Two week London itinerary

Unless you have an amazing interest in all things neolithic, spending a day to go to Stonehenge would be removed from any list I made. Stonehenge just isn't that exciting. Unless you are there right when the first shuttle from the parking lot takes visitors to the stones, you are going to see more people than you will the stones of Stonehenge.

If you have group members who are interested in WWII history or computers, I would substitute a day at Bletchley Park instead. Much more interesting and interactive.

A day trip to Dover Castle and the war time tunnels would also be interesting.

How about taking the train to Eastbourne and then a local bus to Birling Gap and hike part of the 7 sisters?

So many more interesting choices for a day trip than Stonehenge.

Also- I find the Imperial War Museum can be a bit overwhelming. I can only take so much death and war in one shot. Consider instead the Churchill War Rooms.

Churchill War Rooms is unique. I would add it. St Pauls?

Is Oxford an interest? Easy day trip - colleges, unique architecture, museums. Or, Cambridge but that is a bit farther.

National Gallery??? Courtauld Institute?? The Wallace Collection? Tate Britain or Tate Modern? You may not be interested in art museums.

Shopping??? With a couple teens, you might enjoy Harrods, Liberty of London, other well known shops. There are some walking tours of shopping districts online that are fun to follow even if you aren't into shopping.

Buckingham Palace isn't open for state room tours in June - or hasn't been to date. Schedules could change for 2024 depending on King Charles' schedule of residency.

I have always found the Inns of Court area and Temple Church a unique area to stroll and explore.

Enjoy!!

Edit - I agree with the above re substituting Bletchley Park for Stonehenge. (very touristy) If you do want Stonehenge, perhaps consider combining with a visit to Salisbury - this may require an overnight for a relaxing time.

Bletchley Park is just down the train line from Harry Potter Studios. Easy access from London.

Check recent reviews for the Museum of the Home. It isn't what it used to be for many visitors.

I've started leaving an unscheduled day when I'm new to a major destination - like you have. It has really served me well. There are some things you only learn of when on the ground - no matter how good the preparation.

To add to what you have planned, some could be covered by London Walks-especially the Westminster Abbey visit and Abbey Road. They do a phenomenal job with their walks and are very professional. Their website is: walks.com.

I’ve taken 28 of their offerings and each was distinctly different and well worth doing. Their Jack the Ripper evening tour is almost a must if you have any interest in the subject. It wasn’t too descriptive as to be too much for the teenagers.

Edit to add: I agree about Stonehenge. It was a disappointment for me because it’s quite small and I saw it without hordes of tourists.

I love love love Stonehenge and would absolutely recommend it! The mere fact of its existence is amazing.

Add:
Spitalfields Market

Carnaby Street
Wander about Selfridges
Visit Harrods Food Halls
Tower Bridge Experience
Peruse the London Walks website: www.walks.com
Theatre and more theatre
Leaden Hall Market
Leighton House
The Crystal Palace Dinosaurs

Enjoy a pub lunch at the Bank of England pub or The George Inn or The Mayflower or The Dove. I still dream about my bowl of pumpkin sage soup at The Dove. OR just go to Mercato Mayfair.
Visit Highgate Cemetary
Walk along the Thames River Path

So much to see and do in London:good websites to research: LondonxLondon, A Lady in London, The Londonist, TimeOutLondon, Spitalfields Life, and Londontopia.

Seconding ORDtraveler's recommendation for the Inns of Court here. I took a walk around Gray's Inn on a nice day last August, just out of curiosity. It really is lovely. There's some beautiful architecture, so well preserved, and the gardens are very well kept. Gray's Inn Square is a nice quiet place to sit for a while. I entered through the little passageway on High Holborn. I was aware that it is private property and I would be very respectful of people's privacy around there. The website that I linked to informs me that it's only open 12:00 - 2:30pm, but I was there some time later in the afternoon and it didn't seem to be a problem.

Everyone has different likes and dislikes. I was fascinated with Stonehenge and Amesbury but we did an after hours tour of the inner circle and avoided the crowds. Our first day we did a Black Cab tour. A great introduction to the city and they’ll tailor it to your wants. Do a high tea. Have dinner in the Soho, shop in Covent Gardens. Do a tour of the Shakespeare Theater. Go to the theater. We saw the Lion king, it was spectacular and the tickets were a lot less than here. It’s London, walk, there so much to see!

Sent you a PM

Ann

The V&A and Museum of the Home are nowhere near each other. It’s better to group things by location of possible.

The Museum of the Home is in East London so combine with a trip to Brick Lane and Spitalfields Market. This is actually quite a small museum which I do like but it’s not a must see for London.

To substitute Museum of the Home, you may want to consider Leighton House.

Museum of the Home is worth a visit. Good illustration of how homes in London evolves.

