London Itinerary Help

Just a couple of little things.

You'll see Tower Bridge if you see the Tower of London. They're right next to each other. Walking a few yards up the river would get you a good photo of Tower Bridge to take home, even if you're not interested in seeing the visitor centre and high walkway that has an admission price.

Even if you're not that interested in palaces, it would be a shame to not see Buckingham Palace on your first visit. I would agree that changing of the guard is more hassle than it's worth with the crowds, but swinging by Buckingham Palace if you're walking in Westminster anyway is something I'd do. It's quite an iconic London sight. St James's Park is close by if you're strolling that way. It's a nice park for the birdlife; pelicans, swans, fancy ducks and geese and parakeets. Horse Guards Parade is nearby too, so you can see mounted guards up close if that interests you. It's on the way to The Churchill War Rooms too.

I've got no interest in Harry Potter, but Leadenhall and Spitalfields is easy to do back to back. They're a short walk apart. Leadenhall would be a ten minute visit for me unless I was stopping for a drink or something to eat. It's not a market with stalls that you can browse. Portobello Market is out west in the opposite direction. Maybe a bit more to keep you entertained? A bit posher. Less hip? More "cute"?

If you like strolling Hyde Park is a good one. It's a big green space and you can include Kensington Gardens in the same stroll.

An alternative if you just want to see the view is The Lookout at 8 Bishopsgate, just near the Sky Garden. It's free, but is just a basic bare room up really high. Easy to combine with Spitalfields and Leadenhall if you're out that way (The City) anyway.

A few suggestions- given your limited time, you could probably take one day trip, bur personally I'd say trying to do Oxford and the Cotswolds join one day is going to be very rushed and not very satisfying. Oxford is a full day in itself. With Downtown Abbey, I'm pretty sure there May opening is limited to bank holidays, so check dates (next year they will be 5th and 26th May). If it's open, there's no need for a tour - it's an easy train trip from London to Newbury plus taxi from Newbury station.

Ride in a black cab. You don't mention which airport you're coming from, but public transport is normally the fastest and cheapest option. If you're coming from Heathrow, a black cab will take far longer than public transport, and will cost about £100+. Maybe take one for a shorter trip within central London instead.

If you're seeing Westminster Abbey and the Churchill War Rooms, you may as well add in St James' Park as it's right next door and it's lovely.

Main advice - don't pack too much in. You'll find plenty to do.

Just a few thoughts. A black cab ride from Heathrow to central London costs anywhere from £61.00 - £114.00, so unless you have a large party (where each individual would have to have a separate ticket for tube or train), you might want to save your cab ride for going back to your hotel after a long day touring.

Big Ben/Houses of Parliament combine easily with a visit to Westminster Abbey. Tower Bridge is right next to the Tower of London and it's free to walk across or watch them raise the bridge to let a ship through, so you can at least get a picture when you visit the Tower of London.

Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park are basically two ends of the same park, so you can easily see both if you'd like.

I love the Cotswolds, but if I were in London for just 5 or 6 days I would skip it as a day trip.

We enjoyed shopping Portabello Market and then wandering through Notting Hill down to Holland Park. These are all relatively close to Kensington Gardens if you are walkers.

We enjoyed a nice lunch in the Darwin at Sky Garden. Pricey, but it was a special occasion and it gave us an opportunity to enjoy the view from our table as well as walk about the garden. Whether you go for a free garden ticket, or a restaurant reservation, do allow plenty of time for going through security like they suggest on the website. It is very much like airport security--everything out of your pockets and walk through the metal detector.

Enjoy planning your trip. I think London is my favorite city.

EDIT--I see my thoughts were running along the same lines as Simon and GerryM!

I would go to Kew Gardens and take the boat from Westminster Pier rather than doing a Thames Tour.

How many nights will you sleep in London?
If you are not a museum person then don’t go. Your itinerary should reflect your interests not others.
If going to Tower of London take-a-peek of Tower Bridge.
Bath is more doable as a day trip from London than the Cotwolds. There’s a direct train from London’s Paddington station to Bath Spa (1h 30m). When taking day trips, you want your mode of transportation to be direct not taking more than two hours.
I wasn’t wowed by St. Paul’s Cathedral but there are some historical pubs in the area: The Black Friar, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese and The Old Bank of England. Make sure once inside you walk around. One of them has a cellar you step down into that is more atmospheric than the seating when you first walk in.
I enjoyed the shopping area Seven Dials.

I didn't see Windsor Castle on this list; which I love! Highclere was a highlight on our most recent visit, but it isn't open until July. I really enjoyed seeing The Royal Mews. Loved Buckingham Palace and the garden tour, but again, I think you are too early. Richmond Great Park is quite interesting if you find yourself in Richmond for Kew Gardens.

Hello, we just returned two days ago. We packed a lot in. We loved the views from Greenwich, when we climbed to the Royal Observatory. We took an Uber boat there and the DLR back. We also bought sandwiches and walked up Primrose Hill for a lovely view. The day we did that, we first walked through The Regent's Park, then wandered through a neighbourhood called St. John's Wood.

