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My first trip to London was at 21 to see the Spice Girls at the O2 with my friends. None of us had ever been before, so I printed off every tube stop we needed. This was before smartphones, of course. I remember being completely amazed that we only waited two minutes for a train. Coming from Liverpool, where you’re waiting a minimum of fifteen minutes, or thirty on a Sunday, that felt like witchcraft.
Almost twenty years of trips later, and I still feel like I haven’t scratched the surface. I commute to London fortnightly for work now, which means I know it better than a lot of visitors, but I still manage to discover something new every time. What I’ve learned is that London is far bigger than people expect; it’s actually larger than Manhattan, which surprises almost everyone, and it doesn’t compact well. You can’t do London in a day. You can barely do it in a week. What you can do is plan properly for the time you have.
This guide is a London itinerary that I’d actually tell a first-timer to do: the must-sees, the free stuff, where to stay, how to get around, and the mistakes to avoid. Starting with the biggest one: book restaurants. Walk-ins in London are hard even on quiet nights. If you see somewhere you want to eat, book it. Even now, on work trips, I’ve been caught out by not planning ahead and ended up standing on a pavement at 8pm with nowhere to go.
Before your first trip to London
How many days do you need?
Honestly, more than you think. London doesn’t compact well. It spans 32 boroughs, feels more like a collection of small cities than one big one, and getting between areas takes longer than a map suggests. If you’re visiting for the first time, I’d say three days is the absolute minimum to feel like you’ve seen anything properly, four is better, and a week will still leave you feeling like you’ve only scratched the surface. Even after almost twenty years of trips, I feel that way.
The key is to stop trying to see everything and instead plan around two or three areas properly rather than crisscrossing the whole city in a day.
Getting to London
From the UK, train
If you’re travelling from elsewhere in the UK, the train is almost always the best option. You arrive directly at a central London terminus rather than an airport miles outside the city, which means you step off the train and straight onto the tube. I get the train from Liverpool; it takes around two hours and arrives at Euston, which puts you immediately on the Northern and Victoria lines. It means there are no transfers and no faffing.
Most major UK cities have direct trains into central London terminuses, Euston, Paddington, King’s Cross, Waterloo, Liverpool Street, all of which are on the tube network.
From international airports
London is served by six airports. Here’s how to get into the city from each.
Heathrow (LHR)
The most common arrival point for long-haul flights is around 15 miles west of central London.
• The Elizabeth line is the best value and takes around 30-40 minutes to central London stations, including Paddington and Liverpool Street. Around £12-15.
• The Heathrow Express is the fastest option and takes around 15 minutes to Paddington. Around £25 and cheaper when booked in advance.
• The Piccadilly line is the cheapest but the slowest, taking around an hour. Around £5.60.
Gatwick (LGW)
South of London and popular with budget airlines.
• The Gatwick Express is 30 minutes to Victoria Station. Around £22, and cheaper online if booked in advance.
• Southern or Thameslink trains have the same journey time, around £12-13. They’re better value and go to more central stations.
Stansted (STN)
Northeast of London is Ryanair’s main hub.
• The Stansted Express takes around 50 minutes to Liverpool Street. From £9.90 booked in advance, £23.90 on the day. Always book ahead.
Luton (LTN)
North of London and used by easyJet and Wizz Air.
• Grab the DART shuttle from the terminal, then take the train to St Pancras. Around 35 minutes total.
London City (LCY)
The closest airport to central London is around 6 miles east.
• Grab the DLR to Canary Wharf or Bank, which takes around 20 minutes. Around £4-5. The best value airport transfer in London by some distance.
Southend (SEN)
This is the furthest out, at over 40 miles from central London. It’s only worth considering if the flight savings are significant, as the train takes over an hour.
One tip for all airports is to just tap your contactless card or phone on the yellow readers at the station. No Oyster card needed, no tickets to buy in advance for tube and Elizabeth line journeys. The system calculates the best fare automatically.
Where to stay: best areas in London for first-timers
Location matters more in London than in almost any other city. Get it wrong, and you’ll spend half your trip on the tube getting to where you want to be.
