Itinerary plan for London--first trip to London

The Imperial War Museum is a little off the beaten track, the nearest tube is Lambeth North and I would try to fit in a single visit one day (allow 2 - 3 hours at a guess). It’s more WW1 than WW2, although it has a lot of WW2 exhibits. Perhaps do this after the Churchill War Rooms (I’d see 4 hours as the upper estimate of the time to spend here).

You seem very much into WW2. Two other things you might like to think about, although I realise your time is limited, are HMS Belfast - a WW2 navy ship moored near London Bridge. And Chartwell, Churchill”s private home which contains a large of his memorabilia. Not the easiest place by public transport, probably easiest to get a train and then a taxi the last few miles. It’s a large family home rather than a mansion but in a lovely location. Probably take up 3/4 of a day though.

Hampton Court is probably a three-quarter day trip, so that would work with the theatre.

You could potentially combine Tower of London and St Paul’s Cathedral on one busy day if you’re not fussed about breaking for lunch. They’re pretty close. It depends on your tourism style/speed: I’d say TOL is three hours and maybe St Paul’s two.

You’ll struggle to spend four hours at Churchill War Rooms I think unless you’re the type to read every single word on every single item. I’d say more like two hours (but I’m aware I’m fairly speedy).

A pedantic but nonetheless important note on the name “Westminster” - as you seem to be using it in a number of different contexts and it can be confusing. The City of Westminster is the official name for a large part of central London, but “Westminster” is generally used to denote either the specific part of London that’s the seat of government (encompassing parliament [the Palace of Westminster], Whitehall, Downing Street etc) or to mean government (in a similar way to “Capitol Hill.”)

If you are specifically referring to the big historic church, that’s Westminster Abbey and it needs the second word, otherwise - well, hopefully you can see how confusing it can be. There is also a Westminster Cathedral, which is an entirely different church!

For me personally, I don't know if I would spend much more than two hours at any of these sites without needing at least a bit of a break. One thing to flag is that the National Archives are in Kew which is a bit away from most of the tourist areas. It's towards Hampton Court Palace so you could consider combining those into one day (there is a bus that connects them but it takes about an hour) since you will be heading out west.

We spent about 4 hours at Bletchley Park on a Monday in 2023. We signed up for the 1 hour + guided tour on arrival, toured some buildings on our own pre and post tour, grabbed a sandwich at the cafe and had a quick picnic before heading back to London.

This past March I booked entry to Westminster Abbey for 9:30 entry on a Tuesday. After admittance, I immediately signed up for the first Verger tour of the day scheduled at 10:30 lasting about 90 minutes. The next tour was scheduled for 11:00.

If your schedule is tight, I would contact London Walks regarding the actual length of your walk with the scheduled guide. I booked the Sunday Hampstead Village and Heath walk. The office said the guide usually runs about 15 minutes over the scheduled 2 hours. At the start of the walk the guide said his walk is about 2½ hours. It was actually over 2¾ hours. But, of course, you could always leave the walk if you have a scheduling conflict.

We spent three hours each at the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey. In both cases, we booked the first time slots available. For the Tower of London, we went straight to the Crown Jewels upon entering, then backtracked for a Yeoman Warder tour. We could have spent another hour there.

For Westminster Abbey, we queued fifteen minutes before opening, then went straight to the far end of the reception desk upon entering to book our verger tour. We wandered around until the tour began. The verger tour is worth it because you can see the tomb of Edward the Confessor, which is not accessible with a general-entry ticket. Since he founded the place, his tomb is a highlight. We also could have spent another hour here.

The Churchill War Rooms don’t need nearly that much time. With their efficient audioguide, we saw the entire place in an hour and a half. We went to the War Rooms midday and queueing was minimal. We did book a ticket beforehand, though, just as with the previously mentioned sights. You could easily combine the War Rooms with a morning visit to Westminster Abbey, since they are so close.

If you’ll wind up at Embankment Station with time to kill, you could spend some time in Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery, or the National Portrait Gallery. All are nearby. The National Gallery just opened up it’s new Sainsbury Wing, and it’s great.

I agree with Lindsey who says to get in line for Westminster Abbey early. Book the earliest time slot, preferably not on a Saturday. Then get in line early so you are one of the first to get in. Book your Verger tour and then look around until the tour time. Since you got there before the crowds, the side chapels will not be crowded. It was wonderful to be in Henry VII's Lady Chapel with no one else. Don't waste time though, because it will start to get crowded fairly quickly. And enjoy the Verger tour, it is wonderful!

Have been to UK twice and about to go back in a week. London was part of the excursions. All of the above suggestions are good. I will add one thing. May I suggest that you look into the Hop-On-Hop-Off buses (Ho-Ho) to take a look at some of the places you might not want to spend alot of time at, but could get off it you wished. Big Bend/Parlament, Buckinham Place, etc.

We are doing day trips to Windsor, Hampton Court and Bletchley. I'm assuming we would want to be in those places a full day. We will go to one of those places on a Monday in which I have 7:30 pm tickets to see the Operation Mincemeat Musical. Any suggestions on which day trip might be the best to do on the Monday?

