Itinerary Advice and Transport Options

I have read everything I can here on CC, Trip Advisor, London Toolkit, and where Google led. We will be in London for three nights and two days having spent time at the D-Day beaches in Normandy and on our way to a TA out of Southampton. This is our first and quite likely our only trip to London. We can walk a mile plus and I've used Google map to calculate when to walk and when to use the Tube. I looked at the HoHo options, Rail 2 for 1 options, and London Pass for entry costs and compared Oyster cards and Travelcards for travel. We wish we had more time, but we don't mind something of a Chevy Chase version of London to see as much as possible. Here's our plan using the two day London Pass for entry and river cruise, an Oyster card for Tube travel, and two £10.00 single train tickets for the Windsor trip. Please share your advice and alternative options:

Friday, Oct 30

9:00 Walk from DoubleTree Hilton Westminister to Churchill's War Room

10:30 Walk to Buckingham Palace through St James Park and stay for Changing of the Guard

12:00 Tube Victoria to Piccadilly to visit Harrods

13:30 Tube to Piccadilly to Jubilee. Walk to Westminister Pier and board river taxi or tour to Tower of London

15:30 Tour Tower of London

17:30 River taxi or tour to London Eye

18:30 London Eye then dinner somewhere and walk back to DoubleTree

Saturday, October 31

9:15 Walk from DoubleTree Hilton Westminister to Vauxhill and take train to Windsor Eaton. It is nonstop service.

11:00 Windsor Castle

13:30 Train return to London Waterloo (nonstop) and Tube to Jubilee

15:30 Westminister Abbey tour

17:30 Walk to Westminister Cathedral

18:00 Westminister Cathedral (service is at 1800)

19:30 Dinner somewhere and walk back to DoubleTree Hilton Westminister

We know this is quite a bit in two days and we will adjust as necessary, as such we want some flexibility with our travel and admission choices (versus purchasing everything in advance online.) Thank you in advance for your suggestions and recommendations.

Looks like a good plan to me.

You are hitting the high points, except have you are not going to see Parliament. Westminster Hall in the Parliament building is one of the oldest buildings in London and very historic. Also, if Parliament is in session, you may still be able to view from the gallery.

I never understand why people want to visit a department store in a historic city like London, but it is your choice.

I seems to me that your time at Windsor Castle may be a bit short. There is a queue that may delay you (also, you have to walk from the train station to the castle). I think the tour is about two hours.

Looks like a good plan to me.

You are hitting the high points, except have you are not going to see Parliament. Westminster Hall in the Parliament building is one of the oldest buildings in London and very historic. Also, if Parliament is in session, you may still be able to view from the gallery.

I never understand why people want to visit a department store in a historic city like London, but it is your choice.

I seems to me that your time at Windsor Castle may be a bit short. There is a queue that may delay you (also, you have to walk from the train station to the castle). I think the tour is about two hours.

Agree, can't see wasting time at Harrods when you could be in Westminster Hall and Parliment or the British Museum Or the British Library etc,etc,etc.

You also will need more time to see Windsor which most people plan for the better part of a day door to door. So much to do in so little time. Plan to return to London which we are currently doing for the 39 time.

Windsor will definitely be tight. We probably took 3 1/2 hours, with really no breaks. Also, you'll definitely want to pre-book Windsor, even if it's just that morning. With an e-mail showing your confirmation number, you'll skip the lines and be right to security and in.

I'm a little iffy on the Tower at 15:30; it actually opens fairly early, and the best time to see it is when it first opens and before all the buses arrive. Maybe tube out and boat back? Just a thought.

If you want to see Harrods, I'm not going to suggest not going, BUT, it's open until 9:00 p.m. most days; go late. Maybe go late and pick up dinner at the food court. That way it's not displacing something else on your itinerary. Yes, that means backtracking. That would also open up Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery, etc., as options.

Just food for thought...

Just reading that made me tired. On my visits to London I have invariably found that it takes longer than I expected to do anything.

Yes - schedule the Tower for a first stop in the morning. Yes - give Harrods a mis. If you want a department store that is different, go to Liberty in Regent Street http://www.liberty.co.uk/ Their carrier bags are much classier than Harrods.

If you are tired, your feet hurt and it looks like rain, a taxi back to your hotel in the evening will cost around £15. Well worth it in my opinion.

Looks like a good plan to me.

 

You are hitting the high points, except have you are not going to see Parliament. Westminster Hall in the Parliament building is one of the oldest buildings in London and very historic. Also, if Parliament is in session, you I never understand why people want to visit a department store in a historic city like London, but it is your choice.

