For reasons to mundane to go into, I’m spending the week in the UK, but with the exception of tomorrow (Monday) I have absolutely nothing planned. Anyone got any ideas?
So, I understand that you are in London for the week.
Pick up a Tube Map at the nearest Underground station and then ride to and visit the newer stations on the Jubilee line. The ones between and including Westminster and North Greenwich. They have interesting space-age architecture and a solemn atmosphere at the off-peak hours.
Do the museums. Go to some pubs named for random body parts of royalty and high clergy. Go to Covent Garden and see what is happening there on that day. Take a daytrip to Paris or Brussels with Eurostar high speed channel tunnel trains. Have a full English breakfast at a restaurant. Eat Indian food.
Buy the Time Out magazine and see if there is something special happening on your week.
It’s weird, because I totally got this sense of deja vu about that…
Seriously, though: see a play; go to some museumy type places; go watch court (they wear those robes and wigs and talk in funny accents); and even though this is an old thread, maybe some of the excellent suggestions here.
British Museum - it’s huge, has awesome stuff, and it’s FREE!
Within walking distance of the British Museum: eat at Diwana Bhel Puri House in Euston. It’s awesome. BYOB too.
I second the British Museum. There’s so much to see there, you’re sure to find something interesting.
There’s a Greek restaurant near the British Museum that I like to recommend to people. It’s called Konaki, at 5 Copic Avenue. Small family style place. I haven’t been there in about five years so although it’s still operating I don’t know if it’s still the same, but when I was there Konaki had good food at good prices.
I thought the Tower of London was worth the visit. If you’re not that interested in big diamonds you can skip the Crown Jewels portion, but there’s a lot of history at the Tower and the guides have plenty of stories to tell.
If you have time for a day trip, you might want to go out to Hampton Court Palace.
Also, if you do go to the Tower, make sure you go with the guides. I waivered on it when I went - do I have the time? Would it be fun or would I feel stuck on a tour? etc.
We decided not to go with one of them and went on our own. After about 15 minutes, one tour came by and we listened to part of it. It was so cool, we followed the rest of their tour (roughly 15 minutes) and loved every second. We then cursed ourselves for not seeing it from the beginning.
I just had lunch In Belgo’s. Two for the price of one 
Thanks for all the ideas. I’m staying right in the City (200 yds from the Erotic Gherkin) and it’s a part of London I don’t know very well.
Third or fourth for the British Museum, and a second vote for a full English breakfast, if your weight and cholesterol levels can stand it. If they can, you might also want to try clotted cream.
Another second for the Tower, especially if you like history. If you do, you’ll also want to see Westminster Abbey, with all the royal tombs. Best time to go is a sunny morning; that shows off the stained glass (especially the eastern Battle of Britain window) to best effect.
Might I add a bit of encouragement for the much-maligned and admittedly grubby East End, close to where you will be staying? If you like Indian food, a trip to the neighbourhood of Brick Lane would be a good start. I can highly recommend Mirch Masala and Tayyab’s (the latter has astonishingly good food at ridiculously low prices, but often involves a wait). The Museum of London is just up the road from you and has quite a lot of interesting history on the city and its settlement from Roman times.
Incidentally, I have a friend who insists that the only reason the Gerkhin is called what it is is because you can’t call a building the Big Cock. Make of that what you will.
Just had lunch at the Baron of Abercromby (Mr. Fitch was elsewhere, apparently). I’ve had my weekly bacon and fried fish ration, so curry is next on the menu. I’m definitely going to visit Brick Lane later this week. I went past the Museum of Lndon today, but the Tate Modern took too much of my time.
<jealous, jealous, jealous>
Near where you are staying:
Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese (super-old pub, still serviceable food); Simpsons in the Strand; the Tower; Southwark/Shakespeare’s Globe (other side of the River); and a number of the London Walks walking tours, which are very good. Museum of the City of London is a must-do and not far from you. Transit Museum is right in Covent Garden, just a bit to the West of you. You should definitely see a play or two. If you don’t already have a copy of Time Out, you need one. Imperial War Museum is a bit further South from the River but is great. Horseracing at Goodwood is a uniquely fun experience – if you can get down there, and it’s not difficult, they’re running tomorrow (Weds.) starting at 2:00. Another fun lark would be the short jaunt across town to Lords – cricket’s over for the year but they have a pub that’s open year round and the grounds are beautiful.
Considering how close you are, if you have any interest in the Jack the Ripper case or think you might develop and interest later you’ll kick yourself if you don’t take a look at the major sites related to those murders.
A lot of companies do tours, but many of them treat it as just a way to go around and make up bizarre nonsense because the tourists won’t know any better. A lot of them even get the locations wrong. If you are interested in a good one, I’d suggest the tours run by Richard Jones. Richard has written a couple of pretty good books on the topic, and one of the people who leads a good portion of the tours for him (Philip Hutchinson) knows the sites like nobody else: he has written a book himself, discovered some important new photographs, and presents it in an entertaining way.
The site is www.jack-the-ripper-tour.com
Another tour company advertises tours led by Donald Rumbelow, who is an extremely well-respected author on the Ripper murders. If you can get him he’d be great too, but the company generally has other people cover the vast majority of them for him, and those people reportedly give out some quite bizarre information.