Thursday Afternoon London, Best of England RS Tour

Best for you to contact the RS office seeking answers to your questions.

What time of the year are you taking the BOE tour?

Travel will be up this year. So will the crowds.

Personally can’t answer your timing questions other than to say the distance from Churchill War Rooms to the National Gallery is a 15 minute walk.

we did this tour a few years back so details are a bit hazy as to the exact time. I do have written down in my travel notes that we went by bus to the Tower of London and then after the tour walked down to the docks and took a ride upstream. I'm guessing maybe it was around 1-2pm when we began our free afternoon? [edit: timestamped pictures to the rescue! We were off the boat around 1:45pm. But your guide on your trip may do things differently]

You can call or email the RS office and ask if they have a more detailed itinerary of the day. Remember this is your tour, you're not obligated to do each activity. So if you're not interested in the boat ride (it's a nice ride, one of the large public boats with a narrator using the PA system and not a small boat rented for just the RS group) then just let your guide know you're bugging out after the Tower of London and take the tube to see those exhibits.

I went to the Raphael last week (random Tuesday afternoon.) It was properly packed!

There were so many people there it was really hard to see the labels. Lots of queueing to get close to the paintings/drawings etc. Clearly there’s no restrictions on numbers for social distancing or anything, in fact there’s one smaller room with a video about Raphael as an architect and everyone squashes in for several minutes to watch.

And that was a Tuesday in April. It will only get busier into the summer.

But, it was stunning. The School of Athens was particularly fun; reproduced life sized and at eye level so you really get up close with the details.

So much talent and such a shame he died young.

I think 1-1/2 to 2 hours is quite short for the Churchill War Rooms. That's a two-part destination. You have the war rooms themselves--small basement rooms with the random cot, typewriter, etc. History took place there, but they aren't exactly visually stunning. (The audio guide is helpful.) Aside from probably being slowed down by crowds, it wouldn't take much time to see that part of the CWR, and I'd argue that the entry fee would be way too high if there was nothing else there. But there most definitely is something else there: the Churchill Museum. I found the displays (including some videos) in the Museum very engrossing and spent a total of more than half a day at the CWR. So I recommend thinking about how interested you are in Churchill's life.

I wonder whether it would be possible to go to the CWR with a pre-purchased ticket, monitor your level of interest as you work your way through the museum section, come up with a semi-informed estimate of when you'll be ready to leave, and buy a ticket to the Raphael exhibit online once you're sure you'll have time for it. I don't know that you'd have a cellular signal down in the CWR, but you could try the purchase as soon as you return to the surface. At this point, the Raphael exhibition seems to have tickets available for every day, and in general the afternoons look more available than the mornings. Of course, visitor counts in London may well be higher at the time of your trip, and interest in the special exhibition may be a lot greater if you'll be in London not long before it closes.

Thanks to Claudia, John and Mincepie for your helpful comments and suggestions. I called the Rick Steves' office days ago and my husband made a follow-up call but we had not heard from them at the time I posted my question. (Can you imagine the volume of calls that the RS office receives every day!). I am happy to report that the RS office called late this afternoon with the particulars.

The boat will dock at Westminster either at 12:30 or 1:00, depending on whether the group takes the 12:00 boat or the 12:30 boat. The farewell dinner is at 7:00.

Now I can book those timed-entry reservations. I guess we will have to eat light to squeeze into those very popular venues. Again thanks so much for your assistance.

Thanks Acraven for your insight on CWR and length of time for the visit. I may delay the reservation for Raphael. Oh so much to see!

@kyohem…. We are on the BOEngland tour starting 6/19…does your tour end on Thursday or Friday (final group dinner)… ours has the free afternoon on Friday. Just wondering if itinerary changed….we travel from York on Thursday and check into hotel in London but have free evening.