Covent Garden
The top recommendation for a first-time trip to London, and the one I’d always point people towards. You’re in the heart of everything, within walking distance of the West End, Trafalgar Square, the Thames, Soho, and the National Gallery. You can do a huge amount without getting on the tube at all. It’s busy and can feel relentless by day three, but for a short first visit, the convenience is unbeatable. This is where I’d stay.
Notting Hill, Paddington, and Hyde Park
The Notting Hill, Paddington, and Hyde Park area is worth knowing about as a cluster for first-timers, because there’s so much within easy reach. Hyde Park is one of the most famous parks in the world and is worth an afternoon on its own. Kensington Palace is on the edge of it. Portobello Road Market in Notting Hill is one of London’s most famous markets. It’s colourful, independent, and brilliant for a Saturday morning. Notting Hill itself is exactly as charming as the film makes it look. From here, it’s easy to get to Primrose Hill, a small hill with a protected view of the London skyline that’s completely free and one of the best viewpoints in the city. Camden Market is close by too. If you’re visiting in August, the whole area comes alive for the Notting Hill Carnival. It’s one of Europe’s largest street festivals, and completely free to attend.
Shoreditch
If you want nightlife and a less touristy feel, Shoreditch is one of the best areas in London right now. It’s where London’s creative energy lives. There’s street art, independent fashion stores, craft cocktail bars, markets, and some of the best nightlife in the city. Brick Lane is the centre of the art and food scene. The nearest tube is Liverpool Street or Old Street.
Canary Wharf
As a regular visitor, and where my work offices are, I can’t leave Canary Wharf out. It’s an underrated base that most first-timer guides overlook. There are three tube lines: Jubilee, DLR, and Elizabeth. Which means you can get almost anywhere in London quickly. It’s also right next to the O2 if you’re visiting for a concert. The DLR opens up a whole different side of London, too. Hop on, and you’re in Stratford in minutes, home to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and an excellent food scene. Or Hackney Wick, one of the most interesting areas in London right now, with its canalside craft breweries, street art, and warehouse nightlife.
South Bank
This doesn’t get recommended often enough. The Tate Modern, Borough Market, Shakespeare’s Globe, and some good riverside pubs are on your doorstep, with a slightly different feel from the tourist-heavy centre.
Avoid going anywhere too far out for a first trip unless you have a specific reason. Zones 1 and 2 cost more but save you time and tube fares every day, which usually balances out.
When to book attractions
Book what you can before you go, not just the obvious paid attractions like the Tower of London or Westminster Abbey, but also the free ones. London’s major free museums, including the British Museum, the National Gallery, the V&A, and the Natural History Museum, now operate timed entry systems. Entry is still free, but you need to reserve a slot in advance. If you turn up without a booking, you may not get in, particularly at weekends.
Restaurants need booking too. Walk-ins in central London are hard even on quiet nights. If you see somewhere you want to eat, book it before you go rather than hoping for the best on the day.
Is the London Pass worth it?
It depends entirely on what you’re planning to do. The London Pass gives you entry to over 100 paid attractions and currently starts from around £99 for a one-day adult pass. It also includes a hop-on hop-off bus tour and a Thames River Cruise.
If you’re visiting four or five paid attractions across a couple of days, then it’s worth the expense. The Tower of London alone is around £35, Westminster Abbey around £30, and The Shard around £32. Add those together, and the pass pays for itself quickly.
Where it doesn’t make sense is if you’re mostly planning to use London’s free museums, which are world-class, by the way. The pass has no value at any of these. If that’s where you plan to spend more time, then save the money.
Plot your itinerary on Google Maps before you go
This is one of the most practical things you can do before a first London trip, or any city break for that matter. Drop every place you want to visit onto a Google Map, saved as a custom list, and you can see at a glance what’s close to what. It helps you group your days by area rather than crisscrossing the city, and if you suddenly have a spare hour between things, you can check what else you plotted that’s nearby. I do this on every trip, and it saves both time and the annoyance of realising you walked past something you wanted to see on Tuesday and are now on the other side of London on Thursday.
Getting around London
London might be a big city, but it’s surprisingly easy to get around once you know the basics. Here’s everything you need to know about the tube, buses, walking, bikes, taxis, and the river.
