dickinson

You don't have to see anyone. I don't know if they still have the forms but you can purchase the FCD on the app.

@markeb Thank you so much for your informative post. We are going this summer. As I mentioned earlier, we went to London in 2017 although the other person coming with us has never been and might not be back so we want to cover as much as we can. Previously, we did it after our cruise and used the HOHO bus to get around. We went to the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Kensington Palace. I don't remember if we were there for one full day or two but I am thinking two. Smartphone- we do have an International plan. $10/day. Can you tell me about e-sim? Buckingham Palace last tour is 1715 (5:15 pm). We could probably book it slightly earlier and still have plenty of time. The tour times are every 15 minutes. I wish I took notes from 2017 to know how long we spent at each place! I did read somewhere someone's review with doing W Abbey and then Churchill War Rooms. They did the Abbey at opening (9:30) and booked Churchill War Rooms for 3 pm and said timing was fine because they had plenty of time for lunch (I think they ate though at the cafe in W Abbey). I have heard you can use google maps offline by downloading but not sure where it goes on your phone, etc. Maybe I need an app? Not sure as I have never done it before. I see you are not too far away in Northern VA. Do you remember how tired you were the next day when flying to London? Were you able to accomplish much? Thanks again for your info.

We are planning two and a half days in London. Our hotel is the Park Plaza County Hall. Our previous trip in 2017 did not need site reservations. I'm stumped on how to plan this because the tickets we purchase need times. We want to go to: 1. Tower of London (want this one first thing in morning but not sure of best way to get there from hotel. 3 of us). 2. Buckingham Palace tour 3. Westminster Abbey (probably first thing so we can purchase a Verger guided tour) 4. Churchill War Rooms It would be nice to also fit in the British Museum (not sure best way to get there or if it is walking distance) We will be flying in from USA and there will be a 5 hour time difference. One plane lands at 8:30 am and the other at 10:15 am. We plan on using the tube to get to the hotel (thanks to a post I read a few months ago). Doubt we will sleep much on the plane so don't know what we should plan on doing the afternoon we arrive. Don't know if we should purchase tickets for someplace then or not. Maybe just wing it? If we did Tower of London in morning, not sure how much time to allow here to see everything. Is Tower bridge in walking distance (I assume so but have not yet looked at a map). Should we purchase tickets for something in the afternoon? We could do Westminster Abbey first thing and do Churchill War Rooms later in day as they are near each other but where should we put Buckingham Palace Tour and maybe British Museum. It is picking tour times that make this so complicated as I don't know how much time to allow at these places and then to travel to another! My head is spinning. FYI- We are planning on taking the train to Southampton after London. I suppose we could sightsee in London in the morning but we want to allow time in Southampton (we are going the day before the cruise) to walk around the area.). We will have to pick a time to go on the train. Discount tickets should go on sale soon. We will be staying at Premier Inn West Quay. Any suggestions? Thanks!

Wow... I was just thinking that I hadn't read anything on here lately about Covid and here is this thread! Sorry to see it because I am sorry you caught it. Our cruise is in a couple of months and hope to remain healthy but one never knows.

Looking forward to reading this. We are going on a seven day the beginning of August. What ports are you going to because so far what you mentioned are not on our cruise?

@rhiannon84 Thanks!

Sounds really nice! I went to your link and found this: General admittance tickets to the Abbey can be purchased in advance online but a verger tour can only be booked when you arrive at the Abbey. When booking your tickets to the Abbey, please try to book your entry slot 30 minutes or so before the tour is due to start. Previously it said that we can contact them 24 hours in advance to see what times the Verger tours are. Not sure how we can book entry to Abbey 30 minutes before Verger tour if we won't know what times they are til 24 hours in advance! Catch 22. Will have to do a little more research on that. I appreciate all your info. Thanks 🙂

Thanks but to purchase tickets each requires you to pick a time. Is the gallery a separate entrance? If not then we would need to enter the Abbey first with the time we pick. I assume that once inside there is a place to go up to the gallery where they check your ticket for the time you picked? Trying to visualize how it works.

Anyone with advise on ticket time for the War Rooms?

Getting food at the counter but then going to sit at a table would be fine too. It is going on a picnic or eating outside while walking around that is not appealing!

Interesting! Looks like you have to choose a time to visit the Abbey and another time to visit this gallery. I wonder if you can go back down to the Abbey to finish the tour there that you interrupted to go up to the gallery.

Thanks for the ideas. We definitely want a place that has tables to sit down. In the US, fast casual is usually places where you place your order at a counter, pay for it, then go sit down at a table and they bring the food to you. Any suggestions of how much time minimum to allow before we pick a time for the War Rooms? I was thinking if we did the Abbey at 9:30 and they say to allow 90 minutes-2 hours then maybe do the War rooms at 2 pm which would allow us plenty of time to get lunch and get there a little early? I did the Abbey in 2017 but don't remember how much time we spent there. Our traveling companion has never been. It was so much easier when we were in London in 2017. We did purchase some advance tickets but didn't have to pick a time!

We will be in London pre cruise. One day we plan on going to Westminster Abbey (we want to purchase 9:30 am tickets once on sale). We then want a "fast casual" lunch (nothing too big or fancy or time consuming). We then plan on getting tickets for the Churchill War Rooms. Any advise on where to eat and what time to purchase the tickets for the Churchill War Rooms? One person in our small group eats dairy free so no pizza for them. Thanks!

Glad you had a good experience!

Thanks. Yesterday morning my dh called them and they confirmed the balance on the gift card in question. When he asked about complaining that website was not working they said to call Princess. 😞