St. Paul's Cathedral and other London, United Kingdom Things to Do Tips

The Cathedral is well worth visiting even at the perhaps expensive rate of 7 pounds entry and an additional few pounds for the tour. I highly recommend the guided tour, as walking through the cathedral without any information is not only boring but also hardly worth the 7 pounds. The problem with the tour for many tourists is the length of time it takes, but it gives a fairly complete and insightful history.

The dome is one of the highlights of visiting the cathedral. From the top, you can see most of london though the stairs are a bit daunting for some. Make sure you ask exactly when they will stop allowing visitors to climb to the top, as sometimes it is well before the closing time of the cathedral.

If one isnt interested in the history or the dome, you still enter the church without paying the admission if you dont mind sitting through a service. Just make sure it is a public service and say that you are there for the service. you might also want to dress semi appropriately.

You might also want to check the event calendar, as preformances such as Handel's Messiah are well worth attending. At the moment, visiting hours are between 8:30 am and 4:00 pm though these fluctuate with preformances, services, and the restoration they are conducting.

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Phone: 0 20 7236 4128
Address: St Pauls Churchyard, EC4
Directions: St Paul tube stop
Website: http://www.stpauls.co.uk

Located South of the Thames, the London Imperial War Museum is an underrated collection of World War I, II, the Holocaust, and current human rights violations.

The collections are extensive with possibly days worth of text and hours of visual displays. The museum tries to also include an interactive section on each floor, which sometimes come across a bit fake, but children really appreciate these sections. The main entrance also has a large display of tanks, rockets, and planes.

The museum is free except for special exhibits, which is very convenient if you have the time for multiple visits. I have visited five times now and there is still more for me to see and read. The holocaust exhibit alone is quite extensive, as are the World War rooms.

The top floor contains a new section on human rights violations that should not be missed. A large screen video is used instead of the usual boards of text and does a great job holding the visitors attention as well as provoking a deep emotional sense of the historical events. Many of the events documented were hardly reported or are routinely excluded from history. Some of the scenes are graphic or at the very least emotional, as the film focuses on the genocide in Rwanda and Yugoslavia.

This should be taken into consideration if you are visiting with children. I think the sign on the door even suggests an age limit. But with so many child-oriented displays on other floors, the museum has done a fabulous job catering to multiple age groups.

Information concerning special exhibits and opening hours can be found on their extensive web page listed below, but I believe they are open daily from ten am to 6.

I believe one of the more convenient ways of getting there is to take a bus or the tube to Elephant and Castle. From elephant and castle, you can either catch an additional bus, grab a quick taxi, or just walk and follow the signs (cant exactly remember the walking distance...)

Check out my travelogue page on the Imperial War Museum for more pictures and info.

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Phone: +44 (0)20 7416 5320
Address: Lambeth Road, London SE1 6HZ
Directions: Tube: Lambeth North (Bakerloo Line)
Waterloo (Bakerloo, Northern, Jubilee Line)
Southwark (Jubilee Line)

Buses:
1, 3, 12, 45, 53, 59, 63, 68, 100, 159, 168, 171, 172, 176,188, 344, C10
Website: http://www.iwm.org.uk/

I am placing the Tower of London under 'must see' as many people consider it to be something they have to do because of the crown jewels. This post does not deal with whether or not one should go to the tower of London, but instead a tip if one is already planning to go.

The lines for tickets at the tower of London can be hours long, but one way to avoid them is to purchase your tickets at Tower hill tube station. Just go to any ticket window in this particular tube station, purchase your tickets, and then walk around the huge line to the entrance!

Note: I have not tried this since living in London in 2004, so I am not positive it still works. It is worth trying, as it might save a couple hours in line.

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Phone: 0 20 7709 0765
Address: Tower Hill, EC3
Directions: Tower Hill tube
Website: http://www.armouries.org.uk/tower/

Althought I lived in London for over a year, I only visited Westminster when friends or relatives visited. My mom insisted not only on visiting during touring hours, but also on attending several services, including Christmas Eve.

