In the beginning, I did take the long way round on the Citadel in ME1, but being thorough with even the smallest of side quests, my patience got pretty thin, especially with those gorram keepers.
I'm somewhere in the middle. I didn't like the Keeper quest, but I did like bombing around in the Citadel. When it came to questing, I quick travel around. I have a tradition every time I play ME1 though. The first time I walk into the Citadel, I make sure to explore as much as possible. Travel points, character comments, ect. The last time I walk in there when I'm ready to talk to Anderson, I do the same tour on foot.
Speaking of squadmates, one of the little things that I loved about ME1 was getting the comments about the relay, the Krogan statue, the strip bar (Ashley's comment is priceless) and the Council chambers. Being able to click on squadmates knowing that they have a little bit of flavor dialogue was interactive and fun. I would hope to see something like that return.