Two Nights and One Day in London

Am I missing something here? Kenilworth is around two hours drive to London... in one day + 4 hrs travelling you won’t see much beyond TOL and the London Eye i would think.

The hotel is called the Radisson Blu Edwardian Kenilworth not “at Kenilworth”. Mike, it’s very much in London, in Great Russell Street in Bloomsbury.

When you say Westminster, do you actually mean Westminster Abbey? Westminster is a large part of London so it’s important to be specific.

You’re going to be very rushed so I won’t recommend any extra things to see, except allow time to just roam and people-watch.

It’s best to book a timed spot for the Churchill War Rooms as there tend to be crowds, but I believe you can’t pre-book a timed spot if you’re using the London Pass, only for paid tickets.

Thank you! Cousins recommended another Radisson Blu more convenient. But it was outside our budget. But I thought since there was a HOHO stop right by it according to the hotel we would be ok. I have a flexible reservation so if you recommend staying elsewhere I would love to hear it. Yes, I do mean Westminster Abbey. I really appreciate the help.

I think you are already full for your one day. The thing I would recommend skipping is the changing of the guard. It's just a bunch of standing around, craning your necks above people and not seeing a darn thing, unless you get there really, really early, which you don't have time to do with just one day. The Tower and Westminster Abbey are spectacular and can take up a full day. You can probably squeeze in the War Rooms if you are a huge WWII buff, but I don't think they are on the same par as the Tower and W.A. What time are your Eye ticket reservations?

Hi Stephanie,

With two nights and one day in London, it is going to be very challenging to to see the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Churchill’s War Rooms, London Eye, and the Changing of the Guard, mainly because of the fixed times available to see the changing of the guards. It doesn’t allow you much time to see anything in the morning. Here is one option if you want to try to see everything:

• 9:00 to 10:15 self-tour Westminster. It will take you about 15 minutes to walk to Buckingham Palace
• 10:30 arrive at Buckingham Palace to secure a viewing spot & view the ceremony. see notes below on the Ceremony
• noon to 1:00: lunch, walk to Churchill War rooms (10-15 minutes depending upon where you eat)
• 1:00 to 2:30: Churchill War Rooms
• 3:15-5:30: Tower of London; it will take you about 30 minutes tube to get there, but I would allow 45 minutes just to get to the tube, walk, get lost.
• 6:00 to 7:00: Takes about 15 minutes on tube to get to London Eye
• 7:30 ...: dinner & ???

Notes on the Changing of the Guard, here is the link: https://changing-guard.com/dates-buckingham-palace.html. Timing is 10:45 guards start to arrive, ceremony is at 11:00 and it is about 45 minutes. To really see anything over the crowds, you need to be there earlier than 10:45. So if you attend, you should plan on 10:15 to 11:45 to see the entire ceremony.

Note of lunch: don’t really recommend it as the cafeteria at the Churchill War rooms is towards the end of the tour, but if you aren’t famished after the Changing of the Guards Ceremony, you can go straight to the Churchill War Rooms, do the tour, stop and have lunch in the very small cafe and then continue on. I have done this and they have excellent soup and sandwiches.

If you chose to skip the Changing of the Guard, you have more time to spend at the other sites and to relax in between, but I know with only one day to really tour, you might want to try to fit this all in.

Hope this helps you decide on some options. Note I took the times off of Google Maps and tried to add an additional 15 minutes to account for delays, different walking paces, etc. If you do try to do this, I would check the actually timing of the transport when you are in London.

Have a good trip,
Sandy

Easy to get Westminster on the tube from Tottenham Road Station.

All in give yourself 20-30 minutes ( walking to, getting on the train, getting off, getting another train and arriving at Westminster). Avoid commuter times as well.

Use the tfl.gov.uk website and you’ll see it’s a ride on the Northern Line to Embankment, disembark ( Mind The Gap) take a District or Circle Line train to Westminster. You can exit out across the road from Parliament and Elizabeth’s Tower ( Big Ben is the Bell) which are both in scaffolding.

Thx TPWWS, i was indeed missing something :o)

Cousins recommended another Radisson Blu more convenient. But it was
outside our budget. But I thought since there was a HOHO stop right by
it according to the hotel we would be ok.

Your hotel is well-located. The first poster mistakenly thought you meant it was actually in Kenilworth, a town outside of London. But it’s not, it’s just the name of the hotel.

Don’t use the HoHo bus for transport. They take ages - several hours to do the entire circuit - and you simply don’t have the time for it. However you are close to several ordinary double-decker bus routes and tube stations so you will be fine for getting directly to most of your locations.

To work out travel, use the travel planner at www.tfl.gov.uk, remembering to adjust the time setting to when you want to do the journey.