Agree, can't see wasting time at Harrods when you could be in Westminster Hall and Parliment or the British Museum Or the British Library etc,etc,etc.

.

Good point about the department store. I should have explained. I need to return with a gift from Harrods for someone dear who is worth taking time for. The only reason I was going by at that point was because we were closer than we would be later in the day. Thank you for taking the time to share your advice. It is most appreciated and I will definitely revisit the options for Day 1 and the time at Windsor.

Windsor will definitely be tight. We probably took 3 1/2 hours, with really no breaks. Also, you'll definitely want to pre-book Windsor, even if it's just that morning. With an e-mail showing your confirmation number, you'll skip the lines and be right to security and in.

 

I'm a little iffy on the Tower at 15:30; it actually opens fairly early, and the best time to see it is when it first opens and before all the buses arrive. Maybe tube out and boat back? Just a thought.

 

If you want to see Harrods, I'm not going to suggest not going, BUT, it's open until 9:00 p.m. most days; go late. Maybe go late and pick up dinner at the food court. That way it's not displacing something else on your itinerary. Yes, that means backtracking. That would also open up Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery, etc., as options.

 

Just food for thought...

All good points. I will take another look at switching the Tower to the morning and I appreciate the idea to go to Harrods later in the day. The London Pass is supposed to get us through quicker than the regular queue. At least it will at the Tower and I believe at Windsor, too. I'll look at Day 1 again. Perhaps, we can get by Westminster Hall in the Parliament building as Papa and Orchestra Pal suggest.

Thanks again for your input. I truly appreciate the help.

Just reading that made me tired. On my visits to London I have invariably found that it takes longer than I expected to do anything.

 

Yes - schedule the Tower for a first stop in the morning. Yes - give Harrods a mis. If you want a department store that is different, go to Liberty in Regent Street http://www.liberty.co.uk/ Their carrier bags are much classier than Harrods.

 

If you are tired, your feet hurt and it looks like rain, a taxi back to your hotel in the evening will cost around £15. Well worth it in my opinion.

Yes, the schedule is definitely ambitious. We will have a leisurely pace to look forward to beginning Sunday evening when we board for a 15 day TA. With the London Pass we should not have to queue at the Tower. I will look at the Friday schedule again to see about a stop at Westminster Hall in the Parliament building and fit that into the Friday schedule. We definitely want to visit the Tower. We would also like to see museums. There are so many to choose from! Hopefully, another London trip will be in our future.

Thank you for the suggestion to visit Liberty in Regent Street. I would like to see if we can get by there. Hopefully, I can find the gift I am looking for fairly quickly in Harrods and not spend too much time in a department store. Based on the earlier recommendation to go in the evening we will free up an hour on Friday.

I need to return with a gift from Harrods for someone dear who is worth taking time for.

Average daytime temperature in London at the beginning of November is around 12C (53F) so you won't be sweating :) I doubt that there will be serious queues at any of the attractions as schools are not on holiday.

It would be nice to hear how you get on.

Are you flying home from Heathrow? You might want to see whether the terminal you're flying from has a Harrods outlet. That would be a much more efficient way of getting a small gift to take home.

What a great tip! No, we are leaving via a transatlantic cruise out of Southampton. I'm still working out the details, but I think I've settled on trying to get by Harrods the evening we arrive. If not then, we'll stop by after the London Eye.

Average daytime temperature in London at the beginning of November is around 12C (53F) so you won't be sweating :) I doubt that there will be serious queues at any of the attractions as schools are not on holiday.

 

It would be nice to hear how you get on.

I am looking forward to cooler temperatures. It turns out that Westminster Hall does not have tickets available for Friday, so I am rethinking the whole itinerary. I will try to come back and report on our trip. Thank you again for your response and advice.

we had a"master plan" for our visit, but some corrections were made. For instance Westminster Abbey was closed till 1pm on our day of visit, change of guards at Buckingham and Windsor is not every day. Some tube stations were closed. Last Thames City Cruise boat (London Pass) from Greenwich to Westminster left at 4pm, so we took the next one to Tower Bridge. Always have some plan B just in case. Transport for London page is great for planning your journeys.

Are you flying home from Heathrow? You might want to see whether the terminal you're flying from has a Harrods outlet. That would be a much more efficient way of getting a small gift to take home.

We recently flew from LHR @ terminal two & I believe there was a Harrods outlet there.

You indicated you are staying at the DoubleTree Westminster. I've been looking at that in addition to the DoubleTree at London Tower. Just curious as to why you chose the one at Westminster. Thanks in advance.

Tom