Help with three days in London

I agree that you are trying to do too much in one day. The Tower will take all morning. You could perhaps see St. Pauls and the Old Bailey, then walk across the Millenium Bridge to the Tate Modern, Globe theater and the Eye in the evening. (Still a very full day.) You might see the British Museum another morning and combine it with Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden and the National Gallery or Portrait Gallery. From there it's only a 10 min walk or so to the Houses of Parliament. Look at a map and try not to go from one end of London to the other in the same day.

Check which days the changing of the guard take place. They might not be changing every day. Not too much on each day, just need to organize your attractions by areas so you're not bouncing all over the city which wastes valuable time. How old are your daughters? They might not be that interested in the Tower. My 13 year old daughter was ready to leave after 2 hours there and we ended up spending 5. If you like to garden then Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew are a must! Enjoy, then post a follow-up report on your trip.

Very helpful information, everyone. Thanks! To answer some questions, we are going to the Globe just for a quick tour, not to a play. My 17 year old is studying Shakespeare and just wants a quick look. I know our schedule was crazy, but we have only three days, so I was trying to at least get a "taste" of all the major sights. We will definitely drop Harrod's and the Old Bailey and add Picadilly Circus.
So, revised schedule: Day 1 - Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery.
Day 2- Tower of London, St. Paul's, Tate Modern, Globe (quick look, time permitting) London Eye. Day 3- British Museum, Covent Garden, Picadilly.
Again, thanks to everyone for the suggestions, Does this seem to be more feasible?

Sorry. Houses of Parliament on day one as well.

Betsy, your day 2 still looks a bit busy but it looks like you could easily move something to day 3 if you run out of time as Piccadilly Circus is just a place with a bunch of electronic billboards and not much to see.

One thing to keep in mind is that many of the museums have evening hours. For example, the British Museum is open late on Thursdays and Fridays so you might check to see which evenings the museums are open late and place those towards the end of your days.

Harrods is also open in the evening.

I'd also suggest that you do the London Eye on your first day when you are going by Parliament. It is directly across the river and not a very far walk from Trafalgar Square.

With only 3 days, I am not sure I would take the time for the Changing of the Guard. I'd pare things down in general. Westmenister and Parliment, walk down the mall and view Buckingham and St. James Park- the eye is in that area- do it at sunset. Covent Garden in the evening is not the best time- the markets shut down around 6:00pm- visit it in the morning or at lunch time one day. The Tower is well worth several hours. Harrod's is a store- a very nice store, but it could be cut easily. The british Museum is, again, worth several hours. Old Bailey- could cut. Are you planning on a play- not sure Globe Theatre is open at night. Think about using the hop on/off buses to get oriented and then make a second "round" to get off and back on at places you want to see. You might consider adding Greenwich.

Betsy: I don't know that your teenaged girls will really enjoy the Globe theatre that much, but if you want them to have the experience, buy "groundling" tickets, stay until they get bored, then leave...groundlings are free to come and go at any time, and since its standing only, its cheap. Go to a play they would really like in the evening...London has a huge selection.
I agree with Toni--Changing of the Guard is a big nothing...most of what you will see are the heads of other people in front of you. Harrod's is just a department store.
I would arrange it this way: Day 1 as you have it through Westminster abbey. Spend some time walking around the area, taking in the view of the Houses of parliament from across the Thames at the end of westminster Bridge. Walk up Whitehall to Trafalgar Square, stopping at a pub like the Clarence for lunch. National Gallery..do the greatest hits. Walk to Covent Garden and browse & shop until dinnertime. Dinner there, then tube back to hotel. Day 2 Tower of London. Get there before it opens, ideally with tickets already in hand (Rick gives details in his books). That will take a full morning. Lunch near the Tower. Take a Thames boat up to the Tate Modern. See that (2 hrs), then walk across millenium bridge to st Paul's. See that. Tube to Picadilly and spend some time there (teens love it). Tea at The Wolseley, then taxi to a play. Day 3 British Museum and lunch. Afternoon...an excursion to Greenwich or perhaps a walking tour with the company London Walks.

Don't drop Harrod's --- it is a must for London. The best time for The
Eye at that time is about 8:00 pm -- dusk. The Tower and British Museum take considerable time. Map out your sites to maximize your time. Use a tube map. You might take a bus tour first to get acquainted with the city.

On your day two, you might consider Borough Market. There's a website. We enjoyed that so much more than Harrod's. To me, and I'll catch some flak here, Harrod's was one big souvenir shop of things you could afford, along with many things you could not. The employees could certainly tell which category of customer you belonged to, and steered you to the souvenir area.

So we'll add Harrod's or the market if we have time and the London eye at dusk. We'll be starting our days early, arriving when things open and going until everyone decides it's time to go back to the hotel and collapse, so hopefully we'll be able to handle some pretty full days. Thanks to everyone for the help. It's really difficult to plan when you don't have a good feel for the layout of the city, so your help has been invaluable.

Betsy, I also had a hard time wrapping my head around London. What you need is a big old map. I found an old National Geographic one of London in a used book store. I later got an updated map. Everything made sense then. It's too hard to orient on a google map on the computer.

Your girls will be fasinated by the markets for shopping- esp. Covent Garden and Camden Locks. Thursday is the day most stores stay open "late" (8:00 or 9:00pm is late to them). Covent Garden is especially interesting as it is different every day.

Betsy, we are currently planning our third trip to London with 17 yr old daughter. First trip she was 13. Her favorite thing we did was the Tower, although she was quite a fan of British history, being an avid reader of historical fiction. I would highly recommend the Beefeaters' tour-they are very entertaining and informative. We were there about 4 hours, and that was in Nov. with no crowds. Since we were lucky enough to see the Queen and Royal family in procession back from the opening of Paliament we didn't watch changing of the guard.

