How to "attack" a new city like London.

Depends on how much time we've got. In all our travels, excluding cruise excursions, we've only done one city tour. That was a HOHO bus in London on our first visit. We usually start by researching our stays well in advance to identify sites or experiences that we are interested in. Plot them out on a map. Then we generally visit them by geographical area to avoid needlessly running around.

The thing I like about Rick's books is that he often provides a rough itinerary that you can adjust as needed, and these often include a walking tour in the historic city center. We'll usually do that on our first day. In London we do his Westminster walk.

I agree with CJean, the Rick Steves London book has several different itineraries depending on how many days you have to sight see. I like to start with Westminister Abby & Big Ben for the morning then head to Trafalgar Square and see the National Gallery and have lunch at the St. Mark on the Meadow church. Next day I would hit the Tower in the morning and have lunch there and then head to the British Museum in the afternoon. From this point on you can just keep adding as much as you have days for. Hope you have a great trip!

(the tube makes it easy to get around in London)

Of all the words in the English language attack is one of the most inappropriate. Perhaps you mean tackle?

I'm traveling next month with 3 people who have not been to London. Well, my brother went in 1976 and my SIL's sis went in about the same time frame, lol. Both say they don't remember a thing so it's like 3 newbies.

What I'm doing with them is getting some walking in the first 2 days as this is how I do a new city on my own.

Arrival day - We'll walk from our hotel to Green Park (want to show my brother the RAF Bomber Command Memorial), then work our way around in front of Buckingham Palace and then thru St James's Park and back to the hotel. This gets us out in the sunshine (hope for sun!), green spaces, some flowers and some London scenery.

Full day 1 - We'll walk back to Wellington Barracks area to see the Changing of the Guard form up, then on to the Horse Guards and Trafalgar Square. We'll do the National Gallery this afternoon, then if folks still have energy will walk them to either Covent Garden or Piccadilly Square and ride the Tube back.

I'm not big on bus tours altho I have done them. The first time we went to Rome I booked a VIP airport pick up and tour that included an hour's worth of sightseeing. I mistakenly thought that would help us get oriented. It did not, mostly because of the crazy one way streets making it seem like we were driving in circles (which we probably were, hahah). It was extremely difficult to find our way back to some of the sights that looked interesting.

I do better studying a paper map, looking at where the walking tours go (either Rick's free ones or other suggestions online) and then heading out on foot. For myself this give me a better feel for the location.

Excellent question, maybe hard to pin down exactly. I consider efficient strategies I'll wager others would consider skeptically, but that's just me. On a first visit solo to London in late March some years ago I was lucky to stay in a very nice 2-bedroom flat with a couple from my neighborhood, during their working sabbatical. Loved the Islington location and I had my Time Out, various and sundry brochures, guidebooks and other paraphernalia from which during morning breakfast i would peruse, consider and happily map out the day's options. My time was my own and though it was not a long stay I sure made good use of my time going hither and yon in one of the world's greatest cities. I took in the theatre, museumed myself crazy (but in a good way) did a few London Walks and ate at a variety of establishments with recommendations from the friends and doing my own online reviews searches. Key to my system is morning coffee and a carb of some sort, sipping and munching during the early morning planning. It. Was. Fantabulous.

And, I know you mean a "new" city to you. London's kinda old ... :-)

Start with how many days you have and what interests you, not what others consider “must sees”.

For more compact cities than London, I start with a walking tour, but walking tours in London only cover a small part of the city. I geographically group together places that I want to see to avoid too much time in transit between sights.

Unless something requires advance booking, I have a lose itinerary so that days can be switched around depending on the weather and what I feel like on a particular day. I leave flexibility in my itineraries, as there is always something unexpected to see.

Museums - what interests you? They are good for rainy days and many in London are free, but I wouldn’t bother in the summer, as I don’t want to be indoors when the weather is good, but you may have a different opinion.

Perhaps "attack" in that context is an Americanism. I've used the term myself, probably on this forum within the last few days. We refer to "attacking" a project, too.

I agree about plotting targets on a map and seeing what fits together, geographically. I do not plot a day-by-day itinerary ahead of time, partly due to not knowing how much time I'll want to spend at each place and partly because I like to react appropriately to the weather. Therefore, for visits to major cities like London, I prepare a calendar grid showing which sights are closed or are open late each day; I also include targets with limited schedules, like markets. That way, I can make reasonably intelligent decisions on the fly with all the pertinent information at my fingertips. If I had pre-booked anything, I would include that information as well.

