Best way to spend 5 days in London following the Best of England tour, including day trips

Hampton Court Palace
Bath
Train to Whitsable
Water and Stream Museum
Sir John Sloane Museum
Spitalfields
Liberty
Visit Greenwich and the Royal Observatory
Maltby Market
Little Venice Canal Walk
Regents Canal
Horniman Museum
Syon House and Gardens
Walk the Thames Path
See the Shoreditch Wall Murals
Have a meal or a pint at the Art Deco Blackfriars pub
Check out the online schedule of what’s happening at Wilton’s Music Hall Same with Cadogan Hall during those 5 days
If into pub art and like a long walk check out The Line https://the-line.org/
Have a pub lunch
Visit Richmond Park and see the fallow red deer
Mercato Mayfair
Enjoy the view of London from Parliament Hill
Visit the quirky Brixton shopping arcade
Strawberry Hill House
Visit the former public toilet thats now a bar
( Ladies & Gentleman ) in Kentish Town
Free Rooftop view of London from 120 Fenchurch

Look at London Eater or TimeOut London websites for restaurant recommendations.

I love Joy King Lau in Chinatown, The Dove Pub in Hammersmith, Dapur for Malaysian, Rudi’s Jerk Shake in Shoreditch and a bowl of Pho at Pho Saigon in Ealing. Full English breakfast at the River Cafe across the road from the Putney Bridge station.
If book lovers around the corner is the cramped but wonderful HurlingHam Books.

Lots to see and do in and around London and nearby environs following the tour.

Let me add checking the public lecture schedule at the LSE and the Courtauld. The round library at the museum, too.

Winchester is worth a look as it's only a touch over an hour from London Waterloo. There is the cathedral in the city centre as well as a museum of the city; the Great Hall; many trails and footways which pass Winchester if you fancy a walk

The Best of England tour will take you to Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London. When we took it, we stayed several days afterwards on our own and did the following:

The British Museum

The V&A Museum (Victoria and Albert)--located in S. Kensington, the neighborhood your RS tour hotel will be in.
Churchill War Rooms--located just around the corner from Westminster Abbey.

A walk through Borough Market in Southwark--great food stands serving chicken or roast beef sandwiches, cheeses, desserts, breads, wine and lots more. Farm stands selling cut flowers, fresh fruits and vegetables.

Claudia has given you a great list! Hard to choose, but my favorites from her list might be: Hampton Court Palace, boat trip to Greenwich and the Royal Observatory, Little Venice Canal Walk & Regents Canal, visit to Richmond Park & Richmond. All of hers are great suggestions.

Highly recommended for walks around London neighborhoods, with a guide to tell you the history of the area, browse London Walks: https://www.walks.com/
They also do day trips out of London to Cambridge, Oxford, Winchester, and many other places. The guide meets you at the train station and goes with you for a walk around the town or city and then returns to London with you on the train.
Inexpensive group tour; there will be probably 6 to 12 people in the group that gathers either for the walk around London or the day trip.

Another small group tour:
https://www.rabbies.com/en/england-tours/from-london/day-tours
They do a day trip to Oxford and the Cotswolds. You will already have been through the Cotswolds on your Rick Steves tour, but may see only 1 or 2 villages.

Keep in mind that you can change hotels if you wish after the RS tour is over.
Some of our tour mates continued to stay at the tour hotel on their own, some of us moved to other hotels.
On the final morning, your group will have breakfast at your hotel, then clear out of their rooms and turn in keys at the front desk.
Your Rick Steves guide will be there to observe everyone checking out.
They will be happy to give you instructions for getting to Heathrow, to help you plan a day trip, or to choose an attraction to do on your own.
If you wish to continue staying at this hotel, you'll need to go online and make a reservation that begins on the day your RS tour group exits the hotel.
At this time, you could go to a different hotel if you wish, of course.
You may wish to experience a different neighborhood for your 5 days. Or not.

I recommend trying Indian cuisine while you are in London.
If you've not had it before, it's quite good.
Chicken Tikka Masala is a flavorful dish, served with rice, a vegetable or two, and bread (naan).
Dishoom serves excellent food and has many locations around London.
If you are vegan or vegetarian, Indian restaurants will have many dishes you will enjoy.
https://www.dishoom.com/kensington/
https://www.dishoom.com/covent-garden/
https://www.dishoom.com/kings-cross/
https://www.dishoom.com/menu/all-day-main/
Dishoom Chicken Tikka is on the menu here, as well as Chilli Chicken, which is very good.

The Covent Garden location is near shops and is a great area for strolling around, browsing bookshops, and for visiting the London Transport Museum. https://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/visit/museum-guide

Just following. Good ideas!!!thanks

Thank you all. Great suggestions.

Day trips:

• Another vote for Winchester
• St Albans
• Bletchley Park

In London, I’ll add:

• Geffrye museum of the home
• Evensong at St Paul’s Cathedral if not already mentioned
• Postman’s Park memorial to heroic self-sacrifice
• Chelsea Physic Garden (take the guided tour)
• Wimbledon tour if you are tennis fans
• British Library treasures room
• Food tour of East End with Eating London
• Wallace Collection
• Mosaic of London history at Queenhithe
• Thames Festival events (all September)
• Theatre, theatre, theatre!!

