U.K. and Ireland - Itinerary help - London

First time in London. Will be arriving from Paris by train at
3:00 pm on Friday, 9/28. Have hotel reservations at County Hall. Have also reserved a full tea at Clairidge for 5:30. (Is time going to be a problem here) ? Saturday was thinking of doing
the HOHO bus tour. Is this the best way to take in the sites? Walking is not a problem for me. Sunday I have the morning open...not sure when I will have to leave to catch a 2:00pm flight out of Heathrow back to the US. Please comment
or give thoughts. Thanks.

The Friday timings don't seem to be a problem.

The bus tour is an efficient way of seeing many of the sights, but it's quite expensive. If you know where you'd like to go, a one-day Travelcard might be better value.

Make sure you give yourself plenty of time to get to Heathrow on the Sunday.

First time in London. Will be arriving from Paris by train at
3:00 pm on Friday, 9/28. Have hotel reservations at County Hall. Have also reserved a full tea at Clairidge for 5:30. (Is time going to be a problem here) ? Saturday was thinking of doing
the HOHO bus tour. Is this the best way to take in the sites? Walking is not a problem for me. Sunday I have the morning open...not sure when I will have to leave to catch a 2:00pm flight out of Heathrow back to the US. Please comment
or give thoughts. Thanks.

Any bus tour depends on whether you're most interested in seeing the outside of as many of the tourist sights as possible, without ever really seeing them properly, or if you'd rather see a couple in detail or even see a bit more of the non-tourist spots - in which case I'd recommend a one day travelcard and some comments on the type of things you like to see/do so we can get back with more specific suggestions. If you're up for something different but still want a tour, I always highly recommend The Ghost Bus Tour (http://www.theghostbustours.com/). You won't see as many obvious sights, but you'll be laughing most of the way!

With a 2pm flight from LHR you need to be leaving central London around 11 unless you're the type that likes to rush and cut it fine, so apart from perhaps a stroll from your hotel over to St James Park and the Palace, if you've not seen it already, you probably won't fit much in. Most places in London on Sunday open quite late.

From county hall you can get the red river boat to tower of London and back. Or go on the London eye. Book both on line 1st as usually cheaper.

From county hall you can get the red river boat to tower of London and back. Or go on the London eye. Book both on line 1st as usually cheaper.

Or buy your one day travelcard at a train station and get to ride the Eye on a 2-for-1 ticket.

Walks.com are a good way to take in the sites and are reasonable. I've done many of these
Your hotel is next to London eye and across bridge from big Ben, Parliment and Westminster abbey so not sure I'd do the bus.
I generally have people start early at St Paul's, walk over Milennium bridge, go to the Tate Modern, walk up to Tower bridge passing the Globe theatre, cross bridge (no need to go to top if you do Eye), visit Tower of London, get lunch, hop on tube to Westminster abbey, big Ben, London eye area. It's aggressive and weather dependent/walking but gets most of the major tourist sites.


As for Sunday, I usually do the 2pm long haul to Philly and leave the hotel at 10 am to Paddington for the heathrow express to the airport.
The Philly flight usually leaves from B gates so need to take train over so that adds time not sure where you are flying to but many east coast flight leave here and they post it late which is a bit of a scramble. I usually have an hour in the lounge at most. If you leave from B/C gates get food in main terminal first.
Hope this helps

I generally have people start early at St Paul's, walk over Milennium bridge, go to the Tate Modern, walk up to Tower bridge passing the Globe theatre, cross bridge (no need to go to top if you do Eye), visit Tower of London, get lunch, hop on tube to Westminster abbey, big Ben, London eye area. It's aggressive

Wow, that's a truck load of stuff to get through in one day. Starting at St Paul's for OP makes no sense - you could walk from County Hall along South Bank from Eye to Tate Modern to Globe to Tower Bridge to the Tower. But there's so much within a 15 min walk of County Hall that could easily fill a day...

Our offices are at St Paul's which is why I start there, many like to climb to the top for the view. If bad weather a no go. Like I said aggressive but I like to walk and hits all points. Agree OP can start county hall and go up river as well as it is direct