The tube
The London Underground is one of the best things about visiting London, and in my opinion, it’s what makes the city so successful. When I arrived for the first time at 21 with my printed tube stops, I was amazed that we only had to wait two minutes for a train. Coming from Liverpool, where you’re waiting fifteen minutes minimum, or thirty on a Sunday, it felt extraordinary. That hasn’t changed. The frequency is still remarkable, and once you understand the logic of the map, it clicks surprisingly quickly.
A few things that make it easier:
Use Google Maps
There are various London tube apps out there, but Google Maps does everything you need. It tells you which platform to use, where to exit at the other end, live departure times, and alternative routes if there are delays. Everyone already has it, and it’s almost always accurate in real time.
Tap your contactless card
You don’t need an Oyster card anymore. Just tap in and tap out on the yellow readers at every station using your contactless bank card or Apple Pay, and the system automatically calculates the cheapest fare. It also caps your daily and weekly spend so you never overpay. I’ve never had an issue with it. Just make sure you’re tapping the same card or device every time, as mixing cards within a journey causes problems.
Group your days by area
This is the single most important tube tip. London is huge, and crisscrossing it wastes time and money. Look at your list of things to do, group them by which part of the city they’re in, and dedicate a day or half day to each cluster. Everything in Zone 1 is surprisingly close once you’re on the tube; three or four stops are often all it takes.
Mind the gap
The gap between the train and the platform varies enormously across the network. So, watch your step, particularly on the older curved platforms on the Central and Jubilee lines.
Stand on the right
Londoners walk on the left and stand on the right. Believe me, getting this wrong in rush hour will earn you looks that could kill.
Avoid peak hours
Roughly 7.30-9.30am and 5-7pm on weekdays, the tube is packed. If you can avoid travelling in those windows, do.
Buses
Buses are worth knowing about, but they’re less intuitive than the tube. They’re good for seeing the city above ground; a bus along the South Bank or through the West End gives you a perspective the tube doesn’t. Same contactless tap in and out, no cash accepted. You can use Google Maps for bus routes too.
Walking
London is more walkable than most people expect. A lot of central attractions that look far apart on the tube map are sometimes just a ten to fifteen minute walk. Covent Garden to the South Bank is a pleasant walk across Waterloo Bridge. Trafalgar Square to Buckingham Palace is fifteen minutes. So before defaulting to the tube, check the walking time, as you’ll often see more, and it’ll take the same amount of time.
Bicycle hire
London has several bike hire schemes, so you’ll see a few different coloured bikes scattered around the city. The main schemes are Santander Cycles, Lime, and Forest. Whichever brand you come across, the easiest way in is to scan the QR code on the bike itself with your phone camera; it’ll take you straight to the right app to download or open, so there’s no need to work out in advance which app belongs to which bike.
The bikes are powered, so it can take a bit of getting used to. I circled the large area by the Tower of London a few times before I was confident enough to ride off. There are bike lanes throughout central London, which definitely made the journey feel safer. Plus, Google Maps offers a bike route option, so it took us via the designated lanes, which was quite literally a lifesaver, I thought. The power behind the bikes meant we didn’t even break a sweat.
One important tip: when you dock the bike at the end, wait for the green light to confirm it’s properly returned. There are reports of people being charged fees after bikes weren’t correctly docked despite following the correct procedure. The green light is your confirmation that it’s registered.
Taxis and Uber
Black cabs are iconic but expensive. Uber is widely available and usually cheaper. Both work well. Avoid minicabs that aren’t booked through an app or a licensed company.
Uber boat by Thames Clippers
This is one of London’s best kept secrets. The Thames Clippers run between 24 piers along the Thames from Putney in the west to Barking Riverside in the east, stopping at all the major central London piers. Just tap your contactless card just as you would on the tube. It runs until around 11.30pm on weekdays and 11.45pm at weekends. There’s more on this in Day 3 of the itinerary.
London must sees
There is so much to see in London. You have everything from iconic landmarks, world-class museums, markets, to panoramic views. Here are the best things to see and do in London. Use this as a quick reference before planning your itinerary.
