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Itinerary--seem reasonable?

Taking a solo trip to London in September and I have a tentative itinerary but I was wondering if it seems reasonable, if I should move things around or any highlights I might be missing--my main interest is history, particularly Roman history. I will arrive at 6:30 am on September 5th and leave on the 11th for Crete/Santorini trip

Wednesday 5th: arrive, drop off luggage @ Hub by Premier Westminster St James; visit Westminster Abbey, Westminster Palace and Churchill War Rooms/museum

Thursday: Tower of London, St Paul's. Optional National Portrait Gallery if there is time

Friday: Study Day with Andante Travels: Roman London what Lies Beneath (Roman Gallery at Museum of London, Cripplegate Fort and Billingsgate Roman House and Bath etc)

Saturday: Day trip to Stonehenge/Bath OR St. Albans

Sunday: Buckingham Palace State Rooms and Imperial War Museum

Monday: British Museum

Thoughts? I don't expect to be jet-lagged--I conquered Castel Sant'Angelo and the Vatican Museums on my arrival day in Rome previously. Is there a better arrangement of sites or days?

thanks!
Rob

Posted by
401 posts

There are some great Roman ruins outside of London- perhaps that's what you intend to visit at St Albans - Verulamium? Fishbourne is also good. I think your intinaray is perfectly doable. Just depends how much Roman history you want to pack in.

Posted by
3124 posts

If you really want to focus on Roman history, here are a couple of guides to Roman ruins in London that you can see on your own.

http://www.freetoursbyfoot.com/roman-london-ruins/

https://londonist.com/2015/08/where-to-see-roman-london

Some of this will surely overlap with what's covered in your "What Lies Beneath" study day, but FWIW.

Here is information on Roman sites further out. Given your specific interest in Roman ruins, I'd say to omit Stonehenge and use that time & money for a visit to one or more of these destinations. If you zoom in on the map you can see where they are clustered within easy day-trip range of London. http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryMagazine/DestinationsUK/RomanSites/

Naturally given your time constraints you'll want to save Hadrian's Wall and many other northern sites for a future trip.

Posted by
650 posts

It sounds very doable. If your interest is primarily Roman, I'd make Bath the day trip to see the Roman Baths. If at all possible, I'd move your What Lies Beneath tour up earlier in your schedule. That way, you will have a better understanding of what you see during the rest of the trip.