Hi Chris,
Our farewell dinner is on Friday May 20. We start the tour on Sunday May 8th. We leave York on Thursday and have a free evening that night. You are right that the free afternoon is Friday not Thursday, but I should think the arrival at Westminster (12:30 -1:00) and the farewell dinner (7:00) should be similar in case there are any museums you need to make timed entries.

Kyohem….ok….that follows our itinerary…we do bus ride after train from York and then Westminster. Since itinerary says Thursday evening would be perfect for theatre…we booked Mamma Mia the Party! @ the O2. We haven’t booked anything yet for Friday afternoon but considering British Museum.

I’ll be excited to hear your experience😃. The Churchill War Rooms was well worth it..it feels very immersive👍🏻

Our tour group arrived at Westminster Pier at 12:30. We had reservations for the Churchill War Rooms and we were glad that we did. You could have a 1:00 reservation and make it to the CWR. There was a very long line for those visitors without a reservation. We were happy that crowds were controlled as it made for a marvelous tour of the museum. We were there for two hours viewing the war rooms and limited our time in the Churchill Rooms to Churchill's WWII service. One could spend more time if the visit included all the exhibits for Churchill's life. A cafe is located about half way through the exhibits so you can take a break. The map room with pin holes for location of convoys in the Atlantic was chilling. My father was in the US Navy protecting those convoys. How many ships and lives were lost! Not to mention the maps and pin holes for the other theaters of war. After that visit we walked in the park. I am happy that we did not schedule another museum for that afternoon.

We made reservations for the Raphael exhibit another day. Our reservation was for opening time and we were able to view the exhibits even though there were quite a number of others in the gallery. We spent 4 hours at the gallery. We used the museum audio guide, but eventually our iPhone battery life was depleted. Docents were informative as well. A great visit.

I highly recommend both the CWR and the Raphael exhibit at the National Gallery.

@kyohem….thank you for your update..that’s great news for the last day. We did the CWR in 2015…my husband had to drag me out of there. My day served in the D-Day invasion and every day I think…there but for the grace of God go I…..

OAN…..how was the timing coming from York to London vis a vis arrival to tour hotel post Westminster Abbey? I’m a little anxious since we have tickets to MMTP! @ the O2 that evening @6:30 and now we have the spector of a possible train/tube strike.

You should be able to make the show despite the possibility of Tube/train interruptions. The train from York will get you in London mid-morning and you will board your sightseeing bus at the train station. You will tour, by bus, mid-town London, then the bus will park close to Westminster Abbey. You are on your own to grab a quick sandwich and drink then meet back at the Abbey for your tour. After the tour you will go back to the bus and it will take you to your hotel at check-in time, about 4:00.

I would grab a sandwich and drink at the local grocery store (deli). Ask the concierge where the closest store is. Eat in the room. This will save you valuable time.

Before you leave on your trip, check the Transport for London website, tfl.gov.uk. It will tell you which lines and what times the lines will be closed. Check the website again in your room in York, then again in London when you have wifi. The website has bus information that you may need if your tube/train is on strike. Before you leave on your trip, check the location of the bus stop near your hotel and near the O2.

Check with your fellow tour members to see if anyone else is going to the show and if so you might consider splitting the cost of a cab.

Also before you leave, go to google maps and put in the address of your hotel then do a satellite image and zoom in close so you can use the street image and make the google man walk the streets around your hotel to the bus stop and the tube stop. You might want to take a screen shot of the bus stop or capture a video of the route to the bus stop or the tube stop (just in case the strike is over and you can use the tube).

Do the same for the O2 making note of the door to the O2 (north, south, east or west) that is closest to the bus stop or train stop. Take a screen shot on your phone. You might also note the location of the taxi stands (in case you need to use this option). When you get inside the O2, take a photo of the description of the door you enter so you can head for that same door after the show.

Have a fabulous time at the show!

@kyohem…Wow….thank you so much for your comprehensive response:) Here’s to hoping the tube strike is not happening on that date…worse case scenario we are considering booking a cab … I’ve read also about the Uber Thames Boat but I need to figure out how that would work for us.

Again - thank you so much!