Day Trip from London and London Highlights

I am planning a post cruise trip to London and would love some input from CC members.

We have visited London previously (in 2009). On that trip we stayed in a hotel located on Park Lane and we included the following activities on our trip: the Tower of London ( with the crown jewels) , the London Duck Tour, Hyde and St James Parks , Madame Tussuads, the Natural History Museum and general walking around to see the sights such as Buckingham Palace. We also spent a night in a lovely little town called Mistley ( at a great inn called Mistley Thorn) and hiked to see the swan reserve and one of England's oldest trees.

On this trip, we will be arriving in Tilbury on July 23rd and staying until the 26th ( we have a flight at 4:35 from Heathrow).

We are thinking of visiting the Science and V&A Museums ( we will be staying in South Kensington ) , the British Museum, the Sir John Soane museum and we would like to see the Whitehall Changing of the Guard.

We wre interested in taking a day trip to perhaps Dover and Canterbury OR Bath and Stonehenge OR the Cotswolds. All three options look fantastic. I love cliffs, villages, history, and nature...having a hard time deciding..

Would love help with how to avoid crowds if possible and laying out a schedule...and mostly to help decide which day trip to take. Also would like opinions if we are missing something fantastic...anything I should add to the list?

Thanks a lot!

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The absolute best museum in London is the War Museum. If I were going to take a day trip it would be to Bath. I lived in London for 4 years and these two places were always my favorites. If you have some time to kill on a Sunday market take the underground to Spitalfields Market, a blast from the past with food and beverage.

The absolute best museum in London is the War Museum. If I were going to take a day trip it would be to Bath. I lived in London for 4 years and these two places were always my favorites. If you have some time to kill on a Sunday market take the underground to Spitalfields Market, a blast from the past with food and beverage.

I hadn't thought about the War Museum. It does look fascinating. We just returned from Washington DC and we visited the Holocaust Museum there. A sobering and powerful experience.

What about the War Museum makes it your favorite? Bath does looks so beautiful. What in Bath would you visit if you had a short time? The Roman Bath? Things related to Jane Austen? Any suggestions?

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Quick question - how are you planing to do the day trip? If you are planning to do it yourself by public transport, that makes the Cotswolds the more difficult of your options. Easy to get here by train, but harder to get about without a car. There are options to organise a tour to pick you up at a station, or no doubt tours that run from Lodon itself.

Quick question - how are you planing to do the day trip? If you are planning to do it yourself by public transport, that makes the Cotswolds the more difficult of your options. Easy to get here by train, but harder to get about without a car. There are options to organise a tour to pick you up at a station, or no doubt tours that run from Lodon itself.

We are open to options:

I have been looking at small group tours, coach tours, private tours with a driver, and the train. I have considered car rental, but my husband is not confident driving on the " other side". We will be renting a car in the Shetland Islands for a first time experience since it will be less intense traffic.

The private tours are coming up quite pricey so may eliminate that possibillty. We will be coming back from a 14 day Northern Europe cruise with private tours in Iceland and Norway and will be trying to be a bit more frugal in England. However, if it would make a world of difference, we may splurge.

This is one of the tours we are looking at

http://welcome2britain.com/white-cliffs-dover-canterbury-tour.htm

Or this one

http://welcome2britain.com/bath_stonehenge_tour.htm

I am very open to suggestions.

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Boa tarde! Try goldentours.com. They have a good selection. We used them to visit the Harry Potter Studios in Watford. Boa sorte!

Boa tarde! Try goldentours.com. They have a good selection. We used them to visit the Harry Potter Studios in Watford. Boa sorte!

Thanks for the recommendation. Will check them out. Obrigada!

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We spent several hours at the British Museum after our Norway cruise. It's an amazing place but very busy. We booked a time slot at one of the special exhibits and then mapped out what we wanted to see before hand http://www.britishmuseum.org/

I thinking of visiting the British Museum on a Monday. I am sure it will be a zoo in July!

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Do not forget the Natural History Museum, which is also in South Kensington next to the Science Museum.

Do not forget the Natural History Museum, which is also in South Kensington next to the Science Museum.

We visited the Natural History on our last trip...but probably will pop in there again as my son is a huge nature buff. Excellent museum!

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I hadn't thought about the War Museum. It does look fascinating. We just returned from Washington DC and we visited the Holocaust Museum there. A sobering and powerful experience.

 

What about the War Museum makes it your favorite? Bath does looks so beautiful. What in Bath would you visit if you had a short time? The Roman Bath? Things related to Jane Austen? Any suggestions?

 

 

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The War Museum's exhibit on the First World War is impressive and sobering. They also have extensive exhibits on the Second War. They also have special exhibits that we always found fascinating, one was centered on the involvement of women and families during WW2.

As for Bath the first time I went there I did the HOHO bus and got off where I was interested. The guided tour thru the baths was most enlightening, to think that the Romans heated their homes from the floors up was amazing. When I went back I always went to the baths. They have great docents who always tell marvelous stories.

The War Museum's exhibit on the First World War is impressive and sobering. They also have extensive exhibits on the Second War. They also have special exhibits that we always found fascinating, one was centered on the involvement of women and families during WW2.

 

As for Bath the first time I went there I did the HOHO bus and got off where I was interested. The guided tour thru the baths was most enlightening, to think that the Romans heated their homes from the floors up was amazing. When I went back I always went to the baths. They have great docents who always tell marvelous stories.

Sounds wonderful... Will put it on my list!

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Tate Modern opens it's new 10 story addition on June 17. It is not o be missed and we can't wait to see it.

Will you have children with you? If so what are there interests?

This is on my list of places to go http://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/visit

Whilst it is a long day there are tours which cover Windsor, Stonehenge and Bath in a day. My wife's US managers did it last year and it was excellent.

Will you have children with you? If so what are there interests?

This is on my list of places to go http://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/visit

Yes... Our three children, ages 18, 16 and 12. They love nature, history, Dr.Who, travel... They are well traveled ( they have visited over 30 countries [emoji4]).

Our 9 year old nephew and my sister will be meeting us in London ... They have never been there. They will be staying a week and we are trying to plan to visit the things we haven't seen on the days we will be there.

She plans to do the day trip with us. She has never been to England and it will be her son's first European visit.

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Unfortunately The Doctor Who Experience is in Cardiff, which is a bit far out for your visit.

Unfortunately The Doctor Who Experience is in Cardiff, which is a bit far out for your visit.

Found this for London

https://britmovietours.com/bookings/doctor-who-london-tour/

Found this for London

https://britmovietours.com/bookings/doctor-who-london-tour/

They would love this! They love Sherlock Holmes too...but thought the museum looks kind of " not great" compared to so many things in London.

Luckily, they all are great travelers and pretty much like everything I plan ( or so it seems). I try to mix it up a bit. Even when they were little, I would not only do " kid stuff" ....I think that was a good strategy since they are pretty well rounded and have a big variety of interests.

My youngest right now is on a " Green" kick ( which I deeply respect). He is very interested in nature and loved the Natural History Museum in DC. We will do a " plant a tree " excursion in Iceland which is right up his alley. He loves Dr Who too as does his brother.

So much to do, so little time!

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