One small, but very cool and easy to miss site in London is St. Dunstan in the East. It is near the Tower of London but is kind of tucked away. It is the ruins of a church bombed in WWII that is basically a park and garden. Quite lovely and a bit haunting. Definitely worth a visit!
Here's a (fairly full) itinerary for a nice summer day in London, based in Greenwich and featuring some aspects of the maritime history of England:
* Take the Thames ferry to Greenwich. Or otherwise arrive at Greenwich, but taking the ferry from, say, Millbank or Embankment allows you to see London from the river.
* Wander around Greenwich Market. Grab a takeaway lunch at the market and eat it on the lawn at Greenwich Park.
* Walk up the hill and walk around the Royal Observatory grounds. Straddle the Prime Meridian. Maybe see a planetarium show. The time ball on top of the observatory will fall at 1pm daily, if you happen to be there at that time but no need to go out of your way for this.
* Read about the "Longitude Act of 1714" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longitude_Act) and the prizes offered as part of the Act to incentivize the invention of a clock that keeps accurate time at sea, which is needed to measure a ship's longitude. Pendulum clocks don't work very well on a ship! Visit the museum at the observatory, which has some of the early attempts at devising a clock to keep accurate time at sea. Some of these are fairly bizarre.
* Depending on how much time is left in the day, there are other things around the park, including a flower garden and an art museum, but if you want to continue the maritime theme then walk back down the hill toward the river and visit the National Maritime Museum.
* At this point you will be near the ferry dock on the Thames or near the DLR, where you can get anywhere in London for dinner.
1) Walk the Greenwich Foot Tunnel under the Thames. About a 5-10 minute walk.
2) Ride the London Cable Car over the Thames. If you get very lucky, spot a jet departing London City Airport which flies directly OVER your glass-topped car. Probably not for everyone, but I thought it was kewl in the extreme.
London's best craft beer: https://www.thekernelbrewery.com/tap.php. It is in Bermondsey, and fairly off the beaten track. In the past year or so, Yagi Izakaya has taken up residency in their kitchen. They keep very short hours but they put out some amazingly inventive food.
Highly recommend St Paul’s Cathedral. Designed by Christopher Wren after the great fire of 1666, it’s quite beautiful inside. But the real treat is hiking up the steps inside the dome to take in the views of the city from the top. Your teenage daughters should enjoy it
When we took our daughters, the big hits were high tea at Kensington Palace Orangarie and (gulp) the Harry Potter Tour. We were lucky enough to see the Python’s 2nd to last show and ate at some great restaurants.
The V&E and the Tate Modern are fantastic if they are old enough. The London Eye is touristy but memorable. Harrod’s for ice cream and shopping. The Tower of London, also touristy but interesting.
As for the World Cup match, I would go to a friendly local pub. The football celebrations and disappointments can be overwhelming in large crowds.
Don't miss the Tower of London tour. I lived in London for years but still enjoy taking friends. The Yeoman Warders (Beefeaters) are fabulous!
Eat Indian food. What Chinese is in the US, Indian is in Britain. Chinese food here is often dressy and upscale -- Hong Kong Chinese. It's incredible. I love Dishoom for Indian and Caravan restaurants for overall interesting worldwide eats.
Borough Market. Spitalfields Market.
The Victoria and Albert Museum has an incredible Schiaparelli exhibit on now. The new V&A East is where the Olympics were held in 2012 -- it's gorgeous and amazing and the V&A Storehouse holds David Bowie's artifacts, which he donated to the V&A. The east museums just opened last year. The outdoor spaces over there are fabulous. Take a ride on the new Elizabeth Line -- it crosses the whole of London in ~30 minutes. Stratford is the stop for the V&A East.
In Oxford, be sure to tour the Bodleian Library. Amazing! Used in Harry Potter movies.
And the Malmaison was a former prison, turned pricey gorgeous hotel. Stay there if you can. Enjoy a night in a former cell -- haunting but beautiful.
A sausage roll from The Ginger Pig in Borough Market. Life-changing, but best eaten by (at least) two people. Actually, 90% of the stuff in Borough Market is top-notch, and you're close to London Bridge, Tower of London, Tate Modern, etc.
The Spotted Horse pub in Putney. Classic pub with excellent food and some WW2/Cold War espionage history. Feels like you're on a small-town neighborhood high street, but you're just across the Thames from Fulham. Obvs don't go here for any of the England or England-adjacent soccer matches, it'll be swamped.
One small, but very cool and easy to miss site in London is St. Dunstan in the East. It is near the Tower of London but is kind of tucked away. It is the ruins of a church bombed in WWII that is basically a park and garden. Quite lovely and a bit haunting. Definitely worth a visit!
Not easy to find, but well worth the search.
Google maps made it pretty easy once we knew it was there!
