After a red eye flight from Houston to London we arrived in London tired, but energized by “trip adrenalin".” Traveling by the London Tube is a great way to get around and we bought an Oyster Card for travel around London this first day and then for the later parts of our trip. It’s like a debit card for public transportation – easy to use and charges fares around half of what they would if by individual tickets.
However, we also bought a London 7 day Travel Card from a rail station to use starting Tuesday. The cost of the card is about the same as using an Oyster card, but it has a great feature – there’s a 2 for 1 promotional for holders of the rail Travel Card. Many of the big London attractions participate. With the Travel Card we get unlimited tube/rail/bus transportation in London and the 2 for 1 deals. So, starting on Tuesday we’ll be on the pass.
Again, we knew we’d be pretty tired from the flight and time difference so we planned a fairly easy day that included lots of outside activities. For us that meant hopping the light rail and going to nearby Greenwich to visit the London Royal Observatory and then the the Maritime Museum. The Royal Observatory is the home of “Greenwich Mean time” – these days called UTC. The Maritime Museum is right there, and it takes you through nautical history. Frankly, we were running on fumes at the museum and only saw a fraction of it. However, we may go back before this trip is over.
We walked around Greenwich a bit, then headed back to the huge mall near our Canary Wharf Apartment to grab a few supplies before limping to the apartment to try to stay awake till 7 or 8 local time.
You can see lots of photos from our trip on
my photo album.
Came across your post as I was looking if it was feasible to do London in a week, and Paris in a week, and we were going to fly into Paris, take the train to London, and fly out. Was wondering if you felt you had enough time. We are family of four, kids are 17 and 14
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ghanley58@gmail.com
Our trip was two weeks - but we didn't divide the time equally, spending more time in London than in Paris. I don't guess there is ever "enough" time on a trip like that, but we felt we hit the high spots of both cities, although we certainly short-changed Paris. Just remember how easy it is to over schedule and end up worn out from the trip. Also, respect jet lag! Give your bodies a couple of days to adjust. I highly recommend Trip Advisor and Rick Steves - they were invaluable resources for our trip planning.
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