Your London 2 day itinerary, planned hour by hour: the Changing of the Guard, the Crown Jewels, the British Museum and a Thames cruise at dusk. Every price below was checked against the venue's own published rate.
Updated 2026-07-07
Quick answer
Two days is enough for the London everyone comes for, as long as each half-day stays in one walkable cluster. Day 1 runs the royal axis from Westminster Abbey to the Tower of London and finishes on the Thames; Day 2 takes the free museums in Bloomsbury and Trafalgar Square, then drops into the Churchill War Rooms.
Key takeaways
Two days is a short window for a city of nine million people, but it is enough. A well-built London 2 day itinerary covers the royal heart of Westminster, a thousand years of history at the Tower of London, the British Museum, the National Gallery and a boat ride down the Thames, without ever feeling like a forced march. Every good London itinerary 2 days long lives or dies on geography: group the sights so you walk between most of them and ride the Tube only twice or three times a day.
This plan follows that logic. Day 1 stays on the classic axis from Westminster Abbey to Tower Bridge. Day 2 covers Bloomsbury, Trafalgar Square and Churchill's underground war bunker, then ends with a view over the whole city. Every stop lists the tour or ticket that saves you the longest queue, and every booking link comes with free cancellation, so you can lock in your plan and still change your mind.
Use the timeline exactly as written, or treat it as a menu: the alternate itineraries further down rework the same two days for winter visits, Christmas, kids and a slower pace. Opening hours, schedules and prices below were last checked in August 2026 against each venue's own website.
The short version first. Every row links straight to that part of the plan, so you can read top to bottom or jump to the decision you are actually making.
| Jump to | What you'll find |
|---|---|
| Day 1: Westminster & the Tower | Westminster Abbey, Changing of the Guard, Tower of London, Thames cruise, evening bus or ghost walk |
| Day 2: Museums & Churchill | British Museum, National Gallery, Churchill War Rooms, O2 climb or a themed evening walk |
| The full map | Every stop pinned: Day 1 in red, Day 2 in navy |
| Alternate itineraries | Winter, Christmas, with kids, 3 days 2 nights |
| London Pass math | When the Explorer Pass beats single tickets, with the sums |
| Beyond London | Stonehenge, Windsor, Cotswolds day trips and 2-day overnight tours |
| Getting around & costs | Contactless fare caps, where to stay for 2 nights, daily budget |
| FAQ | Booking windows, the guard schedule, rainy-day swaps |
This itinerary for 2 days in London runs on deliberately loose times. The city rewards wandering, and everything on this table sits close enough together that a 30-minute overrun never breaks the day.
| Time | Day 1: Royal London & the Tower | Day 2: Museums & Churchill |
|---|---|---|
| 09:00 | Westminster Abbey guided tour | British Museum guided tour |
| 11:00 | Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace | Walk to Trafalgar Square via Covent Garden |
| 12:30 | Lunch in St James's or Borough Market | The National Gallery |
| 14:00 | Tower of London & the Crown Jewels | Lunch near Whitehall |
| 16:30 | Thames cruise to Greenwich | Churchill War Rooms & WW2 Westminster |
| 19:30 | Open-top bus at dusk or a ghost walk | O2 rooftop climb or a themed evening walk |
Three schedule quirks shape this itinerary more than anything else, so check them against your dates before you book anything.
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Day 1 is the London of postcards, and it is best done in one straight line. Start at Westminster Abbey when the doors open, catch the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, then cross the city to the Tower of London for the afternoon and let a Thames cruise carry you to Greenwich as the light softens. You will walk roughly five miles, almost all of it flat.
The morning is the part most people get wrong. The Abbey and the palace sit fifteen minutes apart on foot, but the guard ceremony draws crowds from about 10:15, so the order matters: Abbey first at 09:00, palace railings by 10:30. A guided tour that pairs both with Big Ben and Whitehall solves the timing for you and adds the stories the plaques leave out.