London icons
The classics that belong on every itinerary
Westminster Bridge and Big Ben
FREE
This is the postcard view of London you’ve probably seen so many times. No picture can ever truly capture the golden glow of 📍 Big Ben. I would do it first thing in the morning, before the crowds build up. This is non-negotiable for a first visit. Pickpockets are known to operate in this area, so be vigilant.
Whitehall and Horse Guards
FREE
Walk the most historically significant street in the country and watch the 📍 Household Cavalry on horses that have their own Instagram following. I’d allow 30 minutes if you want to wait for photos. Please always be respectful and stay behind the white lines.
Buckingham Palace and the Changing of the Guard
FREE
Check the schedule for 📍 Buckingham Palace’s Changing of the Guard ceremony before you go, as it doesn’t happen every day. I can still remember hearing the band from a distance, getting louder and louder. It sent shivers down my spine and was an experience I will never forget.
Tower of London
FROM
£37
The 📍 Tower of London actually blew my mind. You’ve got nearly a thousand years of history in one building. There is more on this in the itinerary section below, but believe me, this is one of the unmissable paid attractions in London. I’d book in advance.
Tower Bridge
FREE
📍 Tower Bridge is one of the most recognisable bridges in the world and is even more impressive up close.
The London Eye
FROM
£29
📍 The London Eye is a thirty-minute ride in a glass capsule, with a 360-degree view of central London. I’m saving it for when the children are older, but for a first-time visitor, it delivers exactly what it promises. I’d book online in advance.
St Paul’s Cathedral
FROM
£27
The sightseeing entry for 📍 St Paul’s Cathedral is around £25 per adult, but worship is always free (check the service schedule). There is Christopher Wren’s masterpiece, which was completed in 1710. If you catch the organ playing, the sound it makes in that space is unlike anything else I have ever heard. I was lucky enough to catch a free service one Sunday after dinner at The NED.
Free London
Amazing places that don’t cost a penny
South Bank walk
FREE
You can walk along the 📍 South Bank from Westminster Bridge to Tower Bridge along the South Bank, and you’ll pass the London Eye, the Tate Modern, Shakespeare’s Globe, and some of the best views of the City. It’s one of the greatest free walks in any European city.
Hyde Park
FREE
📍 Hyde Park is 350 acres of Royal parkland, right in the middle of London. You can sit on the grass, walk the Serpentine, or paddle in the Diana Memorial Fountain. It’s worth an entire morning.
Covent Garden
FREE
📍 Covent Garden has street performers, independent shops, and restaurants in a beautiful covered piazza. 📍 Neal’s Yard and 📍 Seven Dials are nearby.
Soho
FREE
📍 Soho is the heart of London’s nightlife and one of the most atmospheric neighbourhoods in the city. It’s worth a full evening. You can read more in my Girls’ Weekend London guide.
Sky Garden
FREE
📍 Sky Garden is free, but you must pre-book. It’s the highest public garden in London, on the 35th floor, with 360-degree views. Tickets are released every Monday morning three weeks ahead. We have seen lots of people without a ticket being refused entry.
Horizon 22
FROM
FREE
📍 Horizon 22 is Europe’s highest public viewing platform, on the 58th floor, 254 metres above London. You need to pre-book tickets, which are released every Monday at 10am for visits 14 days ahead. However, I haven’t managed to secure any yet, so there are paid options.
Primrose Hill
FREE
📍 Primrose Hill is the best free ground-level viewpoint in London with a legally protected skyline view. It’s quiet, local, and completely unlike the tourist trail.
Markets & extras
A few other favourites worth adding to your list
Borough Market
FREE
I never get tired of 📍 Borough Market. The sandwich from The Black Pig is unreal. It’s free to browse and open Tuesday to Sunday, closed Mondays (hours vary slightly by day, and December can have different arrangements). It’s one of the best food markets in the world. I’d go hungry.
Camden Market
FREE
Again, 📍 Camden Market is free to browse. There’s street art, food stalls, independent fashion, and the Amy Winehouse trail. Allow a proper chunk of time.
Harrods
FREE
I’d go to 📍 Harrods to look rather than to eat. The food halls are extraordinary, and the building is like nowhere else. The price tags are worth seeing for the spectacle alone.