Hampton Court Palace. It's the easiest to get to, it's only a 5 minute walk from the train station, and the entire castle can be visited in a couple of hours. The grounds are nice as well, so i would visit the gardens, too, but even adding that doesn't add a lot of time.

Jules, one other thing: since you are visiting both HCP and the Tower of London, I would seriously consider getting a Historic Royal Palaces (HRP) membership as you wil definitely save money. For example, two adult admissions (under 65) to both Hampton Court Palace and the Tower will cost approximately £64 each or £128 for both of you. Getting an HRP membership for 2 adults (living at the same address) is only £95, plus you get 10% off in the cafes and gift shops for any of the named properties. And if you have time, you could also pop into any of the other palaces in HRP at no charge. That's what I did and was so happy I did it, as I saved a decent amount of money.

ETA: One other benefit is that it's good for a year, so if you did go back during that time, you could visit for free.

I did the same as Lindsey and MaryC when I visited Westminster Abbey in March. First time slot and immediately booked a 10:30 Verger Tour. Definitely do the side chapels before your tour, as our Verger skipped them due to crowds.

I do not find the Hop on Hop off buses to be an efficient or cost effective way to "see" the sights of London. A regular London bus fare is only £1.75 (plus daily and weekly caps) and goes everywhere the tourist buses go only faster.

And Mardee is spot on with the HRP membership.

This information is so helpful! The time estimates that many provided is such a help for planning. I'll respond more later, but just a couple things.

I instant messaged the National Archives, and received an immediate response from a live person. He said that most people are spending 45 minutes to about 75 minutes at the MI5 exhibit.

@Mardee, thank you! A couple questions, first, hurrah for me, I turn 65, the day before our trip. You specified the membership for 65 and under. I couldn't find a membership for over 65? Regardless, I would save a few bucks on the membership, by getting the family one. It does have some great benefits, one if I understand correctly, members do not need to reserve ticket times at Hampton Court and the Tower of London which is super handy, the other, as you mentioned we could use if for other palaces.

hurrah for me, I turn 65, the day before our trip. You specified the membership for 65 and under. I couldn't find a membership for over 65?

There isn’t a specific over-65 membership these days. There is just an over-16 adult membership so that’s the one you’ll need. If you check the HRP website membership page, under FAQ it mentions that there are no “concessions” (that’s the word we use in the UK to mean special age-based memberships).

Hey, we are both interested in WWII ! Mainly the British home front for me, but I include some actual battles and war stuff. The last time I was in London, I spent most of a day in the Imperial War Museum and several hours in its reading room library --- it was interesting just to go through the process! I wish I could remember more of it for you, but I had to sit and be instructed on how to ask for materials and how not to damage them. Once I had a seat in the room, I told a librarian what I was interested in and she brought me a stack of books and pamphlets to look at. My interest at that time was learning more about all the rules and regulations that private citizens were supposed to follow, like sugar rationing and how many inches of bath-water and at what age a boy could start wearing long trousers (I was careful not to say "pants"!!!!!). It makes you wonder how much of that sort of detailed and personal restriction Americans would have put up with --- guessing not much. I read a little pamphlet for parents and teachers that made me tear up about how to talk with children about the war they were experiencing. Anyway, I know you only have a week, but this was a pretty cool thing to do!

I love the Churchill War Rooms. The rooms themselves probably can be done in an hour or hour & half. The Churchill Museum which comes up while touring the rooms took me the most time. I probably spent another 1.5 hours in there. I admire Mr. Churchill, have several of his books and have been to Chartwell in Kent as well as Blenheim Palace where he was born. I would say 3 hours is probably the most time you need. For Westminster Abbey, I also recommend first entry and trying to get a ticket for the Verger tour. I'd say an hour then to walk around on your own and more than a 1/2 hour for the Queen's Gallery. Times depend on how much you can put up with massive crowds. For a more relaxed quiet visit to just admire the inside of the building, I suggest Evensong one evening. You're limited to the area where the service is held, but the service and music are wonderful. I usually sit quietly experiencing the service itself and think about the lovely places I've seen that day. I'm glad you are doing a London Walk. I took the one that meets at the Tower Underground stop and takes a boat to Greenwich and returned via the DLR. When I went to the Imperial War Museum there were masses of school groups there and I didn't spend as much time as I would have liked, but the noise level was getting to me. It is a little further away from some of the other sites, but I enjoyed getting there. I think I took the Underground, a bus and walked. Have a wonderful visit to my favorite city.

Planning my own trip to London (again) and found this thread. Jules, one important thing I discovered during my last trip five years ago, it takes longer to go between places than Google Maps or City Mapper suggest. I think it's because of the crowds on the streets, traffic lights and crosswalks, but every time the map said something was a 20-minute walk, it was a 30-minute walk.

