Best of England tour question - Day 12 York to London

We did this Tour two weeks ago. You will leave York on a high speed train to London, taking your luggage with you on the train. When you arrive at the Kings Cross station you will meet a coach bus and load your luggage on the bus. You will then do a city tour on the bus on the way to Westminster Abbey. At the Abbey you will be given time for lunch and meet again at the Abbey for a 2:00pm tour. After the Abbey tour, the bus will take the group to the hotel where you will be given your rooms and unload the luggage. There was not enough time allowed on our tour after the Abbey tour to sight see on your own. The Queen jubilee gallery is not included in the Abbey tour. Tour members are given Oyster cards with £15.00. It should be fairly simple to get from the tube station across from the hotel in Kensington to the area around the Abbey, or anywhere for that matter.

Thanks for the detailed recent tour experience Don!

How long was the guided Westminster Abbey tour before the bus took the group to the hotel?
Did you wish you had more time?

How long were you given for lunch near the Abbey before the 2pm tour?

I’m thinking outside the box and wondering if we could use the allotted lunch break time for us to take our own luggage via the tube from Westminster to our hotel in South Kensington (right across the street from Gloucester road station) just to drop off our luggage with the front desk, and tube back in time for the guided tour? Im an experienced traveler and on the younger side so I’m not worried about getting lost or rushing 😉 This would then allow us to linger longer at the Abbey ourselves afterward if we weren’t tied down to having to arrive at the hotel with the group, and could then go straight into exploring London without backtracking and loosing time from hotel check-in.

Crazy idea? But if the lunch break is only like 30-45min then I know it won’t be possible.

Thanks for the detailed recent tour experience Don!

How long was the guided Westminster Abbey tour before the bus took the group to the hotel?
Did you wish you had more time?
I would say at least an hour and a half, we felt we did not need any more time than given but that's
subjective.

How long were you given for lunch near the Abbey before the 2pm tour?
Closer to 45 minutes but less than an hour. We had picked up food at the Pret r Manger deli at the train
station as it was mentioned there was a possibility of missing lunch if the train was delayed into London for
some reason. We ate that on the bus but then still had something to eat at the Pret r Manger not far from
the Abbey.

I’m thinking outside the box and wondering if we could use the allotted lunch break time for us to take our own luggage via the tube from Westminster to our hotel in South Kensington (right across the street from Gloucester road station) just to drop off our luggage with the front desk, and tube back in time for the guided tour? Im an experienced traveler and on the younger side so I’m not worried about getting lost or rushing 😉 This would then allow us to linger longer at the Abbey ourselves afterward if we weren’t tied down to having to arrive at the hotel with the group, and could then go straight into exploring London without backtracking and loosing time from hotel check-in.
That's something only the guide could answer but I can't imagine they would think it was a good idea.

There would be issues with having to get your luggage off the bus and I believe entry to the Abbey is by
tickets and this may present a problem to enter if you are not back in time to go in with the group.

Crazy idea? But if the lunch break is only like 30-45min then I know it won’t be possible.
The following day includes a boat ride on the Thames which ends at the docks beneath Big Ben, not far
from the Abbey and then the afternoon is free. You could continue with your plans to tour that area then.
(Sorry for the formatting. I could not get the finished answer to look the same as it did when I was setting it up).

I've never taken a RS Tour but thinking outside the bachs - how about while people are loading the bus you leave your luggage with Excess Luggage at the station then run to the coach and hop on then dawdle at the Abbey of you want to then back to St Pancras for being the queens of the late check in when you arrive at the hotel???

Would it work - dunno.... Is there enough time to leave the luggage and find the coach??? Dunno.....

You sound like you might like to gamble? Or do you want to know for absolute?

What Nigel said may be a better idea to discuss with the guide on the train ride from York than to have to get the luggage off the bus at the Abbey and go the the room and come back, hoping to meet the group before they go in. I think the guide might be more acceptable to leaving you on your own after the Abbey tour to retrieve your luggage at the train station and make your way to the hotel. You are on your own for supper that night anyway and when you arrive at the hotel in the evening the room numbers will have been assigned and you could just pick up your key and go to your room. And it seems you are already aware of how to navigate your way to the hotel and nearby tube station.

