Don’t ever eat in the 1st arrondissement (near Notre Dame). Everything is way overpriced and the waiters will be rude to you. It’s the place where stereotypes come true!

I can’t help with London, but boy voyage! And good for you for booking that flight!!

Shirley

Day One: Take a cab or the underground to Westminster Abbey. Wander with audio guide for an hour or two. Walk across the street and see Parliament and Big Ben, then walk down Whitehall to Trafalgar Square. The National Gallery is there, but I suggest walking to the right and heading into the National Portrait Gallery. It’s free, and there are unbelievable things to be seen in the Tudor and Victorian galleries.

After that, I suggest a relatively unknown gem: The Sir John Soane’s Museum (http://www.soane.org/), one of the coolest small museums here.

Combine all that with some walks (a lovely city for walking) and you’ll have a great day.

Day Two: Two choices, both highly recommended. Take the train from Waterloo and head to Hampton Court Palace. Just took my friend (who was visiting from Indiana) and we planned on a half day but spent the whole day. Or take the train from King’s Cross and go to Cambridge for the day. It’s exactly what you think England should be.

I’m happy to answer any practical or logistical questions you have about being here, or offer further suggestions. Feel free to email anytime.

I was in London in December and stayed in the HI hostel near Oxford Circus and Great Portland St underground stations. Prices were comparable to other places, it was modern, and the location was great.

I also really recommend the Big Bus Tour of London. There are two main bus tours, but we did this one and loved it. It’s a great way to see lots of the sights, you can hop on and off, and the commentary is really interesting – I’d had it recommended to me by locals and tourists alike and was especially glad we did it since we had a short trip (2 days). Enjoy!

Some other really cool museums to go and see are the Sir John Soane’s museum. Sir John Soane was an architect and he went around to world collecting different bits, and then he displayed them in his house, and it is his house which you can go and see and it is untouched. There is a piece of an egyptian sarcophagus that he still which is on display and things like that.

I saw someone mention the British Museum. The building itself is Georgian and 250years old (the museum was founded in 1753). Please don’t confuse it though with the Museum of London, which alot of people (including Londoners) do. The British Museum is just history, lots of history from all over the world. They’re redoing all of their galleries at the moment and just opened the Egyptian and Medival galleries. The museum of London covers the history of london and how it developed.

Most people have said the British Museum is huge; they’re not lying. It covers like 4 floors. If you wanted to see a part of every gallery, it would take the whole day.

My honest, honest advice to you? Would be to forget about a guide. Take the advice from the people who have posted here and use the touris information spots which are dotted around London. The guides cover the same things basically, and rarely do you see anything new in them. Following one of them usually means you miss out on a lot of the hidden london stuff.

The national museums are all free and open 7 days a week. Some museums will charge extra to see special exhibitions. I think the British Museum will still have the Shah Abbas exhibit on. Which is like 10 pounds to get in. However, you (and the other peoples who are coming this year) have chosen a great year, because it is the 500th anniversary of Henry VIII’s succession to the throne, so places like the Tower of London, the British Library, Hampton court (which you can visit as well, it’s by Greenwich I think and has a really famous maze. Google it) are all running special (usually free events). I don’t know when exactly in May you’re coming, but because of the bank holiday alot of places just outside of London which are easily accessible by train or bus, are doing medieval tourneys/jousts/festivals.

Most people who work within the sort of Museum industry will advise you to try and avoid as much as possible the tower of London and St Paul’s. I say blow them, because they’re amazing. You can’t go into many citys and walk around the a building which is between 1000 and 800 years old (depending on what part of the tower you’re in). And you can’t go into many citys and walk into a cathedral which was seen 5 different versions and has stood in the same spot for 1,400 years, and survived the Blitz.

And, shameless plug here, just up the street from St Paul’s is my museum! haha.

Other things to see apart from the museums would be the monument, any of the parks, Covent Garden and Camden, the Imperial War Museum in Lambeth, obviously Nelson’s Column and Trafalger Square, Harrods/Oxford Street/Regent Street/Picadilly Circus.

Ohh! Go to Fleet Street (just down the road from St Paul’s) and there is a pub there called the Cheshire Cheese. That incarnation was built in 1667 (after the great fire of London; the pubs and inns were rebuilt first to house the workers who rebuilt the city). They do the best chips there.

Another great piece of advice, is to download some of the free walks off of the internet. There are alot of different themes, but you can also order small books of of the internet for like a pound. There’s a dickens one, a ghosts of london one too, loads.

And another thing, Just opposite my museum there is a park, called Postman’s Park. Its only tiny, in between to massive towere blocks. But it is special., because right at the back there is this sheltered veranda and there are about 40 Victorian/Edwardian hand painted tiles, which are all tributes to people who lost their lives saving other people from mortial danger. They’re very moving.

So, that’s alot of information, but just my honest opinion and some stuff which I think you should see. Every part of London is easily accessible either by the tube, bus or walking. The oyster card is the best idea because you will sav an absolute bomb. Beware of using London Transport on the weekend though. Take your laptop and use the Cloud (it’s a wifi connection in the City of London, I think it is free but you can only use it for an hour at a time) and check the TFL website for travel news, because it can ruin your whole day if you misjudge the travel. However if you get it right, you can see and do so much within one day. You won’t miss much if you follow everyone’s advice.

I’m sure you WILL have a fab time!

ITA that picnicing (even in your own hotel room) is the wtg. If you are gone for 7 nights, you can eat in most and really enjoy one or two restaurant dinners. Try the lapin in Paris. Very special.

1 week is FAST. Make sure you leave plenty of time to really just enjoy the space you find yourself. You may overall see less, but you will really dig where you are and the people and the architecture etc. in a way that rushing around won’t allow.

YAY!

If you are prebooking all your accommodation, then I recommend the DK guide books ( http://www.dk.com/ ). They have wonderful detailed illustrations that I find so much more inspiring than the guidebooks that are chock full of text.

Also, most of the main guidebook producers do podcasts about the cities you are visiting and some even do audio walking tours that you can download for free. I know you can get them through iTunes, but I’m sure there will be links from the guidebook websites too.

The great thing about London and Paris is that most of the key sites are in walking distance of each other, so you can see A LOT in a couple of days.

Although it is touristy, I love the themed walking tours ( http://www.walks.com/ ) in London. I’ve done the Jack the Ripper tour and the Ghosts of the Old City. It’s a great way to see the amazing architecture in the city while the guide spins dark tales of adventure!

One last tip – it’s worth checking out http://www.timeout.com/ to see what will be on while you are in the area. If you are keen to see a West End show (and I highly recommend that) it’s worth going to the official half price ticket store in Leicester Square one morning ( http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/tkts/ ) and you can get great tickets for shows that day.

I’m really enjoying reading all the tips. There are definitely some things I want to try out on my next trip to Paris and back here in London too – so thanks everyone!