Second trip, she was 15. We did alot of just walking: from Piccadilly up Regent St, Oxford St. Another day from Trafalgar Sq down the Strand to Fleet St and St. Paul's. She also enjoyed the shopping-you might need to figure time stopping in a few stores. Her favorite is jane norman, quite a few throughout the west end. We also enjoyed Harrods-IMHO, a must see. There are things for all budgets if you want to buy something. I've gotten alot of use from a green canvas tote i got there.

This year we plan to go back to the British Museum and the Tower, spend more time in Hyde Park, Kensington Palace and the V&A.
I highly recommend Rick's London book. You can use it to plan your Museum visits to see the things that interest you most. Also, the tube is great for getting to places quickly, but the busses are nice to see parts of the city as you pass by. Hope this helps.

You mentioned shopping in the evenings, most stores close around 6pm most nights. I think your daughters would really enjoy Covent Garden. Like other posts I wouldn't watch the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace the only way to see if you get there an hour or more before it starts and get spot right up to the fence. Another thing you could do would be to go to the Royal Mews to see the Queens horses and carriages. If you go to see Buckingham Palace, when facing the Palace if you take the sidewalk to your left and around the corner then the Royal Mews will be on your right hand side about a block down.

All great suggestions. My girls are 17 and 14, one pretty intellectual and studious and one...not :). So I'm trying not to bore the 14 year old to tears while satisfying the 17 year old's desire for museums and history. It's a tough balance. However, they both love shopping, so we will definitely implement those suggestions (I keep forgetting how early the stores close, thanks for the reminder) as they will each have some money of their own to spend. I already have Rick's 2009 London book, but I got it on my Kindle, so the maps are fairly useless. Yesterday I got a fairly good London map and plotted out all the things we want to see, which helped me get a little bit of an overview of London.
The Royal Mews sounds like a great idea, and we will stop in Jane Norman for some shopping as well.
You've all been invaluable, so thank you. Keep the suggestions coming!

Before you go, check the websites of the museums etc. to get the hours they are open. All attractions may not be open every day, or that they may close early. For instance, a couple of trips ago I didn't realize that Westminster Abbey closed at 3:00 and we showed up at 3:30. I have found the Streetwise maps invaluable (about $7 on Amazon). Laminated, small enough to tuck in a purse and has all the major sights.

Betsy, I've been to London several times and never have been to the National Potrait Gallery, and I don't think I'm missing anything. Unless you all like potrait art a lot...I think Rick describes it as a who's who of English history. Well....I'd skip it, exp if you're going to the British Museum which is ever so much more interesting. And while Harrod's is a big, expensive, in some people's opinion "gotta go there" department store, I'd skip that too. I'm a shopper and really, I didn't feel I could afford anything, or wanted to pay the prices for anything, even a Harrod's plastic bag (which is what I think most tourists end up with). If you like shopping but not being able to buy, go. If you like to buy, spend the time at Covent Garden, which while expensive, is at least affordable.

Betsy, I've been to London several times and never have been to the National Potrait Gallery, and I don't think I'm missing anything. Unless you all like potrait art a lot...I think Rick describes it as a who's who of English history. Well....I'd skip it, esp if you're going to the British Museum which is ever so much more interesting. And while Harrod's is a big, expensive, and in some people's opinion "gotta go there" department store, I'd skip that too. I'm a shopper and really, I didn't feel I could afford anything, or wanted to pay the prices for anything, even a Harrod's plastic bag (which is what I think most tourists end up with). If you like shopping but not being able to buy, go. If you like to buy, spend the time at Covent Garden, which while expensive, is at least affordable.

The Portrait Gallery often has some very interesting temporary exhibits. My last visit in November they had two very popular exhibits on 60s rock bands, and another focusing on British model Twiggy.

Hi Betsy,
If you are thining of doing Harrods and want an excellent experience with tea - you can book reservations for tea at harrods restaurant. We are never shop in Harrods - just go for their afternoon tea.
One thing that I did when I first took my daughter to London is we went on a double decker bus tour - cheesy I know, but it was great to get an idea of all of the possibilities and you can jump on and off for 24 hours - so a good way of transport. The tube has gotten expensive (4 gbp per trip) so it isn't that much more expensive.
Enjoy! My daughter is a Henry VIII expert so she loved our visit there.

Hi Betsy,

We spent 4 days London with our daughters, 14 & 18. D They loved the Tower of London- definitely do the Beefeater tour. Also liked the British Museum (it was pouring out), eating at Punjab - oldest Indian restaurant in London, and Kensington Gardens. The gardens are quite extensive. Since they're Beatles fans, we trekked out to Abbey Rd, which they loved. We walked, walked, walked. Best way to see a city.

Our hardest thing? Dinner! Being NYC folks, we assumed London restaurants would serve food late. They don't. And we couldn't seem to coordinate our schedule with their dinnertimes.

If you are at either the National Gallery or Trafalger Square, there is a church (St Martin of the Fields)that has a cafe in their crypt. It is a decent place for lunch or a snack and it is kinda fun to have all the old markers to read. However creepy the idea of eating in a crypt may seem, it is not a creepy place at all

I can't thank everyone enough for all of the help. It's one thing to read guide books and websites and another entirely to have input from people who've been. I am so excited about this trip, and even more so now that I have a better idea of where/when/how to go. I definitely changed some plans after reading all of your suggestions. We'll be adding more shopping for my daughters. We'll let you know how it goes!