London walks tour and itinerary

The walks - pick which topic appeals to YOU the most. WE are not on the walk!

Windsor Castle - a round trip from central London by train including seeing the Castle will be about 6 hours door to door. That doesn’t leave much time to see much else. “Abbey” - do you mean Westminster Abbey? A late tour here would be possible after Windsor.

“Churchill”. Do you mean Churchill War Rooms or a visit to Chartwell, Churchill’s home? You may struggle to fit either in on the same day as Windsor.

By “Harry Potter”, do you mean the studios out near Watford? Most take 3+ hours at the studio plus it will take you 3 hours door to door for the trip out to Leavesden.

If you travel well and are flying into Heathrow with an early arrival, you could see Windsor as soon as you arrive, as Heathrow is not too far away. It wouldn’t be something that I would want to do, but if time is tight ......

You don’t need a London Walks tour to see the Tower of London. The best way to visit is to turn up when it opens, buy your ticket, see the Crown Jewels then join one of the free Yeoman Warders tours that the Tower itself provides.

I don’t think you have time for Harry Potter studios, if that’s what you mean - it’s some way outside of London and would be at least a half-day visit. Importantly, you absolutely MUST pre-book it. You cannot decide on the day. It books up weeks/months in advance.

Windsor Castle is at least half a day as it’s also some distance outside of London.

The Churchill War Rooms needs pre-booking as it’s extremely popular now.

Westminster Abbey generally has a queue to get in. I think you can pre-book.

You could also look at St Paul’s Cathedral, which never seems to have the same length of queue.

Are you interested in any of London’s great free museums? Or shopping at markets? Or just watching the street life? A walk along the South Bank is well worth doing.

Hi. We took six London Walks. We did not take Hello London but we did take the Tower of London Walk. It was FABULOUS and we considered it the best out of all the walks that we took. Most of the tour took place outside of the walls with all kinds of history and stories. We paid for the tour and she bought our entrance tickets and took us inside for some more info/viewing. When the tour was over we were free to view the Crown Jewels and wander the grounds.

Monday plans look way too full, but you could try to get 2/3. What else are you missing? A million things! No way to see them all. People return again and again to London, seeing new things every time. Just hope you make it back there.

Monday - Windsor Castle, abbey and Churchill . Is this too much?

Yes. Windsor is outside London and will take a huge bite out of your date - assuming that you want to actually go in and tour Windsor Castle.

As has been discussed above, Westminster Abbey and the Churchill War Rooms are located close to each other, so that's a good grouping for your schedule. Advance ticketing is highly recommended (probably a "must") for the War Rooms.

I've read that advance ticketing is very helpful for Windsor Castle. I think you can search this forum for advice about that.

Be sure that Westminster Abbey and Windsor Castle are open to visitors on the day(s) you plan to visit. They are both working venues and are occasionally closed to visitors in whole or in part. Their websites should have up to date information as well as ticket information. Windsor Castle here: https://www.rct.uk/visit/windsorcastle and Westminster Abbey here: https://www.westminster-abbey.org/visit-us/ . The Windsor Castle website already shows specific dates in 2019 when either the entire Castle or parts of it are closed to visitors.

Is this in conjunction with an Italian trip in June, with 2 adults and 2 teens?

If so, is it on the way or on the way back? You energy levels will vary depending.

Good news if the June trip - the days are at their longest, and while North Americans will be out of school most of the Europeans won't be yet, so won't be flooding the Harry Potter studios - you may still be able to get tickets.

The Harry Potter Studios is easy to get to by train from Euston Station and connecting knight bus - you don't need to buy an overpriced and very slow bus trip from central London.

Thank you so much. You guys are very helpful.
Yes, this is after Italy. We get there at 7pm, so don’t think I can do anything but rest.

So I see that Windsor is a whole day affair. Should I do this on a weekend or weekday?

Yes, I meant Churchill war rooms. I’m glad I can do this together on same day. How many hours for each place? So I can reserve accordingly?

The Harry Potter Wb tour sounds neat but don’t know yet. I have time. This trip is at the end of June.

Also can we fit walk along south banks after Windsor Castle

If you are a big Harry Potter fan, you might want to prioritize the Studios over the Tower of London. T of L is an iconic site but HP is really good-and I'm not a HP fan. My 22 yr old daughter has been to both and I'm sure she would choose HP over T of L any day.

Thanks everyone!

one more question. Can we do Tower of London, Westminster Abbey and Churchill Rooms in one day?

9am Tower of London - three hours minimum.

30 minutes travel to Westminster Abbey, grabbing lunch en route; hope there’s no queue.

12.30/1pm Westminster Abbey - two hours.

10 minutes to War Rooms

3.15 Churchill War Rooms (prebooked ticket maybe to avoid queue) - two hours.

This allows no time for a wee, no time in gift shop, no time dawdling to look at something unexpectedly interesting, no time for a cuppa, assumes no transport delays... you get the point.

Do you wear a big cape and have "S" on your t-shirt? Yes - maybe, in a push.

Tower of London is exhausting and at least half a day. Expensive too.

Cabinet War Rooms, old name, Churchill War Rooms or some such new name, is a one hour queue if you are lucky and probably 3 hours if you go quickly - expensive and not easy to get into so you will want your money's worth.

Westminster Abbey is at least an hour queue and at least 2 or 3 hours inside if you move quickly. Expensive too, so you will want your money's worth.

By the way - there are a few attractions in London which charge, and you have listed 3 of them. Most museums and places of interest are free, and there are dozens upon dozens of them, from quirky to mainstream. Some have pretty good views too.

What I think you are doing unfortunately is - with the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey and Cabinet War Rooms all in one day - trying to fit a gallon measure into a pint pot.

Thank you so much! Everyone.

I will stick with the following itinerary

Saturday- Arrive and check in hotel and eat a nice dinner
Sunday- Tower of London
Monday- Windsor Castle and walk along south banks
Tuesday- Westminister Abbey and Churchill War rooms.

Thank you to everyone
Yoli

that looks really doable, and will allow for serendipity and the occasional change of plans. A good choice, I think....

just one bank, by the way - South Bank.

Oh, that revised plan looks really good. If you still have time and energy after the Tower of London, walk to Leadenhall Market. Your Harry Potter fans might recognize that this is where the Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Alley were/are located!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leadenhall_Market

Here's a suggestion of a route. There may also be a walking route in the RS books from Tower of London to St Pauls that includes this area.

https://goo.gl/maps/jDX7MireCUt

Thank you so much! Will definitely do that.
Harry Potter will be left for our next trip. :)