I agree with the advice given about taking a bus tour in an area you're not familiar with -- even just a half-day tour of the city to familiarize yourself with where everything is and to get a taste of the attractions. I always do that, and that's what my daughter and I were going to do the afternoon of the day I fell and broke my leg. I think that's what hurt the most at the time before I knew it was broken -- we were going to miss our tour!

In London we didn't plan anything specific, but as we were walking around the Westminster area, we saw a green Harrod's double-decker tour bus and checked into it. We went to the store and signed up for the half-day tour for the afternoon. It was great! Not only did we get an excellent tour at a reasonable cost, we also had headphones for the narration in various languages, very comfortable seats with folding tray, and tea and biscuits (cookies) served by a male attendant! I highly recommend this.

Diana San Diego, California http://tinyurl.com/fbaa