The afternoon belongs to the Tower of London. Give it a full two to three hours: the Crown Jewels, the White Tower, the ravens and a Yeoman Warder talk if you can catch one. From Tower Pier or Westminster Pier, riverboats run down to Greenwich past Tower Bridge, the best cheap hour on the river anywhere in the city.
A thousand years of coronations, from William the Conqueror to King Charles III, plus the graves of Newton, Darwin and Dickens. Go at opening before the tour groups stack up; a guided visit covers the highlights in about an hour and a half. Closed to visitors on Sundays.
Walk up through St James's Park and claim a spot by the Victoria Memorial. The ceremony does not run every day and the pattern shifts through the year, so confirm your date on [the Household Division's own schedule](https://householddivision.org.uk/changing-the-guard) first. If it is not running you lose nothing but the brass band.
Quick option: the cafes around St James's Park. Better option if you are heading east anyway: Borough Market by London Bridge, ten minutes from the Tower, for street food from toasted cheese sandwiches to fresh oysters.
Head straight to the Crown Jewels first; the queue only grows through the afternoon. Then the White Tower, the execution site on Tower Green and the ravens. Adult entry is £37 (about $50) at the gate, last admission 16:30, and the palace itself suggests allowing at least two hours.
Board at Tower Pier or Westminster Pier and ride under Tower Bridge, past Shakespeare's Globe and the Shard, to Greenwich and the Cutty Sark. About an hour on the water with live commentary.
Finish the day up top: a two-hour open-top bus loop past Big Ben, St Paul's Cathedral and the London Eye as the lights come on, or a two-hour ghost walk through the alleys of the old City if you would rather be on foot.
Everything on the Day 1 timeline, bookable ahead with free cancellation.
from $39.91Royal Trio in Half a Day Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and Buckingham Palace on foot in three to four hours, with the guide filling in the royal history between stops.
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from $23Changing of the Guard Timed around the Changing of the Guard: ninety minutes to two and a half hours, and bookable private on the same route.
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from $50.06Most Reviewed — 31,088 Reviews Tower of London entry with the Crown Jewels: two to three hours, Yeoman Warder talks included, and the most booked ticket in the city.
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from $23.27Thames Cruise — One Way or Return Westminster to Greenwich by river with downloadable audio commentary, one way or return. One to two hours depending on the boat.
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from $26.52Live Guide, Not a Recording Two hours on an open top with a guide talking rather than a headset — Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and the Tower on the loop.
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from $33.82Ghost Walk — 4.9★ Two hours after dark through the back alleys, with the ghost story attached to each one. Rated 4.9 across more than 800 reviews.
Read the full guide → Check AvailabilityDay 2 trades pageantry for treasure. The British Museum and the National Gallery are two of the finest museums on Earth, both free to enter, and both an easy walk from Covent Garden. The afternoon drops underground into the Churchill War Rooms, the bunker where the Second World War was run, left exactly as it was in 1945.
Start at the British Museum at 10:00 when it opens. The Rosetta Stone, the Parthenon sculptures and the Egyptian mummies pull the biggest crowds, so see them in that order before the tour buses arrive around 11:30. Free entry is the museum's blessing and its curse: without a plan you can drift for hours, which is why a two-hour guided tour with priority entrance earns its keep on a tight itinerary.
Walk south through Covent Garden, past the street performers by the piazza, to Trafalgar Square. After the National Gallery and lunch, Whitehall leads you to the War Rooms in ten minutes. End the evening with altitude: the O2 rooftop climb at sunset, or stay street-level with a James Bond or gangster walk.
Entry is free and the museum opens at 10.00, closing at 17.00 and staying open until 20.30 on Fridays. Head for the Rosetta Stone first, then the Parthenon galleries and the mummies upstairs. The museum recommends booking a free timed ticket in advance for priority entry at busy periods.
Twenty minutes on foot from Bloomsbury. Street performers by St Paul's church, the Apple Market stalls and better coffee than the museum cafe. A good early-lunch stop if you would rather eat before the Gallery.