We found the tours to be excellent, though by the time you pay admission and then the tour cost, it can get a bit expensive, especially for a family. The tour also takes quite a chunk of your day.

Now for the positive reasons for taking a tour. First of all, like many other churches in England without the history or background, all you get is the beautiful architecture. This is adequate for most, but after paying 7.5 pounds, you might as well pay a few more to learn what you are looking at. Besides giving an indepth history, the tour also takes you into a few places that are inaccessible to the rest of the public. Our tour guide also arranged for anyone in the tour group to sit in the choir boxes for the evening choir which my mom was thrilled about. With small tour groups they can manage to do this for some evening songs.

If you dont have time for a tour and you want to avoid the entrance fee, find out when the services are, dress appropriately, and confidently walk up to the main gate and say you are there for such and such service. They immediately let you in while hordes of other tourists stand around trying to figure out your secret. We did this three time and even with our American accents, they immediately opened the doors as services are generally open to the public.

For service times, touring times, and entrance prices, check out the website that has extensive details.

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Phone: 0 20 7654 4900
Address: Deans Yard, SW1
Directions: St James's Park tube
Website: http://www.westminster-abbey.org

Trafalgar square alone would be worth visiting; add the free National Gallery and it should definently be on the must see list. The gallery rotates its enormous collection, but one will always find Monet, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, da Vinci, and Renoir.
My favorite room is in the 1700-1900 east wing which contains Monet's Water lily pond, Renior's Boating on the Siene, and van Gogh's Sunflowers. The museum is free except for their special exhibits, though they ask for a small donation in any case.
The gallery is open from 10 am to 6 pm daily with additional hours on Wednesday staying open until 9 pm. The square in front of the national gallery displays the nelson monument and is a meeting point for many protests and rallies. When there isnt a rally, it is a good place to enjoy the afternoon and numerous fountains.

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Phone: 0 20 7747 2885
Address: Trafalgar Square, WC2
Directions: Charing Cross or Leicester Square tubes stops
Website: http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/

Most all of the museum in london are extensive and require more than one visit, and the british museum is no exception. Plan on spending a decent amount of time if you want to see most of the exhibits.

However, if short on time, you should still stop by for at least a quick look around. The architecture, especially the glass ceiling in the main room is worth the visit, and a quick visit can also include the Rosetta stone, the Elgin Marbles, and the Roman Portland Vase.

You can always just pick one section you are interested in as well and focus on those rooms. The British Museum is free like so many other museums in london, but they do ask for a small donation. Some special exhibits might have a fee though. The hours fluctuate so check in advance. Also, before you leave, look into the library in the center of the museum.

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Phone: 0 20 7323 8299
Address: Great Russell Street, WC1
Directions: Holborn tube stop
Website: http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk

Piccadilly circus serves as one of the shopping hubs of london, but at night it really lights up with lots of clubs and bars nearby. Even if you arent looking to party, it can be fun walking around with the famous big screens illuminating the area.
If visiting piccadilly during the day, there are more than enough stores to stop into, but look for Hamley's toy store on the left heading up regent street, at it claims to be one of the finest toy stores in the world, though debateable and sometimes crowded, it still is fun too look around in.

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Address: Piccadilly Circus, SW1
Directions: Piccadilly Circus tube

Covent Gardens lacks any sort of actual garden, but the brick square serves as a congregating point for many street preformers and musicians. Some are good, others are not, but its a nice way to enjoy lunch in-between site seeing.
http://www.coventgarden.uk.com/

Jubilee markets is part of covent gardens and features a lot of souvinor items, but does have a few rows of antiques, jewelry, and artwork. http://jubileemarket.com/

I once was able to buy several maps from the 1890s from a vender at Jubilee market for 3 pounds each. I later saw some of the same maps for 25-30 pounds at Portabello Market.

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Directions: Covent Gardens Tube Stop, or a couple blocks north (1) east (3?) of leicester square
Website: http://www.coventgarden.uk.com/