Is Oxford an interest? Easy day trip - colleges, unique architecture, museums. Or, Cambridge but that is a bit farther.

Oxford, depending on GWR or Chiltern (Paddington or Marylebone station) is sometimes as fast as 49 minutes, usually around an hour, or as slow as 1:20.

Cambridge,depending on GN, Thameslink or Anglia (Kings Cross, St Pancras International, Liverpool Street) is often 48 minutes nonstop, as slow as 1:23.

I'd call it a wash, or just edging the advantage to Cambridge.

Both university city stations are just outside the centre, both an easy walk, both also have bus connections.

I have two objections to the Jack the Ripper tours which seem unaccountably popular. One is on taste - do you really want to take a tour to glorify a mass murderer of women?
The second is more pragmatic - it’s just plain boring. The problem is that there is little left to actually see on the ground. You spend your time stopping at nondescript spots round Brick Lane being told that this or that happened here when the place was completely different. I was taken on a tour as part of a conference event and a group of us just gave up two thirds of the way round.

Wow! Thanks for all the feedback. You’ve definitely given me some ideas to consider. A few initial thoughts:

1. Stonehenge: This is staying on the list. It’s the one thing one of my kids asked to see. We’ve looked at youtube videos of it so I’d say our expectations are set appropriately. My feelings are that we’re probably going to underwhelmed but we’d be even more disappointed if we didn’t go at all.
2. Bletchley Park: I didn’t even know this existed. I’ll have to look in to it. I wanted the War Museum to do something related to WWII, but Bletchley Park seems more family friendly. I might have to move some things around and see if we can fit in a day trip there instead of an afternoon at the War Museum.
3. Other day trips (Oxford, Cambridge, Dover, etc.): If I add in Bletchley Park that will give us 5 day trips over 14 days. Since this is our first trip to London, we’ve got enough in London to fill the rest so I don’t want to add any other day trips. We’ll save those for the next trip.
4. London Walks: I’ve looked in to them in the past and may use them for the Abbey Rd part of the trip. My main concern is that my wife has had some health issues over the past year that make longer walks a bit difficult. She needs to rest more often. When touring on our own that’s not a problem but it may make group walks more difficult.
5. Museum of the Home: I’ll have to look a bit more in to the recent reviews to see if we want to keep it on the list or not.

I can understand why you want to keep Stonehenge on the list. It is such an icon, sometimes you just want to see such places for yourself, no matter what others think!

I've only visited with a car, but there are multiple ways to get there. You are probably aware of the info in this link, but I'll attach it for others who may be reading this thread. A stop by Salisbury Cathedral is well worth your time if that is the chosen route. There is an original copy of the Magna Carta held there. (Of course an original is displayed at The British Library also which is on your visit list.)

https://www.londontoolkit.com/whattodo/london-to-stonehenge.html

The Churchill War Rooms would be my choice over the Imperial War Museum, although I find both fascinating. You see Churchill's actual headquarters as well as exhibits on Churchill. (Book in advance) The Imperial War Museum has very good exhibits but it is not an actual war headquarters site. (Although it is part of the former Bethlam Hospital - Bedlam.)

Our Stonehenge plan is to take the train to Salisbury and then take the hop on hop off bus to Stonehenge and Old Sarum (one of the options in the link ORDtraveler provided, https://www.thestonehengetour.info/). If there's time we'll tour around Salisbury a bit.

What I'm most interested in seeing about WWII history is something about how the war impacted the average daily life of the citizens of London. I'm not sure if either the War Museum or the Churchill War Rooms would provide that.

In relation to war museums, I would also recommend the Churchill War Rooms. While it doesn't address your desire to see how ordinary Britons lives through the war, it really is unmissable.

Another one to look at is the Museum of London Docklands, which does have a wartime home front component, including recreations of public bomb shelters etc.

It’s always interesting to me to see how folks plan their trips depending on their interests and while it’s great to get input, you really do need to gauge what you include based on your family. You all seem to be including a more museum oriented trip; we were just the opposite!

Given our desire for the outdoors, I would suggest trying to see just one or two of London’s iconic parks. I loved St. James in particular, Hyde Park a close second. Maybe on your first day, depending on where your hotel is, you could fight off the jet lag by spending some time in the parks. Hyde Park has paddle boats that looked fun.

Carol mentioned taking a short train ride to Eastbourne and going to Birling Gap to hike part of the South Downs Way. We did just that as one of our day trips and I must say it was the highlight of our trip! It isn’t on what most people would include in an itinerary, but it was just the best day. For me I’d pick Hampton Court or Windsor, not do both and substitute the South Downs Hike.

You could take the Thames River Cruise from Westminster to Greenwich. They offer a running commentary of all the sites you see from your boat. Sit up top if you can. We went used it to go to the Tower and it was a lot of fun. Very reasonable prices for what we considered a full tour experience.

