London how long?

Three weeks would be a wonderful chance to get to know London much better than most visitors can. You might consider switching apartments midway so you can experience different neighborhoods. You'll have time for several day trips to places like Oxford or Cambridge, Canterbury, Windsor, Hampton Court, etc. You can pace yourselves and minimize crowds by hitting the museums and "big sites" as soon as they open in the morning, then use the afternoons for less structured activity, resting, etc. Maybe some matinees instead of evening performances if you're into theater. Most on this board would love to have the kind of time you'll have.

What a refreshing post, sometimes its hard to see people saying they really want to get to know a place and they have 5 days what should they see???
Three weeks is lovely , you can actually enjoy the experience and you will even remember it, some people rush around so much they barely remember what they saw. I had a friend go to Paris for 3 days.. one day her hubby said they saw FOUR museums, so I asked which ones, and she could only remember the Louvre, couldn't remember the names of the other three .. no wonder , they must have walked in and out in under an hour! With three weeks you can do some lovely daytrips, Bath is very easy, its about 1.5 hrs on a train, lovely comfy ride ( second class of course) and then when you arrive in Bath you are only 10 minute or less walk to the actual Baths,, this is more interesting then you think, they have excavated some old Roman settlement ruins under the Baths and there is a small museum set up. A lovely old church is just down from the Baths, and then there is just wandering around and stopping for a tea. I would also suggest Hampton Court, and perhaps Windsor Palace. Theres alot more too that people can list off. With the time you have you can just relax, no running about,, one big site a day would be enough Do not forgo seeing the Tower of London, its pricey but worth every penny.

...when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford. - Samuel Johnson. It still holds true. You won't run out of things to do during your three weeks.

If you are regulars at the OSF in Ashland, you will want to see some plays. Use theatremonkey.com for the best information and prices. There are often cheaper tickets for seniors, sometimes in advance, sometimes same-day. I finally took some London Walks guided tours on my last visit and enjoyed them all. They have a website with lots and lots of information. The walks are about 4 hours long. You might consider 2-3 days outside London. Bath is a great location, just a couple of hours by train. It is probably too far for a day trip for you, but it is well worth seeing. The best museums are free (Tate, National Gallery, British, Victoria & Albert, etc.) so you can take your time to see them.

Bath is an easy daytrip from London, it is only 1.5 hours by train, train arrives pretty central to Baths, and its a comfy ride.

3 weeks for just London and day trips. Perfect.

I think you will really enjoy your trip. Why don't you check out staying at one of the universities. I know that the London School of Economics rents spare dorm rooms and apartments to tourists. Just we aware that their website often says there is no availalibiity, when there actually is. It seems to be a glitch they can't/haven't fixed. Others have had success with contacting them directly. They have multiple central locations. Here are their two websites. www.lsevacations.co.uk/ www.lsetopfloor.co.uk/ We love doing day trips out of London. In fact a few years ago I wrote an article for AAA Carolina's "Go!" magazine about doing that. I adapted it and put it on TripAdvisor. Here is a link.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Travel-g186338-c176673/London:United-Kingdom:London.And.Day.Trips.html Point to point tickets purchased in advance might be a money saver, but you are committed to a specific train. We liked the flexibility of Britrail passes. We could choose to travel based on our moods, the weather, or something we 'discovered' at the last moment. With passes you can also do things like go to Dover, then stop off at Caterburry on the way back. If you get somewhere and aren't enjoying it, you can return, or head somewhere else. I envy you!!!