London in 3 days, help please!

Instead of focusing on being "efficient", why not select places that interest you the most and really spend time there. With Westminster Abbey, you could go to Evensong at the end of the day. The changing of the guards at BP means you'll stand and see people march in and people march out. That's it. Perhaps get tickets for the Churchill War rooms 2-3 hours BEFORE Evensong as it's so close to the Abbey.

People might tell you to forego a tour of the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club. But if you LOVE tennis and have grown up watching Wimbledon, what a great way to spend 1/2 a day. I'd do it and I have done it. One of the best tours I have ever taken is there. My husband had two quick business trips to London and I went too. I was glad they were short because the exchange rates on both trips were horrific. £1 = $2.15 and £1 = $2.07 Yup, I remember. Now it's £1 = $1.30.

Like I wrote above, you have a fixed amount of time. Pick what really means the most to you and don't rush through it. Really experience it because experiential travel is where wonderful memories are made.

Use Google Maps Satellite Birds Eye View and type in Big Ben London. Then type in the address of your hotel.

You will see that you are within easy walking distance of Buckingham Palace, Parliament Square, Westminster Abbey and the Churchill War Rooms.
So early on your first full day, ( out by 8:30am ) have breakfast and walk over to the Palace. Changing of the Guard is at 10 or 11 and honestly it’s a mosh pit and not worth the time and effort. So if you were out early you could see the Palace and the Queen Victoria statue and then stroll through St James Park back to Parliament Square to Westminster Abbey. Double check their website the night before to be certain opening time. Tour the Abbey.

Then walk out and over to the Churchill War Room and check for any availability. These are timed tickets now. See if there are any for later in the day or first thing the next morning.

Then walk around Parliament Square and across Westminster Bridge ( very crowded) and over to where the London Eye is located. Lots of street vendors, good photo ops of Parliament and a nice short walk along the Thames Path. Then directly in front of the Eye follow the street in land heading to the Waterloo Underground at Waterloo Station. Get your Oyster Cards at the machines. Use your debit cards.

Hop on a Bakerloo Line to Embankment, mind the gap, exit and then take a District or Circle Line Train to Tower Hill. Go to the Tower Of London ticket window and based on what happened with Churchill War Room tickets buy your Tower ticket.

Now you are hungry so walk over Tower Bridge, take the River Path past the Beehive (City Hall) heading towards the HMS Belfast. Walk past it to Hays Galleria. Lots a places to eat there. Enjoy your meal then head towards London Bridge Underground and take a jubilee line train back to Waterloo. Exit and take a Northern Line train to Leicester Square. Exit the station and walk 5 minutes over to the TKTS booth to see if there is some play option you’d might like to see THAT night. You can now look on line regarding available productions.

Back to your room to rest and then dinner and theatre or just dinner.

You can see a lot by grouping sites together and be able to make the most of your 2 days.

Maybe instead of the hop on/hop off bus, do a walking tour. I was just reading this column about various companies: https://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-blogs/best-walking-tour-london/

Thank you all for those suggestions! Now realizing that we will be staying in a great location and several of the sights I want to see will be in easy walking distance. I also love the idea of a walking tour and will check out those websites, and I have decided that I will go ahead and book a tour of the All England Club as I am a huge tennis fan and know it would be interesting and a special memory when I watch the tournament every year. Thanks again!

Unless they've changed the system since last April (certainly possible), timed tickets for the Churchill War Rooms are not sold on site, but only online in advance. If you aren't already holding timed tickets, you have to get in the ticket buyer's line (and when I went, this was long); once you get inside, you buy tickets and immediately enter the rooms.

So, if you do want to see the Churchill War Rooms, either get there at opening time, or get timed tickets before your trip. https://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/churchill-war-rooms#ticket_table_29

And while I firmly believe everyone should do what they want to do rather than what would interest me, on such a short trip, I really recommend against using your very short time in London on a HOHO or a boat ride. London really isn't impressive from afar; it's much better up close, at specific places rather than as a whole. So I really agree with Continental's suggestion; pick a few places that you really want to see and go to them. I'm glad you're seeing Wimbledon - a coworker and her husband (tennis enthusiasts) did this tour and had a great time.

Unless the traffic has miraculously gotten much better in the last 6 months I do not recommend the Hop on gop off bus tour if on a short trip. It is horrendously slow. You won’t see much of London as you wait for the bus and then crawl through traffic.
Take a river boat between The tower and Westminster. Nice views relatively fast (compared to a bus it is really fast) and it often has a live person doing commentary.

I also recommend the Jubilee
at Westminster Abby (newly opened in 18j.

Something you may be able to do with Hubby after work is to take a night/late evening bus tour. That way he can do something. The even /night busses do a fixed circuit leaving and ending at the same place and have a live guide. And being in the evening it gives you a different view of the city. Add in that traffic is MUCH less a problem (it is just really bad. ;) ) and not needing to take time to stop and you see a lot more in a lot less time. So that may be a good option.

