Suggestions welcome for a possible trip to London (England)

[SCRawl]

My boss wants me to take a particular course which is only offered in a few locations around the world. The only one of those which work for our schedule is coming up at the end of July, and is in Maidenhead, UK, just outside of London. Assuming my boss' boss approves the excursion, my likely itinerary will include at least one full day for pretty much whatever I want, and this would be Monday, July 28.

The purpose of this thread is to get input on what the best use of that time would be. I figure that there are enough people from this part of the world that I can get some good input from those who are in the position to give an informed opinion. I've never been outside of North America, so this is definitely a new experience for me.

So?

[HMS Sophia]

Don't go to London. It's a wretched hive of scum and villainy (and my birthplace).
Joking aside... Do you like museums? Because Jesus Christ the museums. And you can do... 5 in a day, walking only. V&A, Imperial war, Natural History and... I can't remember. It was 5 years ago when me and some friends did a days tour of museums.
That's pretty much all I like London for as a visitor. And it's great.

[Hillary]

Scrawl - what sorts of things do you enjoy doing? It would help in deciding what to suggest to you.

[SCRawl]

I was actually thinking of approaching it from the other direction: if several people make suggestions, I could select the things that most appealed to me, weighted by the strength of the recommendations. (As for what I like doing, I'm the father of two small girls, so I've almost forgotten what I like doing.)

I figured that seeing the inside of a pub would be involved at some point, if that helps. I do like history, and my people (a few generations back) did indeed come from the British Isles.

[Eternal_Freedom]

If you like history and have small children, then the Natural History Museum and Science Museum in South Kensington are a must. They are also next to the V&A museum that Barnest mentioned. The Natural history and the science museum are enormous, extremely interesting, great for kids and are also free.

If you want to visit a pub in London, expect your wallet to really hurt afterwards.

[SCRawl]

Just to be clear, while I do have two kids, they will be remaining in Canada with my wife. I'm alone on this trip. I'd love to bring them, but as this is for work it isn't practical.

[Teebs]

The British Museum is a world class history museum and like all of London's top museums is free to enter (although as a UK taxpayer I would appreciate you making the recommended donation ).

If it's a sunny day the Southbank is lovely to walk along, from Tower Bridge (the famous drawbridge, often mistakenly thought to be London Bridge) in the East to the Houses of Parliament in the West. You get a beautiful view of central London across the river and can pop across the Millenium Bridge at the Tate Modern (free world class modern art museum in an old powerstation) to have a look at St Pauls Cathedral.

[Tony Stark]

You could do the London Eye. It allows you to get a very nice view of the city.

[Elheru Aran]

Honestly there's a huge fuckton of stuff to do in London. I would suggest just picking up a map somewhere, circling the stuff that sounds good, checking with us on what is *actually* good, and then just go.

It's got something for everyone. Military history, general history, British history, art, architecture, food, drink...

Personally I quite liked seeing Westminister Abbey and the Houses of Parliament. I'd have loved to go to the British Museum, British Library, St. Paul's, the Imperial War Museum, all those... unfortunately time did not permit.

[Melchior]

I'd suggest the British Library, even the temporary exhibitions are generally good and it's less touristy than most other places you could go to. Do you like bookshops? Try Foyles and Stanfords (specialized in travel literature and maps).

[Dartzap]

Just remember the place is the sister city of NYC (The fat one of the two), population wise. It can feel.....crowded at times.

My only tip would to be get a travel card or Oyster card whilst there, you can get the oyster on arrival for a fiver, and return it on departure for your money back. Oh, and the tube map is not an accurate means of determining distances. If you have legs, use 'em.

[Iroscato]

I'll also vouch for the Natural History Museum, it's a great place that I've been to about 10 times growing up. And an Oyster Card really is a must for getting around London quickly.
Another general thing to do is just slowly take a walk around Trafalgar Square or Oxford Street. There's always something going on in the busy parts no matter which way you look, especially if it's a nice day.

[Thanas]

British Museum. If you have never been, it should be your first and only destination.

