London Tour: London in a Day, part 1 – Introduction
London Skyline. Image: Wikipedia
London in a Day, part 1 – Introduction
So You’re Going to London
Several years ago, some friends who knew I traveled a lot asked me:
”We’re going to London, what should we see?”
After asking how long they’d be in the city, they replied:
”Two days.”
I said:
“Don’t even bother.”
Stunned, they wanted to know why. I replied:
”London is one of the greatest cities in the world. It was the first city to reach two million inhabitants. In the 19th century, it was the largest city in the world until after World War I. The larger metro area of 15M people makes it the largest metropolitan area in Western Europe. You cannot see something so vast and rich in a couple of days.”
But they persisted, and I relented. Any time spent in London is worth it.
London: My Favorite City
London is, by far, my favorite city in the world. I’ve been to it more times than any other international city. I say that having been to most of the world’s capitals across 55 countries and 2 million miles of air travel over the past 30 years.
Can you see London in a day? Hardly, but depending on how you plan it, you can see parts of it in a day.
London montage. Image: Wikimedia
This series of articles will explain how you might choose what you want to see and why.
London is a favorite tourist destination for many Americans. Some surveys mark it as the most visited city in Europe for multiple years, if not the world, at 19.6M visitors. Partly, it’s because in London they speak a language very similar to our own.
However, I think it is more because of the cultural touchpoints in American history. London has locations for literature, movies, music, and theatre, as well as our appreciation for royalty, tea shops, international food, and gardens.
Samuel Johnson famously said,
“You find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.”
The Key to London: M.C.M.
In my experience, tourists visit world cities to see MCM:
London has these three in spades, but that’s just the start. It also has:
- Shopping
- Food and Dining
- Literature, Theatre, Music, and Films
- Palaces and Parks
- Day Trips near London
I’ll cover some of these in the following articles. I’ll discuss things to see by the ratings of:
- A: must see if you have only one day in the area
- B: valuable to see, but might require a second day
- C: interesting, if you have more time
Strategy to see London
You can strategize your plan to see London in several ways:
- Geography: What is close to where you’re staying and adjacent to each other?
- Interests: Rather visit museums (see next article) or enjoy the café lifestyle?
- Top spots: Do you want to do all the A-level spots?
For first-time visitors or for those who have not been to London since Charles became King, I recommend:
“Time Out” or “What’s On” magazine
Pick up a copy when you arrive. It tells you what’s on in theatres, concerts, museums, food & drink, travel, etc.
Time Out is a bit edgier, and What’s On is more pedestrian.
Hop-on-hop-off Bus tours
You pay a single fee; you can stay on for the whole tour or hop off any time you like and hop on later. They hit all the high spots, and you can decide what you want to do the rest of your time in the city—highly recommended.
Check out: bigbustours.com, hop-on-hop-off-bus.com, and TripAdvisor.
What’s proximate to you?
Where you stay in the city will determine whether you can walk, take a taxi/Uber, or use the Tube.
London Underground at Westminster Station. Image: Wikimedia
The London Underground, affectionately known as the “Tube,” is one of the easiest ways to navigate the city. There are handy maps, apps, and friendly people who will tell you where to make line changes.
Next article: London Museums
Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian
billpetro.com