Read my post about planned demonstrations in London beginning Monday the 15th ( the day you arrive?). The plan is to disrupt traffic as much as possible, somallow extra time to get to Wimbledon for your All England Tennis Club Tour. If you are late they will not let you join ( we know from sad experience; the taxi driver had trouble finding it and let us off blocks away, somwe were two minutes late).

The train from Waterloo takes 15 m and would be my choice. You can simply walk across Westminster Bridge or the Golden Jubilee Pederstian bridge. From the website, one of the planned locations is Parliament Square, so you will need to detour around that ( hence my suggestion of the pedestrian bridge).

https://rebellion.earth/event/uk-rebellion-shut-down-london/

But of course there may be a knock-on effect on traffic from the protests elsewhere.

Good choice on St. Ermin's. We will be there in May.

For those of you who have been to the Churchill War Rooms...did you find it at all claustrophobic? If one started to feel that way is it easy to exit?

Thanks again!
Nancy

It’s really not claustrophobic! (And I am.). It’s just rooms and hallways without windows. Go!

I have claustrophobia and the War Rooms did not bother me on that account. I did have to limit my time in the room that has the timeline thing you can explore interactively. Fascinating, but the darkness in there started affecting my balance (I suffer from vertigo in certain conditions, like low light).

The changing of the Guard is a crushing bore & a waste of time. Made a mistake & did on our first of 4-5 visits to London and still regret it.

Nearly every street corner in London is of historic interest, but consider these: Westminster Palace (as well as the Abbey), Whitehall, Downing St., the Duke of Wellington's house, and a glance at New Scotland Yard. Then there are the 3 great museums-- Tate for art; the British Museum-- mostly stuff the Brits stole from other countries like the Elgin Marbles, but also things like the original score of The Messiah. Lastly, but really first, there is the V&A. Even though I can't describe it, it is my favorite.

All that said, my favorite thing to do in London is to walk the streets of Chelsea & Bulgravia, which seems to give one a real feel for the city.

To help out kb, from Wikipedia:

The Victoria and Albert Museum in London is the world's largest museum
of applied and decorative arts and design, as well as sculpture,
housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was
founded in 1852 and named after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

For those of you who have been to the Churchill War Rooms...did you
find it at all claustrophobic? If one started to feel that way is it
easy to exit?

I didn't think so. You will have no problem exiting but keep in mind, if you do, you won't be able to return.

As for the advice about the demonstrations tying up the roads, how good this was shared with you in advance. You can take the green District line to Southfields (change at Earl's Court) and either walk the 15 minutes to the AELTC or take a bus.

The War Rooms did not feel at all claustrophobic to me, I was there in 2011 and at that time it was not necessary to get a ticket in advance and it wasn't at all crowded. I must say it was one of the most fascinating places I've ever toured, it really felt as though the war had just ended and they closed it up, and the museum devoted to him was wonderfully done, too. I paired it with Westminster Abbey in the morning for a couple of hours, lunch at a nearby pub, then the War rooms and a couple more sights after that.

kb1942

Bulgravia?

So thankful for all the responses! I am especially glad to know about the planned protest, though hopefully they will be over by the time we arrive. Good to know how to navigate around them if necessary. Still trying to decide what to do on that day of arrival, as once we get settled I will have from about 1:00 PM-5:00PM to do something. Maybe just wander around and follow a bit of Rick's self guided tour, or maybe St. Paul's Cathedral?

So far I have booked my Wimbledon tour for morning of the first full day (very excited!) and plan to do the Churchill War Rooms later that afternoon. I also booked a walking tour with TakeWalks (2nd full day) that will include several of the big sights (Westminster Abbey, Tower of London and jewels, changing of Guard, Trafalgar Square and a boat ride). It is a "spendy" splurge that will take all day, and I could probably do it on my own, but there is something to be said for not having to navigate through an unfamiliar city when alone. The company limits it's all day walk to 15 people, so with a small group I will be more relaxed knowing someone else is in charge of the logistics! I feel like my plan is coming together.
Nancy

Nancy, it sounds like you have a terrific plan. Enjoy!

Well, from 1-5pm you could explore the neighborhood to discover where you’ll be buying your snacks and bottled water, the bank ATM for pounds withdrawal, closest coffee shop and pub.

Personally I’d walk over to the Thames, and across Lambeth bridge to stroll along the Thames Path to the London Eye.

Could then walk across Westminster Bridge and into St James park via Birdcage walk. Walk up to the Palace and back to where ever you’ve chosen to have dinner.

Sky Garden, the Shard and Burough Market are all worth it. Sky Garden requires reservations and books 3 weeks out each Monday. There are some drop ins at certain times on certain days

Ohhh, love the idea of going up to the Sky Garden for cocktails and to watch the sunset! My friend who is there now just posted on FB that she stood in line for 2 hours to ride the Eye....I think I'd much rather get the view from the Sky Garden :)

here's another case of the apartment spammer having yet another go at conning people out of their money. The post just above claiming all things to all people is spam - It contravenes our Community Guidelines and has been reported.

Never follow a link from such a low life