Van Gogh's Sunflowers, Turner's Fighting Temeraire, da Vinci and Vermeer, free on Trafalgar Square. Ninety focused minutes beats four aimless hours; a guided visit hits the essentials and the stories behind them.
The pubs between Trafalgar Square and Westminster do reliable fish and chips; the cafes in St James's Park do faster and lighter. Save the sit-down feast for dinner.
The Cabinet War Rooms under King Charles Street, frozen since VE Day: the map room, Churchill's bedroom and the transatlantic phone box disguised as a lavatory. Book ahead, it sells out. A WW2 walking tour of Westminster with entrance included adds an hour of context above ground.
Ride the Jubilee line to North Greenwich and walk over the roof of the O2 Arena at sunset, 90 minutes with views down the Thames. Or keep it literary and dark: Agatha Christie, James Bond film locations or the East End gangster walk with a Lock, Stock actor.
The museums are free to enter; these tours add priority entrance, a route and a storyteller.
from $31.37British Museum — 4.9★ Two guided hours through the British Museum with priority entrance, covering the headline rooms rather than trying to see everything.
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from $27.04National Gallery — Priority Entry Two hours through the National Gallery's highlights with priority entrance and a guide filling in the stories behind the paintings.
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from $97.413 Hours — War Rooms Included Three hours on wartime Westminster, ending inside Churchill's War Rooms with entry included. The longer of the two WW2 tours here.
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from $90.64Shared or Private WW2 Walk Two and a half hours on London in the Blitz, finishing in the original bunker. Bookable shared or private, and cheaper than the three-hour version.
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from $25.71James Bond Locations Two and a half hours around the London locations used in the Bond films, Spectre included, plus the real spy addresses nearby.
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from $50.06Climb the O2 Roof Ninety minutes up and over the roof of the O2 in a harness, for the view back across the river from the top.
Read the full guide → Check AvailabilityRed pins are Day 1, navy pins are Day 2. Notice how little the two routes overlap: that is what makes 2 days in London enough for all of it.
Rather see 30 sights in one sweep than queue inside three? These walking tours and hop-on hop-off style bus loops compress the whole city into a morning, and they are the smartest first move if you land with only half of Day 1 left.
from $92Abbey Tickets Pre-Booked The same three landmarks across five hours, with Westminster Abbey tickets already booked so you walk in rather than queue.
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from $63.5930+ Sights in One Walk Half a day on foot past more than thirty landmarks — Buckingham Palace, Westminster, London Bridge, the Tower — with a local guide.
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from $6.76Cheapest — From $7 Two hours past Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and Parliament for the price of a coffee. The cheapest listing on this page.
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from $25.71Best Rated Long Walk — 4.9★ Five hours and thirty-plus landmarks at well under half the price of the comparable walk above, rated 4.9 across 182 reviews.
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from $35.51Open-Top Loop Two hours on an open-top bus past the main landmarks. The weakest rating on this page at 3.8, and dearer than the guided version above.
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from $25.371960s Routemaster Ninety minutes on a converted 1960s Routemaster with a guide aboard, which is as much the point as the sights are.
Read the full guide → Check AvailabilityLondon in winter means 16:00 sunsets, so flip the plan: museums and the War Rooms while it is dark and cold outside, outdoor Westminster in the brightest midday window, and the Thames cruise at 15:30 so you sail into the city lights.
Met Office averages for London put daytime highs at about 8 to 9 degrees Celsius from December to February, with overnight lows near 3 degrees. Rain matters less than you fear; the queues are shorter, hotel prices drop, and the Tower of London on a frosty morning is close to empty.
A 2 day London Christmas itinerary keeps the same skeleton and swaps the evenings: Day 1 ends under the lights on Regent Street and Carnaby Street instead of a bus loop, Day 2 ends at a Christmas market on the South Bank rather than the O2.
Between mid-November and early January, add Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park if you have the stamina, and book the Changing of the Guard days carefully around the holiday schedule. Westminster Abbey holds carol services in December that are free but ticketed months ahead.
