London Visitor Guide
Guidebook
“DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: London” by Dorling Kindersley ($25)
The BEST reference guide to use when exploring London. It has great neighborhood by neighborhood guides on what to see/do, along with good maps and pictures, so you can plan each day to cover maximum amount of interesting sights.
Not the best for restaurants/hotels, but easily the best for day-to-day planning of your trip. It does such a good job that I won’t try to recreate it here, and will just emphasize a few ideas.
Museums
- British Museum: hands down the best museum in London. Unbelievable collection of treasures from all corners of the globe.
- Tate Modern: very cool converted factory building. The art is often good as well.
- British Military Museum: awesome weapons if you like that kind of thing.
- Wallace Collection: small, but great building, good art and amazing armor.
Daytime Walk
- Start at Buckingham palace (perhaps see changing of the guard)
- Proceed East through St. James Park along the water to see the ducks, etc.
- (Optional diversion: Walk into Trafalgar Square and see Nelsons Column)
- Stop in Cabinet War Rooms before proceeding to Parliament Square
- Visit Westminster Abbey, then take photo of Big Ben
- Cross Westminster Bridge to Southbank and take trip on London Eye to get great view of London (best to reserve spot online in advance). Grab a coffee and see the Street Performers next to London Eye
- That is probably a very full day, but if you still have time and want to walk further (or have a second day), you can continue East along the Thames to see Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, London Dungeon, HMS Belfast, Tower Bridge, Design Museum and then the Tate Modern
- From Tate Modern, St. Paul’s Cathedral is just a short walk across the Thames
- As that is quite a long walk, an alternative is to take a cab from London Eye straight to the Tate Modern and have a coffee or meal there (best to make a reservation first) before or after you see the art
Other Ideas:
- London Bus Tours – a great way to see London. Double decker buses which travel on several routes across the city and stop at many major tourist attractions.
- Make sure to sign up for bus services which have live tour guides rather than taped guides
- The live guides are very helpful at answering questions and providing visitors with good advice on which sights to see
- As they run several routes, it is best to checkout which sights you want to see, then start first thing in the morning with them so you can maximize your time jumping on/off the bus to see each sight
- London Walks – a great site for walking tours of London. I highly recommend the “Jack the Ripper” tour done at night in east London.