[kittikat]

We have been invited to a wedding in Cyprus in September. We decided to go via London   I’m looking for advice/hints/suggestions for our time in London.

My husband wanted to spend a couple of days in Liverpool as he is a huge Beatles fan, so we have two days there.  I have a few things in mind (yes including Harry Potter World...don’t judge) but I would appreciate any input about places that are ‘not to be missed’ in the opinion of both locals and previous visitors.

[Dazzler]

We have been invited to a wedding in Cyprus in September. We decided to go via London   I’m looking for advice/hints/suggestions for our time in London.

My husband wanted to spend a couple of days in Liverpool as he is a huge Beatles fan, so we have two days there.  I have a few things in mind (yes including Harry Potter World...don’t judge) but I would appreciate any input about places that are ‘not to be missed’ in the opinion of both locals and previous visitors.

That's great Cecelia! Can't give much travel advice as never been overseas, but if you go to Liverpool I hear you need to hang on to your handbag real tight... Especially in the Wirrel area.    Have fun.

[FatBoy]

I found that during my first visit to London that the best thing was to get on one of the "Big Red Bus" hop on - hop off tourist bus thingies (hopefully you get the gist).  They usually have a 24 hour validity, and you can get on and off as many times as you want.  It takes you via all of the big tourist attractions, so you can appreciate where everything is in relation to each other. 

When I did it in 2009 the whole tour took about 3 hours.  I then decided to visit the Tower of London first.  Unfortunately I was distracted by the bus tour guide telling us that there was a Jack the Ripper walking tour about to depart from the Tower of London.  I did that, and it was awesome.

Must see from me, in no particular order.

Tower of London
The Mall / Buckinghuge Palace / Changing of the Guard
Trafalgar Square
10 Downing St
Horse Guards
London Eye
Parliament

Others may have other things to add.  Definitely get the bus!!

[Dazzler]

  I totally agree with Jamie.. I've seen all that stuff on TV 

[Surferdude]

I agree with Jamie's list.
Add St Paul's Cathedral
The British Museum

And if you have time, just across the road from the Tower of London you can get on the Docklands Light Rail (DLR) and it'll take you through the Docklands area development.to Island Gardens. From there you can walk UNDER the Thames in a 100 year old pedestrian tunnel to Greenwich. Honestly the feeling as you realize you are under the historic river is awesome. Greenwich has a good markets too but you'd have to check what day(s).


Also Camden Market s.

You can book Day tours from London to places like Hampton Court and Windsor. Or Warwick Castle. And Stratford. The buses will pick you up from your hotel.

[Surferdude]

We love London. There is so much history there and in surrounding areas.

Not sure how much time you have but both Oxford and Cambridge are well worth day trips.

[asathorny]

I was a student nurse down there a life time ago now, Jamie has pretty much nailed it Cecelia....   I usually pop into The Imperial War Museum in Lambeth mainly because it's right across the road from the London Clinic where I do occasianal work.

Have a great holiday and whilst you're in Liverpool avoid bumping into Lester (eye30) . 

[Dazzler]

I was a student nurse down there a life time ago now...

Thanks a lot Asa! I've always had a thing for student nurses (I think it's the uniform)

Now when I think of them I'll be imagining you in a short skirt! 

[FatBoy]

I agree with what Surferdude and asathorny said as well.  London is such an amazing city!  If you have time there is also The Monument (in memory of the great fire) and Tower Bridge (what some mistakingly call London Bridge).  Luckily Tower Bridge is right next to the Tower of London (who'd have thunk).

I didn't get the Greenwich, but wish I had done so.  Mainly to say that I had stood on the zero meridian.

[Surferdude]

I agree with what Surferdude and asathorny said as well.  London is such an amazing city!  If you have time there is also The Monument (in memory of the great fire) and Tower Bridge (what some mistakingly call London Bridge).  Luckily Tower Bridge is right next to the Tower of London (who'd have thunk).

