What is a MUST SEE in London- only have about 5 hours!

if your flight leaves at 3.20pm, you need to be back at heathrow approx noon- so you leave London soon after 11 am (I assume you will take the picadilly Tube). Timing is not good, "nothing" opens until 9.30 ish... definitekly not a good time to have lunch. I would wlak down Piccadilly from the Green park tube station, Trafalgar square, Big Ben, Thames embankment and westminster area. Or a quick visit to Westminster Abbey or National gallerry

If you only have time for one, visit Westminster Abbey. If two, add St. Paul's Cathedral (but they are far apart). If you have any extra time, you could walk by Parliament, walk by Buckingham Palace, or walk through Trafalgar Square. These can be quick walks where you can soak up a lot of atmosphere in a short amount of time and get a real feel that you're in London. For fish and chips, I would visit the Red Lion in Whitehall...near 10 Downing Street. I thought their fish and chips for lunch was good, but it's probably no better than anyplace else, really. The best part is location and atmosphere...lots of lawyer and MP stuff...I liked it.

This will be pretty early in the morning, right? You'll have to see what time Westminster Abbey opens. If not until later, go there anyway, walk across Westminster Bridge to see Big Ben and the Parlaiment buildings from across the river. You can walk alon the thames in the other direction past the London Eye, and cross back on Hungerford Bridge (pedestrian bridge is the Golden Jubilee). Loop back on Whitehall Place and down Whitehall. You can either head back to the abbey or get your fish and chips, depending on how much time has passed (the walk around the loop itself is less than an hour.) I don't know if this map will come through but I'll give it a try: http://www.maplandia.com/united-kingdom/england/south-east/lambeth/london/buildings/london-eye/ Behind Whitehall is the Horse Guards parade. The Changing of the Guard takes place there at 11 am. Worth seeing if you are there at the right time. You'll need to start heading back to Heathrow shortly after noon, so keep track of the time. But I think this area will give you the best flavor of London for your short time there. Take a look at this area on Google maps, satellite view (which I tried to provide above but if it didn't work it's eay to do). You'll see how much is packed into this small area. buckingham Palace is close by too, but to me not as scenic and interesting as the sights right along the Thames at Westminster.

@Michael The Red Lion is where we ALWAYS have our first pint and fish and chips when we arrive. 10 year tradition. So right about the MP's, et al. Great conversations and so convenient to some one wanting to see some sites in such a short period of time. @ Lee, take the Heathrow Connect to Paddington Station, then take the Underground District or Circle line to Westminster. Exit the train and Mind The Gap. Look for the exit that says, Westminster Pier. Walk up and out and you'll see the River Thames, The London Eye. Turn to your right and look up. Climb the stairs and enjoy your few hours in London.

You'll need to be on your way back to the airport before you can indulge your wish for fish & chips. If you google you may find a place that serves that for breakfast. Otherwise, order a "Full English Breakfast" somewhere: fried eggs, fried tomatoes, sausage and bacon (fried, of course) baked beans & toast (or fried bread if you wish), and lashings of tea.

Lee, "Otherwise, order a "Full English Breakfast" somewhere: fried eggs, fried tomatoes, sausage and bacon (fried, of course) baked beans & toast (or fried bread if you wish), and lashings of tea." Don't forget the Mushrooms! If you order a "Full English Breakfast", you might ask them to "hold" the Black Pudding (unless you have an "adventurous appetite" of course). Cheers!

"if your flight leaves at 3.20pm, you need to be back at heathrow approx noon" is it NECESSARY to check in the airport 3 hours earlier?

thank you one and all! Lee

"if your flight leaves at 3.20pm, you need to be back at heathrow approx noon"
is it NECESSARY to check in the airport 3 hours earlier? No. If you don't mind risking missing your flight you can check in later.

Before you decide on the Heathrow Connect, make sure that it actually saves you time over the tube. If it were me, I'd skip the Heathrow Connect and just take the tube (assuming no engineering works on tube). If you take the Connect, it only gets you to Paddington. You then have to buy your ticket for the tube, walk to the tube platform, and travel to your destination. By the time that you do that, it will likely take you just as long as if you'd taken the tube all the way in. Check tfl.gov.uk on your date of travel to make sure that there are no engineering works planned on your route. I think the walk along the Thames is a great thing to do in the early morning. To do this, I'd suggest that you buy a one-day travelcard at the underground station in Heathrow. Take the Piccadilly line to Hammersmith where you will switch to a District line train just across the platform and continue to Embankment. At Embankment, exit the tube towards the Thames and walk across the Jubilee pedestrian bridge to the other side of the river. You'll be right by the London Eye and have a great view of Parliament. I'd walk east along the Thames, up to the Millenium Bridge where you can cross over towards St Pauls. When I have my boarding pass and no luggage to check, I usually get to Heathrow 2.5 hours early since I can bypass the check-in queue.

pick up fish and chips on the way in a taxi , zip past Westminster Abbey , Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, l past Buckingham Palace , down the Mall, horseguards Parade back to Downing street, over to the Millenium wheel jump out of the taxi , leap into a London eye pod get to the top , see half of London , shin down jump into a boat going along the Thames ( James Bond style of course) Coast down to Greenwhich, see the Maritime museum , take the London showboat back so you catch songs from the shows , back to Westminster , pick up a pint and taxi back to Heathrow in time to check in. Just a suggestion ?