommend Greenwich. We did the London Eye and a river cruse also. We cruised to Greenwich and had a nice afternoon there.

Also agree that Westminster Abbey is well worth a visit.

Have fun!

The British Museum is packed - tip - use the rear entrance on Montague Place.

River Cruise

What about a canal cruise?

Another vote for the under appreciated Museum Of London.

On the Saturday of your arrival stay outside to ward off jet lag. After checking into your hotel walk back out the door and make your way to Coal Drop Yards. About a 30 minute stroll.

The Yards are behind St Pancras station ( where u will catch your Paris bound Eurostar train) and across the pedestrian bridge that is over the Regents Canal. If lines aren’t too crazy see if you can dine at Dishoom.

You’ve not included any forays into London’s fabulous parks. Maybe after waiting for hours for a brief glimpse of the Changing of the Guards you could meander through St James Park to the Horse Guards parade ground. Then walk up Whitehall to Trafalgar Square ( photo ops) and have lunch in the crypt cafe at St Martins of the Field or maybe catch one of their free afternoon concerts.https://www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/about-our-music/concerts/

Then hop on the tube at Charing Cross to make your way to the Monument station and then to the Sky Garden.

The tfl.gov.uk website is your friend. Use to figure out best public transport routes AND at any tube station try to obtain one of the pocket sized tube maps.

On the Thursday following your Paris day adventure
why not visit the interesting and vibrate Brick Lane neighborhood as well as Spitafields Market.

Lastly ABSOLUTELY see Westminster Abbey. As advised by others consider joining the London Walks tour.

Bon Voyage!

You all are so incredible. Can’t tell you how much i appreciate it. What if I moved sky garden to Tuesday after Tower of London Or move the walking tour Monday to Tuesday and do Westminster Abbey Monday after changing of guard?(maybe lunch in between guards and Westminster? They aren’t that far away right and how long do people stay at Westminster (think tween with not huge attention span)

Yes it does make logistical sense to schedule things that are close to one another.

With a tween I’d definitely go for the London Walks Westminster Abbey tour. Would keep them focused.

I also believe the tween would thoroughly enjoy Brick Lane and Spitafields. Lots of eye candy ( murals, people watching) food stalls, etc.

One thing I forgot to mention is scheduling a Sunday roast. The tween will like the idea of being able to dine in a pub. See if you can make reservations at the venerable Museum Tavern which given your accommodation is conveniently close by. If not at that pub then the Jack Horner or the Swan which are both walkable distances from your hotel.

Borough Market has fewer stalls on Monday and Tuesday than other days, so you might want to pick another day (not Saturday, it becomes appallingly crowded).

Second the above recommendation for the James Bond exhibit at the London Film Museum in Covent Garden - it's quite expensive but it really is worthwhile if you're a fan of the Bond films. (Still miss the much-lamented Museum of the Moving Image, though.)

I think you've booked more than enough. Give yourself some room to be spontaneous.

Have a great time! We found the Jack the Ripper tour fun and interesting. Prepare to walk. Speaking of walking, I averaged around 9 miles a day in London in May. One day was 11 miles! Needless to say, I slept well at night.

Sunday - the Tate Modern is quite close to the London Eye...you can combine these two things easily.
Move Borough market from Tuesday to Monday...it's literally right across the river from the Sky Garden. Have dinner at Borough Market before the JTR tour.
On Monday, before the changing of the guard at 11, you have time to see Westminster Abbey. It opens at 9:30. ...it's about a 15 minute walk from the abbey to Buckingham Palace.
It makes sense to see the British Museum on Thursday since you have nothing scheduled until 4...it's a quick tube ride from the museum to the theater. Trafalgar Square is also near to the theater so you can easily pop over there to see it. Maybe even combine that with a spin through the National Gallery right on Trafalgar Square...well worth your time.

Thanks Claudia! I was able to get 7pm res for museum tavern Sunday! That is so convenient to us!

I’m concerned about Monday not being able to go back to hotel to rest/eat before the JTR tour.. is it normal to be out all day and night or do most people head back for a break midday? I did think it might be tight to hard to eat before the tour. Is london a late night eating place or no? Feel like my family is starting at night and will look to me and I don’t see a lot of quick grab places by the museum that might be open late so just means we have to stock up snacks earlier :)

What’s normal is what feels appropriate for you and your family. If you need to rest and refresh then do so.

Look for Pret A Mangers when out. There are a couple close to the Sky Garden. Can eat in or take out. Made Fresh daily, sandwiches and salads and sometime soups. Maybe on Thursday you’d consider picnicking in Hyde Park. Watching the water fowl on the Serpentine is always enjoyable. Or maybe you’ll get lucky and find the Horse Guards practicing.

Believe the closest Pret near the British Museum and your home base is on the corner of Bloomsbury and New Oxford Street. Check it out.

After your visit the Sky Garden be sure to walk up to the last glass covered market in London. Since you are taking the HP tour I suspect a family member or two is a Harry Potter fan. I trust you will recognize Leadenhall Market from the movies and you could have the tween look for the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron. When you leave the Sky Garden it’s a 2-5 minute walk to LeadenHall Market so not out of your way. You can also eat there if hungry.

And yes people eat before and after theatre in London.