Please note: Wednesday afternoon excursions are now fully booked. At the bottom of the page are some recommendations for other places to go sightseeing if you are interested.
Below are the excursions organised by ICAP for the free afternoon on Wednesday 17th July. For more detailed information, please click the hyperlinks for each individual excursion. Each of these requires pre-booking, available at registration. If you have questions regarding the accessibility of the activities, please contact us directly – we will make every reasonable effort to make each activity available to anyone who would like to attend.
Boat tour & London Eye
Sightseeing boat tour along the River Thames and a trip around the London Eye with panoramic views over central London.
Plan: Meet at ALERT (dubious sculpture across the lawn) by 1:20pm; group will walk to Gloucester Road to take Circle & District Line to Westminster, then walk to Jubilee Gardens. If you prefer to make your own way, meet at Jubilee Gardens at 2:25pm. We will then walk to London Eye pier to begin boat tour. Followed by London Eye. Estimated finish (at London Eye) by 4.30 pm.
£39
Click here for more information.
British Museum tour
Guided tour of exhibits at the British Museum. The museum is focused on history, art and culture. It houses the largest collection of artefacts in the world.
Plan: Meet at City & Guilds by 1:20pm, walk to South Kensington station, take Piccadilly line to Holborn, walk to Bloomsbury Square Gardens. If you prefer to make your own way, be at Bloomsbury Square Gardens by 2pm. We will then walk to the British Museum. Tour estimated to finish by 4.30 pm.
£13
Click here for more information.
Royal Greenwich Observatory Tour
Boat tour to Greenwich followed by a guided tour of the Royal Greenwich Observatory. Built in 1675, the observatory is Britain’s first state-funded scientific institution.
Plan: Directly after morning session, meet at ALERT (dubious sculpture across lawn); collect packed lunch; group will walk to Gloucester Road to take Circle & District Line to Westminster; board the boat at Westminster Pier at 1:30/1:45pm. Observatory tour estimated to finish by 5 pm.
£45
Click here for more information.
Walking tour
Guided walking tour of Westminster, home to the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey.
Plan: Meet at ALERT (dubious sculpture across lawn) by 2:15pm; group will walk to Gloucester Road, take the Circle & District Line to St James’ Park, exiting via the Westminster Abbey/Broadway exit, where we will meet our guides. If you prefer to make your own way, meet here at 2:50pm. Walking tour estimated to finish by 5 pm.
£11
Click here for more information.
The table below lists ideas of other things you might like to do in London. See also our tours for accompanying persons, and see here for travel tips. Museums can get quite busy in July. To avoid disappointment please book a free ticket in advance.
| Venue | Cost | Travel from South Kensington tube | Art | History | High Views | Nature | Children love it |
| Victoria & Albert Museum | Free | Walk (5 mins) | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| Science Museum | Free | Walk (5 mins) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||
| The Natural History Museum | Free | Walk (5 mins) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Serpentine Galleries and Hyde Park1 | Free | Walk (10 mins) | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ||
| Buckingham Palace / Queen’s Gallery | £30 /£20 | District Line to St James Park (5 mins) | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| Tate Britain | Free | District Line to Victoria, then Victoria Line to Pimlico (7 mins) | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| The National Gallery | Free | Piccadilly Line to Piccadilly Circus (8 mins) | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| Soane’s Museum / Courtauld Gallery2 | Free /£10 | District Line to Temple (10 mins) | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| The Shard | £28 | Piccadilly to Green Park, then Jubilee Line to London Bridge (11 mins) | 310m | ||||
| Tate Modern Private tours can be booked | Free | District Line to Blackfriars (12 mins), then walk (15 mins) | ✔ | ✔ | |||
| Roman Amphitheatre at Guildhall & St Pauls Cathedral | Free & £22.50 self-guided tour | District Line to Mansion House (14 mins) | ✔ | ||||
| Sky Garden. Book online in advance. | Free | District Line to Monument (17 mins) | 160m | ✔ |
- There are several eateries in the park, but if you would like to take a picnic, we recommend Jakobs. Speak to Tania on 07798 770901 or email tania@jakobs.co.uk. ↩︎
- Lunch is possible at the Courtauld Gallery or in a cafe in neighbouring Somerset House ↩︎
Shopping
London has a vast range of shopping opportunities. Some of the more unique ones are:
Liberty – historic department store intended as “a London emporium laden with luxuries and fabrics from distant lands” and still fits this description today.
Carnaby Street District – a minute from Liberty and packed with diverse shops, cafes and restaurants.
Hamleys of Regent Street is the oldest toy shop in the world, laid over seven floors, only a 3 min walk from Liberty.
King’s Road – famous shopping street, one tube stop or a short work from South Kensington, with restaurants and bars.
Fortnum and Masons – 300 year old store dedicated to food.
Wimbledon
Wimbledon Finals are on the Saturday and Sunday before the conference. You can try to purchase tickets in advance, buy ground passes by queueing on the day, or watch live on some of the big screens that will be set up around London.