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Best way to see London

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  • 06-05-2021 12:57pm
    #1
    xzanti
    Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 10,435 Mod ✭✭✭✭


    Looking to book a few days in London in January.

    I'm looking at the different walking tours and bus tours etc.

    Anyone familiar with London who can give me tips on the best way to see the place? Preferably in a day? As I have other things I'd like to do while there.

    Are the Hop on Hop off bus tours worth doing? Or is there a better (cheaper) way to do it?

    Thanks.


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    #2
    HeidiHeidi
    Registered Users Posts: 28,800 ✭✭✭✭HeidiHeidi


    xzanti wrote: »
    Looking to book a few days in London in January.

    I'm looking at the different walking tours and bus tours etc.

    Anyone familiar with London who can give me tips on the best way to see the place? Preferably in a day? As I have other things I'd like to do while there.

    Are the Hop on Hop off bus tours worth doing? Or is there a better (cheaper) way to do it?

    Thanks.
    Personally if I'm in a new city, I always try to do a hop-on-hop-off tour if I can - it's a great way of seeing what's to be seen, and you can choose what to go to individually off the back of it later if you have time.


    Not cheap, but good value IMO.


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    #3
    athlone573
    Registered Users Posts: 726 ✭✭✭athlone573


    It's an absolutely massive place it would take months to see it all

    Open top bus tour, a walk along the river (London Eye, Tate Modern etc) and a walking tour of the somewhere like Shoreditch /Spitalfields would be a good intro. Or if you like parks Hyde Park is nice.


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    #4
    billyhead
    Registered Users Posts: 9,546 ✭✭✭billyhead


    The Imperial War Museum is worth a visit if you like history.


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    #5
    Van.Bosch
    Registered Users Posts: 2,849 ✭✭✭Van.Bosch


    xzanti wrote: »
    Looking to book a few days in London in January.

    I'm looking at the different walking tours and bus tours etc.

    Anyone familiar with London who can give me tips on the best way to see the place? Preferably in a day? As I have other things I'd like to do while there.

    Are the Hop on Hop off bus tours worth doing? Or is there a better (cheaper) way to do it?

    Thanks.

    A cheaper way is the tube, pick the spots you want to see and make your own way there. The tube is great (crowded at peak times - maybe not as bad post Covid) and goes to most places.


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    #6
    ancapailldorcha
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 37,174 CMod ✭✭✭✭ancapailldorcha


    I live here and a day is nowhere near enough. I've had a good few weekends of popping into various places and I'd say I've only scratched the surface. My advice would be to pick one or two things and just do a day out.

    We sat again for an hour and a half discussing maps and figures and always getting back to that most damnable creation of the perverted ingenuity of man - the County of Tyrone.

    H. H. Asquith



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    #7
    Meeoow
    Registered Users Posts: 620 ✭✭✭Meeoow


    I did a boat trip on the Thames. There are loads from big Ben, out to Greenwich. Lovely around there.
    They usually give you a discount with an oyster card.


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    #8
    Arthur Daley
    Registered Users Posts: 4,387 ✭✭✭Arthur Daley


    It takes ages to move across London. In 1 day you might fit in 2 or 3 things at most. Stick around the Thames and Westminster maybe go up on the London eye at Westminster, you could walk to Downing st, Trafalgar square and Buckingham palace from there.


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    #9
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Arthur Daley wrote: »
    It takes ages to move across London. In 1 day you might fit in 2 or 3 things at most. Stick around the Thames and Westminster maybe go up on the London eye at Westminster, you could walk to Downing st, Trafalgar square and Buckingham palace from there.

    I don't know what you're talking about there, all of those things can be seen from the same spot, Waterloo Bridge for a start, there's a 15 minute walk between all of those places at most. Maybe I'm just a faster walker than you.


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    #10
    barneygumble99
    Registered Users Posts: 4,121 ✭✭✭barneygumble99


    I always do a bus tour on the first day. You get an idea of what you’d like to see or what you have no interest in. I also find that by doing a bus tour you get a great sense of where everything is and how near or far apart they. You begin to recognise landmarks and their proximity, things that a map can’t really translate for you. You might spot something like a nice restaurant or a park that’s not even on the list of places to see but it’s right up your alley.


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    #11
    Arthur Daley
    Registered Users Posts: 4,387 ✭✭✭Arthur Daley


    [Deleted User] wrote: »
    I don't know what you're talking about there, all of those things can be seen from the same spot, Waterloo Bridge for a start, there's a 15 minute walk between all of those places at most. Maybe I'm just a faster walker than you.

    I'm sure you could. Presumably you'd spend a big of time at each location. Stroll around. Sit in St. James's park for a while.

    I only get 2 or 3 different areas in anyway, especially if you criss cross the city a bit


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    #12
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    Arthur Daley wrote: »
    I'm sure you could. Presumably you'd spend a big of time at each location. Stroll around. Sit in St. James's park for a while.

    I only get 2 or 3 different areas in anyway, especially if you criss cross the city a bit

    Well you could criss cross the city for a year and not see half of it, I mean I do acknowledge it's enormous, but for the sake of the OP the part that's worth seeing from the average tourist's point of view is remarkably small.

    I'd spend all day walking from Croydon to Walthamstow, but there's absolutely fukc all you'd want to do in either of them.


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    #13
    woodchuck
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 15,409 Mod ✭✭✭✭woodchuck


    I've never understood the appeal of those bus tours. Maybe it's good for people who have done absolutely no research before visiting a new city.

    For London, the tube is the most efficient and cheapest option to get around. Just do a little research ahead of time to see where you'd like to visit.


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    #14
    poisonated
    Registered Users Posts: 2,277 ✭✭✭poisonated


    If you are super cheap, the 11 bus route takes in a lot(some) of london highlights. I think you can even download an audio tour guide for this route for free.


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