Itinerary thoughts….couple days - first time in London

It certainly is doable. We often plan to see many sights, and things just don't always work out. We try to have a Plan B.

You will want to make some reservations at places like the Tower of London.

Is your plan at the end to take a bus organised by the cruise company to Heathrow to a hotel and then visit Windsor? If so, taking the train to Windsor is not the best routing. It can be done but is an awkward and relax slow route. You can get a bus, but unless your Heathrow hotel is right by one of the terminals ( a few are but most are not), then that would require going into and out of Heathrow bus station and will also take time. This is probably onetimewhen getting a cab for the short journey is best.

Have you got Liberty London on your shopping list? It is a wonderful timber frame store on Regent Street (about a couple of miles from Harrods). The inside is even more impressive. Their selection of fabrics is out of this world.

@johnew52 We have a car service that will be picking us up at the port to take us to our hotel. From there (which is on LHR property), we were planning on taking the train over to Windsor.

Just a quick word, because you mention walking by Westminster and then later a tour of Westminster. Westminster has many meanings: it is a large area of London (much of what we think of as the centre of London is the City of Westminster officially). There’s also the Palace of Westminster (where parliament sits) and “Westminster” is often used to mean national politics, in the same way that maybe Capitol Hill is. Then there’s Westminster Cathedral, which is an RC cathedral. Then there’s Westminster Abbey, which I suspect is what you mean. I am not doing this to be pedantic but just to make sure you find yourself at the right place when asking for directions etc.

If I was being really pedantic, I’d point out that absolutely no British person would refer to Buckingham Palace as Buckingham - it sounds to our ears a bit like saying San instead of San Francisco. I doubt if anyone will assume you’re talking about the town of Buckingham to the north of London but it’s one of those things that just marks you out as a tourist! If you want to shorten it, Buck House is occasionally used humorously. But generally, it’s known as Buckingham Palace - both words.

It is doable but the key to enjoying yourselves will be flexibility.

Parliament Square is where the Parliament building, Elizabeth’s Tower ( Big Ben is the bell ) and Westminster Abbey are located.

Double check the Westminster Abbey website for opening hours and to be certain its not closed to the general public for a special event. Go early.

Pre book an entry time for the Churchill War Rooms.
Harrods food halls would be a good meet up for lunch. OR closer to the War Rooms enjoy a pub lunch at The Barley Mow or the Marquis of Granby.
Easy strolls from the War Rooms.

Personally I’d add a visit to Spitalfields massive covered market. I’d also see Leadenhall market after visiting the Tower of London.

Meandering along the Thames River path is always pleasant, especially on a sunny day. You could grab a take away at a Leon or Pret a Manger and grab a bench to watch all the river traffic.

Vibrant city to explore and enjoy.

Harrods is a cool building unless you plan on spending big money there I would walk Regent St, Oxford and Carnaby instead.

After doing the Tower of London and walking over the bridge we walked down the river to the borough market and then to the millennium bridge and over and you could see St Paul’s Cathedral

Just ideas, have fun!

David, Johnew52, wasleys, Claudia & edryer4356 Thank you for your positive feedback. We are definitely planning on getting all our tickets in advance as suggested by the RS book and everyone on this forum and making sure the days we are planning these locations are open. Being our first time in London, we are very excited but don’t want to ‘overbook’ ourselves so that we have time to meander. Very excited to finally be getting back overseas since we haven’t since before 2020!!

One other question I do have, does anyone have a specific site to order tickets for the Tower of London. I saw someone mentioned ‘timed ticket’ options and I have yet to find that specific site…TIA!

It's on the Tower of London website.

https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/#gs.v8bu4b

https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/visit/tickets-and-prices/

That's the official website (Historic Royal Palaces is the charity which has the Tower) and that is the official ticket site.

It is a wonderful place (I'm a member) and a visit can be very rewarding. Try not to rush through.

Thank you! I was on that site, but wasn’t 100% positive it was the ‘official’ site.

For such a short time visiting, do be sure to read up on how to reduce the effects of jet lag. It will allow you to hit the ground running. Practise going to bed earlier and earlier in the week or two leading up to your departure date will help a lot from my experience.

OP as noted by Golden Girl unwise to shorten the name of sites.

It’s Buckingham Palace, not just Buckingham ( which is a town in England).

MI6 building is Secret Intelligence Service headquarters.

Windsor castle is in Windsor.

Big Ben is the bell inside Elizabeth’s Tower.

Westminster is a neighborhood of London where Westminster Abbey is located.

Its the Tower of London not the Tower.