Hi all,
Wanted to share some tips from my recent trip - July 30 - August 4, 2018. Solo female traveler, I planned this to be jammed-packed this might not be a good idea for everyone, I'm very active!
Hotel: Cherry Court on Hugh Street, convenient location to Victoria Station and sight-seeing, quiet at night although maybe some people would prefer more restaurants or entertainment options at night. My flight was through Stansted Airport, I took the Airport Bus Express to Victoria Station, very easy.
Day 1 afternoon: Hop-On, Hop-Off Tour, National Gallery, Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus. The HOHO tour was valid for 24 hours, so I saved the included river cruise for the following day. Grabbed early lunch at Chando's Opera Pub near Trafalgar Square.
Day 2: I had pre-purchased tickets for Tower of London, started there, skipped the lines with tickets. Saw the Crown Jewels first and then Beefeater Tour. Grabbed a sandwich in the cafeteria on my way out and headed for the river cruise, conveniently located. Cruised up the river to Westminster, perfect. Pre-purchased tickets for Westminster, skipped the lines, great audio guide, very strict on no pictures inside. Walked through Convent Garden and grabbed early dinner and then went to see Wicked at night (I bought ticket straight from the theater around 6:00 p.m. for 7:30 p.m. show and had time to shower and change, it was close to my hotel).
Day 3: Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace (make sure you check the schedule!!). Got there at 9:45 a.m. with coffee in hand, glad I got there early, crowds by 11 a.m. were quite large. I bought a ticket to Windsor Castle on my way to Changing of the Guards from the Buckingham Palace ticket office which was open at 9:30 a.m. Walked to Waterloo Station through park, grabbed a sandwich for train to Windsor Castle for the afternoon. Again, pre-paid ticket skipped the lines. Windsor was beautiful and then walked over the bridge to Eaton, not much to see. Had dinner at the restaurant behind the train station, right on the river, I think it was called the Boatman. Train back to London Waterloo, walked though Southbank and over Jubilee Bridge to tube station back to hotel. Beautiful at night.
Day 4: St. Paul's Cathedral - went for opening at 8:30 a.m. although the dome climb/upper galleries do not open until 9:30 a.m. It actually worked out really well - did the audio guide and cathedral tour first and then I was one of the first people up the dome climb at 9:30 before the crowds. After St. Paul's I had a leisurely walk and went back to hotel to change/grab snack and headed to Buckingham Palace State Rooms - pre-paid tickets with reservation time, don't be late. Buckingham Palace was absolutely stunning and I really enjoyed the art. After Buckingham I had time for a late lunch/pub and went to Churchill War Rooms, pre-paid tickets but the line was still a bit long, probably the longest line I stood in. Walked over Westminster Bridge and had a ticket for London Eye at night and then grabbed dinner in Southbank.
Day 5 Morning: Friday morning the Portobello Market was open. Nice to check out if you have time, but it was 30 minutes away from my hotel, so don't go out of your way. And then I headed to the airport.
Big thing - pre-buy your tickets - totally worth the time saving. I feel I missed out on having an afternoon tea and if you want to do it, it seemed like you needed reservations when I inquired. I probably would have booked the Buckingham Palace State Rooms and Changing of the Guard on the same day but I forgot to check the schedule and had already booked the State Room ticket, still was fine though. I bought a Oyster Card and put 20 pounds on it for the week, plenty of money. I took a combination of buses and the tube, although I found the buses a little easier because there were so many bus stops.