London combines the best of old-world charm and modern-day vibrancy in one city. If you only have three days to see the sights, however, it can be overwhelming. By focusing on your individual interests and keeping an eye toward attractions that are in the same geographical area, you can maximize both your enjoyment and the amount you're able to see.
DAY ONE Saints & the City: A Walk
your own to see the crown jewels
in the Jewel Tower and the collection of armor and weapons in the White Tower.
All this in about 3 hours or so. Take a Thames Clipper back to the Globe or Tate
Modern. You can enjoy lunch on the South bank of the Thames at a pub. We
recommend the Swan right next door to Shakespeare's Globe. It is very civilized,
the service is good and the food excellent.
After lunch vist the Tate Modern or Shakespeare's Globe. You can then walk across the Millenium foot bridge to St. Paul's Cathedral or cruise back on the Clipper to Enbankment and return to your hotel for a short break. Dinner is on you. There are any number of restaurants offering theatre menus within walking distance of Trafalgar Square. After dinner enjoy a show. The concierge at your hotel can get your theatre tickets for you or you can buy them ahead of time online by clicking here. You can also get them at a discount in Leicester Square or in Covent Garden at any of their discount ticket booths. To tired for a show, save it for tomorrow. Take a walk down by the Thames to see the London Eye light up at night and the lights of London.
DAY THREE The British Museum, Covent Garden/Hampton Court Palace, Dinner & the Theatre
Now that you have the feel of the place you can take your time in the morning. Enjoy a proper English breakfast, read the paper. Afterwards, if it's a nice clear day, why not take a short flight on the London Eye and get a birds eye view of the city. Great photo opportunity. Late morning head over to the British Museum for some quality time with artifacts from around the world. See the Rosetta Stone, stone sculpture from Egypt, finds from Roman Britain and so much more. They have a Cafe where you can get a bite to eat and a drink which will save you time finding a restaurant or pub.
After the British Museum, take a cab to Covent Garden and enjoy the street theatre, shops and atmosphere. The market has vendors offering cheap street food like paella cooked in large flat pans outside and other treats and there are pleny of other options if you are hungry or just want to sit and watch the world go
by for a bit. You can spend hours
here and not be bored in the slightest. You can get theatre tickets at one of
the booths here and when you've had quite enough, head back to home base and get
cleaned up for an early dinner and a show.
Another option for the afternoon is a visit to Hampton Court Palace where King Henry VIII wooed his many wives. You can get a day pass online and visit at your convenience. The Palace is open 10:00am to 4:30pm, with last admission at 3:30pm. You can get to Hampton Court by taxi or train. South West Trains run services direct from London Waterloo station to Hampton Court a 35 minute ride. The palace is a 200 metre walk across the bridge from the station. Allow about 3 hours for the trip and your visit. Plan your visit here.
DAY FOUR
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www.londonpass.com/top-AttractionClimate
London's reputation for rain and fog is well deserved most times of year. You'll find the mildest and driest weather -- and the crowds of tourists -- in late May, June and July. If you don't mind a little rain, late September and October are also excellent times to visit London. Londoners deem any temperature below 50 degrees "cold" -- so don't be put off by warnings about October's brisk temperatures.
What to Bring
No matter what time of year you go, an umbrella is a necessity, as is a light jacket or sweater. Otherwise, pack light for your three-day trip. A pair of comfortable walking shoes, one or two pairs of pants in a neutral color, and three nice tops should do fine. If you plan on going to the theater, consider bringing a black dress or a pair of dress pants and an Oxford shirt in non-wrinkling fabrics. While London is dressier than most cities in the US, the emphasis is on comfortable and functional clothes rather than style.
Indoor Attractions
A tour of Buckingham Palace is a must-do for any visitor to London, but it is only open to visitors when the Queen is not in residence. You can purchase tickets at the palace or online. London also boasts many world-class museums. The British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the National Gallery are probably the most famous, but obscure museums like the Churchill Museum are worth a visit as well. Famous for its theaters, the West End and Covent Garden are worth squeezing in you're interested in drama. All of these attractions are within walking distance of one another.
Outdoor Attractions
London has some of the world's most beautiful city parks. St. James' Park, the Buckingham Palace Gardens, Hyde Park and Regents' Park are within a half-hour's walking distance of one another near the West End. Just across Whitehall Street from St. James' Park are the Houses of Parliament and the beginning of the Victoria Embankment, which runs along the River Thames as far as Blackfriars Bridge. Cross the Thames at the Millennium Bridge to visit Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. You can visit all these attractions in one day.