It is prudent to try to get to your very top destinations early in your visit, because stuff happens, and it's a bit disappointing if you end up missing your #2 or #3 priority after seeing #8 and #10. This may be a greater risk in London than in many other cities, because there are a lot of very good, very large museums. I believe the Tower of London is time-consuming as well. The likelihood is that you won't have time for all the places you think you can fit in. At least I didn't.

I like walking tours (guided or self-directed) a lot, but I don't care for wide-ranging introductory bus tours that cover broad areas that I'll just have to go back to on my own, since the tours virtually never take you inside any buildings. Since my walking tours are neighborhood-focused, I feel no particular urgency to fit them into Day 1 or Day 2.

I agree about plotting targets on a map and seeing what fits together,
geographically.

We do that too. I've found that a divide-and-conquer strategy is most efficient so that we're not running from one side of a city to another on the same day. Grouping sightseeing by area cuts the amount of travel time from one attraction to another to a minimum. Then I note which days of the week we can do each area based on when the desired attractions are open, and then shuffle those days when we get there based on weather. If it's an area that involves a lot of outdoor sightseeing, then we'll chose a nice day for that, if possible, and a rainy one for museums and indoor stuff.

If a city stay is a short one of just a couple of days, then one has to be more selective with the must-do list and take whatever weather the Thunder, Rain, Wind or Snow gods throw at you! :O)

With a title like that, you'll be on a NSA watch list for sure. Hope you don't get no fly listed.

Thanks Everybody! Planning a 3 week Europe trip can be a bit overwhelming at times.
But every bit of information helps! We plan on doing some kind of intro tour as soon as we get there.
I really like the suggestion of getting a map and breaking down each city in small sections to not waste time traveling.

I am hoping your subject header does not get us all in trouble, but here's my advice:

• Get a guidebook and a map (or use the free tourist maps available in London).
• Figure out the sights you really want to see, what's above and below the line of "must" and "would like to" see.
• Factor is geographical proximity to determine what makes sense to visit together.
• Figure two major sites per day.
• Learn the tube routes.
• Don't assume you need a tour, Rick's book lists great walks and bus lines that will allow you to see stuff above ground.
• Don't be excessively goal oriented. You could spend a month in London and not see it all. Assume you will return, as Rick says.
• If applicable, book tickets in advance. Last time I was in London was five years ago in May, we did not visit any sights where that was required at the time.

Change that the tackle.

I would check the weather forecast first and try to do museums etc. on any days when rain is forecast. What would be crazy is to start doing museums /indoor places during fine weather only to end up seeing the outdoor sights during bad weather.

Your use of "attack" interest in "efficient" travel and mention of being "pressed for time" makes me wonder if you're going to attempt to cover too much. Try to remember that it's a holiday, not an episode of the Great Race!

The other danger with a busy itinerary is that you may get to see lots of 'things' but have no time to engage with people which, for me, is one of the most enjoyable aspects of travel. I would much rather spend an hour talking to an interesting local than tick another sight off a list.

I agree with CJean: Rick Steves can help you with your plan of attack. His London guide outlines sites by importance. While “importance” is relative to the traveler, it is a starting place. For example, you can take his Westminster Walk the first morning, pop into the Churchill Cabinet Rooms, maybe hit the Abbey, all in a close geographical area. That would be a full day for us, along with a pub lunch, of course.

Then you could do a day centered on the Tower of London, walk across Tower Bridge, and then see some of Southwark. Another day could be Greenwich.

Maybe we could just explore a new city, no?

Lol I know what the OP means by “attack.” I use a similar term when I say I am planning my “assault” on Disney World with kids, haha! It’s really in terms of a place that you know involves lots of all-day walking that wears you out but it’s still awesome!

For big cities I first read a guidebook - it really helps condense all the info into a manageable chunk. I decide my top sights and then organize by geography. I cross-check TripAdvisor etc. to make sure I haven’t missed anything. I rarely do tours or HOHOs—I usually just “jump in” and start. I will say I am always on limited time when I travel so something like a formal city tour before I start my sights usually would take up too much time. I do extensive map reading and transportation planning before go for orientation purposes.

We are spending 3 days in Murren, Switzerland and 3 days in the Florence area. In between our itinerary is kinda rushed.

You can no longer just "pop into the Churchill Cabinet Rooms". They now require a timed entry ticket. Yes, they say they have same day tickets available, but the last time I checked their website, and it is not even tourist season yet, they posted that they were completely sold out for the next few days.

I just returned from London today....

I still haven't seen everything I want to see and I've been going to London for years. Be careful with "efficiency". Don't rush through and miss out on the experience of enjoying where you are visiting.