An American coming to London

[DirtyDiana]

Going to watch this thread because I will be in London for a couple months also

 

[Daysleeper40]

I would heartily recommend the Natural History Museum - quite apart from all the exhibits the old part of the building is absolutely beautiful - and entry is free. It is far and away my favourite attraction in London... and I've been to most of them.

I know you say you don't want to do the usual tourist things but the Tower is very interesting & Kew gardens is lovely on a nice day. For a lot of the other sights some kind of walking tour is good. I suppose all this depends on your interests - if you are into Shakespeare (is that why you are heading to Stratford-Upon-Avon?) then the Globe theatre is going to be a good option.

The Tower Bridge Experience is good too - you get to go up to the top walkways of the bridge and there is a small museum attached - could easily form part of a walking tour.

Depending on how many attractions you do want to visit a London Pass could be good value for you. There are options for different numbers of days and also to include free public transport.

I don't thing Stone Henge is worth a full day but someone else mentioned teaming it with Bath which is a great idea - The Roman Baths exhibit is great andit is generally a very pretty city.

Windsor is also nice - and has the castle.

Hope that helped - enjoy your trip!

 

[Dimplenose]

The Natural History museum is good but if you are short of time I would restrict yourself to things that are unique to London. The queues to get in here are often very, very long because it is a great (free) day out with children. But, as Daysleeper said, the building is amazing and was used in Disney's "One of our Dinosaurs is missing".