We didn’t see the IWM but we did the CWR. It absolutely lived up to the billing. Very powerful and really did make you appreciate the sacrifices that the British people went through during that period of war.

It sounds like this trip will be an amazing time with you family! Have fun!

Depending on your TV set-up, you may have access to the original UK series, The Bletchley Circle. It doesn't take place during the war and it's totally fictional, but the main characters are former Bletchley folks. It was an interesting situation after the war--the folks who had worked at BP were bound by the Official Secrets Act and could only say they worked as clerks or something like that. Many were women, very bright women. I think the back story might make the whole thing even more interesting for your teenage daughters.

For the V&A: Be there at opening time and go straight to the jewelry section. You should have 15 or 20 minutes nearly alone so you can bounce from display case to display case at will. After that, more and more people will filter in and your progress through that exhibit will be a lot slower. Jewelry is small; you've got to get close enough to see it. The V&A is very popular, but most of the other things you'll be looking at are larger, so crowding won't be a concern.

I get what you're saying about group walks, but I did enjoy the Inns of Court walk conducted by London Walks.

I also liked that company's Jack the Ripoer tour. It wasn't sensationalized. It is true that the neighborhood has changed since the Ripper was afoot.

Re: your first day, taking a bus after a long overnight flight will likely be a festival of snoozing in heavy London traffic. I've done this, don't recommend. Suggestions above for strolls in parks better idea. I actually liked Stonehenge - it's a marvel of innovation and given your long time in London I think it's definitely worth a day trip. I went in very late afternoon and the crowds were not bad (and you can use the "magic eraser" function of your cell phone camera to get rid of people in photos). It seems your itinerary is pretty heavy on museums - assume your girls have the interest/stamina for that many? The natural history museum (near V&A) had plenty of cool things and lots of youngsters. BTW St. Dunstan in the East is neat to see, but not going to take up much of your time. More of a drive by sort of situation. Last thought, you might see if you can get free tickets to take the elevator to the Sky Garden (near St. Dunstan). I wasn't able to score any but they open up tickets about three weeks ahead on Mondays.

Another vote for Bletchley Park. Watch The Imitation Game with Benedict Cumberbatch playing Alan Turing, encourage your daughters to read The Rose Code, and try to stream the Bletchley Circle series before going to learn more about the importance of Bletchley Park in decrypting messages during WWII.

I also can chime in on the Inns of Court walk and thought it was a very worthwhile walk. You can mention to the guide about your wife's health issue and walking pace before hand or email London Walks on their homepage. They've always been very responsive in the past.

One more bit of advice I was given from a British friend beforehand that I was glad I listened to and will pass on. She encouraged me and my kids to get into good walking shape for our trip and I was so thankful we did. We covered about 7-9 miles+ a day during our nine days. Being that you are going in June it could be warm weather. We went at the last weekend of June - into first weekend of July and found the warm weather also can zap your stamina.

Our family is a bit older than yours, and so it may not be as much of an issue, but after Christmas we all started putting more emphasis on cardiovascular fitness levels and building up our walking distances. It really helped all of us avoid feeling overtired when we had back to back strenuous days. Just food for thought! 😊

Oh, Carole, great suggestion! The Rose Code is wonderful!

Another vote for the (free) Museum of London Docklands, which does have a really fascinating section on the blitz and London at war. It’s in an interesting part of London, too - an old warehouse in the very redeveloped Canary Wharf area which is a mix of slick skyscrapers and some remnants of Docklands history. Get there via the Docklands Light Railway.

I give you a lot of credit for planning a reasonable itinerary. It’s tempting to try to cram a lot in and exhaust yourself.

I absolutely love Stonehenge and it would be my first choice for a day trip. Combining it with Salisbury is a great idea.

My favorite site in London is the Churchill War Rooms. Of course I love history, especially WW II. To be standing where Churchill ran the war and government with everything left as it was then (especially the maps!) was just amazing. The Imperial War Museum is excellent, but it pales in comparison.

I loved the interior of Westminster Abbey and there are so many famous people buried there, I can’t imagine skipping it. However, St Paul’s is prettier, IMHO.

The food halls at Harrods are amazing, even if you don’t buy anything. The decor of the rooms themselves are incredible.

Make sure you see some parks. Regents Park is my favorite. You might want to visit it as a nice respite between the British Library and British Museum. That will be a lot of museum time for one day (though not for me — I adore both museums and have trouble making myself leave).

My last opinion is that sitting on a bus after you get there sounds like hell to me. If you were up top in an open double decker in the sunshine, it might be okay. But I think it’s best to keep walking. Might be the ideal time for strolling in a park.

These are just my opinions; your family may have different interests. I hope you have a wonderful time!

