London - Places to see (and eat) and other notes.

Convert money ONLY at banks.
Most ATMs at top banks will take credit cards with passwords and give local currency;
 the rates are OK; my experience has been no fee at either end; yours may be different.
Consider buying a transit pass for the number of days you'll be there;
  good for all buses AND the subway - a.k.a. the "Tube" and "Underground";
  might be cheaper to buy via website BEFORE you leave the US;
  maybe a rail pass will help with the fare to Paris; not sure.
Most streets (especially by their names) are short by American standards;
  on some streets the numbering is even on one side and odd on the other;
  on others the numbers go in order down one side and back the other side,
   so that 1 and 699 might be across from each other.

Oxford Circus, Picadilly Circus, Trafalgar Sq.
National Gallery (n. side of Trafalgar Square)
National Portrait Gallery (adj to n.e. corner of National Gallery)
Cafe in the basement "Crypt of Saint Martins in the Fields" church; (e. of National Gallery)
Tate Gallery
"Tate Modern" Gallery (at Blackfrairs Bridge in old power house)
Mellinnum Bridge (nr. Tate Modern)
St. Pauls Cathedral (Lundgate Hill, nr. Blackfriars Bridge)
Hyde Park and it's areas ..
  MarbelArch; Albert Memorial (along KensingtonRd); KensingtonPalace

Cafeterias and other restaurants in the Major Dept Stores ..
  Selfridges: 400 Oxford Street - e. of MarbleArch. w. of Bond Street
  Debenhams: 334-348 Oxford Street
  Harrods: 87 Brompton Road at Knightsbridge tube station.
Food is everywhere; a LOT of pizza and Strabucks; seem to be at both ends of spectrum;
        very few in the middle (like Denny's); NON-smoking is VERY RARE.
UpperClass shopping between Bond St, "New Bond St", Oxford, and Brook Street

Victoria and Albert Museum  (Cromwell Rd.) (not far from Harrods)
British Museum (Natural. Hist.) (w. of V & A)
Space Museum (n. of Brit.Muse.)
Tower of London and Tower Bridge (can take an entire 1/2 day)
British Library (real Gutenberg Bible) (Euston Road nr.St.Pancras tube station)

Buckingham Palace (VictoriaMonument) Changing of the Guard (11:30am but not every day);
Parliament; Big Ben; Westminster Abbey(NO PICTURE TAKING.!);
   Westminster Bridge; Eye of London (Ferris-wheel)

Royal Observatory at Greenwich (ROG) - from where all things are measured;
    (best to take a bus - the #53; other modes stop farther away)
  see the Prime Meridian, GMT clock, also the standard inch, foot, and yard.

Consider day trips to ...
  Oxford - (lots of Colleges and Universities) bus leaves from Marble Arch
  Stonehenge
  Dulwich picture gallery  works commissioned by Stanislaus Augustus, King of Poland
  Blenheim Palace (birth place of Sir Winston Churchill)
  Dover (white cliffs)
  Paris France via the fast train (4 hrs each way; not cheap: 45 to $300 one-way)
 see also brochures in hotel lobby
Repuatble tour companies -  Frames, Rickards,  Trafalgar
The Heathrow Airport is a virtual/veritable ZOO;
   other airports are further from and LESS convenient to downtown;
   changing terminals is TERRIBLE; make every attempt avoid doing this;
   arrive early; ask lotsa questions about where to go next;
   when you get there, then ask if you're in the right place.


WebSites of possible interest  ---
 http://www.londonhotelsandguide.com/
 http://www.londontravelpass.com/areaSelect.asp
 http://www.britainexpress.com/London/
 http://www.britainexpress.com/London/underground.htm
 http://www.tfl.gov.uk/           Bus/Subway/Train route/sched
 http://www.jurys.com/fruk_index.htm
 http://www.jurys.com/uk/
 http://www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/
 http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/iso-paper.html
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/602246.stm
 http://www.walesatheart.com/About%20Wales/aberfan%20disaster.htm
 http://www.hotelink.co.uk/index.html
 http://www.rog.nmm.ac.uk   royal obser at grenwich
 http://www.vam.ac.uk             vict albert museum
 http://www.nhm.ac.uk             natural hist mu
 http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk
 http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk
 http://www.bl.uk     british library
 http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk    nr.St.Pauls
 http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk
 http://www.tate.org.uk           Britain & Modern
 http://www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk/
 http://www.towerbridge.org.uk
 http://www.hrp.org.uk            tower of london + others
 http://www.hrp.org.uk            KensingtonPalace + others
 http://www.npg.org.uk            natl portrait gallery
 http://www.bankofengland.co.uk   museum@bankofengland.co.uk
 http://www.designmuseum.org
 http://www.hermitagerooms.com
 http://www.stpauls.co.uk
 http://www.rgs.org              Royal Geog Soc.
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/602246.stm
 http://www.walesatheart.com/About%20Wales/aberfan%20disaster.htm