We loved Hampton Court Palace, if you're considering a palace. That was a real highlight for us. We also loved the Sir John Soane's Museum, if you're looking for something that is a museum but is a little less museum-ish. The area around it was also nice, with a lovely park nearby.

It did strike, me when we were there, how subjective what one enjoys really is. I was so excited to go to Cambridge, but I ended up being quite disappointed in the fact that there were hordes and hordes of people flowing off of enormous bus tours, taking up the sidewalks so it was difficult to even walk through the town. I was able to appreciate the beauty of the buildings, but in retrospect I wish I had done something else with my day.

I also wish we had left more time to just stroll about. We did listen to great music in The White Lion in Covent Garden and a very entertaining street musician that same day. We had a very good pub dinner at The Ship.

I really enjoyed wandering through Fortnum and Mason, and if you like bookstores, Hatchard's is beside it.

Intel:

Parliament Square consists of the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. Adjacent to one another.

Churchill War Rooms are close by. For example you can walk from Parliament with Elizabeth’s Tower and the Big Ben bell to the War Rooms in 10 minutes. From the War Rooms it’s an easy stroll by St James Park up to the Palace.

The Japanese Gardens in Holland Park are lovely.

Architecture is everywhere. If you want a great look of modern vs ancient AND enjoy a pint and food make your way to the glorious Blackfriar pub across the road from Blackfriars Station.

Can do the same by heading toward the Gherkin ( 30 St Marys Axe ) and the adjacent Leaden Hall Market where if Harry Potter film fans you can view the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron,

Have learned over decades of London stays that the British seem to enjoy naming their skyscrapers. I’ve mentioned the Gherkin but there is also the Cheesegrater (122 Leadenhall Street ), the Can of Ham (60 St Mary’s Axe), the Walkie Talkie Building, ( 20 Fenchurch ), and the Shard ( London Bridge Street).

You might also enjoy taking the tube to Canary Wharf station for a modern POV then find your way to the Regents Park station with the gorgeous green tiles. Old and new dichotomy.

The Isabella Plantation ( Broomfill Entrance) at Richmond Park is very lovely as is Queen Mary’s Rose Garden in Regents Park. Many, many gardens to explore and enjoy in London’s neighborhoods.

Here's a vote for including St. Paul's Cathedral. I think it's spectacular, even if you just see it from the outside. But going inside, and climbing up all three domes, is amazing, in my opinion. It's on the same side of London as the Tower of London, so you might be able to do them on the same day.

A stroll through Hyde Park is worth it, if only because you see Londoners at a more relaxed pace. Normally you don't ever even make eye contact with anyone, let alone interact. They are usually in too much of a hurry to get somewhere (it can take a while to go a relatively short distance).

Your allocation seems somewhat unbalanced to me. Day 1§ is full on with the Tower of London and St Pauls - that day will be full. In contrast there is precious little on days 2 and 3 - both are mostly walk past places. Day 5 is again full on if you intend to go into both Westminster Abbey and the Churchill War Rooms. Day 4 has little in it. Most people seem to be underwhelmed by Kensington Palace. Harrods is really only interesting for fans of ridiculous over consumption.

You talk about dipping into museums but have only included two - the Transport Museum and the V&A. As most museums are free to enter you could easily step into one or two more to see if anything interests you. For example the Science and Natural History museums are right next door to the V&A. You wouldn't want to try and see all 3 in detail but could easily have an hour or so in each, more in any one that takes your interest.

You might want to consider some time in either Hampton Court or Greenwich - both can easily take up a day and for me are more interesting than anything you have on days 2, 3 and 4. Although I've just spotted that you have two day 3s! You can cure some of that by picking up some walking on your arrival day - being out in the fresh air will likely help with getting over jet lag as well.

Portobello Market is best visited on a Saturday, not Friday and you need to go there early in the morning.

On day one, I'm going to assume you listed Leadenhall Market last because you have listed all your lunch spots last. If you don't want to backtrack, then Tower of London and Tower Bridge would be followed by lunch at Leadenhall Market and then St. Paul's. Also, if you have time, considering visiting St. Dunstan in the East, which is located between the Tower and Leadenhall Market. It's a bombed out church that has been turned into a garden. We found it to be a quiet place to breathe between busier sites. If you climb to the top of St. Paul's Cathedral, try out the Whispering Gallery.

Geographically it would make a bit more sense to visit Kensington Gardens between Portobello Market and the Victoria and Albert Museum, but that day looks pretty full as it is. We enjoyed tea at The Orangery in Kensington Gardens one year.

The London Transport Museum looks interesting. We couldn't fit it in last year, so have a marked for a future trip. However be aware that it is not one of the many free museums in London. An annual pass (which seems to be the only type ticket we could find) runs about £24.50.

You have a lot planned, but that's not a bad thing. We tend to get up and out of our room around 9 a.m. and not get back until after 6 p.m., so 7-8 hours of activity including lunch is not too much. We also try to be flexible with our schedule and if we're really enjoying what we're doing we might sacrifice something else in order to stay longer than planned where we are.