In a half day tour with travel from heathrow Airport, what can realistically be achieved is a visit to the main highlights of London. Whilst there won’t be time to visit each attraction in detail, there will be enough time to take photographs and be told a little about what you are seeing. Attractions visited usually include the Palace of Westminster (also known as the Houses of Parliament or mistakenly called Big Ben). This is home of the United Kingdom’s Parliament and you’ll learn how the parliamentary system works. You will also see Westminster Abbey, the venue for coronations, royal weddings, royal funerals, the resting place of monarchs and other notables such as Charles Dickens, Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin.

Buckingham Palace is the official London home of the monarch and if occurring on the day of your tour, we might be lucky to witness the Changing of the Guard.

The Tower of London is an imposing castle, the oldest part of which dates from the late 11th Century. Extended, improved and re-modelled over the centuries, it has been used as a mint, an observatory, a zoo and a place of execution. The main exhibit in the castle is the Crown Jewels which are used in the Coronation ceremony. Other highlights include, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, and London Bridge.

There are plenty of opportunities to get out of the car to walk around these sights to at least take some photographs. As with all of my tours, the itinerary is flexible and if there is anything you had in mind or want to visit somewhere different, let me know and, if within reason, I can personalise an itinerary for you. A detailed tour of attractions such as the Abbey (allow about 1.5 hours) and the Tower (allow at least 2 hours) can be included in your day but that does not leave much time to see the other sights of London. At least the above itinerary gives an introduction and if you are in London for a few more days you can discover many sights in more details at your own pace.