A little background: my wife really wanted to go to Chicago for a weekend to see a Cezanne exhibition, but we were unable to go due to her mother's health. We found out that the exhibit was next going to be at the Tate Modern in London. Airfares/flights are reasonable to London, neither of us have been, and I have lots of points, so I suggested we go to London to see it. I booked a flight, planning to stay about a week.

Now we are thinking that we should see more of England than just London. And we can extend our stay up to 10 days, maybe two weeks at the most. So anyone with experience, what do you suggest? Can we/should we spend 3 or 4 days in London and see a lot more of England? If so, what are your suggestions?

In London there are a few museums we want to see, perhaps a play. We are thinking of staying near Covent Garden, which is in walking distance to the National Gallery and the Tate, and lots of other points of interest.

Should we stay in London longer and make day trips out? Or make a road trip of it and stay in some of the smaller towns?

We are going around the middle of October, which seems to be a good time-not peak season but still decent weather.

Any suggestions or guidance would be appreciated.

Southampton is interesting especially the Titanic museum (Southampton was Titanic's port of departure). I've stayed here and hit Winchester, Salisbury, and Bath.

Bath is interesting. Beautiful river city and all of the Roman period archeology including the bath house.

I can recommend the Queen’s Gate Hotel in the Kensington area of central London. A short distance from the Royal Albert Hall (the reason we stayed there), but also within walking distance of downtown London, if you’re reasonably fit. Nice place, with a small bar, a very good breakfast, and a great staff.

World Sar One Aerodrome

https://www.stowmaries.org.uk/

London is a great city, and public transportation puts nearly everything in 'walking distance.'

Some of my favorite 'must-see' attractions in/near London:
Windsor Castle
RAF Museum in Hendon
Imperial War Museum
Tower of London
Double decker tours - you get a ticket good for (iirc) 24 hrs, and can ride and listen to the tour guides, and hop off/on wherever you want. Great way to see the city.
Westminster Abbey
St Paul's Cathedral
HMS Belfast (WWII cruiser)

I would LOVE to spend 10 days there. So much to see and do, and the museums have their displays in English (I was stationed in Germany when I hopped across the Channel to visit London).

I have nothing to add about places to go but I can’t help but think it’s a great time to visit Europe right now. With the Dollar on an absolute tear against the Euro and the Pound Sterling right now, I imagine your tourism dollars will go very far. Safe travels and I hope you have a great trip!

The British Museum made a big impression on us and the tube kept everything in walking distance. We stayed about a block from Paddington station. In addition to easy tube and rail access there was an express train from Heathrow that made getting to and from the airport quick and easy.

When walking about, look to your right before stepping off the curb.

Get out of town and visit some of the smaller towns, they too have history and many things to see.

Be very careful driving and keep focused on driving on the left hand side of the road. Your first few roundabouts will be thrilling.

My family and I were in London late August. We did 2 nights in Shoreditch neighborhood London, 1 in Oxford, 3 in Malmsbury (Cotswalds) and 3 more in Fitzrovia, London. Excellent mix, perhaps could have added one night in country and subtracted one from London.

Strong recommendation for the Cotswolds; quiet and peaceful, and the most space you'll see compared to London, where even a City guy felt tight. Its Old! and that part was most remarkable. See the abbeys, the manor houses, go on a ramble in the country. But don't touch the fish or wildlife, they're private!

Visited the Tate Modern, and was left wanting. The architecture was underwhelming, if grand. And the free access collection matched the former. Assume a Cezanne show will be joy, just don't get lost in the poorly laid out galleries.

Greenwich has the Cutty Sark, Maritime Museum, and dateline. I missed Tower of London and regret it. British Museum is incredible. Museum of War. Trafalgar square. Westminster Abbey. House of Parliment. London Eye

Now I want to return!

Bath. Gorgeous city. I’m a bit partial as I lived there for 3 years

Check out the London Pass. Multiple museums, tourist stuff. I did it several years ago--it included a trip to Windsor Castle.
https://londonpass.com/en-us

Theater is similiar to NYC. They have a TKTS booth for same day tickets at substantial savings.

Their subway system is good--The Tube.
Download Citymapper app to your phone for step by step instructions on how to get around London.

We went to a concert at the Royal Albert Hall. Easy to get to from the hotel. I did not check what time the Tube closes and walked back to the hotel. No cabs, no subway--not NYC that never sleeps.

You could do 1 week in England, 1 week in France.
Chunnel from London to Paris.
Multiple museums in Paris.....Louvre

Cezanne was a French artist.

quote:

Originally posted by honestlou:


Now we are thinking that we should see more of England than just London.

Dude.

You could spend a full month in London and not see even half of it all, just stick to London.

I went there in 1993 for a week while stationed in Germany in the Army and had a blast. Me and another guy I served with in the same section went and did a week there just London and one side trip to Canterbury and a week was barely enough to cover the things we had mapped out to see:

Tower of London
Madame Tussaud's
RAF Museum
National Army Museum
Soho (we were walking the streets there in the rain and walked right past Lee Ho Fook's! Do you get that reference?)
Changing of the Guard
Highgate Cemetery
Saint Paul's Cathedral
Westminster Abbey
Lots of Tube rides
Trafalgar Square
Tower Bridge

There's even more there since '93 but all the above were worth seeing/doing

As others have said there is a ton of stuff to do in London. Rick Steve's guides are always good for planning.

London is one of the most expensive cities in the world. Right now there is a great exchange rate on Dollars to Pounds.

The subway system is awesome and easy to use. You can get close to just about anywhere you need.

Bath is a great day trip from London. The Roman-era baths are worth the trip alone. It is about an hour by train.

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:
I can recommend the Queen’s Gate Hotel in the Kensington area of central London. A short distance from the Royal Albert Hall (the reason we stayed there), but also within walking distance of downtown London, if you’re reasonably fit. Nice place, with a small bar, a very good breakfast, and a great staff.

'Downtown London', as you so quaintly put it, is about 25 miles across.

Plenty to do in London, we stayed close to the Eye, did that, heck of a view, close to lots of London landmarks.

Get a pass on the Underground to get around, London Cabs are mucho expensive, even with the exchange rate advantage, and remember to Mind the gap.

Portsmouth is close. You can walk the decks of HMS Victory, a ship older than the USA. . .

Roads in the southeast are ancient, and, as a result, small. If you rent a car take care of your international driving license before leaving the US, and rent a smaller car than you would here.

Seven Sisters is a great destination not yet mentioned.

Rail transportation to outlying cities may be preferable to driving. You can day-rent cars in most of the larger tourist towns if you really want to get out in the countryside.

Pack snacks, water. Don't expect the towns and pubs to be like here with food available all day at every other intersection.

Eat at the Old Bank of England Pub on Fleet Street. Great food, great place, inexpensive prices.

Across the street is the Templar church. Lots of history.

Take the water taxi to Greenwich. See the observatory. Read the book "Longitude" by Dava Sobel before you go.

Definitely do Westminster Abbey if you like history. Read up on who is buried under the floor, then go find their engraved stones.

Bath is interesting. There are day bus tours from London.

Ditto Stonehenge, bus tours from London. Way better than trying to rent a car yourself.

The underground is very quick and easy to get around the city. Much of the city is shorter walks than it may look on a map. e.g. between Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace is pretty easy.

Train prices are quite variable. Explore the schedules a bit to find cheap tickets. Trains are an easy way to get in/out of London. We use trains a lot when visiting family. To/from the airports it is easy.