Highlights of London in One Day

We only had about 10 hours to spend in London and we wanted to see all of the major sites. Going off of our guide book's recommendations, we made a list of places to visit and the best order to take them all in. This system worked very well. Here is the order that we took everything in: Westminster - Buckingham Palace - Harrods - Lunch - Tower/Thames - Abbey Road - Parliment - Downing Street - Dinner - Home

Quick Tips:

Buy a travel book before you go and bring it with you. I recommend Lonely Planet (either the Britain, England or London guides). All of them include precise maps of London and list all sights, good places to eat, and good places to stay. This will help a lot when you have a limited amount of time, as the book will suggest the easiest way to see the sights without waisting a lot of time in queues.

Best Way To Get Around:

We live in Winchester and took the train into Waterloo from there. It takes one hour to arrive at Waterloo and we were able to pre-purchase our Underground tickets in Winchester. Because we were on a limited time schedule, we used the Underground to get us from sight to sight, which took much less time and effort than trying to walk, although London is a very walkable city.

This was the most disappointing part of our trip. We really had our hearts set on going to Abbey Road and seeing the famous crossing. Our guidebook didn't have an entry for this, so we tried to go to it on our own. We made our way to the Bakerloo Underground line and got off at the Kilburn stop, which looked to be the closest to Abbey Road on our map.

We realized immediately as we got off of the train that we were in a not-so-touristy area. There was a map of the area at the station exit, but Abbey Road didn't appear to be in walking distance. We walked over to the bus shelter, but felt VERY uncomfortable as we were being stared at by some people waiting for the bus. Because of the way it made us feel, we decided to not attempt to go to Abbey Road. So we went back to the station and got on the first train out of there! If you attempt to go to Abbey Road on your visit to London, I suggest doing your research and maybe trying it in a car.

After viewing Westminster Abbey, we walked along up Storey's Gate Road and made a left onto Birdcage Walk, which runs along St. James's Park. As you approach the Palace, turn right and enter the courtyard through the gate. The courtyard has a large statue memorial for Queen Victoria and you will find many opportunites for interesting photos. If you're lucky, you'll find yourself there on a day where the Changing of the Guard happens. Our guidebook told us that in September, it happens on odd days at 11:30am. However, it did not commence on the 15th of September this year. We were very disappointed. Please call 0839-123411 to find out when the Changing of the Guard occurs on the days you are in town.

You can tour the Palace's State Apartments for about £10.50. However, our guidebook had this to say, "Many people find the visit overpriced and disappointing." Also, the queues were very long for the tour. We also decided to save some time and we skipped the tour.

Take the Piccadilly Underground line to the Knightsbridge line. There are two exits in the station - when Harrods is open you can take the exit which lets out directly next to the huge store. However, we were visiting on Sunday, when the store is closed. Let me just say that Sunday isn't the easiest day to visit the city - many things are closed. However, crowds do seem to be smaller.

The area around Harrod's is full of upscale shops. Some of them are open on Sundays, but most are not.

The store is interesting to see, even if it is closed. It's enormous and very impressive. If you do get the chance, see it at night when all of the hundreds of lights on the facade are lit up.

Take the Circle or District lines (yellow or green) to the Tower Hill stop. The exit from the Underground leads right to the Tower.

Admission to the Tower is £11 for adults and includes the opportunity for two free tours. The Royal Yeoman Warders (Beefeaters) give a overview of the tower tour and also a more in depth Punishment and Prisoner tour. The standard tour leaves every thirty minutes and ARE NOT TO BE MISSED!

The Beefeaters (who are retired, highly-decorated military officers) give an insightful, largely funny tour. During these tours you also gain access to the Chapel Royal of St. Peter. Other sights to be seen within the Tower include the Crown Jewels. A long queue leads you along corridors where you are shown scenes from Queen Elizabeth's cornonation and in-depth descriptions about the jewels. You can view some of the gold serveware on your own, but the actual jewels must be seen from people-movers. Because of the crowds, this is a great feature which allows you to get as close to the jewels as you are allowed without having someone standing directly in front of you. The White Tower holds an impressive collection of Royal Amouries. There are two gift shops on site and a cafeteria-style restaurant.

Do walk along the River Thames on your way out of the Tower and view the amazing landmark Tower Bridge.

Stop #1:
Take the Underground Jubilee line (gray) to the Westminster stop and get onto either the Circle or District lines (yellow or green) and take that to the very next stop, St. James Park. Follow the signs directing you to the Abbey when you get off of the train. You will see the Abbey in front of you at the stop lights.

When we arrived they were in the process of a ceremony commemorating the Battle of Britain. There were no "famous" people attending, as the Queen only attends on major anniversaries. We could not go into the church, but viewed the amazing architecture of the entrance. We had meant to go to Buckingham Palace first, but turned the wrong way and only accidentally ended up at the Abbey. We did get around to seeing the back side of it later in the day, but did not go inside. This is something we will have to save for another trip, but it should not be missed if you have the time.