London Itinerary

Ian use Google Maps satellite image view and type in Big Ben London, United Kingdom. Zoom in and start to notice what is in close proximity (aka walking distance). For example if you got up early 8am, had breakfast and made your way via the tube to Westminster you could exit, see Big Ben, The Houses of Parliament and walk by Westminster Abbey. Then take Birdcage Walk thru St. James Park up to the Palace and get your spot to see the Changing of the Guard at 11:30am. Once that finished, you could walk back through St. James Park over to the Horse Guards and then visit the Churchill War rooms. Then over to and into Westminster Abbey. Time for a late lunch and I suggest a pint and a pub meal at the Two Chairman Public House on Dartmouth where Queen Anne's Gate dead ends. This long block of preserved houses with ornate porches is it often filmed. You can almost imagine Sherlock Holmes pulling up in a carriage. From here back out to Parliament square and if you still want to take the Eye, walk over Westminster Bridge and stand in line to do so. Or walk up Whitehall to Trafalgar Square to the National Gallery or, head back to your accommodation to rest and change in preparation to see Wicked. EASY city to explore on foot because so many of THE sites are close to one another. 3rd Day Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Boroughs Market, walk along Bankside to Shakespeare's Globe (do try to see a performance, so much fun) then over the Millennium Bridge to St. Pauls. These suggested routes are merely to show that a great deal can be accomplished in a day in London. Enjoy your trip. Fabulously interesting city.

Claudia has some good suggestions about grouping nearby sights. You may find that you are too exhausted/jet lagged on the day you arrive to do much more than find your hotel, settle in and stroll around. The Tower can fill an entire day if you like to see everything and take your time. Same with the British Museum. Try to schedule your walking tour earlier in the week (weather permitting) - if you pass through that area later in your trip you'll know what you're seeing. You may want to do the London Eye near the end of your trip so you'll recognize the landmarks. But keep an eye (get it?) on the forecast as the view is not as nice in the rain. Don't be afraid to scale back if you find you enjoy yourselves more at a slower pace. As Rick says, tour with the intention of coming back. Enjoy your week!

I am a Shakespeare scholar and love the Globe, but if you have no interest in plays or that era of history, you may not find it worthwhile to do the tour. (A show would be enjoyable unless you hate theater, probably.) if I were you I wouldn't go to a show on the first night. I fall asleep whenever I do that. Kensington Palace is not all that exciting. And I say that as a fan of palaces. Windsor should scratch that itch for you. The V and A is pretty cool, but I suggest taking a look at their website to see if their collections interest you. To be honest, your itinerary looks full enough. If you have extra time, go have a real afternoon tea, which is restful and relaxing!

We went to an evensong at Westminster Abbey and it was gorgeous. Since they don't charge for it, since it's a religious service, it's a way to be there for free, but they don't let you explore or look around. Keep in mind it's only open until 3pm, I think, then closed until 5pm for the evensong. Also, our kids wanted to do the London Eye, and we learned that tickets are cheaper if you book them at least 24 hours in advance. We didn't realize that, but fortunately our daughter managed to find a website that had them for the "advance purchase" price. I think it was LondonNet, or something like that. Keep scrolling down, on websites that advertise London Eye tickets - often the most expensive tickets are at the top, and the least expensive further down! Your hotel should be able to help you with tickets, but we found it less expensive to go online, and they just printed tickets out for us at the front desk of our hotel. We got all-day passes that worked for the Tube and the busses, which were great! Have a good time...

Buy advance London Eye tickets. The line is very long. Piccadilly Circus is a very busy place, with a few big neon signs. Other than that, it hasn't really enticed me to come back. If I ranked places in priority interest, it would be near the bottom. Monday's schedule is pushing it. Bath is two hours by train from London. So, there and back is 4 hours. You can easily spend at least a full day there. I think Stonehenge is very over-rated.

Hi Ian - You really have a lot packed in on this trip! Some days seem very doable but a few seem not very realistic. The day that I think will be nearly impossible to do is Monday - I really don't think you can see all three of these things in one day. Counting your travel time you wouldn't have time to do any of them justice even with a car. You could probably see Windsor and Stonehenge in a day but not Bath as well - too far and too much to see in Bath. It deserves its own day! Monday you will be slammed with jet lag...I think riding the Eye might put you to sleep! It takes 45 mins to get all the way around. You can easily see Picadilly Circus from the cab on your way back to your hotel that evening. Tuesday is good as long as you get started right away first thing in the morning. I think the rest of your days are fine as long as you don't want to do any of these sights too thoroughly.
Kensington Palace really isn't worth it. I love the V&A but what they have on display is to a very specific interest...look first to see what they have. It's quite large. If you ever want to see a Shakespeare play then the Globe is THE place to see one...they are putting on some great shows this summer...we have tickets to see Midsummer Night's Dream in August. Get tickets now if you want to sit down, otherwise you can pay 5 pounds to stand which is actually fun!