Royal Opera House rooftop bar
FREE
Most people walk straight past without knowing they can walk in. There’s a bar on the Fifth floor called 📍 Bar Cicoria, and the Piazza Terrace looks directly down over Covent Garden with views of the London Eye. You don’t need to book; just walk in from noon.
The London Dungeon
£27
You can pre-book London Dungeons for around £30 per adult. It’s ninety minutes of live actors walking you through the worst of London’s history. It’s a bit scary, though, so I wouldn’t recommend it for children. It’s brilliant and worth building a morning around.
Museums
FREE
Some, like the British Museum, recommend booking a free slot during peak times, while others let you simply walk in. I’d check before you go. Options include; British Museum, Natural History Museum, V&A, Science Museum, National Gallery, Tate Modern, National Portrait Gallery.
London viewpoints and observation decks
From sky-high gardens to iconic landmarks, here are the best places to see London from above.
Sky Garden
FREE
35TH FLOOR
PRE-BOOK
📍 Sky Garden is the highest public garden in London. It’s completely free, but you must pre-book. Tickets are released every Monday morning, three weeks ahead on the Sky Garden website. You get one hour per timed slot. The views are extraordinary, and the interior, which is a glass-domed garden with tropical plants and three bars and restaurants, gives it a completely different feel from a standard viewing platform. Book before you do anything else if you want to include this.
The Shard
PAID
244 METRES
PRE-BOOK
I’ve seen 📍 The Shard from Borough Market, and it’s one of the most striking buildings in London from the outside. I haven’t been up it yet. It’s around £32 per adult, the most expensive viewpoint on this list, and at 244 metres, it’s actually slightly lower than Horizon 22, which is free. That said, the Shard has the advantage of being open in the evenings, and the views toward the City and west across London are different from those at Horizon 22. It’s worth it as a treat or if you want an evening view, less worth it during the day when Horizon 22 gives you more height for nothing.
The London Eye
PAID
135 METRES
PRE-BOOK
I’ll be honest, sitting in a glass capsule for 30 minutes going round slowly isn’t really my idea of a good time. It’s something I am saving for when I take my children to London. That said, it’s one of those London experiences that delivers exactly what it promises. You get an uninterrupted 360-degree view of central London from 135 metres, with Big Ben directly opposite, Westminster Abbey behind it, Buckingham Palace down the Mall, and the City skyline in the distance. Nothing else gives you that specific central London perspective in quite the same way. Tickets start from £29 online for adults; never pay at the door, where it’s £10 more. One rotation takes 30 minutes. Book in advance, especially at weekends and during school holidays.
Horizon 22
FREE
58TH FLOOR
PRE-BOOK
This is the newest and highest free viewpoint in London and in Europe. 📍 Horizon 22 sits on the 58th floor of 22 Bishopsgate in the City, 254 metres above ground, with 300-degree views across the entire London skyline. I visited as recently as October 2026, and the views are fantastic. It towers over the Sky Garden, which you can see in front. Free tickets are released every Monday at 10am for visits 14 days ahead, and they go fast, so book the moment they drop. A limited number of walk-in tickets are available on the day by scanning a QR code at the entrance, but don’t rely on it. It’s open weekdays until 6pm, Saturdays until 5pm, and Sundays until 4pm. The address is 22 Bishopsgate, London EC2N 4AJ. Book free tickets at horizon22.co.uk
Duck and Waffle
PAID
40TH FLOOR
PRE-BOOK
📍 Duck and Waffle sits on the 40th floor of 110 Bishopsgate, open 24 hours. You’re paying restaurant prices rather than an admission fee, but the views are extraordinary and the food is excellent. A good option if you want to combine a meal with a viewpoint. You can book online at duckandwaffle.com
Primrose Hill
FREE
GROUND LEVEL
NO BOOKING NEEDED
A small hill in north London with a legally protected view of the London skyline. From 📍 Primrose Hill, you can see The Shard, the Gherkin, the BT Tower, the London Eye, and St Paul’s all visible from the same spot. There’s no booking required, and no crowds of tourists. Just a hill.
