London itinerary advice for Oct 6, 7, 8

Then to the three museums, Science, Natural History and Victoria Albert, for the rest of the day until the museums close. For Day One is this too much to do?

Yes. Try to limit to one museum per day - London is way more than a colllection of museums. Spend more time walking around - the parks, the Queen's walk along the South Bank, etc.

If you are an adult from the US, I would skip the Science and Natural History Museums(and that advice comes from a former high school science teacher who loves museums!) because they are not significantly better than some in the US. On the other hand, I would give the better part of a day to the British Museum or even go on two separate days because there is nothing in the US that can compare with the Rosetta Stone and Elgin Marble and there is much more to see. Your Day 6 is ludicrous. WA and Churchill will take a lot of time. On Day 3, you should see more of the Tower than just the Crown Jewels.

Your day two and day three are possible logistically. I am curious to see how you built in eating lunch during your schedule. For day two, after the British Museum, it is a short walk to Neils Yard and Seven Dials and then have a very nice food hall. For more interesting choice, we love the Barbary for North African food cooked over live fire from the front row seat at the bar. It is crowded in the evening, but possible at lunch. You can add a nice lunch in that area without disrupting your schedule of sightseeing too much.

For day three, there is more to see at the Tower of London than the jewels. I would highly recommend at least adding the Yeoman guard tour and if time going to the White Tower and visit the Ravens. You can then have lunch at Spitalfields (tons of great options) or if you are interested in curry, Brick Lane is just 10 minute walk. At Spitalfields, they have my favorite food which Humble Crumble, a modern take on the classic British war time food.

It is your day one that is going to be a logistical challenge. Westminster, if you run through it takes about an hour. The Churchill War Museum deserves at least 90 minutes and with a stop for lunch, you are getting to the South Kensington area around 2.-2:30 p.m. That leaves you little time to visit all three museums. My favorite museum in London is the V&A and if you are short on time, would recommend taking one of their free introductory tours. You may be able to go across the street and spend time at the Natural History museum. This is one day that you may want to back off on the number of museums and visit just one based on your interests.

Thank you all for the replies. We do plan on touring the Tower of London as well as viewing the jewels, I reworded the text. I'll do some adjustments on the Natural, Science and V&A museums. We are arriving fairly early that Monday, so may be able to do something before things close for the day. If I cut back on the 3 museums-Id pick the V&A museum to visit and drop the other two-Science and Natural History. Still adjusting and moving stuff around.
But we will also have the morning of the day we are leaving to add something that we missed for lack of time. We dont have any specific time to leave London that day, probably early afternoon, as we are headed down to Southampton to stay a week with friends.

I think your day 2 and 3 sound nice and don't require any changes. For day 1, you definitely can't fit in all of that. I would drop all the South Kensington museums as both Westminster Abbey and the war rooms have plenty to keep you occupied. If you have some time on that last day then I would visit the V&A.

Day one is impossible as it stands.
Science and Natural History Museums are all very similar the world over. The Victoria and Albert is unique and you could spend days in there. If you do decide to visit the V and A have a plan before you go of what you would like to see.

As you are in Westminster on day one I suggest visiting one of the art galleries on Trafalgar Square. Both the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery are excellent.

Day 1 is insane.

Where are you traveling from to London?

Jet lag will be involved.

The Abbey opens at 9:30am.

Have you investigated London Walks? www.walks.com? I take one each London visit.

Have you researched the Nat’l Rail 2 for 1 offers?

On 7 October, for reference Westminster Abbey closes at 1pm for a live radio broadcast of Choral Evensong at 3pm.

Day One sounds far too busy. Westminster Abbey and the Churchill rooms both deserve a few hours each.

For your day including the Tower of London I recommend the Tower as your first stop, so that you can see thr Crown Jewels and then do a Yeoman Warder tour.

Ok, how about this:
Tues Oct 6 Day One: Arrive early at opening for Westminster Abbey, then to the Churchill War Museum and then on to the RS Westminster Walk to Trafalgar Square. Hang out on the square for awhile or if there is still time, tour the National Gallery, since its very close to the square.

Wed Oct 7 Day Two: Arrive early at opening for British Museum then if there is time remaining before the V&A Museum closes, take a tube ride to the V&A museum. (At this point we’ll probably skip the Science and Natural History Museums, save them for another trip)

Thurs Oct 8 Day Three: Arrive early at opening for Tower of London. (We plan on viewing the jewels as well as touring the Tower), then to Spitalfields Market Food Court. Then to St Paul’s.

We still have the morning of Fri Oct 9 free before we catch a ride to Southampton in the afternoon. So may be able to do something at that time.

We are looking into the National Rail 2 for 1 offers as well as the 'walks'
Thanks for the replies, this helps...

You clearly enjoy museums, but based on your schedule you don't linger at them. For context, we spent about 3 hours at Westminster Abbey which included the Queen’s Galleries, and 6 hours at the Tower of London. I felt rushed at Westminter to do it in 3, but 6 hours at the Tower felt right.

Westminster Abbey was extremely crowded when I arrived at noon a week ago. I had read here that it's more crowded in the morning... I had to work hard to see everything before the 4:30 PM closing time. YMMV; I am not at all religious but very interested in the decorative elements in grand churches. Note that after you leave the nave, there are still things to see on the way to the exit. You should not plan to rush through the Abbey because it will not be physically possible to do so. Until around 3 or 3:30 PM or so (when it did get better) it looked like the Vatican Museums in terms of packed bodies.

I spent over half a day at the Churchill War Rooms a few years ago (pre-COVID). It was the Churchill Museum that took most of the time. You need to buy this (time-specific) ticket ahead of time, because the ticket-buying line can be significant and the CWR sometimes sell out. This is a problem with your schedule, because it's difficult to know when you'll be ready to leave the Abbey.

The V&A is a magnificent and huge museum. It accommodates large numbers of visitors relatively well (much better than the British Museum), but the jewelry exhibit will be very crowded unless you arrive at the museum at opening time and go straight to the jewelry section--which doesn't fit into your plans. Jewelry is small, so you have to be able to get very close to display cases to see the itmes and read about them. If this isn't a strong interest, I wouldn't target this area for a mid-day visit. The V&A building isn't easy to navigate. You often have to take substantial detours to get from Point A to Point B. Examining the floorplan online ahead of time to pick out the areas of most interest and figure out a logical route will be helpful. Check the website before your visit for announced closures of specific sections and adjust your plans accordingly.

The first floor of the British Museum is packed until rather late in the afternoon. The second floor isn't quite as bad but will probably still seem crowded except by comparison to the first floor. As with the V&A, it takes multiple days to see the whole thing. Check the museum's website and identify your top priorities. I've taken London Walks' British Museum tour and it is fine, but there's nothing the tour guide can do about the crowds. I don't know what the presence of the Bayeux Tapestry will do to visitor flow at the museum. For others with impending visits: I recommend a Friday visit because the museum stays open until 8 PM (they do start clearing people out before then), and the last few hours tend to be much, much less crowded. However, in my experience there is no food available after about 3:30 PM, even on Friday.

Three days (or 3-1/2 days) isn't long for London. You will certainly want to return. I'd recommend taking the time to fully enjoy the places you choose to visit rather than rushing through them and perhaps feeling you need to go back to the same places on your next trip.