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First time in London

My wife and I just returned from 12 days in London and Italy and it was my first time in London and thought I would tell you about the places we visited during our stay.
Westminster Abbey - This place was truly amazing, even to just walk around. Keep in mind no photos are allowed to be taken in the building
Churchill's War Rooms - Very cool if you're interested in the history of this time period and the man himself
Afternoon Tea at Brown's Hotel - I wanted my wife to have a great Tea experience and this was one for the books. Understand it is really pricy, but it is rated one of the best in London. We enjoyed the food and more importantly the service we received there.
Tower of London - Do the free Beefeaters tour, they will give you a ton of insite about the building, themselves and the history of beheadings on Tower Hill. The tour of the jewels was kind of a let down, a lot smaller than we had expected.
Changing of the guard - What a mess, people everwhere and the events move all over the place. The one thing I learned about this event is that before it starts you have to decide what you want to see. You can't be out at the rotary and watch parade in and then watch the changing of the guard inside the fence. You have to stand in one place or the othere. Keep in mind when they go into the gate the complete changing of the guard festivities take an hour

Posted by
985 posts

Thanks for sharing Joe. We will probably go to London next year and I will look back at this report.

Posted by
34 posts

first time in London was last December. was sick in bed the whole 4 days i was there :( so planning to go again next June. hopefully see everything i missed.

Posted by
703 posts

We went to London two years ago and loved it. Westminster Abbey is amazing. We were very lucky and were able to attend a service there the afternoon we went, including taking communion. It was one of the highlights of our trip. We also liked Churchills War Rooms (did you see the recent dramatization on PBS?) and yes, the changing of the guard was chaotic for the people trying to see. We were up close to the gates and people kept pushing their way ahead of us. We wanted to do tea but other things took precedence. We did the Tower but on our own, using Ricks Pocket London as our tourguide. Glad you enjoyed your trip too.

Posted by
993 posts

When did the Cabinet War Rooms become Churchill's War Rooms?

Posted by
5331 posts

After the enlargement and opening of the dedicated museum within in it for a while it was called the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms. This was a bit of a mouthful and was abbreviated down to the Churchill War Rooms in 2010.