Where to have breakfast in London
The choice is endless. You’ve got classic London institutions to trendy cafes. Here are some of the best spots for breakfast in London. Whether you’re after something chill, a special treat, or something close to the sights, these are my favourites.
Drury 188-189
Covent Garden
Drury 188-189 is my personal top pick if you’re staying in Covent Garden. It’s walk-in only, and there’s nearly always a queue, but it moves quickly and is worth every minute of the wait. It’s one of the best breakfasts I’ve had in London.
Dishoom
Multiple locations
Dishoom is a Bombay-inspired Irani café with branches in Covent Garden, Shoreditch, King’s Cross, and more. The bacon naan roll is the thing everyone orders, although I personally went for the sausage naan. I’ve been to the King’s Cross branch for breakfast, and it’s brilliant. Expect a queue at weekends.
The Breakfast Club
Soho and Covent Garden
The Breakfast Club is a quirky, informal American-British hybrid with multiple central London locations. They serve fluffy pancakes, eggs on sourdough, with neon signs and upbeat music. It’s popular at weekends, so arrive early or expect to queue.
Balans
Soho
Balans is one of my favorite restaurants for dinner. I have not actually been for breakfast, but they’re open from 9am, and I believe the breakfasts are great. If you’re in Soho the night before, you already know where you’re going for breakfast.
Duck and Waffle
City
I have already mentioned Duck and Waffle in the observation decks section. You could tie in a view of London with breakfast here. It sits high above the city and is open 24 hours. It’s worth factoring in on a morning when you’re heading toward the Tower of London or Sky Garden.
Brother Marcus
Covent Garden
Brother Marcus is Mediterranean-inspired, with warm interiors and great coffee. Their sweet potato fritters are among the most photographed breakfast dishes in London right now. They recently opened a Covent Garden branch, so it’s perfectly placed if you’re in the area.
EL&N
Knightsbridge
EL&N is designed with Instagram in mind, featuring flower walls, beautiful lattes, pastel interiors, and neon signs. It’s perfect on a morning when you’re heading to Hyde Park, or Harrods is right round the corner. Expect a queue.
Brasserie of Light, Selfridges
Oxford Street
Damien Hirst’s 24-foot crystal-encrusted Pegasus sculpture dominates the room, and there is nowhere else like it in London for breakfast. Brasserie of Light is open from 8am on weekdays and 9am on weekends, and the food is as good as the setting. It’s worth it for the photos alone.
Granger & Co
Notting Hill
This celebrity hotspot is perfectly placed for a Day 2 morning before Hyde Park. The ricotta hotcakes in Granger & Co. have been going viral on social media for years. Breakfast is walk-in only, and they don’t take bookings until 5pm, so arrive with a little patience on weekends.
Borough Market
South Bank
This isn’t a traditional breakfast spot, but if you’re on the South Bank side any morning except Monday, Borough Market opens from 9am on Saturdays and 10am the rest of the week. Bread Ahead’s crème brûlée doughnuts torched right in front of you, Humble Crumble made to order, and the best coffee stalls in London. It’s one of the best starts to a day you can have in London.
Choose your London itinerary
Whether you’ve got two days or a little longer, here are some suggested itineraries to help you make the most of your time in London. You can see the essentials in two days, and a little bit more in three. If you’re lucky enough to spend four days in London, then there’s a fourth day with different options, depending on what you’re into.
THE ESSENTIALS
2 days in London
Westminster & the South Bank
The Tower of London
A West End show
Hyde Park, Notting Hill
Covent Garden & Soho
STAYING LONGER?
3 days in London
Everything in the 2 day London itinerary
Plus the Thames Clipper
Primrose Hill
Camden
Sky Garden
Dinner on Bustronome
2 days in London
THE ESSENTIAL LONDON ITINERARY
Two days in London is tight, but absolutely doable if you’re strategic about it. The key is not to crisscross the city; keep each day in one area and walk between places rather than constantly getting back on the tube.
