Tentative itinerary

I would spend the extra day in Paris. You'll never be able to see everything you want to in 3 days. Another option would be to take a day trip from Paris. I thought Chartres was won derful; lots of people love Versaille. You could also use another day in London.

Paris is definitely worth at least 3 days, have a great time! Do you know what museums in London you're going to? How about the Tower? I don't see that on your schedule. I'm going to be in London for 2 days in October and I plan to go to the Tower and the V & A because I missed them the first time I was there. The British Museum is amazing. The HOHO tours are good and actually include a river cruise (but it's not a HOHO type of river cruise} And how about a show? You're there for over a week, you should make time for one!

Keep in mind that my comments reflect merely my own preferences and experiences--yours may be quite different. Still, for what it is worth, here are my thoughts on your proposed itinerary:
It seems to me that you are doing general hop on/off type tours using different transport media 4 times: Days 1, 2, 3, and 5. IMO you should simply do the double-decker bus HO/HO that Rick Steves describes in his London/England/UK books on day 1. Then on day 2 Do the Whitehall walk to Trafalgar Square, National Gallery, and over to Covent Garden. Have dinner somewhere in Covent Garden. Day 3 Do the Tower of London early, followed by St Paul's Cathedral and the City. On Day 5 do any of the museums that you will NOT do on the "Museum Tours" on day 8: British Museum, Tate Modern, Victoria & Albert, Imperial War Museum, Transport Museum, Museum of London.

Day 7 seems a little scattershot, especially if you are using public transportation. You could easily spend a day doing Dover and Canterbury, but it would be tough to combine that with a river cruise/Greenwich. Perhaps take the Thames cruise back from Hampton Court Palace on Day 6?

I would put Day 9 as a travel day, London to Paris via Eurostar. Then you will have no problem filling the remaining time: Louvre, Orsay Museum, Pompidou, Marmottan Museums; Versailles; Invalides/Napoleon's Tomb; Montmartre; strolling the Left Bank/Rue Mouffetard area; Notre Dame & Saint Chapelle; boat ride on the Seine. Wow! Just listing the main sights makes me tired! And there are plenty more in both London and paris.....

Hi Deborah,

Your itinerary seems to have a lot of organized tours. If you are a good walker, you can see a lot of London just walking around with a good map and with a nice variety of attractions instead of all the museums on one day. One day, start at Westminster Abbey (good audio tour available, you don't need a guide), admire Big Ben and the huge statue of Boudicca, walk through the park , then head over to the Victoria and Albert, maybe end up in Hyde Park. Another day, walk the south bank of the Thames from the London Eye, past the Globe Theatre (Swan pub nice for lunch) , walk across the pedestrian bridge to admire St. Pauls (go in if you like but it isn't my favourite cathedral), return to the south bank, walk up to the Tower of London.(You could do this starting at the Tower and walking to the Eye if you prefer) On still another day, enjoy the British Museum and the National Gallery (different enough to be OK on the same day) and have lunch at St. Martin's in the Field crypt--there's also a better than average souvenir shop there. Definitely go to a play--the theatres are in that area. Use a cab to return to your hotel if your feet are too tired for a round trip---you are saving lots of tour money so you can justify the cab fares! ;)

Definitely take time to tour the Tower of London. We only had 4 days in the city and the only time I got to see the tower was at night at the Ceremony of the Keys (which was great). If I had to do over again, I would arrive at the Tower early in the day and take the guided tour, then have a picnic lunch on the grassy lawn, (which once was the moat!), then I would spend the afternoon walking around on my own and visit the gift shop, then take the river cruise back to Westminster Pier!

Tower of London is definitely to be included on one of the touring days. Wasn't certain if walking to different sights was possible since it was a large city. Also wasn't certain how long to give to the different sights to fully enjoy them. That would determine how many days would be needed to tour the city. Would be nice to get a map to preplan our walking paths. Does anyone know how I can get such a map. Day 7 was a guided tour. Has anyone ever done a Bike tour to know if they are worth it? Main objective of the Hop on/off is being transported to the different sights without having to figure out the bus system.

