Team-BHP - Travelling to Europe. Need advice

I am planning to visit may be Venice & Pisa in Italy.

Overall this is all the stuff I want to cover in the Europe tour

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London
- Eye Ride
- Buckingham Palace (Change of guards)
- Big Ben
- River Thames
- Harrods

Paris
- Eiffel Tower
- Champs Elysses

Venice
- Gondola ride

Pisa
- Leaning tower of Pisa

I was wondering, if went on a self planned trip instead of through a tour operator, how would I travel to the different places from my hotel.
For eg, in London, if I had to go to all the places I mentioned, would I need to take a cab or is public transport convinient?

Public transport is convenient and easy. Buses are not very expensive; tube trains (metro) are more expensive but easier. Black Cabs (taxis that you can hail on the street) are an expensive, luxury form of transport.

You can prepare yourself for your trip using Google Maps and other internet resources (this time last year, I had the places I needed to go in Singapore all mapped out that way. Google Street view even told me exactly what the places/landmarks would look like).

The Transport for London site will help you plan getting around. Take particular notice of the Oyster Card. Get one before your first bus/tube journey, and keep it topped up (you can do this in many places, even 'mom-&-pop' stores. You may even find mom and pop running them too: the family that run the shop where I top up come from Mumbai). The advantage of the Oyster card is not only convenience, but also cheaper fares.

Central London is really quite easy to get around.

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My 2 cents (unasked): IMHO Venice is not really that great. If you want a better setting for a gondola ride, try Cambridge in the UK. You may want to consider Rome if you are travelling to Italy.
Having visited both London & Paris, I am more attracted to the charms that Paris has to offer (only to say you may want to reconsider how many days you spend in Paris). Some other places you can visit in Paris:
Start at the Louvre, pass though the Tuileries garden onto place de la Concorde and walk through the Champs Elysees upto the Arc de Triomphe. You can also begin this trip at Cathedrale Notre Dame. If you feel there are areas you dont want to walk, the line M1 goes right under this route I suggest. You can buy individual tickets for each journey (pack of 10 tickets costs 12 EUR). From the Arc de triomphe, you can take bus route 30 to Trocadero for the best view (IMHO) of la Tour Eiffel from the Palais de Chaillot terrace. From here you can walk down to the tower, where you can go up the Tower and/ or take one of the cruises on the Seine (if you have the time/ inclination). Some other places of interest:
Montmartre
Cabarets (Lido; Champs Elysees/ Moulin Rouge)
Shopping areas (Galeries lafayette/ Printemps)
Grande arche La Defense
Sorbonne/ St Michel/ Le Marais
Opera
If you require any further info/ details about Paris, feel free to PM me

car boy @ : My experience is to explore london on foot ! End of the day that's what is travelling about ! Missing directions, confusions and sweet / sad memories.

I would highly recommend you to read this linky and choose the appropriate walk.

London for free - Walks - 10 Free self-guided sightseeing walks around London

I have covered all the walks mentioned in this link and don't forget take a print out when you go.

Hope you enjoy your trip.

Yes... I'm sure that all of these cities (possibly not Venice ;)) are better seen on foot. The tube may be the easiest way to travel in London, but you don't see anything out of the window except tunnel. Plan carefully, though: maybe take public transport one way and walk back. London is quite big!

How many days you have for each city. If you have 1 or 2 days then take the HOP on HOP off bus ticket and see all the main attractions or each city. Try to find a hotel which gives airport pickup or otherwise there are easy services from Airports. The hotel should be walking distance from Tube/metro station or the bus stop which takes you to the center. Then it is all easy.

I don't know why all Indian tourists want to see Madame Tussauds! I only went there because I was accompanying one! it was ok, but I wouldn't have spent that money for myself alone.

London's museums and galleries could justify an entire trip. The Natural History Museum has some very beautiful architecture (combined with a very ugly modern addition). Nearby is the science museum, and just across the road is the Victoria and Albert, which is a great, rambling place where one could spend many hours. You can see some of the stuff that the Brits took from Tipu Sultan. In a different area, the British Museum also has the potential for many hours.

London Bridge is just an ordinary bridge: nothing interesting about it at all except a nursery rhyme. Tower Bridge, on the other hand, is the interesting one that opens and closes. Don't worry: the whole world makes this mistake --- but if you asking for directions, etc, you would need to get it right.

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Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom (Post 2239980)

London Bridge is just an ordinary bridge: nothing interesting about it at all except a nursery rhyme.

I thought I will get to see it falling down!!!

Ideally, I would loved to go to Lords, but with limited time being spent in London, I don't think the old lady would agree.

If you have a couple of hours to spare in London, you should try taking the DLR to Greenwich (Cutty Sark). This is a driver less train, so try to sit at the front of the train as it passes Canary Wharf (the business district) onto Greenwich. It is a nice ride and there is a decent view from near the observatory at the top of the hill

Or you could take a cruise boat there from Westminster, and maybe return on the train. Don't know DLR well enough to advise on this one.

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Ideally, I would loved to go to Lords,

It's not that it is far away, it is pretty central, but I guess it would not be worth going there except to watch a match, and cricket is not the fastest game in the world :)

London Zoo is another attraction I would recommend, if you have any interest in Zoos and animals. Somehow, I only managed to realise how good it is after I moved away from the city.

a lovely suggestion indeed!
the ride on the barge is excellent and comes as part of the Big Bus tour of London. A really nice way to spend some few hours.
The visit to Greenwich is worth doing - now that the Cutty Sark has been restored that is really worth seeing and appreciating.

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Originally Posted by selfdrive (Post 2240481)

Lords is pretty much in Central London - just a few minutes taxi drive away from say, Oxford Street. Well worth visiting the "Hallowed" ground, but you need to spend time there and view the memorabilia etc. Same goes for Wimbledon but if you have limited time it is difficult to go all the way to Wimbledon and back.

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Originally Posted by carboy (Post 2239989)

I thought I will get to see it falling down!!!

Ideally, I would loved to go to Lords, but with limited time being spent in London, I don't think the old lady would agree.