Getting Around
Purchase an Oyster Card on your first day in London and use it to ride the extensive network of city buses and the Underground. More expensive, but worth it once for the experience, are the London black cabs -- which are no longer all black, but come in a multitude of rainbow colors. Walking as much as possible will help you get the most out of your three days in London.
Considerations
Try to plan your three-day itinerary to center on one part of town and purchase a London Pass to get discounts on attractions. Cutting down travel time will free you up to spend more time seeing the sights. Central London is easily walkable, and basing yourself out of Russell Square or the West End gives you the best combination of an interesting neighborhood, comfortable hotels and walkability. However, try not to pack your days so full that you lose the time to stop and enjoy your trip.
entrepreneurship, travel and international politics have been published on a number of websites, including USAToday, Chron.com, LewRockwell.com and Matador Abroad. Chandos holds a Bachelor of Arts in history from Columbia University.
DAY ONE Saints & the City: A Walk
For somewhere so unashamedly dedicated to Mammon, the financial center of London also offers plenty of spiritual comfort (which no doubt comes in handy when stocks start tumbling). Our favorite historic churches can be comfortably toured in a day -- or an afternoon, if you're quick.
Beginning at Temple Tube, turn left out of the station, and head north up Arundel Place. Turn right onto the Strand, and stroll east along Fleet Street till you reach Prince Henry's Room, 17 Fleet St. (tel. 020/7332-1097), one of London's only surviving houses to pre-date the Great Fire of 1666. Turn right through the stone arch by the house, down Inner Temple Lane to Temple Church, King's Bench Walk, EC4 (tel. 020/7353-3470; www.templechurch.com), a round church founded in the late 12th century by the Knights Templar, one of the most powerful religious military orders during the Crusades. Much restored and rebuilt in subsequent centuries, it has enjoyed a resurgence of interest since being featured in The Da Vinci Code. Admission is free. Opening hours are Monday, Tuesday, and Friday 11am to 12:30pm and 1 to 4pm, Wednesday 2 to 4pm, Thursday 11am to 12:30pm and 2 to 3:30pm, Saturday 11am to 12:30pm and 1 to 3pm, and Sunday 1 to 3:30pm.
Back on Fleet Street continue east. Take a right down Salisbury Court, and then a left onto St. Bride's Passage for St. Bride's, Fleet St., EC4 (tel. 020/7427-0133; www.stbrides.com), perhaps the city's oldest church, founded back in the 6th century. Rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren after the Great Fire, its distinctive multistep spire was said to have inspired the design of modern wedding cakes. It's known as the "Journalists' Church," owing to its proximity to Fleet Street, the old home of the British Press. It's free to enter. Hours are Monday through Friday 8am to 6pm, Saturday 11am to 3pm, and Sunday 10am to 1pm and 5 to 7:30pm.
Return to Fleet Street and head east along Ludgate Hill. A diversion north up Old Bailey will take you past the Central Criminal Court (also more commonly known as the Old Bailey). If you crane your neck you should just about be able to make out the statue of Lady Liberty holding a sword and a set of scales perched upon its roof. Carry on north, along Giltspur Street and West Smithfield, bearing right until you reach St. Bartholomew-the-Great, 6-9 Kinghorn St., EC1 (tel. 020/7606-5171; www.greatstbarts.com). Begun in 1123, this is one of the best examples of large scale Norman architecture in the city. Admission is £4, and it's open Monday to Friday 8:30am to 5pm, Saturday 10:30am to 4pm, and Sunday 8:30am to 8pm. Opposite, St. Bartholomew's Hospital ("Barts") has a small Hospital Museum of medical curiosities (North Wing, West Smithfield, EC1; tel. 020/3465-5798; www.bartsandthelondon.nhs.uk). It's free, and open Monday through Friday 10am to 4pm. Guided tours of the collection are given at 2pm on Fridays (£5).
Retrace your steps back down to Ludgate Hill and continue east until the glorious façade of St. Paul's Cathedral, surely the city's finest church, looms into view. Pass through the cathedral's churchyard onto New Change, site of a major new shopping center, One New Change, and then right on Cheapside for St. Mary-le-Bow (tel. 020/7248-5139; www.stmarylebow.co.uk), otherwise known as the "Cockney Church"; to be a "true Cockney," you must be born within the sound of its bells. First erected around 1,000 years ago, it was rebuilt by Sir Christopher Wren following the Great Fire and again, in the style of Wren, after World War II. It's open Monday to Friday 6:30am to 6pm; admission is free.
