London September Itinerary

I would definitely add St. Paul's, beautiful and if you are up to it, climb to what I think is called whispering gallery. We liked it better than Westminster Abbey but that is just our opinion.

I am with Gail. I adore St. Paul's! Also love Westminster Abbey, but St. Paul's is awesome. So... I would see both. And of course Evensong is gorgeous. Tower of London - arrive early is my best advice. It can get to be a cattle call in there. For theatre tickets, I recommend going to the TKTS booth in Leicester Square. I have never left empty-handed. I would try to cram in Harrod's Food Hall... but that's just me. I loooooove the Food Hall! Also, a pub. Just because hey - it's London!

Tower of London - try to get there as early as possible to avoid the crowds and waiting on line. I loved the tour they give as well, very interesting and a hoot Westminster Abbey - I would suggest the tour there as well as it was very interesting and they take you to areas others do not know exist. For example - the area where William and Catherine signed their papers you will be in. All of the others you are pretty much free and clear on with regards to timing I believe.

3 places on your list will be a bit more time consuming simply because of size and distance. Kew Gardens is ten miles from the city center so you'll be tubing, busing or boating to get there. The Tower is at least an hour and a half to see it all properly and you could spend a day in the British Museum. Not certain the lure of Picadilly Circus unless it's the neon lights at night or shopping spree for sports apparel at Lillywhites. If the timing works out I'd try to see the Churchill Cabinet Rooms and enjoy the Abbey's evensong on the same day. Virtually blocks from one another so it makes sense. I'd even add seeing the Horse Guards and enjoying St. Stephen's Park. 2nd day you could do the Tower first thing in the morning, have a nosh, tube to Museum of London, then tube to the British Library, visit the Treasure room, then tube back to your neighborhood and have a pint at the Two Chariman Public House. This area, Queen Anne's Gate, often appears in films and TV series. If you liked watching Sherlock Holmes with Jeremy Brett you'll easily recognize it. Next day stroll past the Pallie, through Green Park, walk down Picadilly Street heading over to Leicester Square to get your theatre tickets at the Half Price Ticket booth. Once you got those I'd make your trek out to Kew Gardens making sure you left enough time to return to your hotel to rest before dinner and theatre. Enjoy your time. Pace yourself and use the tube.

Good ideas, thank you! We went to Harrods on our last trip to London and I wasn't impressed. We stopped in to have afternoon tea at one of their restaurants and the lady waiting on us was very rude. She looked at us like we were straight from the Beverly Hillbillies. It wasn't a fancy tea room and we were dressed as everyone else - dress jeans and jackets. Picadilly is not a high priority - it's fairly close to our hotel and thought we could walk over and people watch.

Cindy, Since your hotel is close to Westminster Abbey, you might want to consider a week-day evensong rather than the Sunday service. We attended on a Sunday evening last September and though we enjoyed the service very much (and loved, loved, loved the organ piece played after the service!), it was very crowded and there was a lot of coming and going. I think some people came in because it was a way to get inside the Abbey on a Sunday, but were either unprepared for the length of the service or for the fact that you couldn't slip out and tour the Abbey while the service was going on. You can walk in the cloisters afterwards, and we enjoyed that also. You'll also want to check their calendar to see if they're holding any special services. Our original plan was to attend a mid-morning service that day, but they were having a special "Battle of Britain" commemorative service which was invitation only.
I second St. Paul's and the Whispering Gallery if you have time, say on the day you visit the Tower of London. We were there on a Tuesday and it wasn't crowded at all. My husband sat on one side of the gallery and sang quietly to me on the other side, and vice versa. The ladies sitting next to him got so excited when they saw how it worked that one of them came on my side of the gallery and they talked/sang to each other. Fun to see as people caught on.

Do go at opening time to the Tower and once inside go to the jewel room first as Rick advices. You will have them all to yourself and can go around and around on the conveyor belt to view them over and over again without interruption or annoying others. You can then go back to the entrance and join a Yeoman Warder tour group. I spent 3 hours at the Tower and I was by myself. Enjoy your trip.

I suggest that you pass through Piccadilly Circus at night (on your way to the theatre) give it about 10 minutes or more. The neon advertising lights at night are quite colorful. Also be sure to stop by eros. Most west end theatres are an easy walk from Piccadilly.