London Ideas

Just back from there, had a great time. Stayed in an AirBnB in the Bankside area, again this year.

For a first timer, hitting the iconic sights is fun & worthwhile, esp if you enjoy history. Two must-dos are:
—Tower of London: a whole complex of stuff, from the original White Tower begun by William the Conqueror to the actual Crown Jewels, the executioner’s block, the famous Tower ravens, and many other exhibits.
—Westminster Abbey: graves of kings, memorials for incredibly famous Brits, site of coronations, funerals. The Queen’s diamond jubilee galleries are now open, with even more cool stuff to see.
Westminster Palace, where Parliment sits, can only be toured on certain days of the week, so check that out in advance if you’re into government & history.

Borough Market, on the south bank near the replica of Shakespeare’s Globe theater, is an indoor food hall with dozens of stalls, plus an adjacent street food lunchtime market.

Figure out the subway system, it covers the entire city & will take you where you want to go. Buses are also everywhere, and you can sightsee while you travel. Get an Oyster card—the plastic contactless, reloadable travel card—and you can use all forms of transit pretty easily.

The Thames Clipper water buses are a fun way to get around & to see the city from the river.

Went last summer, it’s a great city.

We had an amazing meal at St. John Smithfield. Highly recommend checking it out. Cannot recommend the beef and kidney pie with bone marrow highly enough.

We did St John Bread and Wine in Spitalfields this time. Wonderful: beef heart with tallow fried potatoes, preserved beef salad with chicories, oatcakes and lancashire cheese, Eccles cake, toast with foie Gras and cornichons.....

My favorite restaurant in London is Rules on Maiden Lane near Covent Garden. It is the oldest restaurant in London. It is an old historic place with elegant decor and delicious food. Go early for cocktails because they have a great bar upstairs.......For good fresh seafood in an upscale setting, I recommend Scott's in Mayfair.

Get familiar with the Oyster card. You Tube videos of it. It’s very simple and by far the best way to get around.

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Get an Oyster card—the plastic contactless, reloadable travel card—and you can use all forms of transit pretty easily.

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If you have Apple Pay on your phone you can use that instead of getting an Oyster card.

It works on the tube and buses.

There are two attractions I recommend to everyone.

Westminster Abbey
British Museum

lots else to do but these are the two standouts in my book, plan for a day at the British Museum and 4-6 hours at Westminster

additionally

The hop on hop off bus tours are defiantly worth the money for a day.

St. Paul's up to the golden dome.

London eye at twilight.

Tower of London

If you hit these along with some street walking your 3 days will be done

If you're a war buff then The Imperial War Museum and The Churchill war Rooms are pretty interesting.

Catch a play in the West End.

The key to doing London right is using the river taxis. Walk as much as you want, but those things will get you everywhere.



Get up early one morning, take the river taxi down to Greenwich Village. Eat breakfast at Heap's, walk up to to observatory, walk through the naval museum, and boat back up. That's a good morning.

I am in London every couple months.

The View from the Shard is pretty sweet, worth the money, tallest building in Western Europe.

Camden Market is a unique place. At World's End is a great bar to visit. Bonus points if you take a boat ride from "Little Venice".

If you like plays, definitely go see one. Aladdin was hilarious, and Wicked and Lion King are both great.

The Tower of London is neat, but is not what you expect. The biggest benefit of visiting is seeing the crown jewels.

St. Paul's Cathedral- You can actually summit the entire church and it is just beautiful.

Buckingham Palace is cool, but just make sure you see the Changing of the Guard. You can visit a gallery and check out the Royal Mewes which is neat, but not worth it if you are pressed for time.

Westminster Abbey is pretty cool, guided tours via earphones, really liked it. Lot's of history, over 3000 bodies buried inside.

Past that, little things:
Tate Modern
London Eye
Parliament
Globe Replica
The Gherkin (fun to say and looks like a pecker)
Big Ben (under construction as of forever...)
Harry Potter Studios/ King's Cross and Platform 9 3/4
Hardy's Sweet Shop
Hyde Park
Kensington Palace


Side note, skip the double Decker bus, but do take a cruse Thames.