First trip to London! Hotel and itinerary top picks please!

I simply don't match your budget with my experience so I can't give you hotel picks. (my budget is far less)

As far as itinerary picks, it really depends on what your interests are. Some of my personal favorites are Hampton Court Palace, the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, the Churchill War Rooms, Bletchley Park, the British Museum and Greenwich. I do like to see a West End Musical as well.

I've done day trips to Windsor, Bath, Portsmouth and Dover.

I think you need to think about what really interests you and your travel companions. Then, try to bundle the ones that are close to each other into one day.

What you see depends on your likes. For ideas, look at TripAdvisor. You don’t even have to read any reviews, just look at the top sites people visit to see what might interest you. For day trips, we’ve gone to Bath, Windsor, Hampton Court, and York. On our next trip we intend on going to Cambridge.

Been visiting London since 1972.

Last sojourn was 2021.

Spent the entire month of November so no I don’t think 7 days is too long.

Nice that you have a healthy budget for one of the most expensive cities on the planet.

Check the following for accommodation:

Intercontinental London Park
The Dorchester
Bulgari
The Renaissance at St Pancras

Or investigate the Premiere Inn at County Hall or the one near Victoria Station.

Premiere Inns are comfortable and affordable.

I’ve always wanted to stay at The Savoy, so I’m rooting for you. There are plenty of 5 star spendy hotels, many in May Fair or Knightsbridge. I personally like the location of The Savoy nearer the theatre district. But at $700+ per night, not sure it’s in my reach. My other dream-about hotel is Hotel 41. The level of service there is supposed to be really phenomenal.

250 pounds per night is the normal budget of a lot of 3/4 star hotels in London. I’ve stayed at the Marriott County Hall hotel with a view of the Houses of Parliament /Big Ben. It was great, but ya know, it’s not Italy and Danieli great. But really…not much is. So temper expectations. Even expensive rooms will also probably be smaller than you think.

Hi Pak,

If the discount at the Savoy doesn’t come through, I’d look at upscale boutique hotels. Places like the Savoy are going to run you £700+ per night; I know your budget has some flexibility, but that is quite a leap.

I can’t speak to any of these places from experience as I don’t have much occasion to stay in a hotel here, but I’ve always been curious about the rooms at either or the Zetter Townhouse locations (Marylebone and Clerkenwell), and at The Orange in Belgravia or The Grazing Goat in Marylebone (two pubs under the same ownership). These are places I’ve enjoyed dining and think are probably both very nice and full of character. I’ve previously heard people talk favourably about The Rookery and the Artist Residence, so those may be worth checking out too.

I’ve stayed at and had family stay at The Bloomsbury and The Marylebone which are both part of the Doyle Collection and which I regularly recommend to people. Both are nice inside. I’d give The Marylebone the edge for location (though both are central so not a huge difference), and The Bloomsbury the edge for the hotel itself, because of the charming Dalloway Terrace restaurant and the gorgeous Coral Bar. The Bloomsbury Club Bar has lots of ambience too.

In terms of the length of your stay, it really depends on your interests. Personally I don’t think a lifetime is long enough for London, but if you can share more about what you like to do, I can give some more concrete suggestions about the duration and things to see/do.

Hope this helps.

We've done multiple one week trips to London and would go back in a heartbeat, so I don't think 7 days is too long at all, but I'm a city girl who would spend all day every day in museums if I could, so it really just depends on what you enjoy. Although there are plenty of things to do in London that aren't museums too!

I don't have any hotel recommendations (we prefer to rent an apartment in London so we can cook meals), but my "must-see" favorites are the Tower of London, the V&A, Westminster, and the British Museum. Non-museum favorites are taking a boat ride down the Thames, having a picnic lunch in Hyde park, eating in Borough Market, and visiting pubs. Have fun!!

