A sunday in London

How much time?

Half of saturday, all day sunday free!

You might have time for a nice short-ish walk on your arrival day. From the station, walk past the Royal Mews around to the front of Buckingham Palace. Then head down Pall Mall . From there you can head to Trafalgar Square and if you are up to it to Piccadilly Circus and/or Covent Garden. Have supper in either of those places, then take the tube or bus back to your hotel. If you just want an overview of London, then on Sunday, get tickets for one of the Hop on/hop off bus tours (try to get on one with a live guide). You'll 'see' most of the major sites. If one particularly interests you, then hop off for a bit, then catch the next bus. They travel pre-arranged circular routes, so you'll always be able to get back to your hotel. If you don't want do the walk on arrival, you could go ahead and start your bus tour then, I believe the tickets are good for 24 hours- but not sure when the last bus runs.

Toni had some great suggestions, as always. Her suggestion of the Hop-On-Hop-Off bus ride is a good one, since it will give you a quick overview. Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London, and St. Paul's are the top sights I would suggest. The Hop-On-Hop-Off bus stops at all of these. The Tower of London will be crowded on a Saturday or Sunday, but I would go anyhow, especially if you think you'll never come back to London. Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's both have worship services Sunday morning, so you could go to one of those if you wish. You may also want to visit the British Museum on Sunday afternoon. Or you could visit the Tate Modern Museum if modern art is one of your interests, and stroll the south bank by the river, past Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. Walk west, and it takes you to the London Eye, with great views in all directions. If you are interested in more traditional art, visit the National Gallery, and National Portrait Gallery, off Trafalgar Square.

You should consider partaking in one of the London Walks. They're inexpensive and highly rated (Rick Steves recommends it as well). I believe they have a tour that's about 2 hours that gives you pretty much an oversight of the main landmarks. You can even do three which will only take about 4-5 hours, but that will give you an overview of London. After that, you can revisit some of the places or include new places in your itinerary. I usually do a walking tour and then revisit the places that I really liked or wish to spend more time.

If you're in for churches, a lot of the cathedrals/churches will be having services on both Saturday and Sunday. Services are about an hour to two hours, but it will be a way to go to church if you do go to church or you can see the inside for free; St. Paul's Cathedral and the Westminster Abbey.

Use Rick Steves London guide - he offers several great walks that I use for my guests.

Which church is better?

Better in what way?

Better for what?
Bell ringing?
Listening to change ringing?
Upper Class marriages?
If you're a Catholic?
If you are Chinese?
For brass rubbing?
For poets?
If you are in the military?
If you are 7th Day Adventist?
If you want a service in Latin?
For care of the homeless?
For gays?
To see the Queen?
To see Wren architecture?
For the shape of a wedding cake?
....???

London has a lot of churches....

Don't worry about the maximum. Pick a couple of things that really interest you and then go enjoy them. Spend the rest of your time wandering around - you'll find plenty to enjoy!

Sorry about that long list in the above reply. Last time is was in London on a Sunday I had an enjoyable day doing the following shopping oriented things:
-late morning visit to Spitalfields Market . Lots of great restaurants to have Brunch, and lots of interesting stalls.
-walk to the nearby Brick Lane outdoor/indoor market area. Possibly have an early dinner at one of the eateries in the nearby Bangladeshi neighborhood, if you're into the cuisine.
-take the Tube to Harrods to finish off you day of consumerism:)

When you arrive in London be sure to pick up a copy the current Time Out London magazine of any special events happening that weekend.

@Nigel-Catholic church

Nicole, if you are wanting an impressive Catholic church in London, then visit Westminster Cathedral (not to be confused with Westminster Abbey).

If you like Architecture a fun thing to do is to go to the financial district "the City"...because it is deserted on Sunday and you can walk down the middle of the street and look up to marvel at the fantastic facades that money could buy in the days of the Empire.

If you like Architecture a fun thing to do is to go to the financial district "the City"...because it is deserted on Sunday and you can walk down the middle of the street and look up to marvel at the fantastic facades that money could buy in the days of the Empire.

We did a Gray Line Tour (also served by Evan Evans) for a wonderful day tour of London. We booked the tour on--line at Gray Line Tours.com, before we got to London.