London from the top of a big, red bus!

I think that one of the best ways to get a sense of where everything is in London is to take one of the hop on, hop off bus tours. We spent most of our first day riding around the city, peering down onto peoples' heads. It took us a while to actually get seats on top of the tour bus as it was a sunny Sunday (a rarity I think) but we eventually annoyed enough passengers into getting off so we could steal their seats! The tours are good value as there are about 4 or 5 different routes you can go on, as well as a free river cruise, and the tickets are valid for 24 hours.