Pre-day in London

[blabadie]

If you are interested in history, the British Museum is AMAZING. We preplanned a highlights list of about a dozen items and wandered over to some over things that particularly caught our eye. This took about 3 hours, but we have 3 kids (the youngest aged 5) so we probably moved slower than most. So much more to see but I felt we saw the most significant items and it was time well spent.

You could tour the Royal Mews (Buckingham Palace stables) in under an hour. The golden carriage is spectacular and you are mostly walking outside between indoor exhibits so you'd get some fresh air.

The day we arrived we did the Royal Mews and then the Churchill War Rooms. The Churchill War Rooms had fantastic audio guides (including a children's one). I didn't pre-purchase scheduled tickets bc I was concerned about predicting our schedule. That was a mistake in hindsight---we waited over an hour to get in. That being said, our kids all said it was "worth the wait" and we were glad we did it. We are pretty into history, but I think it would be interesting to anyone with at least a mild interest in Churchill/WWII.

 

[poohj80]

Thanks for sharing! I have been wondering if we should book things ahead of time or whether we can wait to see how we feel. DD REALLY wants to go see the Harry Potter stuff at Warner Brothers so that may be all we get done.

 

[Magnum_PI]

Another endorsement for the British Museum. I was in London very briefly last week for business (my first time in the UK!), and the British Museum was my top priority. Well worth it. But, to be honest, if I'd had more time I'd have probably done the Harry Potter stuff too, haha. So I can't fault your DD for feeling that way! I've never been, but I'm sure you'll enjoy it. That said, if there is time? Definitely the British Museum.

 

[Capt_BJ]

first time ... one day ... consider the HoHo (hop on hop off) bus tour ....

We like to take this the full route first time in a city to 'look' and get an overview .. then you can return to an item or two as time permits. The one we took also included a boat ride up/down Thames .....

In our experience all the London 'attractions had hour long queue by 9AM ... we had a great time in Greenwich however .....

 

[mindeola]

The Churchill War Rooms and The Royal Mews were both really surprise hits for us! Very interesting.

 

[NashSmartGuy]

The other posters have shared great ideas. I love the British Museum and National Gallery. I also enjoy seeing shows on the West End (don't call them Broadway shows!). There's a ticket booth where you can get day-of-show tickets at a substantial discount (but maybe not the absolute most popular, sold-out shows).