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Week-long London Itinerary... what would you add?
DH and I are going on a company trip to London soon (so there are a few dinners where there is some place where we need to be--otherwise, everything is open for changes)
Day 1:
-Arrive late morning
-check in to hotel, eat lunch, attend orientation.
-Explore Hyde Park (close to hotel) and buy oyster card.
-Attend welcome dinner
Day 2:
-The Original London Bus Tour
-London Eye
-Dinner at Sherlock Holmes pub (for DH 
Day 3:
-Changing of the Guard, Buckingham Palace (not sure if we'll tour or not)
-Thames Clipper to Greenwich (prime meridian, queens house, greenwich market)
-Afternoon Tea (someone suggested the Orangery on here--I'm thinking we'll check that out)
-Harrods
-Phantom of the Opera-West End
Day 4:
-Explore Bond Street
-Trafalgar Square
-Saville Row
-Westminster Abbey (Evensong)
-6pm-10pm Company Dinner/Reception
Day 5:
-Tower of London (Yeoman Warder Tour)
-Borough Market/Lunch
-Globe Theater
-Millenium Bridge, Tate Modern
Day 6:
(have this day completely open until dinner... what have I missed?)
6:45-11:30 Company Farewell Dinner
Day 7: Travel
DH wanted to make sure it wasn't too packed so we could sit and people watch (which I think is so I'll relax a bit and be more in the vacation mindset). We like to sit an people watch... but I don't want to miss London icons. Where would you fit other things in?
I love museums, but I don't know if DH would like a bunch of museums back to back.
Also, apart from the few company dinners, we are completely open to meal suggestions--so if you ate somewhere awesome near an attraction, do share!
Thanks, everyone!
Re: Week-long London Itinerary... what would you add?
I think it sounds like you have found everything that I would take guests to...I wouldn't plan on adding a thing, in case you are tired one day and want to do a bit less. You may discover a few places to visit on your bus tour. If you do have extra time, I would check out a London Walk. They are two hours of fabulousness!
Food - for decent Indian in Soho, I'd head to Mela. For lovely French dining near Trafalger Square, go to The Balcon. A fun restaurant near St Paul's Cathedral is Barbecoa.
This.... and don't miss it! Also, I might consider ending the trip with the London Eye at sunset. It would be a fabulous way to end your trip.
Yes--Day 5 is a Friday.
Thanks for the feedback, everybody! All of you helped a lot with putting this itinerary together in the first place. I'll have to check out the St. Paul's Cathedral and some of the restaurants mentioned above.
I'm getting really excited for this trip
yea with your free day I agree that Windsor Castle is wonderful - and a lovely town
or Leeds Castle is beautiful
also another market is Camden - its a kooky fun one if you have time to check it out
I second doing one of the London Walks. Budget friendly and very fun!
We just got back, so I'll throw in my two cents:
I really liked Natural History Museum (even the building itself is gorgeous) and British Museum. Both are free.
Beware that there is weekend construction on some of the tube lines. While we were there the entire Circle line wasn't running, which put some hitches in our transportation and added travel time.
We were there on week days and both Tower of London and London Eye had long queues for ticket purchase. We had taken the National Rail train into London, so we were able to use coupons for buy one, get one, which we had to do in person but since it doesn't look like you'll be utilizing that, I would definitely buy tickets online in advance to save some time.
(For London Eye, I stood in line for ~30 minutes to buy the tickets. Our lift time was 1:30pm and I bought the tickets at noon, so it wasn't as quick as we'd anticipated).
We went to Oxford and really liked it too.
Also, I'm assuming the London tour is on a double-decker bus? If not, we found the buses really easy to navigate just looking at the signs at stops and when we could, we opted to take the bus instead of the tube for better scenery.
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I also think you've done a great job putting together your itinerary.
The Orangery is adjacent to Hyde Park (in Kensington Gardens) so you might consider whether that makes sense to do on day 1 instead of travelling to Greenwich and then back on day 2. But as your hotel is near Hyde Park, it might not make a big difference.
In Greenwich, it's worth poking your head into the Maritime Museum and the Royal Observatory, both free. The market is a great place for lunch--samosas are 2 for ?1--amazing--and there are some cupcakes there that are vegan and seriously spectacular.
For day 6, I agree that a day trip would be nice. I'd also add in Cambridge and Oxford to the mix, as well as Bath, all of which are doable in a day.
If you want to stay in London, I agree that London Walks are lovely. You've also not mentioned many museums--would the British Museum, Tate Britain, V&A, Natural History or Science Museum suit your fancy?
Good luck and have a great time!
I think your schedule looks great, the only thing is i would re-think Day 3 a little. That is alot and if you intend to to people watch/take it easy a bit then this day leaves no time for that. The Thames Clipper is an hour each way and you could spend quite a bit of time walking around the market. And you can't go until late since you are waiting until after the changing of the guards. Maybe save Harrod's for the free day and take your time down in Greenwich.
As for restaurants, could recommend loads - would just need more info on what type of food, price, etc.