I’d get off the train and go straight to the tube, drop my luggage at the hotel then dash to the Abbey. I bet you can beat them. Will take ages to get everyone out of the station and loaded onto a bus.

I think the easiest solution may be asking one of your new tour group friends if they will take your suitcase off the bus when it arrives at the hotel and give it to the hotel to store in the hotel’s stored luggage room. Then when you arrive later at the hotel after taking more time at the Abbey, you can check in and retrieve your luggage. I would bring a bright colored ribbon or tag to make it obvious to your new tour friend which bag is yours.

I wouldn’t ask your tour guide to do this because it’s not part of their role. But, you should let your tour guide know your plans before you leave York, letting them know exactly who is taking your luggage. Also, the guide & your buddy need to know when you won’t be with the group, so everyone isn’t waiting or wondering where you are. I did a custom thing on my last RS tour. I let my tour guide and my buddy know ahead of time. I even gave my tour guide a paper with my planned details - just so she wouldn’t need to worry about me & my plans. It all worked out very well.

And, if you’re needing a little gelato on a hot day after your time in Westminster Abbey, this is a good one that is very close! GioLato at 15 Strutton Ground, London. Their lemon basil was wonderful!

"I’m thinking outside the box and wondering if we could use the allotted lunch break time for us to take our own luggage via the tube from Westminster to our hotel in South Kensington"

I've been on this tour and there can be timing delays. Everything usually works fine. On my transit day from York to London our train from York was delayed because it had hit an animal on the tracks north of York so we had to wait until the next one. Then that one got delayed because of signal failures or something. We wound up getting in to London way later than scheduled so our time at Westminster Abbey was truncated. Fingers crossed everything works as scheduled for you!

To me you are thinking too hard about this. I DO understand wanting to see everything (I have FOMO, hahaha!!) but I'd recommend you just go with the tour flow on this one. The rooms will not be ready at the hotel which is why they have the luggage loaded onto the bus while you do lunch and Westminster Abbey. Yes, you could make it to the hotel on your own quicker but you'll have to leave your luggage in their left luggage area.

The tour of Westminster Abbey will be by local guides unless your tour guide has the credentials to guide there. I had Tom and he is a certified Blue Badge guide so guided half the group while we had another guide for the other half.

Enjoy yourself! This is a great tour!

I appreciate everyone’s responses and ideas.

Pam hit it in the head, I do have a tendency to over plan in an effort to make the most of our travel journeys by seeing as much as possible. But I would never plan something that could have a detriment to the group or cause burden to someone else just to satisfy our whims. So due to all the timing complexities on this day it sounds like I just need to roll with the group on this one, and plan to return to London in the future to spend a longer time exploring Westminster Abbey and sights in the surrounding area 😉

"and plan to return to London in the future to spend a longer time exploring Westminster Abbey and sights in the surrounding area"

Laughing because....I have a To-Do list as long as your arm for London and England. Honestly! I joke with Rebecca, another forum member, that she and I have enough sights to see that we will never get them all in! AND we each keep finding more stuff to see!

Start a bookmark folder for London and England. You will see so much on this tour that it will spark interests everywhere. I'd suggest you consider this your scouting tour.

I'll also say that for myself, there are never too many times to visit Westminster Abbey! The first time you are kind of blown away. The 2nd time you can take a Verger tour so you can go in to the Chapel of Edward the Confessor which is restricted to Verger tours only as it has a very fragile floor. Edward died in 1066 and his death is when William the Conqueror came across from Normandy (although it's more complicated than that). The 3rd time you find yourself looking for specific graves or memorials - Stephen Hawking (interred near Isaac Newton), Anne of Cleves (4th wife of Henry VIII) blah, blah, blah, lol. I was disappointed when I visited in April because I'd organized all my dates before the coronation was announced and Westminster Abbey was closed the whole 8 days I was there in April and May so I didn't get in. It's on the top of the list for next time!!

You could return to Westminster Abbey on your free afternoon the next day. The plan is for your tour to do the Tower in the AM then take the boat up the Thames back to Westminster so you'd be nearby. Then you've got free time until your farewell dinner. Westminster Abbey is a bit expensive. However, there are a ton of things that you can also do that day. The tour itinerary mentions Churchill War Rooms which is excellent if you have an interest in WWII or the British Museum so you might want to do something different especially if you are already planning your trip back, hahaha!