Day 1
Westminster, the South Bank, the Tower of London, and a West End show
MORNING
Whitehall, Downing Street, Buckingham Palace, Westminster
Head straight to 📍 Whitehall from your accommodation. It’s one of the most historically significant streets in the world, lined with government buildings and the kind of architecture that makes you feel the weight of what happened here. Stop at 📍 Downing Street, then continue to Horse Guards Parade for the 📍 Household Cavalry. Two mounted sentries guard the entrance every day from around 10am to 4pm, but if you want to see the actual ceremony rather than just the sentries, the King’s Life Guard changes at 11am on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, with a smaller inspection at 11am the rest of the week. Some of these horses have become Instagram famous. The 2024 incident where five bolted through central London went viral worldwide, one galloping past covered in blood and still making it to Tower Bridge. They recovered, but the internet did not.
From Horse Guards, it’s a short walk through 📍 St James’s Park to 📍 Buckingham Palace, which is worth doing whether or not the Changing of the Guard is on. The palace and the gates are impressive enough on their own, and St James’s Park on the way is one of the prettiest in London; the lake views back towards the palace are worth a photo stop by themselves. If the Changing of the Guard does happen to be on while you’re there, it’s worth seeing once, but factor in that everything gets pushed back, so check the schedule before you leave and treat it as a bonus rather than something to build the morning around.
Then walk down to 📍 Westminster Bridge for the 📍 Big Ben and Houses of Parliament view.
LATE-MORNING
London Dungeon
From 📍 Westminster Bridge, the 📍 London Dungeon is right there on your left. You walk straight past it on the way to Borough Market, so there’s no backtracking. Pre-book your slot for around 11.30am. It’s 90 minutes of live actors walking you through the worst of London’s history, the plague, the Great Fire, Guy Fawkes, and Jack the Ripper. They do pick on people from the crowd. I had to deliver the scroll announcing Guy Fawkes’ execution, and my mum got locked in a cage. I personally think it’s too scary for children. But absolutely go if you can.
LUNCH
Borough Market
If you come out of the Dungeon at around 1-1.30pm, you should be ready for some lunch. 📍 Borough Market is a half-hour walk along the South Bank. Walking along the South Bank is an experience in itself, but if you would prefer to take the tube, the Jubilee Line will cut that time in half. Borough Market is open every day except Monday. My personal pick is the Black Pig, slow-roasted pork in a toasted ciabatta with honey truffle mayo, parmesan shavings, and fennel apple slaw. There’s a queue, but it moves fast, and it’s worth every second. Humble Crumble does fruit crumble made to order with warm custard, and Bread Ahead’s crème brûlée doughnuts are torched right in front of you. There’s also a spice stall selling all sorts of spices from all over the world. I picked up some Carolina Reaper for my partner. If you’re a Bridget Jones fan, her flat from the films is at 📍 8 Bedale Street above The Globe Tavern on the edge of the market. There’s no plaque or sign; you’d walk straight past it without knowing.
Allow around an hour here. There’s plenty to eat, see, and just take it all in without rushing.
AFTERNOON
Tower of London
From 📍 Borough Market, it’s about a 30-minute walk along the South Bank to 📍 Tower Bridge, one of the best free walks in London. The 📍 Tower of London is right there on the other side of the bridge. I would allow at least two and a half hours here. It’s a big site, and there is so much to see.
The Crown Jewels are phenomenal. But for me, the real moment was standing in front of the White Tower, built by William the Conqueror in 1078. It’s nearly a thousand years old, right there in front of you in the middle of modern London. It honestly took my breath away.
What makes it even stranger is realising how recently this place was still being used as a prison. The Kray twins, Ronnie and Reggie, were held here in 1952 for failing to report for national service, making them among the last prisoners ever held at the Tower. The same building that imprisoned Anne Boleyn, Guy Fawkes, and Thomas More was still locking people up within living memory. You can see the exact spot where Anne Boleyn was beheaded; it’s marked within the grounds and is extremely sobering.
The ravens are worth knowing about, too. There are eight living at the Tower currently, though legend has it that if the resident ravens ever drop below six, the Crown and the Tower will fall. They roam the grounds freely and are surprisingly unbothered by visitors. We were standing in a position with Tower Bridge in the background, and a raven positioned itself perfectly so you could see the bridge behind it. It was so picture perfect, it almost felt staged.
