Tower of London and other London, United Kingdom Things to Do Tips

Last visit August 2008, got 2 for 1 entry with a valid travelcard

The Tower of London is my #1 must see attraction, I have visited at least 5 times now on different trips to London and still find it fascinating. The Tower has a long, intriguing, sometimes bloody history, full of colorful characters from the 9 day Queen Jane Grey, the two Princes killed and buried in the Tower by their evil uncle, King Henry VIII and his 6 wives, two of which were beheaded inside it's walls.

The best time to visit the Tower is first thing in the morning before the crowds arrive. On our most recent visit we got there around 10am, there was a short line to get tickets and no line to see the Crown Jewels but later in the day there was a huge line for them so go see the Crown Jewels first so you can spend as much time gawking at the baubles as you please. You can then double back to the entrance and take one of the amusing and informative beefeater tours, not to be missed. That was also crowded but the beefeaters have loud voices.

Several of the buildings are open to visitors, the White Tower has the armoury and the Hands on History Exhibit which is an interactive section for kids, you can walk along the walls and visit some of the towers, visit the Medieval Palace and check out the ravens, legend has it that the kingdom would fall if the ravens ever left so they've ensured a few stick around by clipping their wings and having understudies!

Be sure to check out the visit planner on the attached website and check to see if there's anything special going on while you are there, we almost missed the siege weapons demostration in the moat that is exclusive to the summertime and only performed a couple of times during the day. We spent about 4-5 hours here and saw everything, we ended up eating lunch at the Tower as well. You can also bring a picnic lunch, I wish we had thought of it.

Leave a Comment

Directions: Nearest tube: Tower Hill
Website: http://www.hrp.org.uk/TowerOfLondon/

For the bargain price of £7, you can go on a guided walk of London with Original London Walks. We have been on the Jack the Ripper walk, the ghost walk, the Kensington walk, the Hampstead Heath Pub walk, Chelsea and Inns of Court and enjoyed them immensely.

Jack the Ripper is the most popular walk and although quite interesting, the crowds can be quite huge. I'd recommend going to see an area that you might not see on your own, I really enjoyed the Hampstead Heath walk because it was a section of London that I had never even passed through before.

London Walks also has Explorer Days that go outside of London, I did one of Bath with them when I discovered that the train fare if I went on my own would be more than the tour. The tour was very well done, gave you a little free time around lunch to explore and you can always stay on if you want to see more but check with the guide in case it's group seating on the train. The Explorer Days cost £12 plus whatever the fees are for the train and admission to sites which are usually obtained at a group discount.

Leave a Comment

Website: http://london.walks.com/

Any trip I take to London includes a trip to the theatre, whether it be West End musicals, a production at Shakespeare's Globe or a smaller local production.

Tickets are routinely available at the 1/2 price ticket booth in Leicester Square for most longer running productions like Les Mis or Phantom of the Opera and most of the shorter run productions that aren't the current hot ticket. Unlike the long lines you see at the New York TKTS booth, the line in London never seemed to take longer than 15 minutes.

For the best deals and seats, make sure you go to the official TKTS booth in the picture below, a free standing building in the middle of Leicester Square, not one of the many ticket brokers that line the Square. The booth was open from 10am-7 pm (Sunday 12-3) when I was there

The attached website has all kinds of information on what's playing, you can sign up for email notification of new plays that are coming and ticket deals. It also has a listing of what tickets will be at the TKTS booth that day and what shows never have tickets there. Mousetrap and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre tickets, for example, are never sold through the TKTS booth.

If you want to book in advance at a discount try Last Minute or Broadway Box or London Town

Leave a Comment

Address: Leicester Square
Website: http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/

I think this is one of the most overlooked museums in London. If you are interested in the history of London, this is the place for you. I try to stop for a bit on every trip I make to London.

The museum is broken down into 7 permanent sections that takes you on a journey from London before it was London to the early 1900s

Open:
Monday to Saturday 10.00am to 5.50pm
Sunday 12.00 noon to 5.50pm
Last admission 5.30pm

Leave a Comment

Directions: Underground: Barbican, St Paul's, Moorgate, Bank

Buses: 4, 8, 25, 56, 100, 172, 242, 501, 521
Website: http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/

Every tourist to London will probably see Buckingham Palace at some point, whether just to get a glimpse of the exterior, watch the changing of the guard or visit the state rooms inside the Palace. John Nash converted the original Buckingham House into a palace for George IV but he died before work was complete so Queen Victoria was the first monarch to live at the Palace. The Palace is currently home to Queen Elizabeth II and her family.

During the summer months when the Queen is hanging out in Scotland, it is possible to visit the state rooms at Buckingham Palace. I debated over whether I wanted to go see them or not as the price was a bit high, L12.95, if booked in advance online it was L13.95. But I did and I'm glad I decided to.