Continue east, then southeast down King William Street, and finally east along Eastcheap and Great Tower Street to All-Hallows-by-the-Tower, Byward St., EC3 (tel. 020/7481-2928; www.allhallowsbythetower.org.uk), just down the road from (and providing elevated views over) the Tower of London. When the first church was built here in the 7th century, the site had already been in use for several centuries. You can see Roman, Saxon, and medieval remains at its small museum. The famous diarist Samuel Pepys supposedly watched the progress of the Great Fire from the church's spire. Admission to the church is free; a crypt museum tour costs £6. Museum hours are Monday to Friday 10am to 5:30pm, Saturday 10am to 5pm, and Sunday 1 to 5pm. The church is open Monday to Friday 8am to 6pm, Saturday and Sunday 10am to 5pm.
From here it's a short walk east to the nearest Tube station, Tower Hill.
DAY TWO
Day One: Tower of London, Thames Cruise, Tate
Modern/Shakespeare's Globe, Pub Lunch, Dinner & the Theatre
A
must for any first time visitor to London is a visit to the Tower of London in the shadow of Tower
Bridge. You can take a package tour like the Gems
of London Tour which takes 6 hours and includes a tour of the City of
London, the Tower, entry to St. Paul's Cathedral and a Thames River Cruise. We
recommend you buy a One
Day River Roamer pass on the Thames Clipper and Skip the Line Tickets to Tower of London separately. You
can buy them both online in advance and print out vouchers. The combo gives you
a more flexibility and you can cruise up and down the Thames at your own speed
and see London from the water. You can catch a Thames Clipper at Embankment
pier, one block from Charing Cross Hotel/Station. The catamarans depart every 20
minutes from Embankment, London Bridge, Tower, Greenwich, Waterloo, Canary Wharf
and The O2 (formerly Millenium Dome), now London's premier concert venue. You
will cruise right by the London Eye, Shakespeare's
Globe, Tate Modern, HMS Belfast, Tower Bridge and the Tower of London,
etc.
Cruise to the Tower, take the free tour given by the Beefeater Yeoman guides
who are all comedians full of facts and wise cracks. When they finish you can go
on
 Photography is allowed at the Tate Modern, a cavernous former power station converted to art showplace and stage for happenings. |
After lunch vist the Tate Modern or Shakespeare's Globe. You can then walk across the Millenium foot bridge to St. Paul's Cathedral or cruise back on the Clipper to Enbankment and return to your hotel for a short break. Dinner is on you. There are any number of restaurants offering theatre menus within walking distance of Trafalgar Square. After dinner enjoy a show. The concierge at your hotel can get your theatre tickets for you or you can buy them ahead of time online by clicking here. You can also get them at a discount in Leicester Square or in Covent Garden at any of their discount ticket booths. To tired for a show, save it for tomorrow. Take a walk down by the Thames to see the London Eye light up at night and the lights of London.
DAY THREE The British Museum, Covent Garden/Hampton Court Palace, Dinner & the Theatre
Now that you have the feel of the place you can take your time in the morning. Enjoy a proper English breakfast, read the paper. Afterwards, if it's a nice clear day, why not take a short flight on the London Eye and get a birds eye view of the city. Great photo opportunity. Late morning head over to the British Museum for some quality time with artifacts from around the world. See the Rosetta Stone, stone sculpture from Egypt, finds from Roman Britain and so much more. They have a Cafe where you can get a bite to eat and a drink which will save you time finding a restaurant or pub.
After the British Museum, take a cab to Covent Garden and enjoy the street theatre, shops and atmosphere. The market has vendors offering cheap street food like paella cooked in large flat pans outside and other treats and there are pleny of other options if you are hungry or just want to sit and watch the world go
 Ticket booth in Covent Garden area |
Another option for the afternoon is a visit to Hampton Court Palace where King Henry VIII wooed his many wives. You can get a day pass online and visit at your convenience. The Palace is open 10:00am to 4:30pm, with last admission at 3:30pm. You can get to Hampton Court by taxi or train. South West Trains run services direct from London Waterloo station to Hampton Court a 35 minute ride. The palace is a 200 metre walk across the bridge from the station. Allow about 3 hours for the trip and your visit. Plan your visit here.
DAY FOUR
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