Here's a (fairly full) itinerary for a nice summer day in London, based in Greenwich and featuring some aspects of the maritime history of England:
* Take the Thames ferry to Greenwich. Or otherwise arrive at Greenwich, but taking the ferry from, say, Millbank or Embankment allows you to see London from the river.
* Read about the "Great Tea Race of 1872" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Tea_Race_of_1872), then look at or tour the Cutty Sark (clipper ship).
* Wander around Greenwich Market. Grab a takeaway lunch at the market and eat it on the lawn at Greenwich Park.
* Walk up the hill and walk around the Royal Observatory grounds. Straddle the Prime Meridian. Maybe see a planetarium show. The time ball on top of the observatory will fall at 1pm daily, if you happen to be there at that time but no need to go out of your way for this.
* Read about the "Longitude Act of 1714" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longitude_Act) and the prizes offered as part of the Act to incentivize the invention of a clock that keeps accurate time at sea, which is needed to measure a ship's longitude. Pendulum clocks don't work very well on a ship! Visit the museum at the observatory, which has some of the early attempts at devising a clock to keep accurate time at sea. Some of these are fairly bizarre.
* Depending on how much time is left in the day, there are other things around the park, including a flower garden and an art museum, but if you want to continue the maritime theme then walk back down the hill toward the river and visit the National Maritime Museum.
* At this point you will be near the ferry dock on the Thames or near the DLR, where you can get anywhere in London for dinner.
Adding to off-the-beaten track Greenwich:
1) Walk the Greenwich Foot Tunnel under the Thames. About a 5-10 minute walk.
2) Ride the London Cable Car over the Thames. If you get very lucky, spot a jet departing London City Airport which flies directly OVER your glass-topped car. Probably not for everyone, but I thought it was kewl in the extreme.
London's best craft beer: https://www.thekernelbrewery.com/tap.php. It is in Bermondsey, and fairly off the beaten track. In the past year or so, Yagi Izakaya has taken up residency in their kitchen. They keep very short hours but they put out some amazingly inventive food.
Highly recommend St Paul’s Cathedral. Designed by Christopher Wren after the great fire of 1666, it’s quite beautiful inside. But the real treat is hiking up the steps inside the dome to take in the views of the city from the top. Your teenage daughters should enjoy it
Fortitude bakery is the best bakery I’ve ever been to anywhere in the world, highly recommend
If WWII is of interest: Bletchley Park and Churchill War Rooms. Also, Go see Wicked or some other play in the West End.
When we took our daughters, the big hits were high tea at Kensington Palace Orangarie and (gulp) the Harry Potter Tour. We were lucky enough to see the Python’s 2nd to last show and ate at some great restaurants.
The V&E and the Tate Modern are fantastic if they are old enough. The London Eye is touristy but memorable. Harrod’s for ice cream and shopping. The Tower of London, also touristy but interesting.
As for the World Cup match, I would go to a friendly local pub. The football celebrations and disappointments can be overwhelming in large crowds.
Get lunch at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese. Visit the open market at Covent Garden.
Don't miss the Tower of London tour. I lived in London for years but still enjoy taking friends. The Yeoman Warders (Beefeaters) are fabulous!
Eat Indian food. What Chinese is in the US, Indian is in Britain. Chinese food here is often dressy and upscale -- Hong Kong Chinese. It's incredible. I love Dishoom for Indian and Caravan restaurants for overall interesting worldwide eats.
Borough Market. Spitalfields Market.
The Victoria and Albert Museum has an incredible Schiaparelli exhibit on now. The new V&A East is where the Olympics were held in 2012 -- it's gorgeous and amazing and the V&A Storehouse holds David Bowie's artifacts, which he donated to the V&A. The east museums just opened last year. The outdoor spaces over there are fabulous. Take a ride on the new Elizabeth Line -- it crosses the whole of London in ~30 minutes. Stratford is the stop for the V&A East.
In Oxford, be sure to tour the Bodleian Library. Amazing! Used in Harry Potter movies.
And the Malmaison was a former prison, turned pricey gorgeous hotel. Stay there if you can. Enjoy a night in a former cell -- haunting but beautiful.
You'll have a blast. To slightly misquote Samuel Johnson, if you don't love London, you don't love life.
I'd put Hampton Court Palace on the list.
The Burghers of Calais, just south of Westminster
https://maps.app.goo.gl/HXvTqKRYUMx8qpbe8
Covent Garden, just north of the Strand
https://maps.app.goo.gl/2pVAJHgjeRFJgSru7
A sausage roll from The Ginger Pig in Borough Market. Life-changing, but best eaten by (at least) two people. Actually, 90% of the stuff in Borough Market is top-notch, and you're close to London Bridge, Tower of London, Tate Modern, etc.
The Spotted Horse pub in Putney. Classic pub with excellent food and some WW2/Cold War espionage history. Feels like you're on a small-town neighborhood high street, but you're just across the Thames from Fulham. Obvs don't go here for any of the England or England-adjacent soccer matches, it'll be swamped.