London when we have been before.

[Dancingtimesquare]

Can you help me plan London? Its myself and DH, kid free Sunday and Monday. We have done London a few times before so have seen many of the sites such as Buckingham Palace, London Eye, HOHO bus etc as well as Harry Potter, Shreks Adventure with the kids etc. These main sites we don't particularly want to see again.

We fly into Stanstead early on the Sunday morning so straight onto the train into Liverpool Street. We have a hotel booked near the Tower of London and will drop our bags off. I hope to be in the city for around 10 or 10.30. I want to see St Pauls. Likely a walk by as DH has no interest plus its £26 to get in. Happy enough just to see it and keep on walking towards the Tower of London. I will pre-book this and I will also pre-book Tower Bridge as these are two sites we haven't seen before. I think we could be done here around 3 ish. What next? I have dinner booked at a restaurant called Vicinity in the Tower Hotel at 6 pm but I am open to changing this time or changing restaurant completely. Its not set in stone. I was thinking a drink in the Shard or possibly the Sky Garden or may be Borough Market? I have done Borough Market before but its been 15 years so not sure if its worth another visit or not?

On Monday, the plan is breakfast in the Sky Garden, if we haven't been the day before for a drink. Open to other breakfast suggestions in the area as well. Then we are heading to the Churchill War Rooms. DH is massively into war history so this is for him more than me. I believe that tour takes a couple of hours so we could potentially be done here around lunchtime. I'd then like to go to Harrods Food Hall as I love it in there. Before that we may take another walk up towards Downing Street, Horse Guards etc.

We do like to do a bit of shopping but aren't going to London specifically for that. As we have done much of London before, we don't want to find ourselves aimlessly walking around thinking what can we do now. Is a Thames Cruise worth it? If anyone has any other suggestions or recommendations, we would appreciate it. Our flight home from Stanstead is not until 10 pm on the Monday night so we really don’t have to be back at Liverpool Street until approx. 7 ish.

Thanks for helping.

I forgot to add, for this trip I’d avoid going out east for Harrods and stick to Westminster and the City areas, and maybe choose Fortnums if you’re itching for a food hall.

Harrods is to the west not east. I think it's worth a visit but I wouldn't go all the way there just for that.

https://madisonlondon.net/

Madisons is an amazing restaurant with roof terrace overlooking St Paul’s. Pricey but worth it for a special occasion

Borough market is lovely but it closes early on a Sunday and is closed on a Monday too, so I'd give it a miss this trip!

County Hall & Witness for the prosecution is a good suggestion from PP.

Yes typo. I wouldn’t bother going West when the hotel and most of the activities are east/central.

I don't think the Thames Cruise is worth it. Why not try somewhere like Battersea Power Station or the area around King's Cross - they are easy to get to by tube.

The river trips aren't expensive and it would be memorable.

Thank you. It’s open the weekend we are down in April but thank you for mentioning it. I will definitely book tickets in advance.

I stay at the Tower quite a bit, its convenient for me and a lovely location. Im not sure if you are staying there and booked the Vicinity for convenience (which I have done before) but there are so many good places to eat around there across all price brackets. St Katharines Dock has several chains and there are several restaurants on the opposite side of the river (as well as around Borough Market).
Vicinity was ok, but it didn't feel special somehow. I prefer to eat elsewhere but then go for a nightcap in the hotel's bar, which has great views to the Tower Bridge, Shard and beyond. Its table service and they give you the chance to move to a window seat if one becomes free.

If you're just walking around the outside of St Paul's, here are some suggestions for some nearby gems.

If you're approaching from the east, the most picturesque route to St Paul's is up Watling Street. Turn off Cannon Street into Bow Lane, then turn left into Watling Street. You'll see the dome looming in the distance, just walk towards it.

You could do a detour to the north, up St Martin's Le Grand (look out for the green post box outside 1 St Martin's Le Grand, which used to be the headquarters of the General Post Office) through Postman's Park with it's memorial to Heroic Self-Sacrifice, then down King Edward Street to see Christchurch Greyfriars Church Garden, then back to Paternoster Square for St Paul's. (If you're a fan of BBC's Sherlock, you could detour to West Smithfield and see the place where Benedict Cumberbatch jumped off the roof of St Barts Hospital and Martin Freeman ran towards him around the ambulance station.)

To the south of St Paul's, Carter Lane is also picturesque: walk down Dean's Court and turn right into Carter Lane (admire the very ornate Youth Hostel on the corner). Walk down a bit and turn left into Wardrobe Place, a quiet courtyard that housed the King's Wardrobe (an old term for the king's household, not a piece of furniture!) - one of the buildings dates from before the Great Fire of London in 1666. Then walk back into Carter Lane and retrace your steps towards St Paul's.

Lastly, if you walk from St Paul's to the Millennium Bridge via Peter's Hill, take a short detour along Distaff Lane to another little garden: Distaff Lane Garden. It's fairly new and has modern planting.

While you're down near the Tower of London, visit St Dunstan in the East Church Garden, and then three streets further west visit Lovat Lane (enter from the northern end on Eastcheap for the best experience). It's a very old, narrow pedestrian street, very cute. You don't need to walk the full length, unless you're heading back to Tower Hill.

Go to Evensong at St Paul’s. You can see quite a lot if you sit under the dome. Ditto Westminster Abbey.

A hidden gem is Wilton’s music hall. You could go in for a drink and a pizza.

If you go to Sky Garden pop to Leadenhall Market which was used in Harry Potter as bits of Diagon Alley. There’s a beautiful church nearby called St Dunstan in the East which is a lovely peaceful place if you need to escape the hustle and bustle for 20 mins. They have very friendly squirrels.

Mine always enjoy a trip to Camden for lunch.

Since last Sunday you have been able to use contactless cards from Stansted Airport to and from Liverpool Street.

https://www.greateranglia.co.uk/contactless

Hope that helps.

https://mylondonwalks.com

One if the best things I’ve gone is a walk. choose one and discover the history behind the sites, and gems you wouldn’t necessarily know about. They take in the sites as well. They’re free as well, you just print them off.

Camden then one of the canal boat rides ro little venice I think it’s called? The war museum is also good as is Victoria and Albert museum.
You can catch a west end show?

We are in a premier inn. I booked Vicinity as I saw it on Tik Tok and there are tables with views of the bridge which I thought might be quite nice. As I say, it is not set in stone for dinner though.

Thank you very much. I really do appreciate it.

@Dancingtimesquare yes, the location and views from there do feel a bit special. There's so many places to choose between and Ive made a few notes for myself from this thread too. Have a wonderful time.

It would be criminal to go in and not actually see a show, though!

I think the Imperial War Museum is free.

Camden then one of the canal boat rides ro little venice ... It's lovely but is slow.(about 45 mins on the boat)

chislehurst caves?
eltham palace?

(both in the rough same area)

For something a bit different - and if you like puzzles - why not try one of these Mystery Guides?

https://www.mysteryguides.co.uk/products/londontower

Will take you about 3 hours to do, lots of walking around key sites, and pub stops along the way!

Imperial war museum in Kennington
Greenwich on the Thames clipper