Guidance on what to do

Rick's London book may be of interest, it has a lot of good stuff for someone spending a week in London (no, none of us get a commish for touting Rick's books). You can click here for more ideas. Tottenham, hmmm. In your daily planning, you'll have to take into consideration the time and cost of getting from Tottenham to the "touristic center", i.e., London. Tottenham is 7 or 8 miles from the city center, straight-line distance. Be on mass transit during commuting hours may not be something you want to do. We have some Londoners on this site, who may be able to advise you on dealing with your Tottenham location.

Do you really mean Tottenham; or Tottenham Court Road (in central London). If you do mean Tottenham, transport does depend on where in Tottenham. If near either Tottenham Hale or Seven Sisters station then both are on the Victoria Line which goes to Kings X in 20 minutes. (And if you want to change to the Piccadilly Line there is an excellent interchange at Finsbury Park, one stop down from Seven Sisters.) Oxford Circus and Victoria are also on the Victoria Line - check the tube map for other stations. Also both stations have frequent overground national rail trains into Liverpool Street take about 20 minutes. There are other overground stations in the same area also going into Liverpool Street, eg Bruce Grove, Northumberland Park etc etc. I used to live near Tottenham High Road some years ago - not a great area.

Thanks for responding. I just checked the "hotel" listing and she corrected it to be Crouch End - not Tottenham (as the advertiser said); and it is near the "Haringay" station. I hope this makes it better. The thing I'm really looking for is how to group activities: let's say London Eye, Kensington Palace, SoHo (I'm just making this up). What activities could be grouped for each day (I know everyone has different preferences, but it would help. Believe me!), so that (perhaps) 3 could be done in a day - including mix of walks, rides, museums or...whatever.
Thanks.

Kensington Palace is being renovated so all you'll get to see (so I'm told) is an exhibit. You definitely need to get a London Guidebook. The "classics" are The Tower of London, St Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey and Churchill War Rooms. These are all covered by the London Pass. The London Pass also covers one of the river cruise boats. You should definitely take a ride down to Greenwich. You're London Pass will arrive with a guide book showing what's covered. Many of the items it "covers" are actually free. You may get a guidebook or some percentage off in their gift shop. You can do some day trips. Windsor Palace and Hampton Court are easy day trips by train from London and both are covered by the London Pass. You might also want to consider one day trips to Stonehenge/Bath (best choice IMHO), Oxford and Cambridge. Be careful not to try to do too much in a day trip. Don't plan on 3 sites in a day. Depending on the sites and your interests you may barely get one done. Some sites won't take an hour and you could get 6 or 8 done in a day with a relaxed lunch in the middle.

"I just checked the "hotel" listing and she corrected it to be Crouch End - not Tottenham (as the advertiser said); and it is near the "Haringay" station." Which "hotel", and any special reason you're staying there? That area is an unusual choice.

Something is wrong here. I had never heard of and could not find "Haringay" station on my Underground map, so I double checked with the Transport for London website. Haringey is apparently a neighborhood, not a station, close to the Manor House stop on the Piccadilly Line. On the other hand, googling "Crouch Road" produced a neighborhood fairly far to the west, close to the Bakerloo Line. So this needs clarification. Whichever of these two it is, you will be facing a long and not terribly pleasant commute twice a day to get into Central London. Kent is quite right that Rick's guidebook gives you exactly what you are looking for in terms of which sights to prioritize, how much time to allocate, and a possible itinerary for visits of different lengths.

You guys are on the ball! The place we're staying is a rented flat. Overground station is Harringay in zone 3. The underground station is Finsbury Park with ("easy") access to Piccadilly and Victoria lines. The suggestions re: day trips or doing too much will be taken (Thanks for the info on Kensington Palace).

Trevor, please let us know how the stay went when you get back, please. I've never been into Haringay, other than having driven by. The only thing I really know about the area is from the horrific news story about Baby P. Hope you have a good visit.

That looks like you have to take the train from Haringay to Finsbury Park and then change to the tube. From FP its 15 minutes to Leicester Square or 25 to South Ken or Tower Hill. When I lived in London I was fairly close to that area - I used the Tufnell Park tube station - but now I'm a tourist I stay further in in Bloomsbury.

Trevor, since it looks like you will be doing a bit of commuting, do yourself a favor and avoid the morning and evening rush hours. Trains and the Tube are packed, and more expensive. Sleep late, have a nice breakfast, journey into town after 9am, and come back after dinner, say around 10pm or so. Seriously. Also, remember that trains and the Tube do not run 24/7. Always check for the last train home, and target the next to last one.

Thank you all for your replies. Nigel, that thing about the "baby P." is enough to make me LoL! I don't know what it is/was, but I'll give a report. In the meantime, I ran out and got one of Rick Steve's book. So, rest assured I'll follow the suggestions. I really just need to work out a daily itinerary. Again, thanks all.

Er, Baby P. isn't a LOL, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baby_P

Very sorry about the Baby P. issue. I was not aware. Definitely not an Lol matter. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.