I didn't get the Greenwich, but wish I had done so.  Mainly to say that I had stood on the zero meridian.

I have a photo of me doing that.
Well actually a selfie of my shadow. 

[paulemmo]

Thumbs up to all the places mentioned so far.  I spent a lot of time in London with my last job and it's an amazing place.

The red "hop on and off" tourist buses are surprisingly good, as are the Thames river trips (I went from Westminster to Tower Bridge, you can go as far as Greenwich).  They can be quite expensive but if you keep an eye on a couple of UK websites you can often find good deals in advance (such as on hotukdeals.co.uk or groupon.co.uk).

Don't be afraid of using the Tube, it's very efficient.  However check where the stations actually are on a proper map, we once spent 30 minutes messing around with the tube when in the real world we could have walked a couple of streets and got to the same place.

Depending on how much you like walking - there's a really nice walk on the "South Bank" of the Thames from Tower Bridge, heading west towards Westminster.  You get to go past Southwark Cathedral,  the Golden Hind ship, Borough Market, Shakespeare's Globe theatre and the Tate Modern art gallery.  From the Tate you can go back across the Thames using the pedestrian Millenium Bridge over to St. Pauls or continue on the South Bank until you get to the London Eye.  You really can end up walking miles so best to plan various places on a route.

If it helps I've got a PDF map of London that I've found useful many times.  There's a simple walking-time scale on it (it's shown from Kings Cross train station but easy to apply to the rest of the map) and it's pretty accurate.  The file is too big to attach here (it's around 0.5Mb) but I'd happily email it you.  I used to print out a few of them and scribble on my routes and things to see, plus kept a copy on my phone just in case.

Hope you have a great time.

[kittikat]

We had a couple of days in London a few years ago when we went to Italy for our wedding anniversary. We got a ferry to Greenwich and spent most of the day. I have one of those photos with a foot each side of the meridian.   

We will have about 7 days in London.  My list includes the glass house at Kew gardens, Stonehenge, Tower of London, Salisbury cathedral, inside Buckingham Palace, Windsor castle, and a few more.  I’m not sure we will have time to do it all, but I’m keen to give it a crack. 

I love to walk, so any walking routes will be most welcome.  We did a hop on hop off bus in Paris, so I’m keen to do the London one too.

Thanks for the ideas guys, I’m still trying to put an itinerary together, so keep ‘em coming. 

[Surferdude]

We had a couple of days in London a few years ago when we went to Italy for our wedding anniversary. We got a ferry to Greenwich and spent most of the day. I have one of those photos with a foot each side of the meridian.   

We will have about 7 days in London.  My list includes the glass house at Kew gardens, Stonehenge, Tower of London, Salisbury cathedral, inside Buckingham Palace, Windsor castle, and a few more.  I’m not sure we will have time to do it all, but I’m keen to give it a crack. 

I love to walk, so any walking routes will be most welcome.  We did a hop on hop off bus in Paris, so I’m keen to do the London one too.

Thanks for the ideas guys, I’m still trying to put an itinerary together, so keep ‘em coming. 

We loved Salisbury. But if you go there make time to see Old Sarum.
I have an idea Buckingham Palace tours are restricted to a short period each year but that might have changed.

We walked from the Houses of Parliament to Tower Bridge one day. And found the London Stone along the way.

[asathorny]

I was a student nurse down there a life time ago now...

Thanks a lot Asa! I've always had a thing for student nurses (I think it's the uniform)

Now when I think of them I'll be imagining you in a short skirt! 

I must direct you to Alan, he looked great in his nurses uniform 

[Dazzler]

I was a student nurse down there a life time ago now...

Thanks a lot Asa! I've always had a thing for student nurses (I think it's the uniform)

Now when I think of them I'll be imagining you in a short skirt! 

I must direct you to Alan, he looked great in his nurses uniform 

Nice legs, shame about the face...