Enjoy your trip

Take boat from Westminster Pier to Kew Gardens and take Tube back to London from gardens.
I've done this on an Evans Evans one day bus tour from London, so I think it would be doable by train as well, Dover Castle.
It would be a long day, but train to Cardiff, bus to St. Fagan's Folk Museum.
Bath
These last two are assuming that England's fast trains are running and not on strike.

Forgot to include Bletchley Park. Very interesting.

Easy 45 minute train ride from Euston.

Can also take the Tube from Euston to Waterford Junction, then board a West Midlands train to Bletchley.

About a 10 minute stroll from the train station to the entrance of Bletchley Park.

Cambridge and/or Oxford are easy day trips. If London Walks are offering them when you are there, I can recommend them.

London Walks offers numerous day trips throughout the year.

Since your Rick Steves Best of England tour begins in Bath,
I want to recommend The Scallop Shell restaurant, serving possibly the best fish and chips we've had in England. Reservation needed for dinner.

Bath is lovely and has some great restaurants. If you'll be going a couple of days early and want suggestions for where to eat, we'll be glad to add more suggestions.

You will have a little time before your tour begins. The tour does a walk past Bath Abbey but does not go into Bath Abbey. If that interests you, it's worth going inside for a look around and to enjoy the music if you happen to hit the right time, such as Evensong or the organist practicing.

You're in for a real treat. The Rick Steves Best of England tour is fabulous! Enjoy!

Thanks all again! And Rebecca, yes, would love to hear your additional suggestions. 🙂

Jon,
Here are some restaurants in Bath that we've enjoyed.
The Circus Restaurant, 34 Brock St., Bath, serves British classics. (Reservations)

Sally Lunn's Historic Eating House (more often called Sally Lunn's Buns) is less formal, a good place for lunch (sandwiches on the famous home-baked buns) or afternoon tea. Casual.
4 North Parade Passage, Bath.

Another good place for afternoon tea is The Pump Room, right above the Roman Baths. (Reservations)

Bill's--British, casual, serving plate lunches and dinners (meat and 2 veggies), salads, hamburgers, fries, desserts.
Near Bath Abbey; 7-8 Cheap Street, Bath.

If I think of any others, I'll add them.
Enjoy Bath and your tour!

The Real Italian Pizza Company, just south of Bath Abbey, 16 York Street, Bath.
Casual, inexpensive, no reservations needed.
Great pizza cooked in a wood-fired oven. Homemade lasagna, salads, sandwiches (calzones).
This place is run by two Italian brothers.

One word of caution.....they'll put an egg in the center of your pizza and bake it there if you don't tell them not to do it.
The egg comes out "over easy".
I don't know if this is a British thing or an Italian thing.

Following! We're spending about 10 days in London next month. We have our own list, but it's always great to get other people's experiences.

Oh, and we're just now reading "The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street," by Helen Hanff, which reminds me not so gently, that probably the thing we want to do most is London is just... get out and walk.

Things I have done on each trip (4 and counting, I LOVE London!) include visits to the following:

Liberty dept store--unlike anything you've ever seen, bonus points if anyone loves fabric
The Tower to be with the ravens
Portobello Road market on a Saturday
The V&A--there's always some wonderful special exhibit going on in addition to their incredible collection

Other things I have really enjoyed:
Bletchley Park
Hampton Court
Greenwich
Canterbury
Touring the Houses of Parliament-absolutely fascinating
seeing a show--Hamilton last trip
London Museum of Transport at Covent Garden
Imperial War Musem
Churchill War Rooms

Rebecca, thanks for the warning about the egg served on top of the pizza! We had one of those in Paris one year. Luckily it flowed towards one side, so those were my husband’s pieces. ; )

Jean, LOL! You're welcome!
The Italian brothers couldn't understand why we asked them to "hold the egg" the second time we went there for a pizza!

Jon,
Back to your original question of things to do in London after your tour.
The Rick Steves tour will take you to the Tower of London, so you won't be needing to do that on your own.

Take a walk with the London Walks Company around what used to be the Roman city of London. You'll see the Roman walls that used to surround the city back when it was the Roman city of Londinium.
For an interesting look into that time, see this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Londinium
If you enlarge the map given, the area marked "Ludgate" is approximately where today's St. Paul's Cathedral is.
The lower right corner near the Thames River is where today's Tower of London is located, and there are remains of the Roman wall inside the grounds of the Tower of London. You'll see these when you go in.

I'm betting you will enjoy these. There are three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington:
The Natural History Museum
The Science Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum

Other museums you might enjoy:
The National Portrait Gallery--an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people including the Tudors. Located at Trafalgar Square.
The National Gallery
The Tate
The Tate Modern

Jane,
"We're spending about 10 days in London next month."
You're going to have a great time!!

"Oh, and we're just now reading "The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street," by Helen Hanff, which reminds me not so gently, that probably the thing we want to do most is London is just... get out and walk."

I'm sure you know that Bloomsbury is the neighborhood where the British Museum is located.
London Walks has several Bloomsbury walks, and I would do one of those.
One highlights the literary history of Bloomsbury, another highlights the architecture, and they have a couple of others.
Check their website for dates and times.

Have a great trip!

Rebecca, and the hotel we're booked into for the first few days is actually in Bloomsbury! After that we're doing the RSE Best of London tour.

Jane, very cool!!
You're going to have a great time!