Thanks for the warnings about the bus on arrival day. I hadn't taken that in to consideration. I was just thinking of what we can do to tour a bit while still holding on to our luggage. Once we know exactly where we are staying (should be finalized in the next two weeks)we can plan our arrival day. Walking around a park sounds great. Or if we can stash our luggage it might be a good time to find a food market to explore. My girls are oddly excited about checking out a grocery store and seeing how they're different from the US, so that'll probably happen on arrival day too.

I'll have to look in to the Museum of London Docklands. Sounds like that might be a good place to get my WWII fix without having it be too heavy. We're a big museum family but I'm the only one interested in WWII so it would be nice to have the war stuff just be a part of a larger museum where I can take my time looking at the war exhibits while the rest of the family spends time in other parts of the museum.

Good tip about getting our walking legs in shape before going. We do that before Disney trips too since we're not used to walking 10+ miles every day these days.

Kew Gardens
Definitely Churchill War Rooms instead of Imperial War-Churchill rooms were on our daughter's list of must-sees when she was in college
Cambridge-Eagle Pub where DNA structure was first shown and Kings College Chapel is beautiful
Tea at Fortnum and Mason or the Ice Cream Parlor there

I assume you know that you need to get HP tickets months in advance

Why don't you go to the Imperial War Museum by yourself? And will your girls really care about the Transport Museum? They could do something else on Day 12 while you do you on that day. Maybe they do Victoria and Albert and maybe tea that day without you?

Have your daughters been involved in planning/researching your itinerary? They should be.

I'm glad we used London Walks for Westminster Abbey. On my own, I don't think it would have been as impressive. To me it was the history and not the building that I enjoyed.

Loved Stonehenge, but we had an early access tour which allowed us access within the stones. I'm not sure if I would have been as impressed on the normal tour, but if it's on your list, then it's still worth it. I also loved old Sarum, I'd read about it before you go as is just some outlines of past buildings now.

I haven't been to the Imperial War Museum yet, but I've sold my wife on it for a future trip for this description on the website that appears to be important to you as well, "gives voice to the extraordinary experiences of ordinary people forced to live their lives in a world torn apart by conflict. "

Love, love, loved Hampton Court. Spent a full day there.

All great suggestions, but I'm sure your teens will want to go shopping in London!
Maybe leave some time for that.

London Walks for Westminster Abbey is a great idea. Then we can do a self-guided walk around the rest of the area (St James's Park, Downing St, etc.) after the tour. My tentative plan has us there on a Monday morning which is when London Walks does their tour. And it's early enough in the trip that if we find it valuable we can add more walks on other days later in the trip.

My girls aren't big on high end shopping but they'll probably want to spend all their money at Portobello Rd on some vintage stuff. That's why it's the only thing I have planned for that day right now. :)

I just wanted to say that my husband and I really enjoyed Stonehenge. The stones were amazing g of course but there also are well done outdoor exhibits and a museum.

If you are coming from Salisbury do see the cathedral there. It is really lovely and not as crowded as big churches in London.

My main advice is to make sure you mix things up, especially with kids. Try to vary the types of things you see.

And

You have such a nice itinerary and so much good advice already from the folks on this forum. I have only have a few things to add as you look at planning:

• Try to group activities in the same area so that you minimize the transit time between sights.
  
• Touring can be exhausting, so you may want to build in some rest times each day between sightseeing, even for teenagers. This may mean time at the hotel or just planned breaks for tea or coffee.
• Look at TimeOut closer to your trip as there may be some fun events in the evening that you may opt to tour a bit in the morning, relax in the afternoon and then go out in the evening. Some of the London Walks, Food Tours have great evening activities.

Enjoy your trip

Helen already mentioned Brick Lane above, but that's somewhere that is a mecca for vintage clothing. it will be really busy at the weekend, but a prime spot if you enjoy people watching. Lots to see in Camden Market too. Local to me is Beyond Retro in Dalston (Stoke Newington really) but that's a bit out of the way for a tourist. They have several branches in the city. I wouldn't say there's many vintage clothing bargains in London these days. Since it exploded online prices are quite high. Maybe I'm just too old, and not hip enough to know where the bargains are!

Have to agree with those who said it's not a great idea to do a bus ride on your arrival day. We did that in 2018 and were nodding off pretty quickly! This spring when we visited, we walked around St. James' Park and enjoyed it very much.

We also enjoyed Stonehenge. We did it with a London Walks Daytrip Tour along with Salisbury. It was great and we loved our guide.

In 2018 we also did Westminster Abbey with a London Walks tour. The guide was wonderful, but the Abbey was sooo crowded. I enjoyed my visit this spring to the Abbey much more. I got there very early and was one of the first inside. Saw everything without crowds and then did a Verger Tour. It was a magical day for me.