We will be visiting London for the first time, arriving Tuesday, February 11, 9:20am. We are two couples, youngish-middle age (lol). We definitely want to see the "don't miss" sights. We are budget travelers but are willing to spend on the things that are worth it. I would love ideas for itineraries. We will get a train to Paris on Thurs., Feb 13th. Thank you in advance. :)
Posted by
Chicago
7837 posts
You could subtract from Ricks 7 day tour of "don't miss" sites under itinerary
https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/england-scotland/london
Posted by
Land of La
8664 posts
When you arrive each of you get an Oyster card. Use the machines. Take the 1 hour tube ride into London.
Choose to stay at a Premiere Inn . County Hall, the one near Victoria Station or the one near St Pancras which would be best so you can catch the Eurostar to Paris. Book NOW.
Use this link to Investigate the 2 for 1 deals which will help you defeat costs. https://www.daysoutguide.co.uk/2for1-london?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIy-iL1qvy5QIVVR6tBh1xwgiMEAAYASAAEgK9yvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
Must see sites are Parliament Square ( remember Elizabeth’s Tower with the Big Ben Bell is in scaffolding till 2021). Westminister Abbey is worth taking the Vergers Tour.
Pre book tickets to the Churchill War Rooms. Arrive at the Tower of London 15 minutes before it opens. Get your tickets and when the gates open head straight to see the Crown Jewels.
You can stroll from Parliament Square thru St James Park to Buckingham Palace.
The majority of Museums are free.
Make a list of your must sees then look at Timeout London online to see opening times, and what is the closest tube station
Posted by
Washington DC
27109 posts
Don't-miss sights are specific to the traveler. That's especially true when the traveler has only 2-1/2 days in a major city like London. Get a guide book and pick your own top sights. A lot of mine are art museums. If you're not interested in art, they aren't must-sees for you. The vast majority of people will recommend Westminster Abbey. I still haven't been inside the Abbey after over 70 nights in London. Maybe I'll go next time; so far, it hasn't been worth the time or money to me.
I made it to the Churchill War Rooms this year and spent hours in the Churchill Museum section of that sight, which I thought was very interesting and informative. For just the war rooms section, I'd have considered the entry fee awfully high.
Make sure you spend you limited time on things that align with your personal interests. In order to avoid spending too much time traveling back and forth, do consider the location of the places you want to see. The Underground is generally an efficient way to move around the city, but if you need to transfer, you may have to do a good bit of walking inside the transfer station, significantly increasing the travel time.
Posted by
Portsmouth
5261 posts
That's an almost impossible question to answer. I'm always amazed at the queues for Madame Tussauds or the London Eye or the obsession with Harrods yet many people would consider them must see's.
Many people love the British Museum (myself included) yet others don't feel the same way. Fortunately for you it's free to enter (but please consider a donation as your free entrance is subsidised by the British taxpayer) so if you don't enjoy it then you'll only be out of pocket for time.
London is absolutely full of things to see and do so your best option is to provide us with your interests, that way the advice can be more specific and valuable.
Posted by
USA
274 posts
I would highly recommend getting a hotel near King's Cross, St Pancras hotel is amazing and offers great afternoon tea, and the next buiding over is the British Library with that Treasure Room that Rick Steves has shown on TV.
I went for the 4th time in April, and did go through all the skill-building process for riding buses etc when I lived there for 2 months, and this time used the Hop On Hop Off buses (had to, there were protestors shutting down the regular routes ). I found that the bus employees who were staffing the HOHO bus stops were REALLY helpful, even if I had tickets for a competing bus line (there are 3 of them), all the employees were really great helpers at every stop.
King's Cross is always a bus stop on those routes, and I also liked how hoho bus was a lot less crowded and I felt like there was a much lower chance of pickpocketing when I bought a higher priced ticket to go exactly where I needed to go.
I like making travel the lowest-stress possible, I have more fun that way. :)
Hope you all have a GREAT time, do lots of homework :)
-Alison