Quick London Itinerary Check/Question

mew

I know there are a lot of London threads around at the moment but I'm hoping my plan below would be already be the best way to do things (but may need tweaking)?
(all times approximate and I have Merlin Pass & travel cards)

9:50am Arrive London Kings Cross
Tube to London Bridge
10:20am Visit London Dungeons
11:50am Finish London Dungeons
Tube to Westminster - Walk across Westminster bridge Or Bus RV1
12:30pm Visit London Eye + 4D experience, Namco (Groupon deal)
2:30pm Quick Lunch (Mconalds or Subway)
Tube to Baker Street or time dependent Bus 139 to Baker Street
3:30pm Visit Madam Tussuads
5:30pm Finish
Tube to Kings Cross
6pm Dinner
7:30pm Train Home

Could I replace any of the tube journeys with buses that would pass any London landmarks (or just be quicker) and/or would there be better ways of doing things?

LE3

Walk from the London Dungeons to London Eye along the river - seriously it's not far, much quicker than the tube will be & you can get a great view of St Pauls, London Eye, Big Ben & Houses of Parliament from the south bank
How long are you planning for lunch - an hour for lunch & getting to Baker street may be tight if you are planning a sit down lunch ...

Bus 139 would take you from Waterloo station (2 mins walk from London Eye) to Baker street via Trafalgar square, Piccadilly circus, Oxford street etc - the journey would probably take ~35-40 mins but you'd see quite a lot on the way ...

I don't think the London Dungeons would take an hour & a half - unless you are going on a day when queues will be bad ... that would give you the extra time to do a little bit of walking along the river

PlutoinCapricorn

The RV1 bus goes along past the Dungeons to Tower Hill, or to the London Eye in the opposite direction. That way, you would not need to walk back across Westminster Bridge.

NeverAgain_2

Many people - me included - don't rate Madame Tussauds.

How about Regent's Park zoo, or whatever they call it now, which is nearby.

PlutoinCapricorn

I did not enjoy my visit to the Dungeons, but children seem to like it!

The 453 bus goes from Westminster Bridge to Baker Street.

TonyMMM

Give Madame Tussauds a miss (over priced tourist trap) - especially if you are going to the Dungeons.

mew

Thanks for the replies, I'm taking my niece and my daughter with me tomorrow, so I'll think I'll miss the walking suggestion, they are both slow (and I got lost on that suggested route last year after taking a detour over Millennium Bridge) but some of the bus routes look good and will avoid the maze of tunnels & escalators at tube stations.

I have to agree with comments on Madam Tussauds, With the exception of the amazing 4D ride in the old planetarium, It is a horrendous, overpriced place to visit but its free with our Merlin passes and it's one of the few places in London my niece wants to visit.

I have to disagree with the Dungeons comments though, It is overpriced (but again free for us) and historically inaccurate but it's great fun and I'm finally hoping to try the new ride after it was closed on both my visits last year

I'm guessing Regents Zoo is London Zoo which is a very nice Zoo, I took my daughter last year and enjoyed both the zoo and walk through the park, I even hand fed a squirrel.

mew

PlutoinCapricorn wrote: »

The 453 bus goes from Westminster Bridge to Baker Street.

Do you know roughly how long the bus would take and would it pass anything interesting? I was thinking of it as an alternative to the suggested 453 as If I got the RV1 (Dungeons to London Eye), I'd be missing the walk over Westminster bridge and seeing Big Ben?

(I have a rough idea of London but It's distorted by over use of the tube, I think I've been on 1 bus in about 5 or 6 visits)

wealdroam

Have you seen this bus map?

It has all sorts of places of interest marked on it.

PlutoinCapricorn

Going upstairs at the front is a good way to see the sights. The traffic should not be too bad on a Saturday. The London Eye is close to the south side of Westminster Bridge and the 453 bus stop.

London can be confusing: it is easy to get on a bus going the wrong way; there are diversions and curtailments and sometimes traffic jams. https://www.tfl.gov.uk is useful for seeing what your options are when planning routes; this map is very useful too:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/central-london-bus-map.pdf


If the Dungeon is definitely on, don't forget to look up at The Shard!

mew

Thanks PlutoinCapricorn & wealdroam for the maps. The key bus routes is great and the other is very comprehensive, I'm going to print them both off for tomorrow.