Westminster Abbey,
Buckingham palace,
St James park,
Tower of London,
Millennium Bridge,
St. Paul’s cathedral,
Sky garden
We will be in London 1 1/2 days. How should we arrange our schedule to do these places? Thank you for your help in advance!
Posted by
Chicagoland
2067 posts
Michelle, welcome. We need more information, please.
Are you wanting inside visits or just a quick peek??? Who is "we"- couple, children, ages ??? What area are you staying in? What time does your first day start- after a transatlantic flight?? When are you traveling?
Posted by
OP
5 posts
Hello and thank you. We’ll be going in the Spring, my husband and I. I’d like to do as much as we can with each place. We’re taking a train in and staying in County Hall area of London.
Posted by
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
5676 posts
Depending on your level of interest the Tower of London could take you all day. We were there in November and was there from 10:30-4:00. Westminster Abbey can be 3-4 hours as well depending on your interest. I highly recommend you buy the additional ticket to the Queen's Gallery if you go.
You'll need a timed ticket for Westminster, so you could plan a walk by Buckingham Palace and St. James Park on your way. I can't help with St Paul's or the Sky Garden. Millennium Bridge is near St Paul's so you could cross over before or after the cathedral. Overall though I think you have too much planned for 1.5 days and may need to cut one of St James, Westminter Abbey or the Tower.
Posted by
London
1227 posts
This might be tricky to fit everything in. I would leave half a day for just Tower Bridge, which you could pair with Sky Garden because it is quick. So maybe:
Day 1
AM:
Buckingham Palace/St James Park (start early and just walk thru the park and see the palace from the outside)
Westminster Abbey (then you can get here around opening time)
PM:
St Paul's Cathedral, and afterwards walk across Millennium Bridge
Day 2
Tower of London
Sky Garden
I recommend booking ahead for all of these (except the ones you don't go inside)- even Sky Garden can be booked ahead. Good luck with your planning!
Posted by
OP
5 posts
Thank you for both so much for these responses. We’re super excited! We’re going to try to do as much of that as we can.
Posted by
London and Chester
249 posts
If you are staying near County Hall you are right by Westminster Bridge.
You could start by walking over the bridge to Westminster Abbey, past the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. You could then walk across St James Park to Buckingham Palace. If you are just looking at the palace from the outside it won't take long.
You could then take the tube from Victoria to St Paul's Cathedral, although it might be a bit tight as last entry to the cathedral is 4pm.
Cat VH's suggestion to do the palace and the park before the abbey opens does make sense if you are happy with an early start and a tiny bit of backtracking.
The Sky Garden is open in the evening so you could tack it on to the end of the day.
Posted by
OP
5 posts
This is great. Thank you so much!
Posted by
Buckinghamshire
464 posts
You should be aware that you can only visit the interior of Buckingham Palace between 9 July and 27 September 2026.
Posted by
Halifax, NS
445 posts
You can buy tickets now to see the East Wing for Buckingham Palace on certain days of the week - Sunday, Monday, Friday and Saturday. You can go as early as this Friday.
https://www.rct.uk/event/east-wing-exclusive-guided-tour-10-2025
Posted by
Los Angeles
1843 posts
For Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's, depending on the day of the week, you could attend the Evensong service at the end of the day for one of them - possibly the one you're less interested in seeing in detail.
Posted by
112 posts
Just returned from a RS London tour (15-21 Feb '26). in addition to the 6 day tour, I arrived 2 whole days earlier to see the art I went to London to see. In these 2 pre-tour days, I had plenty of time to leisurely visit 4 art museums (including 2x to the Nat Gallery). I also experienced/saw lots of London in hours of walking & in Black Cab rides.
During the well organized RS 6 day tour, we walked thru numerous parts of London, rode the Tube, & toured many of the places you list.
I write this at some length as I could not envision only 1 and 1/2 days & try to visit & "see" London. You could spend hours in line just to do the Sky Garden. I suggest you reconsider your time in this terrific city &/or you pare your "must-see" choices to a precious few.
Whatever you do--enjoy. ab
Posted by
OP
5 posts
Thank you to the last of you who replied. I appreciate you taking the time to share your insights and this is so helpful in our planning. It’s a bit overwhelming especially since we have such little time there. And yes we would have loved to spend more time there but unfortunately it did not work out.