London

We need to know what sort of sightseeing/experiences you prefer to answer this question. You could spend 3 weeks in London and not run out of things to do.

Rick lists his top sightseeing suggestions for many major cities on this website. You can find his London favorites here:

https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/england/london -- click on At a Glance

In case you are not aware, many of London's best/largest museums are free. That includes the British Museum, but it is typically very crowded.

Been going to London since 1972. Never bored as it’s always changing, always the same.

What do you enjoy doing when you travel?

A bit difficult offering ideas when you haven’t shared what you like?

Theatre? Museums? Tourist traps? Street Markets? Art Galleries? Music? Foodie? WW2? Parks?

kathryn, I know you've traveled with some very large groups in the past. Are you doing that on this trip? Or is this a smaller group? As the others have pointed out, it would really be helpful if you would let us know how many people are going, the time of year you're going, the interests of the people that are going, and so on.

London really is a wonderful city, and I think you would really enjoy it, but to get the best out of it, more specifics would be helpful.

Thank you all for your replies! Yes, we are the same group, minus 4 travelers. So, this trip is a total of 7 adults and 3 young children.
We want to see the main tourist attractions and the children and parents are troopers, so will go at the same pace for the most part as the adults. :)

So, in order of must sees and what is near each other, what would be your top things/places to see/do in 3 days?
Thanks so much!

There is a 7-day itinerary here on the RS website - you could pick and choose the attractions and activities that appeal to you:

https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/england/london-itinerary

To maximize your short time in London, the RS London guidebook would be invaluable - or the Great Britain book if your visit includes other areas.

Some of our highlights the last trip:
British Museum (spent 2-3 hours and didn't see anywhere near everything)
Tower of London (took us 3-4 hours)
Afternoon tea
Westminster Abbey
Tower Bridge (Kids loved due to glass viewing panels)
Churchill War Rooms (husband #1 location, kids found it meh but didn't hate it)
Parks, we spent a lot of time walking parks and stopping at playgrounds

I generally don't plan more than 2 larger activities in a day, so you're looking at 6 max locations with a few walk by options so you'll have to narrow it down based on what your interests are as there are endless things to do in London. One day could be Tower of London followed by Tower Bridge. Another day British Museum followed by Westminster Abbey ending in a park. 3rd day Churchill War Rooms, afternoon tea, walking parks with a stroll past Buckingham Palace.

With your group, definitely Tower of London - and take your time here for the kids to absorb things. British Museum. For the kids I would go to the Science Museum out in South Kensington.

https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk

I would not recommend the Churchill War Rooms with small children. The corridors down there are cramped and honestly they will be bored. IF the adults decide this is something they want to do, have a couple of people take the kids across the street to St James's Park to look at the ducks or something.

Did you get accommodations worked out for the Isle of Man event?

I know your time is limited and this is kind of niche but — if you have any penguin lovers among the kids or adults, or general animal enthusiasts, I can highly recommend the London Zoo, aka Zoological Society London (ZSL). The Penguin Beach exhibit is one of the best I’ve seen (I am a penguin fan). The design has some nice natural elements and you can get up close and personal. Great for little kids. The zoo is in the north end of The Regent’s Park which itself is worth a stroll for anyone needing a nature break.

Day 1: Parliament Square ( Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Churchill War Rooms, Horseguards Parade, Westminster Abbey.) Admission tix needed for the Abbey and War Room. Check Horseguards website for when the riders leave for the Changing of the Guard at the Palace. If not exhausted book a theatre performance

Day 2: Boat or tube to Greenwich. Royal Observatory and a great POV of London. Definitely see what’s on at the Old Naval College.
From there walk under the river via the Greenwich foot path and make your way to Mudchute Farm. Get lunch. Boat or tube back to your accomodation. Have dinner in the neighborhood where you are staying. Look for a place to have coffee the next morning.

Day 3: After breakfast use the tube to head towards one of London’s street markets. For example Borough, or Camden Locke, or Maltby or Portobello road or Brick Lane. OR If walkers and you want to experience nature you could tube to Finsbury station. Exit and turn left. Stroll up to Stroud Green road and turn left. Walk under all the rail tracks about 1.5 blocks. Pass Nando’s and grab coffee and a pastry at N4 Coffee Fruit. Great coffee. Exit and follow Upper Tollington Park 2 blocks to the Parkland walk. Follow it to Crouch End or stay on it up to Highgate.