Keep the skeleton, shrink the doses. The Tower of London (armour, ravens, dungeons) and the Changing of the Guard are natural hits. Replace the National Gallery with the Natural History Museum's dinosaurs, and replace the evening walks with the London Eye next to Westminster Bridge, where a standard adult ticket runs about £29 (roughly $39) and the operator says prices move with demand.
The Thames cruise is the secret weapon: it is an hour of sitting down that still counts as sightseeing, and every child on board gets to shout under Tower Bridge.
A London 3 days 2 nights itinerary is this exact plan plus one day trip. Keep Days 1 and 2 as written, then use the third day for Stonehenge and Bath, Windsor Castle and Hampton Court, or the Cotswolds; the day trips section below compares all of them with times and prices.
If you would rather stay in the city, day three fills easily: Greenwich properly (the Royal Observatory and the meridian line), Camden Market and Regent's Park, or St Paul's Cathedral and a Harry Potter, Bond or gangster walk you skipped.
Three substitutes that slot into either day: a cheaper small-group British Museum tour for wet afternoons, and two evening walks that need nothing from the weather.
from $18.51Half the Price, Same Museum Two hours in the British Museum with a local guide at half the price above. Museum entry is free anyway — you are paying for the guide.
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from $33.82Agatha Christie's London Two hours around the people and places behind the Queen of Crime's plots. For readers rather than general sightseers.
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from $40.59Guided by Actor Vas Blackwood The East End underworld told by the actor who played Rory Breaker in Lock, Stock. Two hours through the streets it happened on.
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A London pass 2 day itinerary only pays off if you stack paid attractions, and this plan deliberately leans on free museums. Do the sums before you buy.
The paid entries on this itinerary are the Tower of London at £37 (about $50), Westminster Abbey at £31 (about $42) and the Churchill War Rooms from £29.75 (about $40). Two of those three are on the Explorer Pass list. The War Rooms are not, so a pass cannot cover them, and neither the British Museum nor the National Gallery can be saved on because they have no gate price at all.
A three-choice Explorer Pass costs £89 (about $120) against £97 (about $131) for the Tower, the Abbey and the London Eye bought separately. That is a real but modest saving, and it only appears once you add a third paid sight this plan does not otherwise include. The pass is valid for 30 days from first use, not the trip length, which does give a rainy second day somewhere to go. Pounds are converted at £1 to $1.35, the European Central Bank rate on 14 August 2026. The full arithmetic, including the All-Inclusive tiers, sits in our guide to whether a London sightseeing pass pays off. Last verified: August 2026.
| What you pay for | At the gate | On a 3-choice Explorer Pass |
|---|---|---|
| Tower of London | £37 (about $50) | included |
| Westminster Abbey | £31 (about $42) | included |
| London Eye | £29 (about $39) | included |
| Total for those three | £97 (about $131) | £89 (about $120) |
| Churchill War Rooms | from £29.75 (about $40) | not covered |
| British Museum and National Gallery | free | nothing to save |
flexible The Pass, If the Math Works for You
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If this is your second visit, or your 2 days in London come with a third to spare, England's best day trips all start from the city's stations before 09:00. Stonehenge and the Roman Baths, Windsor Castle, Oxford and the Cotswolds are each within two hours of London, and guided coach trips remove every connection worry.
There is also a braver version of this whole page: skip the city and spend both days out. The 2-day tours below cover the Cotswolds, Bath, Stonehenge, Stratford-upon-Avon and Oxford with an overnight stay included, and they exist precisely for travelers who have done London before. They cost more, but they replace four train tickets, a hotel move and three timetables.
The three most-booked escapes, each back in London by about 20:00.
from $115Two UNESCO Sites in a Day Eleven hours covering the stone circle at Stonehenge, then the Roman Baths and Georgian Bath.
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from $106.88Most Reviewed Day Trip Ten and a half hours out of the city for Cotswold villages and the Oxford colleges. The most reviewed day trip on this page.