Buckingham Palace is a functioning Palace, events are still held here-state dinners, knighting ceremonies, etc. and the tour takes you through some of those rooms. The tour is by timed ticket, after you pick up your tickets at the ticket booth in Hyde Park, you queue up on the left side of the Palace as you are facing it. Once inside, they give you an audio guide so you can travel at your own pace through the Palace.

The interior is really quite spectacular, with bold blues and reds, crystal chandeliers, ornate decoration. You see where the Queen holds state dinners for visiting dignataries and the room where she knights folks like Elton John, Ben Kingsley and Paul McCartney. After the tour of the interior, the tour finishes through the "backyard" of the Palace and of course the Royal Giftshop.

It seemed as if people were still able to get tickets if they waited until London to buy them but if you only have a couple of days and time is tight, you may want to reserve in advance. No photos are allowed inside the palace so the only pictures I could get were of the Queen's backyard.

Leave a Comment

Address: The Mall, SW1
Directions: Green Park tube is the closest but you can also get off at the Hyde Park tube
Website: http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page555.asp

This was one of the highlights of our recent trip to London, both my husband and I enjoyed it a lot.

During the summer months, there are guided tours of Parliament. Unlike many of the other places we visited on this trip, there was an actual live guide giving the tour instead of an audio guide. The tour lasts approx. 75 minutes, several groups are scheduled to leave at the same time so there are actually quite a few people broken up into smaller groups.

I thought the tour was very interesting, it starts in the Queen's Robing Room, through the Royal Gallery and Prince's Chamber and then through the rooms used by the House of Lords and the House of Commons, finishing up in St Stephen's Hall and Westminster Hall.

What I thought was most interesting to see was the difference in decoration between the deep red furniture and ornate decoration of the House of Lords and the more common green and plain decor in the House of Commons. I also thought it was interesting that the building wasn't nearly as old as I thought having been rebuilt after a fire in the 1850s.

Tickets can be reserved in advance online at no extra charge, link is on the attached website. Or you seemed to be able to get tickets while there by going to the ticket booth that is directly behind the Jewel Tower.

Leave a Comment

Address: Parliament Square, SW1
Directions: Westminster tube
Website: http://www.parliament.uk/visiting/summer_opening.cfm

This is my husband's favorite museum in London so on our first day in London on this trip we stopped here.

I had wanted to see the special D-day exhibit that is running through May 2005 but we ended up staying for several hours until closing time and there were still sections we hadn't seen.

As you enter the museum there is a fine collection of airplanes, tanks, submarines, bombs, etc. on the ground floor and hanging from the ceiling.

Like many of the fine museums in London, this one is free every day.

Leave a Comment

Directions: Nearest tube: Lambeth North
Website: http://london.iwm.org.uk/

I had passed by Kensington Palace on previous trips but this was the first time I went inside. On previous trips the gates outside the Palace were covered with notes, gifts and flowers in memory of the late Princess Diana since this was her home prior to her divorce from Prince Charles but on this trip all of that was gone.

The tour inside the Palace is by taped audio guide so you can go at your own pace. The highlight of the Palace, at least for most women anyway, will be the dress collections of both the current Queen, Elizabeth II, and also Princess Diana. In addition to the basic taped commentary, you can also hear additional information on each of the dresses with the audio guide.

The modern part of the Palace where Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon lived was a bit of a disappointment as it had been modernized and was not showy at all but after visiting that section you go on to visit King William III and Mary's Apartments which are more royal in design.

There is no photography allowed inside the Palace.

We went early on a Sunday morning, there was no line to get in nor was it crowded inside.

Leave a Comment

Address: Kensington Gardens
Website: http://www.hrp.org.uk/webcode/kensington_home.asp

On the south side of Kensington Palace, just past the fancy black and gold gates is this bronze statue of William III given to Edward VII by his nephew, Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1907.

William III was the original royal inhabitant having purchased what was then Nottingham House in 1689, Christopher Wren was commissioned to turn it into Kensington Palace.

Leave a Comment

Address: south entrance to Kensington Palace

I've been through Kensington Gardens oodles of times on various visits to London, we've stayed close by several times and it's a lovely place to stroll through on a warm sunny day. When the weather turns nice, it doesn't seem to matter whether it's a weekday or a weekend, the parks are jammed with people trying to get a little sun and fresh air, they are there with their dogs playing fetch, kids playing with model boats on the round pond, people sunbathing in the grass or queing for tea at the Orangery.

Hyde Park is right next door and you pass freely between the two, I started my most recent walk at the Italian Gardens on the north end, along the Long Water, around the Serpentine in Hyde Park, past the Diana Memorial and then back into Kensington Gardens to see Peter Pan, past the Physical Energy sculpture and then over to the Orangery at Kensington Palace for tea.

After tea I visited the elaborate Albert Memorial, built by Queen Victoria in 1876 for her beloved husband who died in 1861, is across from Royal Albert Hall on the south side of the park.

Leave a Comment

Address: Kensington
Directions: Closest tubes:
Lancaster Gate & Queensway - Central Line
Bayswater - District Line
High Street Kensington - Circle and District Lines