Help with our must see list

You mention soccer (football in the civilized world). There will be no games on when you are there but you can still take stadium tours, although I would not rank a tour of Wembley as a number 1 priority. I would also rate the National Portrait Gallery as being more interesting than the British Library.

In three days in London, you will barely have time to visit all your "1' list, never mind your 2s and 3s. The Harry Potter tour is not in London and takes on average 3.5 hours plus say an hour each way travelling, so 5 hours total. Personally, I would not rate Wembley a must see, but if you want to go, allow an hour's travel in each direction plus 1.5 hours there, so total time (minimum 3.5 hours).

Unless you just want to walk by Parliament, Tower Bridge etc and not actually go in, you will need to prioritise. Tower Bridge is worth doing the full tour, not just walking over it. Many people are disappointed by the Changing of the Guard, but it's a personal thing. I would rate the National Gallery as a 1 and I like the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden.

I think there are nicer parts of the countryside outside London than the over-touristy Cotswolds. Seen one or two Cotswold villages and you have seen 'em all! As I say, it's a personal thing.

June will be less busy than July and the weather should be similar.

Six days is not that much time. I love York, to me it is the quintessential English village but it is a two to three hour train trip from London. You may just want to concentrate on the lower portion of England. I would suggest taking a Mad Max tour of Stonehenge. You get to see Stonehenge (before the crowds set in) as well as have a tour of the Cotswolds and other stone circles. (If you have seen one Cotswold town, you have seen them all). I spent two nights in Bath (the tour leaves from there) and just loved that city. A must is the Roman Baths. There is lots to see in London. Go on the Hop On/Hop Off Bus tours to get a great overview of the city as well as learn the history. I did the Original Bus Tour and took the yellow line. There you have an actual tour guide. (I would ask them a lot of questions) Do an audio tour of the Parliament on a Saturday. The London Eye is also neat. We went at dusk (8ish) when the lines were small. Buy tickets in advance. You will not waste your time waiting in line.

Focus on London with a day trip to Windsor Castle. You already identified quite a few high priority items there. Assume you will be back again to explore more.

I would drop changing of the guards and substitute key ceremony at Tower of London. More intimate, but with all the pomp.

Churchill War rooms would go up to a 1.

Drop York, do Windsor. Consider the FREE SkyGarden instead of the London Eye. Many people say Changing of the Guard is overrated. Hyde Park is a 1 for me, especially in the nice weather... Walk the outer perimeter, it's only 4 miles. If a foodie, consider adding Borough Market during the week, you can try samples of all the foods for free. A London Walk in London is fun, I've done the "2000 years of city history" one, and enjoyed it. Go to the roof of the One New Change shopping centre next to St. Pauls for a nice free view of London, or walk through Regents Park to the top of Primrose Hill, another excellent view. Camden Lock is around 20 mins walk from there along the canal.

I agree, just stay in London and maybe a day trip. We are going next week and have 5 full days, our London list is not as big as yours, and we have a packed schedule!

Kim

Keith is right, you shouldn't feed the squirrels really.

You can feed Tufty - the beautiful, small, compact, cute and endangered red squirrels at the special feeding stations in a few locations around the country where you can view these wonders.

We particularly like Formby Bay north of Liverpool where the National Trust has a reserve for the Red Squirrel.

As this is your first trip it IS ALL about your preferences.

I wouldn't say the Changing of the Guard is over rated but securing a good spot in the height of summer tourism does waste a good portion of a day for a ceremony that last 15 minutes. I'd drop it.

I agree you should investigate reserving for the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London. Been once, returning in November to experience it again. Far more intimate and historical. http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/WhatsOn/theceremonyofthekeys

Also, there are tours of Parliament for you to consider. http://www.parliament.uk/visiting/visiting-and-tours/

I've been to Wembley. Big and modern but I wouldn't waste valuable time taking a tour unless you MUST.

The British Museum is huge so research what you MUST see or you will easily spend a half day there.

For a nice walking day start early at Parliament Square, get your pics of Parliament, Elizabeth's Tower and Big Ben, The Thames, Westminster Abbey, stroll up Birdcage walk through St James Park to Buckingham Palace, walk by in route to Hyde Park corner. Then into Hyde Park to see the Serpentine and continue past the Serpentine into Kensington Gardens, Kensington Palace and the Diana Memorial Playground. Could then catch the tube at Queensway in the Bayswater neighborhood or on the other side of the park Kensington High Street tube.