Galliegirlie, I think you've got it right. Stick with the group. That way, you won't mess up any plans your tour guide has for you.
You need to check in to your hotel at the same time as the group, as the tour guide hands out the keys to your rooms.
You will see plenty in the time you have in Westminster Abbey.
As Pam says, you may want to return on a future visit, or even during the coming days, if you're staying in London for extra days.
And yes, Pam is right; we have both seen all the regular "must see" things in London and still have a long list of really cool things to do!
For many people, the Rick Steves Best of England Tour makes them want to come back again and again to explore more of London and more of England.

We have been on this tour and may do it again one day, with friends who have never been to England.
You're going to have a wonderful time!
This is a great tour!

Oh believe me, I already had an 8 night London DIY itinerary all planned out before I pivoted to the RS Best of England tour for this year. So I will for sure be back to London, possibly even next year. It’s just been hard for me to go from 8 nights of plans down to 3 nights (we are staying one extra night at end of tour) to act as my introduction to London 😂

Here’s a high level summary of what I have mapped out for our London free time days:

Tour Day 12: after Westminster tour and hotel check-in, Tube to Covent garden (Frozen festival starts this day) then Leister square, Trafalgar Square, walk up Mall and St James Park to Buckingham Palace.

Tour Day 13: after group Tower and Thames river cruise (what approx time does cruise end at Westminster pier?), depending on how much time is available either straight to St Paul (pre-purchased entry between 2pm-4pm) or Tube to Temple and do RS Audio City quick walk from Temple to St Paul. I’ve also been thinking of skipping the group river cruise and exploring our own way from Tower to St Paul. Group Farewell dinner together.

Post tour London last day (Saturday): morning V&A museum (near to hotel and thinking less crowds than British museum first thing in am), then Tube to Bourough Market and do RS Bankside walk.

For your post Tower of London plans, if you are going to St Pauls I’d definitely skip the boat ride to Westminster ( but I’m not much into scenic boat rides). That will just pull you out of position. Notify your guide and buddies and leave the Tower whenever you choose. If you are Harry Potter fans I’d structure the walk from the Tower to go thru Leadenhall Market and some of the cute pedestrian alleyways in that area.

Rebecca would probably recommend you stop at All Hallows by the Tower, lol. Yes, it’s been on my list for ages on her recommendation and I’ve not gotten there yet! If you’re looking for Roman ruins there is the Mithraeum in the basement of the Bloomberg building too which is sort of on the way.

https://www.londonmithraeum.com/

Just a comment on this ” You need to check in to your hotel at the same time as the group, as the tour guide hands out the keys to your rooms.”

I stayed overnight at a different city one night and was able to check in early at the next RS hotel in the city where I met back up with the group. The hotel has your information, plus I gave my plans to my guide ahead of time, also.

The Thames cruise our group took this June was finished at 12:45. We met the group at the Tower of London for 11:45. As we had been to the Tower before we did not go with the group earlier. Depending on the source you use for information, you can take the Tube from Westminster Station to St. Paul's Station but it requires 2 changes, 3 lines, and 30 minutes. Two other sources list a 6-8 minute Tube ride from Westminster Station to Mansion House Station and then a 5-6 minute, .3 mile walk from Mansion House Station to St. Paul's Cathedral.

Or you could take London Bus Route #26 door to door between the two sites, and see the above ground route.

Don, Thanks for the time recaps for the tower and Thames tours. Very helpful.

My goal is to get to St. Paul’s around 3pm or there after, so it sounds like I have workable options to fit in some stops whether we choose to go on the river cruise or not.

And not that it may matter, but maybe I should clarify that we met the group at the Tower because the dock where you will board the boat for the Thames ride is next to the Tower. There is no additional time be taken up to transit from the Tower to where you get on the boat.

IF you still have some energy at this point in your tour and are up for a walk, I'd walk from the Tower to St Pauls. Here is a googlemap route that would be fun for me but maybe not for you, lol. The route only follows the main streets but if you zoom in on the area between Leadenhall and the Mithraeum you'll see lots of little alleyways. These are fun to go down and very safe (as far as I know!). There are some cute pubs tucked in some of them.

https://goo.gl/maps/8KEVZnFXCkjN3Dwn7

BTW, I use Citymapper app in Europe which gives me good information about both walking and about taking public transit between points.