London

[statman]

I've been there five times thanks to the British tourism board (paid for a free two night layover - free hotel - always a nice older hotel a couple years past its prime. One time we got free three day tube tickets. One time we got gift cards for tube or food.

A very quick check of any London tourism site will give you several weeks worth of sites to see. The British Museum is like the Smithsonian - you could spend a couple weeks there alone.

I'd like to spend 3 or 4 months there sometime. Maybe I can swing it with work...

[Uncle Ted]

They are redoing the IWM in London, much of it is closed right now. However, I understand Churchill's War Rooms are still open.

http://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-lon...ing-iwm-london

Hmm... thanks for the tip. I am heading to Cambridge in about a week or so and was going to stop at the IWM. I guess I will just try to make it over to the National Museum of Computing instead.

[happyone]

Hmm... thanks for the tip. I am heading to Cambridge in about a week or so and was going to stop at the IWM. I guess I will just try to make it over to the National Museum of Computing instead.

I really liked wandering around Cambridge when we were there 5 yrs ago.

Took a bus from Huntington, where we were staying, and just spent the day wandering around, had a picnic at the park by the bus station. Even went punting on the Cam

[Uncle Ted]

A few suggestions based on just being in London a few days:

Go on the Buckingham Palace State Room tour. Her Majesty is out of town and her place is open for tours while she is gone. You must get a reservation in advance, however. Plan on spending 2 to 3 hours on this one. I would say this is a must see, if you can fit it in, given they don't open these rooms to the public very often.

The Tower of London. The line to see the crown jewels (a must see at the tower) is usually long but it goes pretty fast. You can skip the torture chamber (long line for very little to see). Besides, our CIA has better torture devices.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

You are going on vacation during football season? Isn't that what February-August are for?

[Uncle Ted]

You are going on vacation during football season? Isn't that what February-August are for?

Yes, that and NASCAR.

[oxcoug]

Sorry I'm late.

Ten suggestions for things to do in / around London:

10. Go to Westminster Abbey - it's the burial place for an incredible number of England's luminaries from Wordsworth to Newton and where English Kings have been crowned since William the Conqueror - the place exudes history. It's also typically overrun with tourists so either (a) get there early or (b) pretend to dig an Anglican mass and go in for an evensong (downside being you have to stay seated, but it will give you a chance to post about it on your smart phone)
9. Get a Day or Week Tube pass with bus access, pick a couple of bus routes, get on the top front and ride around - this may seem odd, but much of London is best viewed from up top and you can always jump off and jump back on - the chief benefit is that London is only comprehensible as a web of very distinct neighborhoods knit together and the double decker ridearound is a fun way to see how they connect.
8. Stop at Trafalgar Square - say hello to the lions - step in to the National Gallery - it's free and worth a wander, unless you hate art
7. Walk the Strand - from the end of Trafalgar Square to the base Ludgate Hill. Take in Aldwych, the scene of London's old Saxon market. Stop at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese Shop which is still in its 17th century form and has hosted a parade of literary minds over the years from Twain to Chesterton. Jaunt down to Temple Church (but not on Mondays!) which was awesome and loaded with history before it was appropriated for the Da Vinci Code. Drop in on St Bride's Church, one of the ubiquitous (but this one is really lovely and has some an amazing foundation underneath it that you can walk around) Christopher Wren constructions and allegedly the model for the wedding cake church.
6. Have lunch or dinner in one of the Inns of the Court - Middle Temple or Lincoln or Grays - nothing in my experience has put me into London's inner history than a couple of meals in these places. Trouble is you need to know someone who is a member - so look up the local chapter of the JRCLS and someone will take you.
5. Walk up Ludgate Hill to St Paul's. It will cost you something like 10 pounds, but the hike to the tower of St Paul's is absolutely justified by the views of London and the interior of St Paul's itself is filled with history.
4. I second the Imperial War Museum. Underrated and a bit off of the beaten path.
3. Victoria & Albert Museum / the Natural History Museum - they're across the street from each other, both are loaded - take a minute to stop by the Stake Center around the corner on Exhibition Road
2. The British Museum - maybe my favorite museum in the world - so many cultural riches and artifacts first plundered and then scrupulously preserved and protected in a way that almost no other culture would have managed.
1. Borough Market - claims to have operated since the 11th century - history, fresh food, cool snacks in one place. Only open for a few days a week (I think Friday, Saturday and Sunday) but just a great place for a wander.

