Get a phone Lanyard! One of the things we were worried about was our phones being stolen or lost. Having a Phone Lanyard makes it easy to take pictures and look at maps without worrying about losing your phone, dropping it, or it potentially being stolen.

Bring a power bank - you'd be surprised how quickly your phone dies when you're taking a million photos and looking at maps throughout the day.

Check out the Rick Steve's Scrapbooks! Looking through the scrapbooks helped us better plan our after tour activities and get a better idea of what our own tour would look like. It's also fun to look through them and see what everyone else experienced!

Look out for any planned Tube Strikes. Luckily, we weren't affected, but as we were leaving the Tube strikes had caused significant travel disruptions. We also decided early on that we would hire a car service to and from the airport as we didn't want to deal with the crowds and potential disruptions while carrying our luggage. 

Don't over plan your days, include some rest time in your schedule. 

Packing Cubes! It was my first time using packing cubes, but the amount of clothes/outfits I was able to cram in there was surprising! (I also left a lot of room for souvenirs hehe.)

If you need to make phone calls and use more data during the trip, make sure to check with your Phone Carrier. It's easy to add a travel plan to your package that covers the duration of your trip.

Don't forget your Tour Book - it has so many details about places you won't want to miss. 

If you want to get inside Buckingham Palace, book in advance! Especially if you want to see the East Wing, it's only open a few months of the year.