Where should we visit in London

[sunshineandstarsgirl]

Going to London with my cousins and uncle, aunt and my mum in middle of July.
It's our second time and cousins' first time to London.
In July, we are planning to visit the wax museum, Trafalgar square, Piccadilly circus, london eye, shrek's adventure, sea life aquarium.
Any other places in Central London or within walking distance to visit?
Is Camden market and Borough market in central london?
None of us drive.
Thank you everyone! 😊

What do you all like doing? Because London is pretty limitless in terms of things to do and see!

Shopping? Museums? Art? Theatre? Famous landmarks?

Borough Market is just near London Bridge Station and so south of the Thames - but pretty central. Camden Market about the same in terms of distance from Trafalgar Square as Borough Market but north.

Piccadilly Circus is pretty grim TBH but if you walk down Piccadilly itself then some nice things to see/do (Royal Academy of Art if that is your thing or Fortnum and Mason if you want to look round a fancy shop - food hall is lovely!)

Madam Tussauds is massively over priced and not great. No idea what Shrek World is but I am going to assume also very expensive for what it will turn out to be.

I'd suggest visiting Google for starters...

Well personally I'd ditch Shrek, Madam Tussards for a start. Personally I think the Tower of London and a trip on the river boat down to Greenwich are a must. What do you like doing?

I'd agree 100% with this

Such a tired response. There would literally be no mnet would there if everyone just googled the answers to their questions? Poster is looking for personal recommendations, surely that's not too hard to understand?

Tower of London is excellent to visit btw. Camden, bit down at heel these days

How much Rome do you have?

Walk from St Paul's down the river all the way to Parliament. Then walk Cross the bridge, up thru trafalgar (natinal portrait musuem) and to to Covent Garden, soho, China Town.

Maybe jermyn street and fortum and that's central pretty much done.

Camden, primrose Hill and Hampstead another day.
One day mooching from Kensington to Notting Hill, Holland Park... And that's London.

Or explore Greenwich more

Depends on ages/what you are all interested in but I would suggest:
Open top bus tour (you can hop on and off)
Book a show - you can often get last minute tickets at reduced prices or get the Tkts app
Piccadilly Circus is a bit meh but Fortnums & Royal Academy down Piccadilly worth a visit as PP has mentioned
Trafalgar Square - National Gallery & National Portrait Gallery and then walk down Whitehall to Parliament Square/Big Ben passing Downing Street etc
Tower of London
Battersea Power Station shops and restaurants - Northern Line tube station right next to it
Walk along the South Bank - arts venues, restaurants etc and not far from Borough Market
Thames boat trip from Westminster Pier to Greenwich - you can get off at Greenwich and catch a later boat back
South Kensington for V&A, Science Museum, Natural History Museum

Wouldn't bother with Madam Tussauds or Camden Market or any over priced tourist attraction!

@StripedTomatoes that's a bit rude.
How do you think half the information on Google gets on there? Through people asking questions on forums such as this one 🙄
@sunshineandstarsgirl I agree to not bothering with Tussauds - it's apparently rubbish.
Shrek and the aquarium might be fun (are your cousins children though - because it's really more aimed at children I think).
It does depend more on what's your "thing".
Do you like history? Sightseeing?
The Tower of London is really brilliant to go to and very interesting.
Camden market gets crazy packed but is easy to get to by Tube.

You can walk about central London easily and also buses are fab for getting about.

If you are going to Tussaud's try to be there ages before it opens as the queue can be massive, it's not worth giving up most of the day for.

Piccadilly Circus/Trafalgar square etc all close to each other but you would want to use a bus or tube to get to Tussaud's if you do decide to go, it's almost an hour walk which will add nearly 2 hours to your visit.

I like off beat things, there is a museum of brands and a museum of home, then the Bank of England museum, postal museum - the list is endless and that's without the 'main' ones

I would see the horses at Whitehall then walk along the mall to Buckingham palace then down and along birdcage walk, over Westminster bridge and along the south bank.

A river boat is definitely worth a trip and there is an old London bus that runs along the route of the 15 - it's £2.50 one way but definitely worth a wee journey - run by Londoner buses

I agree about The Tower of London being excellent. You don’t need to drive anywhere in London as public transport is so good. Borough can get very crowded on the weekend, same as Camden but both easy to get to by bus or tube. You can walk from Borough along the river to Tate Modern and on to Waterloo for the London Eye. From Camden you can walk along the canal to Coal Drops Yard at King’s cross. The National Gallery is at Trafalgar Square and you can get an inexpensive lunch or a coffee at The Crypt Cafe, in the crypt of St Martin’s in the Field just off the square. There is a lift to the side of the church. From Trafalgar Square you can either walk down The Mall to see Buckingham Palace, take a walk in St James’ Park, or you can walk down Whitehall to see The Houses of Parliament and walk back that way. Or you can walk to Covent Garden and do a bit of shopping or have something to eat. Someone suggested Fortnums on Piccadilly, so you can walk up there and to Green Park and to Buckingham Palace that way. Lots and lots of buses to get you from A to B as well. Use the Citymapper app to get times and suggestions of the best means of transport.

Hopefully this might be of interest, have a wonderful time!

www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/london-england

Greenwich is good - museums and cutty sark etc.

Southbank and HMS Belfast if you have kids the right age (5 to adult) and everyone can manage the narrow stairs

Boat trip up to Greenwich is a must also have a wander through st James park to Buckingham palace. I was very impressed with how lovely it was.

Thank you everyone for your answers! So kind. I have made notes.

Can someone please tell me how to book Open top bus tour? And where from to catch such buses?

Don't waste your money. Make a list of what you want to see and use London buses. Someone has mentioned city mapper but also of you use google maps you can click on a bus stop and it will tell you what bus is due and also map the whole route.

Tower of London is excellent for all ages. Shrek is crap. Sealife is crap. I also really enjoyed tower bridge.

Nobody drives in central London.

Borough market is lovely but busy. It's near the cutty sark and it has some amazing restaurants and a great place to buy tea but you really do need to book the restaurants and it gets insanely busy.

You're right! I think it's increased hugely in price since I used it! Better to get an Oyster card to use on buses/tube https://tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/visiting-london/visitor-oyster-card#on-this-page-2

You don't even need an oyster you just use your debit card/contactless device.

These are hop on hop off bus stops all over, such as on Piccadilly near Green Park station. Where are you staying? Give Madame Tussauds a miss and do Tower or one of the palaces instead. How old are the children? Museums such as Natural History or young V and A?

My cousins are 10 and 16.

I think you can get open top bus tours from Marble Arch. I know people say the regular buses are cheaper but bus tours can be a good way to see a lot of the city without having to walk everywhere but they are very expensive. I’m not a huge fan of the boat to Greenwich. Greenwich is interesting though and there is a good market as well as the other sights.

Colombia road market on Sunday is fun, london zoo, Battersea park and power station, portobello road, Kew gardens , any of the Tate museums or the V and A redesign museum. Kings road in Chelsea for shopping. Lots interactive stuff Horrible histories boat tour or guy fawkes