RS London question

London is a very busy city of 9million people and to spout a cliche it really is a city that doesn’t sleep.
When the theatres are throwing out will be almost as busy as during the day.
Perfectly safe to walk around just apply usual street smarts. Keep valuables and mobile phone in your bag.
The biggest danger you face will be remembering to look the right way when crossing the road.

We did this tour in late April, early May of this year. Yes, we walked past Buckingham Palace on one of our days. The Churchill War Rooms are great, by the way, a really interesting stop.

There is a lot of walking and taking the tube with this tour. We saw so much of London and didn't need to worry about getting tickets for popular sites on our own. The hotel we stayed at was in the Mayfair neighborhood across from Green Park. It's an easy walk to Buckingham Palace from there, we didn't tour the Palace however, so if you want to do that you should plan for a day on your own. Also, we didn't spend time in the National Gallery, so if that is important to you, also plan that on your own.

We had an afternoon in the British Museum and a tour of the Tower of London at the opening ceremony, which was great because we were then first in line to see the Crown Jewels.

London was very safe. Carry a pickpocket-proof bag and get a lanyard for your phone. The tube can be crowded at times; better safe than sorry.

Thanks for the replies. I'm looking forward to seeing the city. We were here at the end of the Best of England tour, and we were tired, so not a lot of extra was done. I was hoping to hear it would be fairly safe if I'm smart.

To be honest you don’t even need to be that smart to be safe in London, I survived 30 years unscathed!:-)

I have never had an issue in London and I've been traversing it, often alone and at all hours, for many years. I'm not certain where the recent narrative of London being unsafe has come from, but it's entirely unwarranted.

London is a very safe city - especially in the area you will be, which is busy and heavily policed.

We have always felt comfortable in London, including at night.

London like many cities is becoming less safer and the risk of injury and death is increasing - not from traditional crime but lunatics on e-bikes!!!.

London is very safe but, like any major city, you need to have some general situational awareness. One issue we've seen a lot of recently is phone snatching- this is normally someone on a scooter/e-bike coming by on the street and snatching someone's phone out of their hands while they are looking at at. Tho the police have been cracking down on this a bit more lately I would still exercise caution when you need to check anything on your phone like maps while out on the street- if you need to take out your phone stand away from the road and just be aware of your surroundings. That's really the main thing you need to worry about but with a little bit of caution you can protect yourself.

Do watch out for the e bikes. They are fast and silent and some riders take them up on to the sidewalk, walkways and pedestrian zones!

I took the Best of London tour last October. We walked past Buckingham Palace on Day 4, I believe, on our way to Westminster Abbey. I enjoyed the walk through St. James Park so much that after our visit to the Churchill War Rooms I walked back to our hotel (Washington Mayfair) through the park and passed the Palace again. A lovely walk and easy to do. I've never stayed at the Montague on the Gardens, but our tour group had afternoon tea there. The hotel is on a quiet street and right opposite the British Museum. Like much of the city where this tour visits the area felt quite safe.

I haven't done the tour but have stayed at Montague on the Gardens and walked to and from the theatre without any problem. I felt safe.