As noted Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studio is a train ride outside London and it will be a good 6 hour visit including travel time.

You've not referenced visiting any markets. Camden Lock, Borough, Spittafield's and Leaden Hall are all unique. As you are Harry Potter fans you could search for the door to the Leaky Cauldron in Leaden Hall market. The glass covered market is within walking distance of the Tower and St Paul's.

Lastly , by using the satellite imagery of Google Maps you can see how close many of London's must sees are to one another and with the ease of public transport with an Oyster card you can experience a great deal of London in a short amount of time. Great city. Have fun.

I agree with those who've said that with your list, you should drop York. Try not to feel bad about it. Despite living in London for a year and visiting the U.K. many other times, there's lots we haven't seen, not only in the country, but in London, itself.

If you're going to Windsor Castle, why not add Hampton Court Palace? They're near each other, but very different. If you go by boat one way, you'll get glimpses of the lovely English riverside landscape.
The British Museum is dauntingly huge, but defines "world-class." I wonder if there aren't some high-light tours available to help you navigate efficiently through its myriad exhibits.

We saw tons in three days in London. It was fun to ride the Big Red Bus for the hop on hop off. Advice: if you go to Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens, try to rent a bike. It's a big park and we walked because we didn't know about the bike rentals. A good cool off at end of June was the Lady Diana Fountain. We spent about a hour there just talking to various people.

Jenny

Wow so many good suggestions I don't know where to begin!

Overall your advice corresponds remarkably well with what we have heard from others, so this really helps us curtail our list to the sites we really really want to see!

I do have one additional question...my husband is a big soccer (football) fan (hence Wembly stadium and actually this whole trip! We are heading to EuroCup in France after a week in the UK). Are there any other football sites that might be a better use of time?

The tour round Wembley could be good but in many ways it isn't the historic stadium of old but a new ground built on more or less the same footprint. Also Wembley is a fair way out of town and in a quite bleak area of town.

Both Stamford Bridge and Arsenal's new ground are better bets being nearer to the centre of town and are club rather than national stadiums with a more buzzy feel even out of season.

If you are sports fans more generally you could also visit Lord's Cricket ground which is very central, historic and architecturally interesting with an excellent tour which takes in an exceptional sports museum. You might even get to see some of a match.

British museum is tied with Vatican museum as my very favorite museum-I always allow myself 2 half days there whenever I'm in London.-I reach saturation after about 3 hours. I took a highlight tour in Dec 2014 and thought it was more the tour guide's personal highlights-did not cover all the major highlights. Not a fan of Churchill War Rooms(or Changing of the Guard)-I prefer the Imperial War Museum even though it was better before the recent renovation. I've been to London 4 times(lived there 3 weeks once) and still haven't been to York or Bath-hopefully will make it there next time. Have been to Oxford/Cotswolds and would not give them a high priority.

This is how I advise people to attack London with four full days ...
Day 1
Green Park - Buckingham Palace - St James' Park - Horse Guards - Banqueting House - No 10 Downing St - Churchill War Rooms - Westminster Abbey - Houses of Parliament - London Eye
Day 2
Red Bus #15 from Trafalgar Sq to Tower of London - Tower Bridge - St Pauls - Tate Modern - Shakespeare's Globe
Day 3
Trafalgar Square - St Martins in the Field - National Gallery - Portrait Gallery - Covent Garden - Tate Britain or V&A or Natural History Museum
Day 4
Harrods - Hyde Park - Oxford St - Regent St - Piccadilly Circus - British Museum

There are a number of historical artefacts scattered around Wembley, and usually a historic exhibition at the end. During August you can zip wire across the stadium, but not at the times you intend to visit. The other thing to check is whether there are any events on as these can curtail or prevent the tours altogether.

The stadium area itself is rather less bleak now it is surrounded on one side by a shopping & restaurant development.

Following the discussion here this is the itinerary I came up with based on curtailing some of our "must sees" any additional thoughts?

