On a Saturday in April we will be going on the Buckingham Palace Tour at 12:15. Giving it 2 hours?
Then tea at Fortnum and Mason, 2 hours??
We want to then go to Churchill War room. The last time for entry is 5pm. Is 2 hours enough for this as well? It does not say how late they let you stay if we take the 5pm entry spot.
Seems like these 3 things will take up much of our day.
We are going to go back another day and go to Westminster Abbey in the morning.
Thank you for your help.
It would be tough to do all three in one day, especially with a 12:15 start time because this is what it would look like:
12:15-2:15 Buckingham Palace (how long is the tour? Do you want to shop for souvenirs?)
2:15-2:45 exit palace and get to Fortnum & Mason
2:45-4:30 tea (less than 2 hours; no browsing/shopping at the store)
4:30-5 get to Churchill war rooms
5-6 visit war rooms (1 hour only)
I would want to savor the experiences, not rush through them, but everyone has a different travel style and resource limitations.
One possibility is visiting the war rooms before the palace tour?
Have a wonderful trip to a great city!
If I were making your decision on what to do, I wouldn’t put the War Rooms last. It has a vast collection and if there are folks in your party that are interested in really exploring its contents, it would be a shame to rush through. It’s very close to the Abbey. Maybe you could go there afterwards?
I spent more than half a day at the Churchill War Rooms and could have stayed longer. It's an expensive ticket; I wouldn't want to rush through it if interested in the topic. The war rooms don't take long to see; it's the Churchill Museum section that's time-consuming.
Do the Churchill War Rooms on a day you can go first thing in the morning, right when they open. This is because crowds build up in there and these are small rooms, and narrow hallways with low ceilings. The tickets are timed entry, but this does not mean that all visitors exit in a timely manner; some stay a long time and crowds build up.
2 hours may not be enough. I think we were there for 2 1/2 hours.
Do Westminster Abbey right after the War Rooms. It is able to handle crowds, with high ceilings, large open spaces. There's also an excellent lunchroom there, so plan to hit that sometime in your visit. You can wander as you wish in Westminster Abbey, so do a bit before you break for lunch, then do the rest after.
The way you currently have it planned, I think you might be exhausted by 5 PM; too tired to really enjoy the Churchill War Rooms.
Thanks for the guidance on the timing and duration of a visit to Churchill War Museums. I've just booked my 930am (first slot in the morning) ticket for May!
It's great that they show ticket availability for each date and timeslot to help with decision making.
This was such great advice. Thank you all. I am going to rework my schedule.
I think those are all good places to see/experience, but I agree with others saying that it would be rushing to do all 3 in one day. You want to enjoy yourself, not hurry around. There are enough of those in London as it is.
I’m going to throw in some where else to consider seeing if any interest in WW2 history.
Bletchley Park.
https://bletchleypark.org.uk/
I was totally surprised how fascinated I was when visiting. Spent well over three hours. Nice lunch. Excellent staff.
