love the british museum
https://www.britishmuseum.org/

&
the v & a
https://www.vam.ac.uk/collections?type=featured

If you want to do the Tower of London before lunch, get there early. I spent 3+ hours there when we went in September and easily could've spent more.

If you haven’t seen Six, that’s a fun one to see in London.

We loved taking the Uber Boat to Greenwich. The park is beautiful and the town is quaint. We enjoyed visiting the Prime Meridian.

We also loved going to Sky Garden. It is a great way to see the city. You have to sign up a few weeks in advance, but it is free. Worth adding to the itinerary. It is fairly close to the Tower.

My kids always love time to just wander around the parks. They particularly enjoyed St. James park.

We did tea at Aqua Shard. Peter Pan themed. It was a splurge but very worth it.

Another thing we did was see Matilda the Musical. It was really wonderful.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Harry Potter can be an all day event. It takes a while to get out there. Also you may want to add Camden Market to your itinerary, its a funky market, but worth a visit.

We only spent 2 hours there — there’s not all that much really. Agree traffic out there can be awful. There’s a train but they were on strike when we were there. So I think it’s appropriate for a half day outing particularly since you can rest your feet on the train.

Assuming the trains are running (although strikes are pretty common nowadays), I'd say max 1 hour to get from Euston to the studio tour doors. It's 16 minutes on the train if you get the nonstop one, and then bus is right outside the train station and we waited maybe 5 minutes, 5 to board, and probably 15 minutes to the building. We spent about 3 hours there, so all in all it was around 5 hours from leaving London to getting back.

Anonymous wrote:Harry Potter can be an all day event. It takes a while to get out there. Also you may want to add Camden Market to your itinerary, its a funky market, but worth a visit.

We only spent 2 hours there — there’s not all that much really. Agree traffic out there can be awful. There’s a train but they were on strike when we were there. So I think it’s appropriate for a half day outing particularly since you can rest your feet on the train.

Actually ignore my borough market comment — I went back and checked my dates from my photos and we were there on a Monday which is apparently the one day they are closed, so that was my just screwing up the plans. Have fun!

Tuesday seems like too much to do in a day.

Also don’t do borough market on a weekday — we did almost exactly this where we went to the tower in the morning, walked across the bridge and then to borough market for lunch. It was almost all closed — only a couple shops open, and felt very creepy. We ate at one of the few places open but it wasn’t charming, then we walked over to the Eye. The eye is cool and maybe worth adding. If you’re going to thr globe I think there’s a way to take the ferry there which might be better.

Anonymous wrote:Harry Potter can be an all day event. It takes a while to get out there. Also you may want to add Camden Market to your itinerary, its a funky market, but worth a visit.

DP. I agree, Camden Market is fun. I may have spent nearly a whole day there with my DS who was 10 at the time.

Harry Potter can be an all day event. It takes a while to get out there. Also you may want to add Camden Market to your itinerary, its a funky market, but worth a visit.

Anonymous wrote:IMO Monday is a little light on activity and Friday is a little heavy.

definitely go see a play/show, that's a fun thing to do and tix are more reasonable than here.

Some of your activities are walk-bys rather than something that will take much time. I like window shopping and wandering as much as the next person but I think the walking will happen naturally and you could pick a few more tentpole activities.

If you are looking for other ideas, I really liked the London Museum, about the history of the city. Also, the Tate Modern (and also the original Tate, over by Westminster). I haven't been to the Victoria & Albert in a long time but that's a classic too. If you wanted to do more of a daytrip, I really like Greenwich. You could also do Windsor Castle -- it's quite close to Heathrow so a good first day activity.

London Museum is closed while they build out a new location. There is a much smaller sister location at Canary Wharf/Docklands, they might have some of the exhibits from the main museum right now, not totally sure. Definitely check online.

Anonymous wrote:I disagree with PP about Monday. Churchill War Rooms is a many hour event.

Really? When we did it I think we were in and out in about an hour and a half.

I disagree with PP about Monday. Churchill War Rooms is a many hour event.

IMO Monday is a little light on activity and Friday is a little heavy.

definitely go see a play/show, that's a fun thing to do and tix are more reasonable than here.

Some of your activities are walk-bys rather than something that will take much time. I like window shopping and wandering as much as the next person but I think the walking will happen naturally and you could pick a few more tentpole activities.

If you are looking for other ideas, I really liked the London Museum, about the history of the city. Also, the Tate Modern (and also the original Tate, over by Westminster). I haven't been to the Victoria & Albert in a long time but that's a classic too. If you wanted to do more of a daytrip, I really like Greenwich. You could also do Windsor Castle -- it's quite close to Heathrow so a good first day activity.

My young adult daughter and I are planning a week-long trip to London in February. What do you think about this itinerary? Any suggestions, particularly about things I am missing or places to eat along the way, are welcome. Thanks in advance!

Arrive Sunday morning:
Drop bags at hotel in Bloomsbury
Spitalfields Market to eat and shop
Tottenham vs Manchester United soccer match (although it looks like tickets are very limited now)
Alternatively, we would do a Beatles-themed City Walk followed by Spitalfields Market to eat and shop
Walk around Bloomsbury (hotel neighborhood)
Early to bed

Monday:
Changing of the Guard City Walk in the morning
Churchill War Rooms in the afternoon
National Gallery?
West End show in the evening?

Tuesday:
Westminster Abbey
Walk by Big Ben
Westminster Palace (Houses of Parliament)
Trafalgar Square walk-through
Walk onto Westminster Bridge for views
Afternoon Tea at Claridges or the Ritz (Mayfair)
Window Shopping at Harrods and Liberty of London
West End show?

Wednesday:
Tower of London in the am
Tower Bridge for views
Borough Market for lunch
Globe Theater
Sam Wanamaker Playhouse - Three Sisters in the evening?

Thursday
Harry Potter Warner Brothers Studio Tour
(Not sure what to do after this)

Friday
Hampton Court Palace and town of Richmond (is it possible to pass through the town of Richmond if we are taking public transportation?
British Museum (stays open late Fridays)

Saturday
British Library
British Museum
Leave by 3:00 for airport