"Not to miss" attractions while in London for 2 days

Lauren, for my money the Tower of London is can't miss, even on a short stay of 2 days.

I agree with the Tower of London. But you should definitely take a wander over to Westminster to take in the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben and a stroll along the Thames. I'd also try to visit either St. Paul's or Westminster Abbey.

I'd add Westminster

The Tower of London is great, but with only two days it might take more time then you want to spend at one place for only being in London two days. Westminster Abbey, Cabinet War Rooms, St Paul's Cathedral and Covent Gardens is fun just to name a few. The Sherlock Holmes Pub has great food, it's very near Trafalgar Square it would be great to have a meal hear. Also, across the street from Trafalgar Square is St. Martin-in-the-Field church which is beautiful. There are so many "not to miss" attractions, it's really depends on what your family likes and how much time you would want to spend at one place. Have a great two days in London.

If you go to Rick's London Page: http://www.ricksteves.com/europe/england/london and click "At A Glance," you'll see his list of top sights (of course, they are only his opinion, but he certainly hits the biggies). I count 22 on the list. Investigate these, and pick a few. Everyone will have different tastes, so no one can tell you which of these you should see (or whether you should skip these and see something that may not be a "top sight" for everyone, but is for you).

I'll echo a lot of what has already been said. I think the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey and British Museum are good ideas for your two days. If you find some slack in your days there are several other options. If you want a nice overview of the city, you could try a hop on bus tour or the London Eye.

One more idea - check to see if any sites have late hours the days you'll be in London. Some museums (e.g. the V&A) have late hours one day a week. You might be able to pop in somewhere and see a few highlights before or after dinner.

Have fun!

Thanks for your helpful suggestions, everyone! Much appreciated!
Lauren

No matter what you pick with such a short time I would take the River cruise back one way from something, They give you a little informative tour and you see a lot of London and you get a ride back into town all for a very reasonable price. I believe about 9pds one way. We took a round trip all the way to Greenwich and it was 16 9pds each

Both the Tower and Westminster Abbey are fantastic for those who love British History...but I recommend a morning or afternoon bike tour around the city, especially with 2 teens. You get to ride by a bunch of sights you won't have time to fully explore (Trafalgar Square, Convent Garden, Buckingham Palace, the Abbey, etc).

I signed up with Breakaway Tours last summer and really enjoyed it.
http://www.biketouroflondon.com/grandtour.html

Rob mentioned the Victoria & Albert Musuem - we really enjoyed it & I suspect your & your teens would find many interesting exhibits there.

While in London, during various trips, we have used Evan-Evans day tours. They offer many choices of tours. You can look at Gray Line Tours.com or Evan-Evans Tours.com. Gray Line sub-contracts their tours out to Evan-Evans in London. We totally enjoyed the day tours of London, out to Bath, Stonehenge, York, Windsor Castle, etc. We felt it was a wonderful way to see many sites in London, in a short amount of time. We agree with the above post. We have taken canal rides over to Greenwich and out to Hampton Court. If you go to Hampton Court, you will need to get the earliest boat out there. I believe there is only one tour company, farthest left at the Thames dock, to go to Hampton Court. Then you will need to take the train back into London. It is a full day trip though.

You or your teens might not want to spend the time on this, but one thing I wish we had been able to do in London on our last trip is attend a performance at Shakespeare's Globe theatre. This is a link to what's going on June 23rd: http://www.shakespearesglobe.com/calendar/d/23-06-2014. Click on the next button to see June 24th.

The calendar also lists when tours are offered. I did do one of those. We were there in October after the season had ended. It is very similar to what is known about the original and therefore open to the elements. If it weren't for the American actor, director and producer, Sam Wanamaker, it probably wouldn't be there. For more information go to: http://www.shakespearesglobe.com/about-us/history-of-the-globe.

Two days and two teens, The Tower and Westminster Abbey . . no question. A city tour on the big bus is always good even if it's only to inspire you for your next trip...but this could also be a time sucker. From Westminster you can walk to Trafalgar Sq. ( for me a "not miss") and have a little lunch at The Sherlock Holmes or in the Crypt. The Tower Bridge tour is also excellent and gives a good picture of what London traffic was like before the bridge. The Eye. Love it.

Thanks, all.

It would be nice if you would let each of your children pick one attraction they would like to see. Give them a guide book or pull up attractions in London on the internet, have them read about them to help them decide.

Thank you all so much for the wonderful suggestions - you've given us much to think about and some very practical tips!

We loved Victoria & Albert Museum, Tower of London & Westminster Abbey. I think those 3 were probably the highlights of our London trip. That and Harrods Food Hall. ;)

Speaking of London Walks...we did two whilst in London a couple of weeks ago. Bath which is a day trip and Beatles Magical Mystery Tour. Both were great, we learned a lot and enjoyed them very much. If you check their website, I'm sure you will find some that would interest you and the teens. Enjoy London! Its fab!

We just returned from trip at beginning of June with our 13 y/o...consensus favorites all around was British Museum (daughter and I decided if we lived in London we would go there everyday!), St. Pauls and walking around Westminster/Big Ben area. (Covent Garden area has a lot of street performers that really appealed to our daughter...great place to grab a eats and watch the crowds)

When we took our boys to England we had each of us make a list priority wise. We made sure everyone got their top two sights.
Some of us had the same top two. The Cabinet War Rooms were on both boys lists and they still talk about that and the Tower of London. I suggest the boys get involved in reading and choosing.

Have a Great Trip!