You should be able to buy a London map at Powells, Borders, or order one from Amazon. Rough Guides makes good maps, so does Michelin. Using google maps (on line), you can get walking routes and distances for all sorts of places in London.

For major attractions, we figure two hours, minor attractions one hour. We usually do one major, lunch, another major. Figure a minor attraction for late morning or late afternoon, but you probably won't have time for two minors in one day. For us, major attractions were Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, the British Museum, and the Victoria and Albert. You might have different priorities. You might prefer time to sit in the park and people watch instead of scheduling that third "minor" attraction

You can buy food at Pret a Manger (has seating) or Marks and Spencer Simply Food (no seating) stores(both have good light food choices and seem to have many locations)for breakfasts and lunches (even dinners if you like to picnic). Picnicking in the parks saves you a lot of time. What you have heard about London weather is true---be sure you have a very lightweight collapsible umbrella tucked in your day pack so you can keep walking despite the showers.

Debra, the London tranport system is excellent. The Ho/Ho bus is good for orientation,but I wouldn't rely on it for transport. The tube is reliable and easy, and not toooo expensive. Get travel cards at a national rail station and you can get 2 for 1 offers on entrance fees at places like Tower of London. London is also very walkable. Most sites are in zone 1 and if you plan well, you can have an effeicent , enjoyable time.

Deborah, if you do have an extra day or at least extra time, I recommend the Benjamin Franklin House on Craven Street. It's the only house he lived in that is still standing; he lived there for more than a decade during the time leading up to the American Revolution. We visited in 2006 soon after it opened and enjoyed it very much. It was interesting to hear the English perspective on one of our Founding Fathers!

Of course, I'd also recommend spending that extra day in Paris, but maybe you could sneak Ben F in on one of your London days. I believe you need to reserve tickets online; we were very glad we had done so because we had a hard time finding the location, and they were looking out for us and hallooed when they saw three tourists wandering around looking lost...

Deborah, Toni is absolutely right. The Tube covers central London thoroughly, its cheap, fast, and easy. The lines are both named and colored (example, Piccadilly Line is dark blue), and there are maps and signs posted everywhere for guidance. It's safe--and London generally is quite safe. The worst that could happen to you on the subway (Tube or Underground) is pickpocketing--and that could happen anywhere if you aren't wearing a moneybelt. Use the Tube to get to the starting point of a walk--say Westminster station across the street from Big Ben, then an hour's walk (15 minutes if you push it, but a gentle stroll is fine) takes you to Trafalgar Square, and another few minutes to Covent Garden...pick up the Tube there and you are on your way to the next sight or back to your hotel. Go to the London Transport website, and you'll find a wealth of information (they can give you itineraries including walking from point to point, with estimated times). Rick's guides are very good on this too.
Don't be afraid to ride the tube--its one of the things I enjoy most about visiting London.

I've been convinced that walking London will be a good idea. Now to figure out my paths.The information seems endless.

Deborah, if you haven't done so yet, get Rick's London book. He has quite a few walks recommended and though I havent checked yet, he's supposed to have downloadable podcasts on London walks/museums this year. Have you decided how many days to spend in Paris?

"I've been convinced that walking London will be a good idea. Now to figure out my paths.The information seems endless."

i don't know if anyone suggested this yet, but check out london walks--www.walks.com

Using google maps, you can plot out walks in London and get the walking distances. If you would like to see what the walk will look like, click on the "orange man" icon for the street views. Most of the area you would want to walk is bounded by the Tower of London and Tate Modern to the east, Westminster Abbey and the London Eye to the west, the Victoria and Albert Museum near Hyde Park and then the British Museum to the north. Connect these points on your London map, then plan to walk and explore. If you always know where you are in relation to the Thames, you shouldn't get lost. And you can always ask for directions---almost everyone speaks English.

Deborah - Here is a web site I found extremely useful on our visit to London. Walk It

Using goggle maps was brilliant. I am able to plan my walking tours to places that are next to each other.