I’m taking my teenage son to London next month for 5 days or so, and am curious if any Dopers have that one activity they really think we should do. The only things definitely on the list are Churchill’s war rooms, the Imperial War Museum, British Museum, St. Paul’s Cathedral, and probably Winchester Cathedral. He greatly likes history but is indifferent to art, so that shapes some of what we’re looking at.
The guidebooks have about a thousand other things listed, so we’re not wanting for options, but we are wanting for passionate (or at least enthusiastic) recommendations.
What you’ve listed will take up all 5 days already!
We visited Churchill War Rooms about a year ago and it was fantastic. The British Museum is also always on our London list, so keep those two on the list even if someone tries to talk you out of them.
Each is a fascinating collection outlining a particular subject. They’re pretty specific though, so it transportation history or London history is not what your son is into, they may be too narrowly focused for him.
Ooh, I have a suggestion (I’m biased, being a Londoner); buy a London card and plan your trips accordingly, try to fit in a cruise of the river and listen to the guide. As your son prefers history I think you should go to Tower Bridge and Tower of London, and you could take him to Greenwich which is a nice place to go to. Then there’s the Zoo, if you have time.
The places you have said are great, so my opinions are only as additional. If you have the time, a snack in the area near Shakespeare’s Globe on the Southbank is very good, Churchill’s war rooms and the other places you’re going to will be delightful.
My wife and I were in London last year and we bought London Passes. I found that we really had to cram a bunch of attractions into a fairly short window to get our money’s worth. Some people like seeing a little bit of everything, and some people don’t like to be rushed, so YMMV.
I agree that the naval museum in Greenwich was quite good and the boat trip down there was entertaining. We also enjoyed our brief side trip to Windsor Palace (among many other sights, of course).
Good point, yes when I last visited London (as a tourist, I haven’t lived there for a long time) I got a three day pass and was out everyday from 9am until 5/6. I spent several hours in most places and had planned my route so I wasn’t back-tracking or moving more than a mile or two between sights, eating en route.
I did the same in Madrid; out most of the day and then in the evening meeting up with friends, drinking and editing photos. I find using the time appropriately can net big dividends, for example I think The Tower opens at 9am and I was there at 8:55, after grabbing breakfast beforehand. Then around 11am I went to Tower Bridge, then grabbed a burger, then the Battleship, Churchill’s Museum, another bite etc etc…
It’s a little way out of town, but I recommend the Horniman Museum - proper old-school Victorian style collectors museum with bugs and fossils in glass cases - none of this interactive nonsense and giant fibreglass models of bees.
Thanks everyone! I should add a quick background: 3 years ago was our 25th anniversary, and I told my wife we could go anywhere that didn’t involve crazy travel, and that wasn’t England or Italy because I had zero interest. So she said “London”, and I said “wait…that’s in England!” and she “yes, dear” and I said “I don’t want to go to London, London is boring!” and she said “too bad, dear” and I had my favorite vacation ever there, and really fell in love with the place. So I’ve been once, but we only hit a hodgepodge of places and I’m terrifically excited to show my son some of those, and see some new stuff.
Okay, we looked these up - Museum of London looks great and is now on the list, thanks! Transport museum if we have time.
No, but I love Peter Ackroyd as a fiction writer, so on the list it goes.
We’re staying in Chelsea, so we’ll look at that. As for the Tower…my wife and I skipped it last time after seeing the wicked long lines, so we’re going to have to play that by ear. I do want to see it, but it’s understandably among the biggest attractions.
Thanks for the all other suggestions, we’ll look at them. We got sidetracked last night by the Greenwich references as I’d forgotten about the Royal Observatory and we were trying to figure out if it was worth the visit. The summary on TripAdvisor seems to be “lovely view! shame about the boring observatory.”
We also did look at the London Pass and it seemed a wee bit ambitious.
:o That’s what happens when I’m quickly and furtively typing at work. Yes indeed.
If you go to one art gallery, I cannot recommend the Tate Modern enough. It’s nearby your other sites, free, always popular, a lovely ‘space’ and full of an eclectic mixture of works. It’s across the Millenium Bridge to St Paul’s Cathedral (if you go over the bridge to St Paul’s look to the right for the Salvation Army HQ - you can get a nice hot lunch there).
Also The Old Operating Theatre is very interesting, close to HMS Belfast and Southwark Cathedral.
The treasures room at the British Library is worth an hour, if you are into books. You see things like Austen’s draft of Persuasion, and pages fro Alice in Wonderland, a Magna Carta, Da Vinci sketches, a Gutenberg Bible, lots of old illuminated works, and Beatles lyrics written on napkins by the band. Its a nice place to combine art and History.
Walkable from the British Museum. And SO much less crowded than the groups of people around the Rosetta Stone.
It’s not quite that simple. Some of the attractions covered by the London Pass are also covered by the National Rail 2-for-1 scheme, which, although intended to encourage British visitors to make day trips to London, can also be used by tourists staying in London.
Which is better value depends entirely on which attractions you want to visit. In some cases, using the London Pass can be the especially expensive option.
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The treasures room at the British Library is worth an hour, if you are into books. You see things like Austen’s draft of Persuasion, and pages fro Alice in Wonderland, a Magna Carta, Da Vinci sketches, a Gutenberg Bible, lots of old illuminated works, and Beatles lyrics written on napkins by the band.
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Both of the BL’s 1215 copies of Magna Carta are currently in its big ‘Magna Carta’ exhibition. Which is very good, but not something that is free or that you can just take a quick look around.
And, one thing that I mentioned in another thread recently, is the Skygarden a public park high above the city, overlooking the tower of London with wonderful views out to Canary wharf and back over to Westminster. It is as tall as the London Eye with the same 360 degree viewing but you can stay as long as you want and it is free! (can you see a theme emerging here?) you just have to book a slot in advance. You can eat up there too in a choice of restaurants from coffee and cake snack prices through reasonable right up to “eye-wateringly expensive” but I haven’t eaten up there so can’t vouch for it.
Right down the street from there is the Monument to the great fire of London, that is fun to walk up but alas it is not free (£4 for adults or £10.50 for a joint ticket with Tower Bridge which is just a short walk away)#
I will say that, of all the big cities I’ve visited, London has by far the best selection of world-class free museums. You could spend a week there and not get round them all. You don’t have to spend big to be entertained (and a good job as you’ll need your cash if you want a nice city-centre hotel!)
The Tower is the only must-see you’ve missed off your list. If you buy your tickets online then the queues are really quite short - don’t join the long queues but go to the visitor centre to collect your tickets; there should be signs.
Westminster Abbey isn’t as good as most of the other places recommended, but it’s worth a visit, certainly.
The Museum of London is very near St Paul’s, so you can combine them easily.
A tip: many of the museums are open late on occasional days, especially Fridays, so it’s worth checking out which are open late when you’re there - the British Museum’s open till 10 every Friday, for example. That can help you see more without rushing around.
Have you considered going to see a play at the Globe while you’re here? Might be useful for your son at school, the location is fascinating, and the plays are usually very well done.
The Grant Museum is very close to the British Museum, so that makes it easy to visit. Also very near there are the Cartoon Museum, Dickens’ House, Petrie Museum (Egyptian archaeology - like a small extra bit of the British Museum), the Foundling Museum - history of poverty in London, essentially - and, well, about five or six more museums within a ten minute walk of each other. I wold recommend any of them, honestly.
