London Itinerary Review

I view your itinerary as being a packed menu of opportunities to digest as time allows. The key being…..as time allows. London offers fabulous experiences gained by simply walking and absorbing the sights/sites, sounds, people and allowing time to select an interesting place to partake a drink/bite to eat. Don’t stress if a glitch creates a schedule deviation. Do note November brings a significant reduction in daylight hours and increased chill with higher probability of rain. Enjoy a great journey!

It’s certainly ambitious. IMO, you can have one or two packed days but you ought to balance it out with a low-key morning the next day. 11/28-30 stand out to me, full days with big, big sights. Something, somewhere has to give. Consider that the weather could be chilly and rainy, which can drain your energy. This is also at the trail end of your trip, so you may already be getting a bit worn. On the bright side, you’ve identified a lot of options, not all of which require advance tickets for. Just food for thought.

Greenwich is a full day on its own. I would not pack St. Paul’s into this day. Personally, while Greenwich was neat and interesting, the Cutty Sark and the observatory were on the whole a bit underwhelming for me. It’s a good London day trip, but mostly if you’ve been through London before.

Churchill War Rooms is a heavy hitter, you’ll want a good break after. I don’t know if I’d have the energy for another big museum and then stay awake for an evening drama.

And on 11/30 you need to drop one of these, probably the walk. Hit British Museum early and with fresh legs. I can see doing the Library after an appropriate break/decompression.

I was very surprised when we went to London in early December with just how busy it was for the Holiday Season. We often had trouble finding a seat or getting a bite to eat at a pub. We even found the whole dining room at the Marquis was booked for an event, stuff like that. Most of these places take reservations, so with a packed itinerary I would plan and reserve ahead. In a pinch, Wagamama is a solid fast casual ramen chain that seems to have locations everywhere.

Steven, we will be traveling from south Texas where the temperatures will still be in the 90s some days in November. The thought of chill winds and rain are delicious, and make fall travel a dream for us. The weather so far hasn't slowed us down! I'm thinking the early sunsets will make Christmas lights more visible! Win, win.

Hi Linda, 12/1 includes wonderful things, but it looks packed to me. You all may have tons of energy, but I’ve been to London my share of times, and day-of (on any of these days) you may hit the wall, so to speak, and think, “I just can’t” to one more London Walk or museum. Knowing that going in, I recommend figuring out which of these are your highest priority and then if there’s something on the list you miss, it might be disappointing but won’t be crushing.

In general, though, you’ve planned to visit/see some great stuff!

As others have said, 12/1. [1/12 in British notation) looks very busy. Also, it gets dark early and I’d aim to see Hampton Court as much during daylight as I could. I’d suggest moving the John Shane’s museum to another day.

I know some activities have to be pre booked but I’d try to keep some flexibility so that you can try to visit places with large outdoor spaces, such as Hampton Court, on a dry day rather than a wet one (you can reasonably expect some of each).

Your itinerary makes me tired just reading it. The British Museum alone will WIPE YOU OUT and you won’t even see 20% of it. That place is the size of a small city.

I suggest having an A, B, and C site for each day. A = can’t miss, would be really upset if I didn’t get to see it. B = I want to go, but not as much as my A site. C = it would be nice to see, but if I’m too tired I won’t be devastated. Some days you’ll get to A, B, and C and other days you’ll slog through A only.

Hi OP! I have to say that I agree 100% with Kelly’d Rather Be Traveling. As she notes, while the British Museum is incredible and amazing, it is VAST. It will also be rammed with people (it pretty much always is) and the pressure of moving upstream through crowds and seeing everything you want to see will make the experience even more fraught.

I’d do exactly as she suggests: make an actual triage list so if you want to stay longer in one place - or just get totally tapped out one day and need to stop - you’ll have fewer regrets about what you did not manage to see.

I would also go back over the itinerary and look realistically at the time needed to build in for travel. Then look again and figure out when you are going to eat. And just catch your breath! And have a little time for wandering, and for serendipity.

Great list of spots - all wonderful. But yes… you may be a tad ambitious. ;-)

I generally agree with what others here have said. I will just add a few thoughts:

-I think most of these days are doable, with a few exceptions:
--On the 28th, Greenwich is definitely a day in itself- I wouldn't plan for much else that day. Especially as the daylight hours will be so short and you want to be there during the day time.
--On the 1st, I wouldn't try to do more than Hampton Court Palace during the day and Kew in the evening
-As others have mentioned, the British Museum is huge but if you are feeling overwhelmed you can take one of the highlights tours. Or just have a look in advance at the map on the website and decide which area interests you the most and stick to that.
-I am glad to hear you are already prepared for what it is like here in November- personally my least favourite month here but I understand if you're used to a different climate this might be a welcome change.
-Pubs are good places to eat tho you may get sick of pub food after so many days. My favourite pubs for eating are Fuller's pubs.
-The Sherlock Holmes Museum is a bit gimmicky but a lot of people seem to like it. It always has huge queues outside but you can book tickets in advance, so would advise doing that if you want to go.
-Not to try to cram more in, but if you do want to visit Wellington Arch I also recommend Apsley House across the street, which is where the Duke of Wellington lived. It even has the china set he stole from Napoleon.
-The Texas Legation site is very small so you can visit that pretty quickly- it's really just a plaque and a very small courtyard. You could have a nice walk thru St James' Park after Churchill War Rooms to go see it.

Good luck with the rest of your planning!