Showing someone the sights: London in a day

Whenever anyone is visiting me for a short amount of time I always take them on this tour of the city. It hits a lot of the more famous sites, and can be done in a matter of hours if you're really busy. I always come into the city through Waterloo train station, so that's where the walk starts.

1) Walk from Waterloo Train Station to the London Eye, there are signs everywhere so its a pretty easy walk.
2) Walk down the London Eye to Westminster Bridge. All along here are wonderful places to capture Big Ben and The Houses of Parliament.

3) After passing Big Ben, turn left down Abingdom Street to Westminster Abbey. its pretty expensive to go inside the Abbey, and most of the time we just look at it from the outside. However, if you do want to go inside I would highly recommend it. Its absolutely beautiful and very interesting.

4) From Westminster Abbey, walk towards then along St. James Park. Along this pathway to the left you'll see beautiful homes and to the right the beautiful green park. A little bit of serenity for the hectic day.
5) At the end of the walk you'll reach Buckingham Palace. If you time it right you'll be able to see the changing of the guards which is always fun!
6) After seeing the palace, walk through Green Park towards Piccadilly St, towards Green Park Tube Station. When you hit the road, turn right. On the way to Piccadilly Circus you'll see the famous Ritz Hotel.

7) After about 10 minutes you'll hit Piccadilly Circus, where Piccadilly, Regents and Strand Street all meet in a hubbub of tourists, shops, and the famous giant video screens. (If you're looking for some shopping, head down Regents Street!)

8) After taking pictures to your heart's desire, head down Strand. Down this street you'll hit and MnM's store (!) and Leicester Square. Walk diagonally though Leicester Square, and you'll pretty much run into the National Portrait Gallery and on to Trafalgar Square.
9) Museums in London are all free, so definitely take advantage of the National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery.
10) From the square, walk down Northumberland Ave to the river. From here you can walk down Embankment towards Big Ben, with great views of the London Eye.

Although this seems long, its very easy to get done in an afternoon and feels like you saw so much of of the city!