1

Do not get the London Pass. All museums in London are free. Tower of London is pricey as well but worth it. St. Paul's admission is pricey and not worth it. However, to see the Cathedral for free, attend Evensong, which is special anyway. VERY walkable city but I'd also put a deposit down a 5 pound refundable deposit on an Oyster card, load 10 pounds on it and you will be able to use the tube and busses with it. Pay cash (use an ATM at Heathrow to gets pounds)for the deposit. Won't work if you use a credit card. Once you are in Hyde Park you can walk to Green Park and over to Buckingham Palace, then over to Birdcage Walk past St. Stephen's green down to Parliament Square, over Westminster Bridge to the London Eye, then thru Southwark over to Borough market, then walk along the Thames over to City Hall (the Beehive) then across Tower Bridge and over to the Tower of London. From there check out Leadenhall Market. Lovely pub there to have lunch. From here either take the tube or walk. Walking will give you the chance to cross the Millennium Bridge enroute to The Tate Modern. Cross back over the Millennium Bridge and over to St. Paul's for evensong. Day two will be your Greenwich Day which necessitates use of the Docklands Light Railway. Oyster card works on it as well. GREAT city. Have fun. Oops almost forgot. Check to see what's on at the Wilton Music Hall.
Worth the visit just to have a pint at the Mahagony Bar.

2

All museums in London are free

Most.... But not all.
What's you favourite food?
Good itinerary by *1 - clodbod.

3

favorite food - anything that isn't still alive. :-)
Just about anything - I live in Northern California, which is one of the best food places in US - seafood, Italian, Asian - I'm not picky, as long as it's real food and doesn't come from a can or served by someone wearing a tacky uniform...

4

Thought I'd recommend one of my favourite food haunts....
Battersea Pie Station in Covent Garden. Just the best meat pies ever, served with mash and peas....

http://www.batterseapiestation.co.uk/

Superb little restaurant, cheap, excellent quality food, oh - and they sell real ale too.
One of the best pies and a pint I've ever had.

5

True about London's Museums. Most, not all free. Thanks for keeping me truthful battyiblly!!! Where in NoCal mtdiablo? Orinda? Pleasanton? Grew up in Los Gatos when it was the Santa Clara Valley known then as the Valley of the Hearts Delight. LONG before it became Silicon Valley and all the orchards, dairies and farms were paved under. Anyway, loads of wonderful restaurants, cafes, holes in the walls for food in London. Places like Bosphorus Kebabs over by the Natural History Museum in S. Kensington, or Nando's for noodles (it's a chain) or Nam for Vietnamese in SoHo, fresh sandwiches, soups and salads at Pret a Mangers that are nearly everywhere! My favorite find the last trip was Yalla Yalla. Lebanese food on Green's Court. Also LOVE pub grub for lunch. Time to rest after seeing sites, have a pint and some good food. Nothing better.

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@clodblod - I'm in Danville - lived in SF for 13 years, now out in the 'burbs. Sounds great - thank you for the advice - cannot wait to relax & have a pint or two!

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If the OP intends to use their oyster card to get to/from Heavethrow (and they should), they'll need more than £10, but otherwise I fully agree with #1. Nice itinerary.

I did the V&A with the missus 2 years ago or so. Huge disappointment for me. Very stale displays, not a great deal of info. But it was free, so it's all fine.

Other museums that might be of interest - imperial war museum (south of the river and easy to get to/from the national maritime museum, take a train to Greenwich), tate museum (not to be confused with the Tate modern), national portrait gallery (in Trafalgar Sq), Transport for london museum (not free), British museum, Museum of London, Design Museum, National Maritime Museum (which you clocked). These are all major museums - there are a huge amount of smaller ones that cater for specific interests.

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True about the Oyster card being used on the tube line to get into London. Would need to load a minimum of 20 pounds. Was hoping (as poster's visit time is limited) they'd cough up the big bucks and take the Heathrow Express or the Connect and be in London in 20 minutes as opposed to the nearly 50 minute tube ride. Personal favorite and highly recommended museums are the Museum of London, the Cartoon Museum, the galleries in the British Library with the Sir John C. Ritblatt gallery taking home the blue ribbon, the Churchill War Rooms (not free), Dennis Server's House (not free), Natural History Museum, London Film Museum in Covent Garden, London Canal Museum and The Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archeology. More than enough to see or do in 3 days.

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The Wallace Collection ... free and definitely worth the detour off Oxford Street. Dennis Sever's House is another favourite - not free, but soooooo worth the money.

Second the Battersea Pie Station in Covent Garden ... I'm not a real ale fan, but the food is VERY good ...

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MtDiablo you will love London. City is just as vibrant and intriguing as the City by the Bay but way more history. Good pair of walking shoes and an Oyster card and your set. If you are near St Paul's might want to stop for a pint at the Blackfriar Pub on Queen Victoria Street. The Art Deco is stunning.

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This is a pretty good start:

http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/04/29/travel/36-hours-in-east-london.html?_r=0

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That link in *11....

I wonder if the writer has actually been to East London.