Can you please help with London itinerary?

[brit]

Hello all! Going to London and Paris for the first time in May and working on a rough itinerary. How's this look? I'm open to all suggestions!

Saturday - arrive at Heathrow at 3:30. Head to hotel to check in and then go to dinner. Hotel is near Hyde Park, any restaurant suggestions?

Sunday - Tower of London right when it opens (crown jewels and beefeater tour), walk across tower bridge, tour the globe, old spitalfields market, maybe try and see a show that night?

Monday - British Museum, St. Pancras and then King's Cross. The Churchill Arms for lunch. Walk around Portobello Road

Tuesday - East London Food Tour 10:45 (3.5 hours). Tube to Westminster, get off under Big Ben, parliament and the abbey. Churchhill war room.

Wednesday - breakfast somewhere good and then get on the train to Paris at 12:30

As you can see, it's really rough and we really need to fill in food and pubs. Thanks in advance!

[msmerymac]

I would suggest planning on spending a good 2 hours at Westminster Abbey. I also don't know if a separate trip to King's Cross is necessary. I just looked at Platform 9-3/4 before catching the train to Edinburgh. If you're leaving from there to go to Paris, just wait. If not, eh, it's not a must-see.

For food, what are you looking to spend? In London, we just randomly selected pubs that looked good in whatever neighborhood we happened to be in. I really liked the Prince Regent in Marylebone. If that's near your hotel, the Marylebone high street was really cute and had restaurants and retail. If it's not that close, skip it. It IS close to 221B Baker St, though.

For cheaper lunch options, Maoz is pretty good. It's build-your-own falafel. There are some locations in the US, though, so it depends where you live, I guess.

Have you thought about one of Gordon Ramsey's restaurants? We ate at one of his more casual pubs, which was pretty good. Not as good as the nicer places, I'm sure, but it saved some money.

We ate a restaurant called RootMaster, which was in a big red double decker bus. It is possible it's now a pizza restaurant called the Big Red Pizza Bus.

[audette]

If you want to see a show _at_ the globe, buy your tickets now. They tend to sell out _very_ early.

[sporky]

If your food tour is 3.5 hours and you actually plan to go in Westminster Abbey, you won't have time for the war rooms that day. But you have other light days, so you should be able to fit them at another time.

[mbcdefg]

We had a good meal at The King's Head Pub on 10 Stafford St., a short walk from Piccadilly Circus: www.nicholsonspubs.co.uk/thekingsheadmayfairlondon/

We also had a good lunch at the Wagamama's on Tower Hill near the Tower of London: www.wagamama.com/restaurants/tower-hill-london

The Beefeater tour is really fun. I wish I'd done more research into the Crown Jewels, plus the Westminster Abbey graves, before our trip ... I wasn't a royals buff back in 2010 and I didn't recognize a lot of things that I'd go nuts about nowadays.

Oh, and we also had beers and snacks at Meantime Pub over in Greenwich, after we visited the Royal Observatory/Prime Meridian at the top of the hill. 

[hbomdiggity]

We were on the go and did quick lunches. there is a pret a manger on every block with pretty good and fresh sandwiches.

Just a note on pubs - the beer is much warmer than in the states, but it was so so good. And the cider.

[alleinesein]

Apr 1, 2015 12:38:51 GMT -5 brit said:

Hello all! Going to London and Paris for the first time in May and working on a rough itinerary. How's this look? I'm open to all suggestions!

Saturday - arrive at Heathrow at 3:30. Head to hotel to check in and then go to dinner. Hotel is near Hyde Park, any restaurant suggestions?

Sunday - Tower of London right when it opens (crown jewels and beefeater tour), walk across tower bridge, tour the globe, old spitalfields market, maybe try and see a show that night?

Monday - British Museum, St. Pancras and then King's Cross. The Churchill Arms for lunch. Walk around Portobello Road

Tuesday - East London Food Tour 10:45 (3.5 hours). Tube to Westminster, get off under Big Ben, parliament and the abbey. Churchhill war room.

Wednesday - breakfast somewhere good and then get on the train to Paris at 12:30

As you can see, it's really rough and we really need to fill in food and pubs. Thanks in advance!

Where are you flying in from?  Allow a good 60-90 minutes to get from LHR to your hotel.  I'd just look for something near your hotel for dinner.

Buy your Tower of London Tickets online to save a few $$.  They also offer a family ticket (2 adults and up to 3 kids).  www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/admissionsprices/toweroflondonadmission

Allot way more time for the British Museum.  You can easily spend an entire day there and not see everything.  

[brit]

Thanks for all of the great advice! We were thinking of getting the London Pass. Is it worth it??

[mbcdefg]

Apr 1, 2015 14:26:29 GMT -5 brit said:

Thanks for all of the great advice! We were thinking of getting the London Pass. Is it worth it??

I thought it was worth it. Our admission to Westminster Abbey was not included in 2010, but I just looked at the London Pass website and it looks like it's now included.

The guided boat tour on the Thames was neat. 

The London Pass also gave us a few pounds' discount on the afternoon tea at The Orangery, at Kensington Palace: www.orangerykensingtonpalace.co.uk/afternoon-tea/ 

[audette]

Apr 1, 2015 14:26:29 GMT -5 brit said:

Thanks for all of the great advice! We were thinking of getting the London Pass. Is it worth it??

We got it and thought it was worth it. We didn't get the one that included travel, though, we just got oyster cards at the airport when we arrived.

[hbomdiggity]

Apr 1, 2015 15:59:24 GMT -5 audette said:

Apr 1, 2015 14:26:29 GMT -5 brit said:

Thanks for all of the great advice! We were thinking of getting the London Pass. Is it worth it??

We got it and thought it was worth it. We didn't get the one that included travel, though, we just got oyster cards at the airport when we arrived.

We also got it and it was worth it.

Ditto on the travel - just get an Oyster card at the station. Super easy.

[irishbride2]

Do not eat in pubs in super touristy areas.

What are you looking to spend food wise?

Make sure you have at least one meal of Indian food.

[UnderProtest]

Buried in the thread linked below is a list of restaurants that @misoangry recommended. I've had a couple and I like her suggestions. Just an FYI, the pub mentioned above is a chain. It's a pretty good chain though.

pandce.proboards.com/thread/375569/ate-lunch

[Deleted]

I also got the London Pass, and thought it worth it.

I liked the London Eye. Great views if it's a nice day, although it's pricey.

[irishbride2]

My upscale listi is very different from Miso, but I tend toward more traditional which I know many find boring.

I agree with her Borough Market Rec. we are there almost every weekend for lunch when we lived there.

[1yeartogo]

I just wanted to put in a plug for riding the London Eye. I did it at night and it was beautiful and romantic