BTW, London has plenty of excellent cuisine, partly in thanks to all of the French and Italian dudes who moved there because their economies currently suck even more than the UK's. Not to mention every other global nationality and ethnicity. London is rapidly catching up with New York in terms of quality and diversity of food options.

Options above are obviously a sampling - adapted this from something I wrote for someone else a few months back and there are fifty other things I'd recommend if I took some time to think about it. If you have a free day a RT to Oxford is about an hour each way on the train and absolutely worth doing. But that's another story.

[UteStar]

Ox posted a lot of good thoughts. A couple of additions:

Walk Southbank. It is kind of funky, artsy and urbanish - start at the London Eye and wander down till you get to Tate Modern. It is definitely worth a visit to see Tate Modern. The museum structure and set up is worth a visit let alone all of the art and other cool things you will see while you are there.

I love the Tower of London. It aint cheap, but it is a cool tour and well worth the visit.

Easy day trips to Oxford, Cambridge and/or the Cotswolds. Any and all are worth a visit.

Great options for food - you can get a fun chain UK chain restaurant in Wagamamas or you can get some tasty thai food at Busabas in the soho area of London. But there are a bunch of great options for foods of all kinds there.

Have fun. Always jealous of when people go to London.

[Uncle Ted]

Easy day trips to Oxford, Cambridge and/or the Cotswolds. Any and all are worth a visit.

Agreed. We rented a car and did some day trips to Cambridge and the Cotswolds. I had some work in Cambridge but my family loved it.

[Armenag]

Get your hands on a copy of BYU's London Walks book that the study abroad groups use and do a couple.

Second on Cheshire Cheese. Samuel Johnson's house is right by it and fairly interesting.

Best spot in the city is Postman's Park.

[Green Monstah]

Let's say you're taking your whole family to London, any suggestions for kid-friendly activities?

[hostile]

Let's say you're taking your whole family to London, any suggestions for kid-friendly activities?

Ages?

Our kids liked visiting oxford and Stonehenge. Riding a bike along the Thames was fun. We got tickets to a rugby game and took the subway out to Wembley stadium. They had a blast with that (don’t get hot chocolate at wembley). They lasted about an hour at the British museum but really enjoyed the WWII museum and Churchill war rooms. Going to the top of the Shard was pretty cool. They loved shopping at Harrods.

[Bo Diddley]

Let's say you're taking your whole family to London, any suggestions for kid-friendly activities?

They might like going to the Harry Potter Warner Brothers Studios. Probably Tower of London and the Tower Bridge. Take them on a river taxi on the Thames. I've never done it, but you can go make brass rubbings in the basement of St. Martin in the Fields next to Trafalgar Square. They might enjoy Madam Tussaudes. A quick trip out to the Windsor Castle would probably be fun for them. London Eye? There's a zoo that I've never been to. Hyde Park has some paddle boats you can rent.

[BigFatMeanie]

Harry Potter is pretty much an all-day thing, is fairly pricey, and needs to be booked in advance. If your kids (or spouse) are big fans, it's worth it. If they aren't real big fans, probably not worth it.

+1 on the Tower of London

+1 on the river taxi/touristy cruise thing. That was quite enjoyable - more than I thought it would be.

British Museum is amazing but, as Hostile says, I would guess kids would only last an hour or two there.

Churchill War Rooms is impossible to get into unless you book in advance and even then I would recommend you go first thing in the morning. But it's really cool. Teenagers would like it. Little kids might not enjoy it as much.

If your kids are teenagers and you can schedule it, I strongly recommend a guided tour of Parliament. https://www.parliament.uk/visiting/v...of-parliament/ Go with the guided tour for sure. It is worth every penny. They are tough to schedule because they're only available on certain days and times of year. Even locals rarely get to take this tour because it's such a hard schedule, but if you can work it in it is definitely well worth doing. Trust me.

They even have a version for families with kids and ages 7-12 are free: https://www.parliament.uk/visiting/v...-guided-tours/ but I don't know what that's like because we took the guided adult tours.

[Bo Diddley]

British Museum is amazing but, as Hostile says, I would guess kids would only last an hour or two there.

I didn't even last an hour.