London for three days

Tower of London and Covent Garden Market. Kew Gardens if you can work it in. Trafalgar Square, Leciester Square,Picadilly Circus, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace (all "walk pasts"). Windsor castle and town if at all possible (though with only 3 days, probably not).

Q: What TWO things do we absolutely have to do while we are there?
A: Exit the aircraft and pass through immigration/passport control. After that, it's really up to you. What things say "England" to you the most? When you can answer that, you'll know what you need to see. On my first trip, my answer is "all things Sherlock Holmes." Now, with more experience, I'd choose Westminister Abbey and the Tower of London. The British Museum and the Imperial War Museum follow shortly behind. You can see a lot in three days. Enjoy.

1. Go to the British Museum 2. Go to the British Museum

Westminster Abbey tour and Evensong...Tower of London (but with only being in London 3 days, I wouldn't want to spend hrs there)....tea at The Orangery at Kensington Palace.....British Museum. Take a walk thru one of the beautiful parks, St James....Kensington Gardens/Hyde Park....Holland Park. Don't try to rush and see a lot, enjoy your time.

I really enjoyed the Tower of London. I might suggest taking one of the double decker bus tours if that counts as one thing. you can hop on and off all day, get all of the famous photo ops and see a lot of London. That way, you don't need to do one tube trip to take a picture of Buckingham, one trip to see Westminister, and another to get grossed out by the pigeons in Trafalger Square (sorry, that's probably my own problem). If you don't want to take the bus, then maybe go see a show. You can get discount tickets the day of the show or pay 5 pounds for a standing ticket to see a show in Shakespeare's Globe.

I agree with everyone about the Tower of London. The hop on hop off bus is also a great idea as it takes you around the city and you can see so much. Do it on your first day first thing and try do as many loops as you can. It also includes a Thames River cruise that is a must do. I also recommend the British Museum and the Victoria & Albert, depending on what you want to see. Have a great time!

1. Tea at the Ritz. 2. Climb to the lantern atop St. Paul's. 2.1 Portobello Road on Saturday morning. 2.1.1 Westminster Abbey. 2.1.1.1 Take cabs everywhere.

See Westminster Abbey and Tower of London. See a show with your half price theatre ticket that you bought at the half price booth at Leicester Square. I loved Hampton Courth Palace, but not sure if this will be on your top things to do. Walk across Westminster Bridge, then down Whitehall, then down The Mall, and back to Trafalgar Square and hit all the sights along the way. See a concert at St. Martin-in-the-Fields. Have tea at the Orangerie at Kensington Palace after walking though Hyde Park. Have a good time and sorry that I did not stick to the two-item rule! So many great things to do.

We started our visit to London with the hop on-off bus, which gave us a good visual tour and layout of the City. We hopped off when we saw Horse Guard Parade and arrived just in time for the Ceremony of the Changing of the Guard. Not very crowded and was really impressive. Our other favorite place was the Tower of London, where we arrived 1st thing in the morning and completely missed the crowds. RS advice on avoiding the lines and crowds to see the Crown Jewels was spot on.

"2.1.1.1 Take cabs everywhere" Disagree with that one. Take the tube and buses everywhere. Take cabs sparingly.

Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London are my must sees in London.

I too disagree with the recommendation to take cabs everywhere. Certainly, get a couple of cab rides in for the experience, but do buy yourself an Oyster card and take public transport (buses and the Tube) most places.

I'm with Leigh the Abbey and the Tower (sans jewels). The hop-on-hop-off bus is a good idea for overview with limited time. Regular buses and the tube are much cheaper than taxis, reasonably fast, and part of the London experience (so are taxis, I guess, especially with luggage). London's a great walking city as long as you remember to LOOK RIGHT before you step off the curb (kerb). British Museum is great but the risk is that you'll spend a whole day or two there, maybe forget to come home at all. Also, I find that museums tire me out faster than just about anything I do as a tourist. I could walk three miles on the streets without getting as tired as one small museum and I'm actually interested in what the museum has! So if you're like that, spend lots of time walking and riding around the city, weather permitting. Have fun!

I feel it necessary to explain myself about the cabs. Whilst in London, I was accompanied by my wife and daughter, so for most trips we made, a cab ride cost about the same as three Tube tickets. I also believe we saved time.
I'm normally a frugal (translation: cheap) traveler, but that was our one extravagance in England. I gained a great respect for London cabbies, too, and have come to the belief that every city in the world should use London's rules for cabs -- and the cabs, too!

Hello Catherine. Museum of London. Hampton Court palace.

Definitely buy an Oyster card for the Tube. The tubes and their trains go everywhere. Gray LIne Tours are great for covering all points of interest in and outside London. They do very thorough tours. Elaine

1. St. Paul's - to me, it is way cooler than Westminster
2. See a play. I love the Globe, but if Shakespeare isn't your thing, then get tickets to one of the fantastic musicals. London is the best - you will want to return for sure!

Hands down: London Eye and Buckingham Palace. This is my first-hand account of a wonderful time seeing Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and the Tower of London.
http://missguidedtravel.blogspot.com/2011/06/tea-crumpets.html