RS Westminster Walk

I would not do Westminster Abbey and Churchill War Rooms back to back as they both take time to see and absorb.
They are my two favorite London sites.

Totally agree with Suki. Each of those two sites can take hours. That would be too much indoor in one for me, personally speaking. But possibly you could visit one in the morning and one in the afternoon, with lunch in between. But the re are not many places to eat in that area, unless you cross Westminster Bridge.

It is best to get timed entry tickets to both.

The Laughing Halibut a simple and very good fish and chips place for lunch isn’t far. It is on Strutton Ground.

I would probably do Westminster Abbey and Churchill War Rooms separately from the walk, then fill in with the other part of the walk. I just looked at the map associated with it and I'd do those two, depending on what times you can arrange and then walk down Whitehall to Trafalgar square afterward if you've still go the energy.

If you start at Westminster Abbey, the walk to the War Rooms, then afterward continue to the Horse Guards Parade which you can walk straight thru to Whitehall. Double back to Downing St and then head for Trafalgar SQ. If you take the tube to the Westminster station you'll come out right by the bridge so can see Boudicca's statue, Elizabeth Tower/Big Ben and look across to the Eye.

I do like both of these venues as well but I could probably do them on the same day. I'd do Westminster first (do a Verger's Tour if you can), then have lunch in their Cellarium Cafe (depending on it's open status at the time) and then head to the War Rooms.

I have taken Rick Steves Westminster self-guided walking tour three times and it will take a full day since you’re touring Westminster Abbey (be sure to rent the audio guide unless you know British history) and the Churchill War Rooms. The latter will take up most of your day. I agree that the abbey should be first and then take a lunch break before seeing the war rooms.

The Churchill War Rooms are really two sights combined. The war rooms themselves are small (and crowded--not sure how they're dealing with that right now) and don't take a lot of time to see. The audio guide provides helpful information. Then you have the Churchill Museum, an excellent, modern museum covering his life. It is possible to spend many, many hours in that part of the CWR; I certainly did. It's an expensive ticket, and I would not have been happy if I'd had to leave before fully seeing the Churchill Museum.

Highly recommend doing the guided tour of Westminster Abbey. I think it cost £20, it was lead by a vicar (?) who took us behind the ropes and gave all sorts of history as well as pointing out where the Queen sits during services. Best value for money we had the whole trip

If you are just doing the self guided tour without going into Westminster or the War Rooms it takes about 90 minutes since you’ll want to stop and start as you look around.

Thank you all! I'm thinking that we should see Westminster Abbey as part of this walk and visit the Churchill War Rooms separately on another day, just to keep things manageable and be able to enjoy our time. I really appreciate the guided tour suggestion and the lunch recommendation too! Thanks!

Highly recommend London Walks. They are the highlights of my trip each time.

If you are interested in attending the evensong service at Westminster Abbey, tour the abbey late, then, tell the docent you’ll be staying for the service. You won’t have to leave the abbey and will be one of the first in line for the service and get a seat in the quire beside the choir. Everyone else who didn’t tour the abbey has to wait outside.

@darrenblois - Which London Walks would you recommend? There are so many to choose from. I'm interested in one of The Beatles walking tours for sure but there are many more that look interesting such as the Old Westminster by Gaslight and the Jack the Ripper Tour. Have you done the Rock and Roll tour?

@jaimeelsabio - great tip on the late tour and evensong, thank you! Maybe I will instead do the Churchill War Rooms as part of this walk and save Westminster Abbey for one of the evenings we're there.

There ARE so many London Walks. They are all excellent and it depends what you are interested in. If I had to recommend just one, it would be the Jack the Ripper Tour.

Others I have been on:

• Jack the Ripper
• Hidden London
• Spies and Spycatchers
• Trooping of the Colour
• Westminster
• Westminster Abbey
• London at War
• London 2012 Olympics

A couple I've been wanting to do for a while now include:

• the many Pub Tours they do
• Beatles London
• Highgate Cemetery
• The Thames Foreshore

Thanks so much @darrenblois! Definitely adding some of these to the itinerary.

I can vouch for Highgate (try to see the cemetery either before or after the walk) as long as you don't have a problem with some significant uphill walking at the beginning of the tour; a couple of the tour members had issues with it.

The Hampstead, Marylebone and Blitz walks were also good. I liked Camden, too, but of course when you're on a tour you can't very well stop and look at the merchandise on offer, so perhaps that one wouldn't be great for hard-core shoppers.

I've never been disappointed in one of the walks and I must have taken about 10 of them by now. I hope very much that by next spring they'll be back to the just-walk-up-and-pay procedure, because it is wonderful to be able to react at the last moment to weather conditions.

London Walks also does daytrips, in case you're interested. We took the one to Salisbury and Stonehenge. You meet the tour guide at the train station with your money and they arrange everything. We loved it! Highly recommend!