London Itinerary

When we were in London, we usually started the day pretty late, which is unusual for us. If you're early risers and don't have to battle jet lag, you could perhaps pack more sights into the day within Central London. Here's how we spent our week in London:

Day 1:

• Arrived in the afternoon.
• Took the Picadilly Underground line into town

Day 2:

• Watched India win the Cricket World Cup 2011 against Sri Lanka, live and in HD!
• Dinner at Maroush 1 in Central London

Day 3:

• Day Trip to Windsor Castle, Bath and Stonehenge. I would not recommend going with Evan Evans Tour as the trip felt very rushed, which I guess tends to be the case if you go with package tours. We wanted to spend more time in Bath.
• Dinner at Veeraswamy in Central London

Day 4:

• Checked out Soho neighborhood.
• Had Afternoon Tea at Georgian Restaurant in Harrod's.
• Dinner at the two Michelin star Marcus Wareing at The Berkeley

Day 5:

• Visited St. Paul's Cathedral
• Saw the ceremonial Crown Jewels at the Tower of London
• Rode the London Eye

Day 6:

• Checked out the Prime Meridian at the Greenwich Observatory
• Walked along the Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, St. James Park, Buckingham Palace and Green Park.
• Visited the British Museum where the Rosetta Stone is on display

Day 7:

• Visited the Borough Market and Covent Garden markets.
• Strolled along the South Bank Walk passing Shakespeare's Globe Theater, Tate Modern (Museum of Modern Art) and crossed the Thames over the Millennium pedestrian bridge
• Checked out the beautiful Victoria & Albert Museum where the South Asian section has the original wooden robotic tiger from Tipu Sultan that still works today! When the handle is cranked, the tiger roars and digs into the neck of a British soldier! This was one of many relics the British took with them when they captured Srirangapattana after Tipu Sultan's fall.

Here are a couple of walking tours suggested by some of the forums. Also be sure to download some of the free audio walking tours before leaving for London so you can enjoy the history and references to the many buildings along your walks!

Take a walk along the South Bank of the River Thames from Westminster Bridge to Tower Bridge. The walk is less than 2 miles and is entirely pedestrianised. You will begin with the Houses of Parliament opposite you, and following the river, you will view or walk past a number of impressive structures including County Hall, The London Eye, St Pauls Cathedral, The Tate Modern, The Globe Theatre, Southwark Cathedral, London Bridge ,and the Cruiser HMS Belfast. You end up at Tower Bridge by the new City Hall, and opposite the Tower of London.

Begin at Marble Arch Tube station..walk down Oxford Street past Selfridges until you get to Oxford Circus and make a right down Regent Street until you get to Piccadilly Circus. Once there cross over until you see signs for Trocadero and keep walking straight. You will now pass through Leicester Square and if you make a direct cut through it (either through the small sitting areas or around them) you will get to the edge of the square. Make a right and you are in Trafalgar Square. If you head straight down out of the square you will get to the Thames and face to face with the Eye and Big Ben. If you choose to make a slight right through the arches you will reach Buckingham Palace. Follow those directions exactly and you will see touristy London w/out the need for a guide or tour bus!

I personally didn't feel the need to take the hop-on hop-off bus tour at all. A map, the Underground and above-ground double decker buses did it all for us!