london tours

hi, everyone, we will be spending 2 days in London before we board our cruise, any suggestions on what tours to take and best tour companies? Thank you!

Check out http://www.londontoolkit.com

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London is very easy to get around on your own...especially with good pre-planning. You can get an Oyster card and use the tube to get from one area to another--or you could take an organized tour. I always look at Grayline. You will barely scratch the surface in two days:rolleyes:

Awesome day...

https://www.viator.com/tours/London/Stonehenge-Windsor-Castle-and-Bath-Day-Trip-from-London/d737-3858EE021

hi, everyone, we will be spending 2 days in London before we board our cruise, any suggestions on what tours to take and best tour companies? Thank you!

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=146

We did 3 days pre cruise in London last April. Flying non-stop from California made for some serious jet lag. I had no idea what that would be like and we just did the best we could. We barely scratched the surface and will go back. I suggest if you have some time to plan, check out vlogger on YouTube Love in London. She is an American living in London and has great tips on where to go and what to see. Have a great time!

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You will barely scratch the surface in two days:rolleyes:

So true.

We (my then 10 year old son and I) saw the outside of parliament and Big Ben, thoroughly toured Westminster abbey, the horse guards area, saw a parade with old soldiers (we happened to get there the day of, and were about an hour behind, the celebration of the queens birthday)...saw Tower of London and took a long walk crossing several bridges for fun (including millennial bridge bc we’re harry potter fans and that bridge is in it)...and a couple more things inside of two partial days. Oh and the platform 93/4 shop at the train station. :)

Barely saw anything compared to what there is. If you are war buffs, there’s a WW museum that I hear is amazing. They were closed for renovations during our trip.

Oh and we used the Underground a ton, which was fun, thrilling, and terrifying. :):)

I would do reading first to determine what you want to see.

You can see so much on your own without an official tour.

Getting around is easy by food, on the underground (subway) and by taxi.

Most museums are free.

If you plan this well you won't need a tour.

There are lots of internet resources including frommers at http://www.frommers.com and you may also wish to pick up a hard copy book.

Keith

London is a great city for walking, especially if the weather is good along the south bank (of the Thames) . Start at the London Eye and walk along the river easterly direction. Pass various theatres ,riverside pubs and restaurants , Tate modern, Shakespeare's globe,replica of Sir Francis Drakes Golden Hind, visit Bourgh market and end up by Tower Bridge. Take the Thames Clipper river boat service back. If that's too far, just cross one of the many bridges and use underground or clipper service to get back to central London

London is very easy to get around on your own...especially with good pre-planning. You can get an Oyster card and use the tube to get from one area to another--or you could take an organized tour. I always look at Grayline. You will barely scratch the surface in two days:rolleyes:

Absolutely this! Most of the sights are in Zone 1 of the tube and its quite cheap with an Oyster card. Just make sure you start your day after 9am which is the rush hour and again between 4pm and 6pm if you can as it will be more comfortable.

Pick out what you want to see and plan a route, you can probably walk between some stations. The traffic in London is really bad and I think you will find a HOHO bus or a coach tour more frustrating than anything else.

To the original poster have a great time :)

I am from London and I often take American relatives for a tour around London.

It's too big to cover in a couple of days or on a first visit so this is what I would recommend. There are areas which are worth zooming in on and spend time exploring. Involves a fair amount of walking but it is worth it.

Here are my recommendations :

London Bridge/South Bank - Start at Borough Market. Walk towards Tower Bridge along South Bank. HMS Belfast is on the way and worth exploring. If you walk all the way to Tower Bridge, cross it and you are close to Tower of London which is another must visit attraction.

Westminster - Starting at House of Parliaments you can draw a route passing Downing Street, Horse Guards Parade, St James Park and Buckingham Palace.

West End - Starting from Trafalgar Square, you can make your way to Leicester Square, Piccadily Square, Regent Street, Oxford Street, Tottenham Court Road and Covent Garden. This covers the main shopping and theatre district.

River cruise - You can pick up river cruises from north bank near Westminster.

Museums - Some of the best known museums are located in South Kensington and within walking distance of one another.

Plenty of other areas but above covers some of the most famous and well known areas. If public transport in an unfamiliar area makes you nervous then I would recommend the Black Taxis.

You can catch the sights through the HOHO buses but walking is much better IMO.

A tip : One way to design your own route to explore is to follow the river. The area between Westminster Bridge and Tower Bridge on both sides of the river is where you will find the most interesting and historic districts.

