Thanks in advance!
Buy European candy.
Have high tea somewhere really nice like a 3 star (or more) hotel.
Get out ASAP?
Sadly, I hear the muzzies have taken London.
I hope you find that that isn’t the case.
16 Hrs? You’ll get stuck in traffic.
The Tower, HMS Belfast, Imperial War Museum and Trafalgar Sq. That ought to take about 8 hours to cover.
The boy need moolah! And report back!
If you enjoy history or jewelry or both, I recommend the Tower of London (if you’re going to be somewhere near it — not sure I would travel great distances to get there). The Tower itself is just about as full of history as it’s possible to be, and the display of the Crown Jewels is just amazing. I had to drag my husband into the jewels display (he was there just for the tower! LOL!) and he was AMAZED at the display. For sparkle and opulence, it can’t be beat. An amazing sight.
We also enjoyed the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich. My husband, a naval history buff, was moved to see the display of Admiral Lord Nelson’s final blood-stained uniform.
You go to Mexico, don’t drink the water.
You go to London, don’t eat the food.
Actually Cedric’s Fish and Chips is as close to ethnic English as food gets, and is good for one meal.
I concur that high tea at a hotel is a good idea. Consider Westminster Cathedral if you like history. Battersea park is a nice place to kill a few hours. Trafalgar Square is good, and there are a few good pubs in the area. Generally if you take stairs down to get to it, you have a real homey place.
It is relatively easy to communicate with the locals, if they want.
Take the Tube to Knightsbridge and go to Beauchamp Place to Borscht and Tears for good Russian. Or, go up to to Knightsbridge Mews to Tattersal’s Pub for local color. If you’re looking for really good food, go to the Gore Hotel at 190 Queen’s Gate and downstairs is Bistro 190. Pretty good grub.
The problem is, London is pretty dead this time of year.
Good Luck!
I believe you can watch this 26-minute 2009 travelogue by Rick Steves free on HULU (I could and I am not a subscriber):
http://www.hulu.com/watch/90678
Ditto on the Tower. Make sure to look to the right before you step off the curb to cross the street!
The Cabinet War Rooms (part of the Imperial War Museum)is great. You can see where Churchill spent part of the war.
Trafalgar square, the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, & St. Paul’s Cathedral. All relatively close together.
Belgo Centraal for mussels, frites, and Belgian beers.
St. Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Cathedral
Go to the Imperial War Museum in Duxford if it is open. IWM is currently closed due to damage to buildings by high winds.
http://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/iwm-duxford
Drink in a pub. Order a pint of bitter.
Yelp is usually reliable for suggestions if you want to follow the herd.
2. Eat Indian food.
3. Make fun of their faggy accents and their inbred German head of state.
Imperial War Museum, the view from the top of the Eye, and a ham sandwich at Abdul’s!