quick london trip - what to see?

[warwickland]

i'll be stopping over in london for a few days over the 4th of july weekend to adjust to jet-lag and slam a couple of bud lights before moving on to mainland europe.

what would be the most important 3 things to "see" in london? im more of a sit-in-the-park-of-a-huge-city-guy and just soak in ambiance these days but i would like to check one or two things off the list. like, the british museum, or something.



also, where is the best place to view fireworks?

[swid]

The Tower of London is obvious, super-touristy, and...almost certainly the quickest way to soak up British history; it can be done as quickly as a couple hours or up to a whole day. The Ceremony of the Keys is booked through August already, though...

The same qualifiers are also relevant for Westminster Abbey, and that can be done in an hour or two.

The Cabinet War Rooms/Churchill Museum is nice, and only takes a couple hours to go through.

In the evenings, taking in a West End show or something Shakespearean at the Globe Theatre is fun.

Definitely take a walk from Hyde Park though Green Park past Buckingham Palace and then down the Mall to Trafalger Square and/or along Birdcage Walk to Big Ben/Houses of Parliament/Westminster Abbey

[warwickland]

thanks. i think we are staying right at the hyde park corner tube station. that stroll has crossed my mind.

[flyingember]

off the top of my head there's still part of the roman wall in the city and it could be fit in between bigger things

how many times do you get to see things 1700+ years old?

could be worth skipping if you're hitting a major roman site elsewhere. but this one will be in English for sure, which could be a perk

[bobbyhawks]

I really enjoyed the Tate Modern. The millenium bridge is cool looking, and it provides a decent vantage point from atop the Thames. The Tower Bridge is also very cool and worth a walk if you are near the Tower of London. I'd do a little research and get some Indian food as well, if you are a fan.

[warwickland]

curry is actually on my list. im fully looking forward to drinking a gallon of low ABV english session bitters and gorging myself on curry stumbling down the sidewalk.


wikimedia.org

[pash]

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[grovester]

The river cruise was the perfect speed for that first day jet lag.

[Highlander]

I lived in the UK for nearly 6 years and made frequent trips to London and I still haven't scratched the surface. If you are only going to be there for a few days, I'd recommend the following:

Museums:

1. Imperial War Museum. It's my personal favorite museum in the city and one of the few things that will get you south of the Thames. Easy walk from Waterloo but there are a few subway stations even closer.
2. British Museum. It's the other must see museum and it's in Bloomsbury which is a pretty cool area.
3. Natural History Museum. It's got a great collection but the Building is the real attraction. It's also very close to Harrods which is also definitely worth the trip. Also nearby is the excellent Victoria and Albert Museum but that can become a time trap. Too much to see, not enough time. The whole Brompton/South Kensington area is pretty nice to walk around.

For a nice walk - I'd recommend starting somewhere on Oxford west of Marble Arch along Hyde Park and head east past the big department stores to Regent Street. Head down Regent Street to Picadilly Circus (the Times Square of London) and explore SoHo and Chinatown before moving on to Leicester (Lester)Square and then on into Covent Garden. That's a couple of hours. A great higher end curry house is in Marble Arch - a place called Laporte des Indes: http://www.laportedesindes.com/london/ Expensive but the best curry I've ever had.

Another good walk is from Trafalager Square into St James Park and of course Buckingham Palace (which I thought was kind of underwhelming). Westminster Abby and the Cabinet War Rooms aren't too far from that line.

Also, for a fatastic evening walk - visit St Paul's Cathedral and then walk across the Thames on the Millennium Bridge to the Tate Modern.

A good short excursion from the Westminster center is Greenwich and the observatory. The route goes through Canary Wharf (not a nice place to spend time but has interesting modern architecture).

The Tower of London is a bit touristy for my taste and a little outside the bustle of the center but it's not a bad place to spend some time.