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from $101.54Adds Windsor Castle The same Stonehenge and Bath run with Windsor Castle on the front. Eleven to twelve hours, and the most booked of the long trips.
Read the full guide → Check Availability| Trip | Duration | Price | Book | Rating | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stonehenge & Roman Baths | 11 hours | $115 | Check | 4.7★ | Ancient England in one day |
| Cotswolds & Oxford | 10.5 hours | $106.88 | Check | 4.7★ | Villages and university courtyards |
| Windsor, Stonehenge & Bath | 11 to 12 hours | $101.54 | Check | 4.5★ | Three icons, one long day |
| Canterbury, Dover Castle & White Cliffs | 10.5 hours | $148.82 | Check | 4.6★ | Cathedrals and chalk coastline |
| Windsor Castle & Hampton Court | 7 to 9 hours | $120.41 | Check | 4.7★ | Royal palaces without the drive west |
| 2-day Cotswolds, Bath & Stonehenge | 2 days | $499.22 | Check | 4.4★ | The countryside classics, overnight included |
| 2-day Cotswolds & Shakespeare's Stratford | 2 days | $309.81 | Check | 5★ | Literary England at a village pace |
| 2-day Windsor, Stonehenge, Bath & Oxford | 2 days | $436.99 | Check | 5★ | Maximum England in one weekend |
Skip the paper Oyster queue: tap any contactless bank card or phone at the gates and London charges the same fares either way, capped at £8.90 (about $12) a day in zones 1 and 2. Both days of this itinerary need only two or three Tube rides; everything else is walking distance. Our guide to paying for London transport covers the caps, the bus fare and the one mistake that quietly costs visitors money.
From Heathrow, every terminal has a direct Elizabeth line train into the centre, and Heathrow Express runs to Paddington in 15 minutes for £26 (about $35) on the day. From Gatwick, the Gatwick Express runs non-stop to Victoria in 30 minutes, twice an hour. We compare all of it in getting from Heathrow or Gatwick into central London. Last verified: August 2026.
For a 2 day trip to London, sleep on the Day 1 route. South Bank and Waterloo put Big Ben across the bridge and the Jubilee line under your pillow. Covent Garden and Bloomsbury are the Day 2 sweet spot, ten minutes on foot from the British Museum with theatres downstairs.
Victoria and Westminster win on morning logistics for the Abbey. If the budget is tight, Paddington and King's Cross offer chain hotels a 15-minute Tube ride from everything on this plan, and both are rail hubs if a day trip follows.
Excluding hotels and flights, the fixed part of this itinerary is easy to price. The three paid entries come to about $132 at the gate, transport tops out at £8.90 (about $12) a day on contactless, and both Day 2 museums cost nothing. Guided tours on this page run from a tip-based walk to about $50 for the Tower ticket.
Food and rooms are the parts nobody can quote honestly in advance, because London prices move constantly and are set at booking. What we can say is where the money goes and how to cut it, which is what our short London trip budget works through. Card is king; many market stalls take nothing else. Tipping is 10 to 12.5 percent in sit-down restaurants, usually already added as a service charge, and nothing on a pint. Last verified: August 2026.
Every half-day clusters sights you can walk between, so you spend your 48 hours in London, not underneath it on the Tube.
Each stop notes the booking that actually saves time, and where free entry means a guided tour is the only queue-jump that exists.
Guard ceremony rules, opening hours, transport caps and gate prices on this page were checked this month against each venue's own website, not copied from an older blog post.
Winter, Christmas, kids, rain and a third day are all pre-solved above, so one bad forecast never unravels the trip.
Every fee here is the one the venue publishes, in pounds and dollars, with the date we checked it and a link to the source.
We do not sell tickets and we are not an operator. Where free entry beats a paid tour, this page says so plainly.
Yes, if you group by geography. The best 2 day London itinerary keeps each half-day in one walkable cluster, and this plan covers Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, a Thames cruise, the British Museum, the National Gallery and the Churchill War Rooms in 48 hours that way. What 2 days cannot do is depth: pick two paid attractions to explore properly and enjoy the rest from street level.