My husband and I (early 30s) will be taking out first trip to London June 2016, prior to moving onto France for EuroCup 2016. I have created a tentative itinerary for our time in England and am open to suggestions. a

Sunday June 19, arrive at Heathrow 12:05PM
Check into hotel and head to Westminster
3:00 (or as quick as we can after getting through heathrow and checking in) Westminster Walk (As outlined by Rick Steves' probably backwards starting at Trafalgar Square ending at Westminster Abbey)
4:30 Walk through St. James Park to walk by Buckingham Palace
5:30 Walk through Hyde Park seeing selected sites from linked walk (http://www.discovertravelandtours.com/uploads/hp_self_guided_walk.pdf)
7:00 Quick to-go dinner and early to bed

Monday June 20, 2016
10:00AM Tower of London
2:00PM Sky Garden for Lunch
3:00PM Saint Paul's Cathedral tour and Evensong
7:00PM Walk along South Bank/Dinner
9:00PM Ceremony of the Keys

Tuesday June 21, 2016
8:30AM Travel to Harry Potter Studio Tour
10:00AM HP Studio Tour
3:00PM British Museum
7:00PM Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Play (Tentative awaiting information end of this month)

Wednesday June 22, 2016
9:30AM Westminster Abbey
2:00PM Windsor Castle
6:00PM Eton High Street

OR
London Walks Oxford/Cotswold

Thursday June 23, 2016
9:00AM Wembley Stadium Tour
2:00PM Churchill War Rooms

Here is where it gets hazy. We checked off everything on our must see list in and around London. Open to suggestions for staying in London, otherwise thinking about going to York.
9:00PM Travel to York

Friday June 24, 2016
All Day York sites

Saturday June 25,
7:00AM Travel from York to London
12:00PM Travel from London Paris

Thanks in advance!

I would suggest that York is a long journey for what is little time on the ground. Stay in London.

Sunday June 19, 2016
Arrive at Heathrow 12:05PM and check-in to hotel
1500 Head to Trafalgar Square
1600 National Gallery (It’s free - check out some of its famous paintings)
1800 Covent Garden for ‘quick to-go’ dinner and early to bed

Monday June 20, 2016
10:00AM Tower of London
2:00PM Sky Garden for Lunch
3:00PM Saint Paul's Cathedral tour and Evensong
7:00PM Walk along South Bank/Dinner
9:00PM Ceremony of the Keys

Tuesday June 21, 2016
8:30AM Travel to Harry Potter Studio Tour
10:00AM HP Studio Tour
3:00PM British Museum
7:00PM Harry Potter and the Cursed Child Play (Tentative awaiting information end of this month)

Wednesday June 22, 2016
1000 Bond St & Green Park
1100 Buckingham Palace for Changing of the Guard - usually every second day so check ahead
1200 St James' Park - Horse Guards - No 10 Downing St
1330 Churchill War Rooms
1500 Westminster Abbey
1700 Houses of Parliament

Thursday June 23, 2016
9:00AM Wembley Stadium Tour
2:00PM Windsor Castle
6:00PM Eton High Street (?? - not sure what you are expecting here)

Friday June 24, 2016
London Walks Oxford/Cotswolds

Saturday June 25, 2016
12:00PM Travel from London Paris

This day seems very rushed...

Monday June 20, 2016
10:00AM Tower of London
2:00PM Sky Garden for Lunch
3:00PM Saint Paul's Cathedral tour and Evensong
7:00PM Walk along South Bank/Dinner
9:00PM Ceremony of the Keys

An hour for lunch and the SkyGarden isn't enough... I've been.

Also walking along the South Bank and dinner in 2 hrs? again, so rushed.

Maybe consider...

Monday June 20, 2016
08:00 Sky Garden for Breakfast, opens at 07:00
Walk to ToL 15-20mins (0.5miles)
10:00 Tower of London, arrive 09:45, get in the queue... head straight for the Crown Jewels to avoid massive queue's later.
Walk to St.P 25-30mins (1.1miles)
2:30PM Saint Paul's Cathedral tour - the last organised tour is at 2:00PM... so I assume you just mean looking around yourself, maybe climb the 528 steps to the Golden Gallery.
5:00-5:45PM Evensong
6:00PM Walk along South Bank/Dinner
9:00PM Ceremony of the Keys, MUST be there by 9:30PM for admittance

If you moved this day to Tuesday, ToL opens at 9:00AM, Breakfast at 7:00AM and would just make everything a little less rushed with one more useable hour.

You're planning everything to the last detail, so will need a backup if the weather is bad, which it could be at any time. It's often nice to just wander about and see where the day takes you... but I'm a planner too, so understand.