[Eternal_Freedom]

I agree with Thanas, the British Museum is probably the best of the major museums in London (unless you have a particular interest in the military, in which case the Imperial War Museum is great, but I don't think they've finished their major re-build yet).

It is always surprising to first time visitors that you can walk from Westminster Bridge to Trafalgar Square and on to Buckingham Palace in about ten minutes, if that.

[Teebs]

It is always surprising to first time visitors that you can walk from Westminster Bridge to Trafalgar Square and on to Buckingham Palace in about ten minutes, if that.

That would be quite surprising to most Londoners too since it's about 1.5 miles. But I'm nitpicking, it's totally walkable with plenty to see en route.

[Eternal_Freedom]

It is always surprising to first time visitors that you can walk from Westminster Bridge to Trafalgar Square and on to Buckingham Palace in about ten minutes, if that.

That would be quite surprising to most Londoners too since it's about 1.5 miles. But I'm nitpicking, it's totally walkable with plenty to see en route.

Ok, It's longer to Buckingham Palace, but it's still a shitload closer than the magic tube map suggests. My brother, being the engineer, refuses to call it a map and calls it the "tube schematic." Which fits rather well I think.

[The Guid]

I would second the British Museum but with an addendum that the British Library is very near on foot and has a treasury room that is well worth heading too if you're likely to academically fanboy over items of antiquity.

[Iroscato]

Also thirded for British Museum, went there fairly recently and it really is a good place to kill a day and learn at the same time.

[SCRawl]

Okay, at the very least, then, the British Museum. Anything else will be gravy.

I'll find out tomorrow, supposedly, whether or not the trip will happen at all.

[Thanas]

It is always surprising to first time visitors that you can walk from Westminster Bridge to Trafalgar Square and on to Buckingham Palace in about ten minutes, if that.

That would be quite surprising to most Londoners too since it's about 1.5 miles. But I'm nitpicking, it's totally walkable with plenty to see en route.

1.5 miles? Pfft, you walk more than that daily in Rome.

[Dartzap]

Considering Oxford Street is 1.5 miles long as well, most tourists will up and down that by lunchtime

[Hillary]

My brother, being the engineer, refuses to call it a map and calls it the "tube schematic." Which fits rather well I think.

That's pretty much what it was designed to be. Early maps of the tube system were geographically correct but they looked a bit of mess.


Harry Beck (who was, I believe, an engineer) then came up with the idea that geographical accuracy was much less important than clarity and produced the design that is still used today. It is best used in conjunction with a London A-Z, but it's a fabulously simple design that, in my opinion, has not been surpassed.

Scrawl - the museums are indeed fantastic. You could easily spend the whole day in just one of the British, Natural History, Science or V&A museums and still not see everything there is to see (the V&A has a wonderful original café, by the way). The Eye is a good shout - better than the Shard - for a great view of London. For a very different view, the river boats are well worth a trip.

One problem you will have is that it is school summer holidays. The Natural History Museum will be particularly busy and you may well have to queue for some time to get in. Likewise the Science Museum. The V&A and British Museums are not generally so popular with families.

Other things to see

Galleries - The National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery in Trafalgar Square. Tate Modern on the Southbank. I also like the Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House.

Parks - Hyde Park is fairly large considering its central location and has a lot of very different areas to it - you can get lost in there for a few hours easily. The Serpentine Gallery sometimes has decent stuff inside. At the far end of this is Kensington Palace - where Diana lived and where the sea of wreaths was. St James has a splendid lake with pelicans (that are occasionally seen eating the odd unwary pigeon) - stand on the bridge and you get a nice vista towards Buck House. Incidentally, at the other end from the Palace are the Churchill War Rooms on Horseguards Parade which are supposedly excellent.

I've tried to keep it all very central as you only have a day.

[Eternal_Freedom]

I would second the Cabinet War Rooms, they are extraordinary.

[Melchior]

I also like the Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House.

Seconded, and it won't probably be too crowded. Lots of surprises for such a small place, too (like the rather random Bosch).

[SCRawl]

The trip is a go. I'm going to try and finagle an extra day on the back end, which would be a Friday, so there might be two days with which to see sights.

Thanks all for your input so far.