I just don't think it's possible for me to tire of London, and thus I am returning for my 4th visit for 8 days at the end of April. While I have already done many of the top tourist sites, there are 2 that draw me back every trip: The V&A for their always-fabulous special exhibits, and the Tower of London because I love a good visit with the ravens. There's plenty to keep you busy for 7 days, depending on your interests (history? art? museums? shopping?) but there's also many day trips that can easily be made. So far I have done the following:

Edinburgh by train--a VERY long but enjoyable day trip that newbie traveler me later realized would have been better to fly into London, train to Edinburgh and home from there as it's worth much more than 1 day
Windsor Castle, Cambridge and Stonehenge--guided tour
Bletchley Park by train
Brighton by train
Greenwich by DLR and return on the Thames
Highclere Castle & 2 other locations where Downton Abbey was filmed-guided tour

This trip I plan to visit Bath and Canterbury, 2 separate trips via train.

On the Rick Steves Best of London tour, we stayed at The Washington Mayfair, very near the Green Park station on the Piccadilly line. Not sure of current rates, but the location was wonderful.

i am a big fan of the Russel Square area near the British Museum. Its full of gorgeous Georgian terraces and I've stayed at both hostels and 4 star hotels in the area. Its very London to me because of the range of accommodation - all hidden behind the same facades. The location is central to everything via taxi or tube.

The London Elizabeth Hotel is a great hotel in a great location. Across the street from Hyde Park, a two minute walk to Lancaster Gate tube station and an eight minute walk to Paddington Station.

London is a great city which you will enjoy! Is 7 days too many? It depends on your travel style and how often you travel. On our first trip to London we spent 5 nights and that gave us plenty of time to visit the inside of several of the most famous sites such as Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's, the British Musuem, the Tower of London, etc. We also had time to wander the city (including using the tube) to see many other famous landmarks and places. Our hotel was centrally located. Since that trip we have spent a few nights there as part of a larger European trip. IMO, if you take a day trip or 2 then 7 days in London would not be too many. Something else to consider: because London is so large you could change hotels. This will let you experience a different part of the city and eliminate backtracking the entire trip to the same lodging location. For example, back in September we visited Mexico City for the first time. We stayed for 4 nights in the old center and then relocated hotels about 3 miles west to the modern area for 2 nights. It only took us about 2 hours to pack, check out, uber to the new hotel, check in and unpack. When we hit the streets again it seemed like a brand new vacation!!!

7 days is not too long at all. My sister and I did that in 2017 and had a grand time! Incidentally after our BOEE tour this coming June we are planning just 2 full days in London as we want to see The World of Stonehenge Exhibit at the British Museum. We will be staying at the London House Hotel as we have done before as our budget isn't as generous as yours. If the Savoy doesn't work out I would look at the Belgravia or South Kensington areas.

Recommendations - British Museum, British Library, London Walks, Tower of London, HP studio tour, Westminster Abbey w/verger tour, Churchill War Rooms, West End Shows, Hampton Court, St. Pauls, National Gallery, the Globe, Imperial War Museum.

thank-you for all of these amazing ideas! I was able to secure a travel industry rate at the Savoy for 5 nights so now we are planning the other 5 nights! We are going to make the trip 10 days total. I'm wondering about the Fairmont in Egham which is about 1 hour out of London city center, it's a new Fairmont called the Fairmont Windsor Park, set in the countryside. I'm curious if that area might be a nice change from the city center hub? Any other suggestion for our remaining 5 nights would be appreciated! I like the idea of trying another area in London. Thanks again for all of your responses.

Try the Richmond Premiere Inn on Lower Mortlake Road. Both Kew Gardens and The gorgeous Richmond Park are within walking distance of this Premiere Inn.

Richmond is a classy neighborhood. Wonderful shops, restaurants, pubs. Check to see what is scheduled at the Richmond Theatre during your travel dates.

Interesting. The Fairmont Windsor Park looks lovely and it is certainly out in the country, about a 15 -20 minute ride to the town of Windsor. Windsor itself is lovely and there is the Castle and also across the river is Eton College. Windsor is a little over an hour drive to Oxford which is a busy but interesting day trip. In the area there is plenty to interest you, assuming you have a rental car in mind.