A Surprise Day in London -- What to do?

What are the "must see" tourist items that you speak of that you have already done? Also, what are your areas of interest--history, museums, architecture, walking/outdoor activities, music, art, plays? If you provide a little more information, people posting here will be informed and more able to make suggestions that are useful to you.

There is so much to see in London. Let us know what you have seen and what you liked. What time of year will you be there Different things to do would be to go to the theater on Saturday night; Globe theater tour or performance. Speakers corner in Hyde Park on Sunday.

If you are flying into and out of Heathrow you should consider Staying in Windsor. See the castle, wander over to Eaton and maybe do a cruise on the Thames (you can catch these near the bridge over to Eaton). If you want to go into London, why not go over to Kew Gardens if the day is nice? Or maybe a matenee of a musical or play? Did you tour the Globe theatre?

You may enjoy a trip out to Hampton Court. If you go early in the day, you still have time to get back to London for the afternoon. http://www.hrp.org.uk/HamptonCourtPalace/ You may also enjoy one of the Original London Walks walking tours. They have many different themes, and are conducted by a Blue Badge guide. www.Walks.com Also, the Thames Clipper boats offer rides on the Thames, which I enjoy any time of day, but especially right before sunset. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thames_Clippers You can take this boat service from Tower Millennium Pier(Tower of London), Westminster, Waterloo, or Embankment and travel on the Thames to Greenwich Pier, and visit Greenwich, the Cutty Sark and the National Maritime Museum, and the Royal Observatory which would be another great trip for you. City Cruises also operates boats on this route. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_Cruises Also, the Tate Boat Service serves visitors travelling between the Tate Modern museum on the South Bank and the older Tate Britain in Millbank across the river. That's a boat ride, plus two great museums. That would fill up an afternoon. Have a great time!

Hi, All: Sorry, I realize I wasn't specific enough! Last year we saw....British Museum, National Gallery, British Library, Tower of London, Westminster Abby, climbed to the top of St. Paul's cathedral, did the RS Walking Tour of the big ben/buckingham palace area, went to Portobello Market, spent a day at Windsor and toured the castle, wandered around Hyde Park, went to Harrods, went on a pub walking tour...I think that's it! We're a young married couple, who are interested in history, museums, and different cultures (love interesting cuisines, etc)... Hope that helps out more than my original post!

Two excellent museums are the Victoria and Albert, and the Museum of London (a history of London from pre-Roman times to the 1600's, including Roman artifacts and Roman mosaic floor found in London).

Another candidate, if you're interested in WWII period, would be the Churchill Museum & Cabinet War Rooms near Whitehall. This is the then-secret underground headquarters Churchill and his people used during and after the Blitz. They closed the doors in 1945 and didn't reopen them till the 1970s, preserving much as it was during the war. It's also a great museum about Churchill's life and work, with newsreel footage, sound recordings, etc. Looking at the list of places you've already been, this is the next place I'd recommend.

Ooh, I agree with Dick, the Churchill Museum is GREAT! Go early cuz you may spend more time there than you thought. If it's a nice day, I like to get a picnic lunch and lounge around in one of the parks...take a snooze...people watch. Yes, I've fallen asleep in 2 parks, I just put my backpack under my head, felt perfectly safe.

Definitely see the Cabinet War Rooms. The Royal Mews is interesting-the horses have a good life there-the Royal Coaches are on display as well as various uniforms of footmen, etc. Temple Church is worth a visit and could be tied in with going to Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese pub which is ancient. We enjoyed the Charles Dickens House on one trip. The Wallace Collection is free and very enjoyable-the tour of it is guided and is very well done.

There were several lines on the Tube shut down last weekend when we were there due to repair,causing delays and in their words'major delays' on some of the remaining lines due to people doing a 'plan b'for an alternative route So plan accordingly.

Since you have already done quite a few "must see" things you really need to see the show "We Will Rock You" at the Dominion Theater. Also having the fish and chips with a couple of pints at "The Swan" pub across from Hyde Park is definitely worth checking out. We met quite a few interesting locals there last year which is a big part of our reason for travelling. You can always "google" sites but cannot replace the experience of meeting the locals.

If you like art museums I highly recommend the Courthauld Gallery. It's a wonderful small museum, doesn't take more than about an hour to go through, and has a great collection of impressionist pieces. If you go to their website you get a sense of the collection. Even in mid-summer I found it nearly deserted on a Friday afternoon. Nice way to view art in a more intimate setting than at the big galleries and museums.

Tube delays and closures on the weekends are commonplace. It isn't a matter of if, but of where. These delays/closures are well publicized, beginning at the Transport for London site. Several apps for iPhone/Android also track Tube status, providing pushed updates/

I second the recommendation for Original London Walks - we have done several over the past few years and enjoyed them all. A few museum recommendations that have historical interest - Sir John Soane's Museum, an amazing collection of art and antiquities that he crammed into his house, and the Benjamin Franklin House, on Craven Street near Trafalgar Square. Franklin lived in London for more than 10 years before the American Revolution. Across the river, the Imperial War Museum, which focuses on wars of the 20th century, and the Old Operating Theatre Museum and Herb Garret, an actual 19th century operating room and medical museum. Enjoy your surprise day!

Lucky you.
I would plan 2 options one for rain and one for fair weather. Victoria and Albert museum is terrific as is St Pauls Cathedral and Tower of London. For fair weather see Kensington Park have lunch at Orangerie while there, traverse Hyde park to see Change of guard at Buckingham Palace. Squeeze in a Pub meal along the way.

Changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace takes a couple of hours- you need to be there early to be in front to see anything- then its a long wait. iI this sounds interesting do the changing at Horse guards (a lot cuter with the horses and better uniforma) or at St James - a small contingent breaks off from buckingham palace, and there will be very few pople to get in your way. Dont need to get there much in advance