OR tube to Holborn and depending on interests visit either the Sir John Sloane Museum or thr Hunterian Museum. Vastly different. From either walk to the Seven Stars pub to meet the pub cat and enjoy some pasta.

OR visit The Towet of London.

It’s a fabulous international city. Lots to explore and experience. Do some research.

In addition to the suggestions above to do some more research about activities, make sure you look into the various transportation options for London. If you plan to take the tube or bus, each adult and maybe some of the kids will need their own way to pay (either contactless credit card or buying an Oyster card or tickets). Depending on where you stay, you may have a distance to get to things. Buses will probably be easier with children as some of the tube stations have a lot of stairs and walking.

Is this the same trip as the Isle of Mann TT trip (with an even larger group of 25) in June or is this replacing it?
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/isle-of-mann-tt-races

In any case, I'm thinking that the children with you may be as young as 2? While I know your tribe has successfully traveled with them when they were even younger, there are some London attractions/activities I'd personally skip, such as the War Rooms and Changing of the Guards.

But what about the other adults in the group? "We want to see the main tourist attractions" or "top things/places to see" is still really vague and very much up to personal preferences. It would be helpful if the other adults would get guidebooks and come up with their own wish-to-see lists for compiling with the greater group. Very kindly but this same vagueness has been sort of a theme with your other large-group trips with very young children, and one person's "top thing" may not be another's.

Not meant to be a criticism at all but for us to be most helpful, making your own rough list. along with your family, and then asking for input might be a much more productive approach. In addition to guidebooks, there is a wealth of information on the forum regarding places/activities other travelers have enjoyed. For instance, here's a thread around taking young folks to the Tower, which I'd do even if a 2 year-old is a bit TOO young to get a great deal out of most London attractions. It's too important a piece of the city's history to miss, IMHO.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/england/tower-of-london-for-young-children

Others:
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/england/trip-report-family-friendly-london-recommendations
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/england/ideas-for-london-based-trip-in-july-with-young-kids\
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/england/first-time-london-w-young-kids-is-this-a-good-itinerary

A search will turn up additional discussions that could be helpful! There will be suggestions in many to pick-and-choose from for things that will appeal to more than just the kids. :O)

Day 3: After breakfast use the tube to head towards one of London’s street markets. For example Borough, or Camden Locke, or Maltby or Portobello road or Brick Lane.

While I love the markets, I'm not sure that I would go there with a large group and especially very young children. At least Borough Market, which is usually extremely crowded. If you did go, I would do as Claudia suggested and go right after breakfast before the crowds come. And try to avoid going on Saturday and Sunday.

Really what I would probably do is sit down with my group and talk to them to find out what they are interested in. Give them a list of the top sights of London like Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London, St. Paul's Cathedral, Hyde Park, V&A Museum, etc, and ask them to choose the ones they are most interested in. With only three days you won't be able to see everything as I'm sure you know.

Also Buckingham Palace, but not the tour of the inside, just the outside and possibly the Horse Guard Parade, which is much less crowded than the Changing of the Guards and is just as inspiring. It would be lots of fun for the kids to see the horses.

I would skip the British Museum as it is almost always crowded and the kids wouldn't get that much out of it. It would probably be a bit overwhelming for them. I took two of my grandkids who were 11 and 15 at the time. While they liked it ,they were glad to leave when we did.

One thing you might consider, which would probably be fun for everyone, is to have the quintessential British afternoon tea. It can be a lot of fun for all. There are a number of places that offer tea, some much more expensive than others, so it would pay to price them out. Here is a link to a number of posts here on the forum that discuss London afternoon tea establishments. https://search.ricksteves.com/?button=&date_range=2y&filter=Travel+Forum&query=afternoon+tea+london

Your group also might like to go up to the top of the Sky Garden where you can book free tickets to have an incredible view of the whole city. You do need to book ahead but there is no charge unlike some of the other places like The Shard .

Go to the website “vistacity” and it will show you options

Some markets are busier on some days and possibly not even open 7 days a week, so timing is key for a market visit. I agree with Mardee about the risk of crowds. On busy days at Borough Market (which is basically a food market), I fear you will not be able to keep your group together. It can be a mosh pit. Parts of Camden Market (with a wide variety of goods on sale) were very busy when I was there pre-pandemic though not quite as bad as Borough Market.

Maybe a short boat ride would be a nice break from walking around. There are boats on the Thames and (possibly more expensive) boats on the canal in Little Venice.