Will DM you about a couple of other things!

if you're going to go to St. Paul's Cathedral, I would like to recommend taking the Triforium Tour. It's basically a behind-the-scenes tour where you get to see things not normally open to the regular public, including the library, spiral staircase and Sir Christopher Wren's huge model of the Cathedral. It costs an extra £15 on top of regular admission and you have to reserve decently far in advance. It takes about an hour. Dh and I took the tour in May, and I also took it two years earlier with my daughter, and we all considered it well worth it.

Also, if you consider yourselves decently fit, you might try the climb to the top of the Dome. It's 528 steps up, but there are plenty of stopping places along the way, and it's one-way up and one-way down, so you don't feel pressured to get out of anyone's way. The views from each of the Galleries along the way are incredible.

We arrived at the Cathedral on a Wednesday morning at 10a (opening time), did the climb to the Dome, the Tour at noon, had a bite to eat in the on-site cafe, and did a quick tour of the crypts, and were heading back out by 2p. And we took our time, not rushing.

I saw the exhibit at the National Archives earlier this month. I liked it a lot. As usual, I read essentially every word, so I was there longer than 75 minutes. I bet it was over 2 hours.

I took the Underground and walked from the Kew station to the Archives, stumbling on some lovely, early-20th century houses along the way. They are on 4 blocks fanning out--I think--from the intersection of Defoe Ave and Ruskin Ave. Several people I met in the area filled me in on the historical background. The houses were built in 1904 or 1905. They weren't super expensive at the time, but the construction work was solid. I believe just one of the houses was lost during the war, and the replacement, though obvious, fits in well. The houses are now sought-after and well-maintained. It's a protected area, so there are limits on what sort of work can be done; for instance, replacement windows must be wooden, which really drives up the cost.

The initial buyers were given a catalog of ceramic-tile patterns (for entryway walls), pavement tile patterns (for walkways from sidewalk to house) and stained-glass patterns for the front doors. In many cases an effort was made to match the entryway tile and the stained-glass panels. Although I think the original floor plans were identical, the exterior variations make the area a feast of Art Nouveau details.

I've taken many London Walks, and it's common for them to run a bit long. Not always, but I've come to expect it. They are used to people with tight schedules, so there will be no problem if you need to break away before the tour ends.

Edited to add:

• The Guildhall Art Gallery isn't large and is in the same general part of the city as St. Paul's. It's not terribly far from the Tower of London, either.

• I spent over 4 hours at the Chuchill War Rooms, most of the time in the Churchill Museum section. There's a lot to read there.

• I just took the Westminster at War walking tour this week. I did The Blitz several years ago. I think there will be some overlap--perhaps enough that you'll wish you had chosen a different pair of tours. However, there can be considerable variation in the tours, depending on which guide you get, so you may not hear as much duplication as I did.

@Acraven, thanks for the "recon". I realize it can depend on the guide and you did the Blitz a couple years ago, but did you like one of the tours more than the other? If I drop a walking tour, it does help my scheduling, especially since these tours are midday.

I can't really give you a preference since The Blitz was so long ago. I don't think you'd go far wrong by dropping the one with the least convenient timing.

Ann, I think I will read thru the London Walk descriptions, again.

I've been searching on the web for info on the defoe and ruskin homes. They are row houses, yes? I do love Art Nouveau, and I can see the houses are quite close to the National Archives AND Kew Gardens. Pretty nice location! I was hoping to see some photos of interiors, just for fun, but so far, I'm not coming up with anything. Some of the reading I did, seem to indicate that that particular area was heavily hit by WWII bombing. That the Art Nouveau were spared is fortunate.

jules,

I don't mean to take this off into the wrong direction. But, you mention you love Art Nouveau and I recall you had some questions about Norway recently. Add the beautiful coastal city of Ålesund to your research.

Now, back to London...

I'm in London and so happy to have read this thread to discover the London Walk "The Blitz." I hadn't run across it because I wasn't going to make time for a walk on my free Thursday, but now I am.

Assuming your trip is later this year, I can let you know what I thought.

As you consider timing with your St Paul's visit, there is also the Saving St Paul's exhibit that you could see before the 215pm Blitz Walk - if you're in London between now and October.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/england/free-exhibit-on-those-who-saved-st-paul-s-during-the-blitz

Do you ever use the Rick Steves audio guide walks? Stop number 18 on the London "The City" walk is St Paul's. If you book St Paul's for a Thursday, you could slice in some of the nearby audio guide stops until your 215pm London Blitz Walk, which starts at St Paul's tube.

Another idea is the free Bank of England Museum, a 12 minute walk from St Paul's and no need to book in advance.

ETA: The Bank of England Museum is a 20 minute walk from the Tower and could potentially fill a gap until your afternoon walk.

I spent over 5 hours at Bletchley, as I was really, really interested. I could have spent the entire day - or more! I realize I'm an outlier. My friend had to remind me that we needed to get lunch, which we did in their café.

Thanks Jean, added to my list!

CWSocial, thanks for your thoughts. Somehow, I hadn't read about the Cathedral Garden and its exhibits. Looking forward to your report on "The Blitz"

My only contribution to this thread is that I hope you like Operation Mincemeat as much as I did. I liked it so much I saw it twice during separate trips to London this year.