The fixed part prices up cleanly. The three paid entries this plan uses come to about $132 at the gate, transport caps at £8.90 (about $12) a day on contactless, and both Day 2 museums are free. Food and a room are the parts that move constantly and are set at booking, so we will not print a number we cannot source. Our short London trip budget breaks down where the money actually goes and how to cut it.
Only if you stack paid attractions that are actually on the pass list. This itinerary leans on free museums, and the Churchill War Rooms ticket is not covered by the pass at all. A three-choice Explorer Pass costs £89 (about $120) against £97 (about $131) for the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey and the London Eye at the gate, and it is valid for 30 days from first use. We work through every tier in is a London sightseeing pass worth it.
South Bank or Waterloo for first-timers: Big Ben is across the bridge, the Jubilee line connects both days of this plan, and evening walks along the river need no transport at all. Covent Garden and Bloomsbury suit museum-focused visitors, and Paddington or King's Cross trade location for cheaper rooms 15 minutes away.
It does not run every day, and the pattern shifts through the year around state events and weather, so the only reliable answer is to check the official Household Division schedule for your own dates. The Household Division says ceremonial activity can be altered or cancelled at very short notice in wet weather, with the decision taken as late as 10:45 on the day. Our Westminster Abbey and palace tours guide explains how the ceremony fits a tour morning.
Not without sacrificing most of a day: Stonehenge sits about 90 miles west, and the shortest guided trips run 11 hours with the Roman Baths included. If Stonehenge is non-negotiable, either extend to 3 days 2 nights with a Stonehenge and Bath day trip, or take one of the overnight countryside tours that cover Stonehenge, Bath and the Cotswolds instead of the city itinerary.
Tap a contactless bank card, a phone or an Oyster card at the gates. The fares are identical and both cap at £8.90 (about $12) a day in zones 1 and 2, so there is nothing to buy in advance. The trap is mixing payment methods, because fares paid on a phone and fares paid on a card never combine towards one cap. Our guide to Oyster, contactless and Travelcards covers the caps, the bus fare and the paperwork you can skip.
From Heathrow, the Elizabeth line runs from every terminal into the centre with no changes, and Heathrow Express reaches Paddington in 15 minutes for £26 (about $35) bought on the day. From Gatwick, the Gatwick Express runs non-stop to Victoria in 30 minutes, twice an hour, with 10 percent off when booked online in advance. We compare journey times, costs and the catches in getting from Heathrow or Gatwick into central London.
The British Museum, the National Gallery, the Natural History Museum, the V&A, the Science Museum and both Tate galleries all charge nothing for their permanent collections. The British Museum opens daily from 10.00 to 17.00, until 20.30 on Fridays, and recommends booking a free timed ticket for priority entry. Temporary exhibitions are the exception and still cost money. See which London museums are free and what is worth paying for, or the British Museum guided tour options if you would rather have a route through it.
Run the winter variant above: museums and the War Rooms in the dark hours, Westminster in the midday light, and the Greenwich cruise at 15:30 so the city lights come on around you. Met Office averages put winter daytime highs at about 8 to 9 degrees Celsius with lows near 3, and sunset lands around 16:00, but the queues are shorter and rooms cheaper.
Three things genuinely require it: the Churchill War Rooms tours sell out days ahead, morning Westminster Abbey tours fill a week out in summer, and the O2 sunset climb has limited slots. Cancellation terms are set by each operator and confirmed at checkout, so check the one on your booking rather than assuming.
Keep Days 1 and 2 exactly as written and give the third day to either one day trip, Stonehenge and Bath, Windsor and Hampton Court, or the Cotswolds, or to the city gaps: Greenwich in full (the Westminster to Greenwich cruise gets you there the scenic way), St Paul's Cathedral, Camden Market and a themed evening walk. The comparison table above lists times and prices for every option so you can pick by appetite.
Plan the practical side
Everything the hour by hour plan above assumes you have already sorted, answered properly and checked against the source.