DW and I were in London in May/June. We spent the time doing all touristy things, both inside and outside of London. We arranged for day trips to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, Highclere Castle (Downton Abbey) but we also did a HOHO tour of the city which included the Tower of London. We even went to Abbey Road studios on our own and crossed the famous zebra crossing. We found London very easy to travel about town via bus and subway. The suggestion of the Oyster visitor card is a good one. They will even refund unused money on the card.

My daughter and I spent a few days pre cruise there in May and found it was very easy to get around on your own using the tube. We did a Muggles walking tour with a guide but everything else was on our own. Make a list of what you want to see and plan out the most efficient way to see everything. It's a very easy city to navigate.

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Check out - Cruise Critic - Port of Call - Britain.

Hop On Hop Off bus

Buckingham Palace open July 21-Sept 30, 2018

London Eye

Westminster Abbey

Tower of London

You might want to check out getting a London Pass (https://www.londonpass.com/). If you plan on doing a lot of site seeing, the entry tickets to everything add up fast. The Tower of London is $36 alone. You need to purchase this pass before you arrive in the UK.

If you're interested in going to London Theatre download an APP called TodayTix

Skip the tours, do it on your own. Most big cities are filled with sites to see, and being unhinged from a set schedule, enable you to go at your own pace, and take random side stops etc.

I'm almost done with my little review of our 3 days in London after our cruise this summer. It gives you an idea of what we were able to do on the different days. It's in my signature...

Oops! Apparently I didn't put it in there...

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2561970

We were there on a land trip last year. I agree 2 days is not a lot of time so try to narrow down what you want to see the most. It is fairly easy to see the main sites on your own. Hop on/hop off is a good choice to help you get around the city, we had no problems with it and our ticket included a short river tour as well, which was fun. We made it to Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, the London Eye, and Westminster via the HoHo. Personally, Westminster and The Tower were my favorites. Harrods is fun to see as well.

If you're looking to get out of the city for one of those days and see Stonehenge, Oxford, whatever, I would highly recommend The English Bus. We did Stonehenge with them and it was fantastic.

https://www.theenglishbus.com/trip-finder

Have fun, London is beautiful. We loved it so much we're hoping to go back this fall :D

If you're going to tour Westminster Abbey, I highly recommend taking a Verger led tour. It is an extra 5 pounds (in addition to the base admission) but is about 90 minutes long and includes access to areas that you can't otherwise visit. Standing in the Shrine of Edward the Confessor, surrounded by the remains of many famous kings and queens, is worth the 5 pounds alone. A verger is a layperson who assists with services. Ours had excellent historical knowledge of the Abbey, and was the usher (front row seat!) for one of the princes (can't remember which one) during the wedding between Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles. Unfortunately, you can't reserve a tour so I'd suggest getting there at least 30 minutes before a scheduled tour.

It all depends on what you want to do/see

There is so much in London. You can't do it all in 2 days.

It is easy to navigate via Tube or Black Cab(don't use Uber IMO).

Look at TripAdvisor etc and a good guide book and make your plans.

For most things you don't need to use a tour company. Although Hop on Hop Off busses might be an idea

If you're going to tour Westminster Abbey, I highly recommend taking a Verger led tour. It is an extra 5 pounds (in addition to the base admission) but is about 90 minutes long and includes access to areas that you can't otherwise visit. Standing in the Shrine of Edward the Confessor, surrounded by the remains of many famous kings and queens, is worth the 5 pounds alone. A verger is a layperson who assists with services. Ours had excellent historical knowledge of the Abbey, and was the usher (front row seat!) for one of the princes (can't remember which one) during the wedding between Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles. Unfortunately, you can't reserve a tour so I'd suggest getting there at least 30 minutes before a scheduled tour.

I am interested in the Verger Led Tour. Do you meet inside the Abby after paying the admission or outside?

We did a pre and post cruise stay in London a couple of years ago, 7 days in all and it still wasn't enough time to see and do everything, but we sure tried. :D:D

We stayed pre cruise by the Tower of London, spent a morning touring it, then a great walk along the Themes, including the Tower Bridge, past the Globe Theater, over the Millennium Bridge to St Paul's, back along the river to the London Eye and then to Big Ben. We then took a great boat ride back to Tower Bridge and then back to our hotel. London is a great city to walk around in. Forget tours and just map out an itinerary and go for it.

Buy the London Pass which gives you Buy one get one free admissions to some good things. On the second day, I would do a HoHo to get to see as much of London that you can see, Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Piccadilly Circus, Parliament--getting on and off as you see fit. The 'Tubes' are easy to navigate, but for 2 days, why be underground when you can see more above the ground,

Cheers

Len