The Beefeater ceremonies are worth timing your visit around. We watched what I think was a guard change, and it made my hair stand up. There’s something about standing in a place that old, watching a ceremony that’s barely changed in centuries, that just hits differently from anything you could read about in a guidebook. We struck lucky with timing, but if you want to see it, check the schedule when you arrive and plan around it.
Pre-book tickets well in advance, it sells out and the queues without a booking are significant. Adults are around £35.
Not doing a show tonight? Wander over to St Katharine Docks
If you’re skipping the theatre or just want somewhere quieter to sit after a big day, 📍 St Katharine Docks is less than a ten minute walk from the Tower, right past Tower Bridge. From this angle, you can get a perfect shot of the bridge with the Shard in the background too. It’s easy to walk past the entrance of St Katharine Docks without ever knowing it’s there. It’s marinas full of yachts and quiet water, and you can still see the Tower of London peeking through the gaps between the buildings, so you never quite forget you’re in the middle of the city even though it feels a world away from it. There are plenty of places to eat and drink around the water, from cosy old pubs like The Dickins Inn to wine bars such as Traders Wine Bar. It’s definitely worth just wandering and picking whatever catches your eye rather than planning it in advance.
DINNER
Pre-theatre dinner
The West End area has brilliant pre-theatre menus that are much cheaper than the same restaurants at full price. Balthazar in Covent Garden is a classic French brasserie with two courses from £24.50. Tattu on Oxford Street serves modern Chinese cuisine with a very Instagrammable interior, from £39.50 for two courses. Lime Orange near Victoria is a tiny, family-run Korean and Japanese restaurant. We headed here before Wicked, which is right opposite. They are a TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice winner for eight years running and offer exceptional value. There are more options on our Girls Weekend London guide. Wherever you decide to go, just book in advance.
EVENING
West End show
I always prefer to do a show on the first night of the weekend in London. You’ll be tired after a full day of walking, and the show fills your evening beautifully. You’ll head back to the hotel ready to sleep rather than trying to squeeze more out of yourself and ready for a full second day of walking. Which show is entirely personal taste. Check what’s on and book well in advance for the best seats. If you want to try for last minute tickets, the 📍 TKTS booth in Leicester Square sells same day discounted tickets, and Twickets has fan-to-fan resales. We’ve got lucky with Wicked through Twickets before, but I wouldn’t bank on it for a specific show on a specific night.
Day 2
Hyde Park, Notting Hill, Covent Garden, and Soho
MORNING
Hyde Park
📍 Hyde Park is 350 acres of Royal parkland. With London being one of the world’s busiest cities, this sitting right in the middle feels like an escape. In summer, you can find a spot on the grass, grab a coffee, and just sit for a while. It’s one of the best free things you can do in London. 📍 Kensington Palace is on the western edge of the park if you want to add a paid attraction to the morning.
From Hyde Park, 📍 Harrods is a short walk. I wouldn’t advise going to eat. I personally don’t think the prices match the quality for a meal. But absolutely go to look. The food halls are extraordinary, and the building itself, inside and out, is unlike anything else, and you’ll understand immediately why it’s still one of the most famous shops in the world. The prices for some items are eye-wateringly high, but worth a browse just to see. I make a habit of getting a Christmas decoration if I’m there at that time of year.
MIDDAY
Notting Hill and Akub
From 📍 Hyde Park, 📍 Notting Hill is around a 45 minute walk, depending on where you are in Hyde Park, or one tube stop west.
The pastel coloured houses on streets like📍 Portobello Road and the surrounding residential streets are as pretty in life as every photo you’ve seen, and the neighbourhood has a completely different feel from central London.
Portobello Road Market is worth visiting, but check the days before you go. The antiques trade on Fridays and Saturdays, with Saturday being by far the busiest and fullest version of the market. If you’re there on a different day, the street itself is still worth a walk, but you’ll miss most of the antique stalls.
For lunch, Akub on 📍 Uxbridge Street is one of the best restaurants in London I have eaten at. It’s a Palestinian restaurant spread across several floors of a Notting Hill townhouse, with white-painted brick walls, olive trees, and a relaxed and warm atmosphere. The menu is small plates, so order broadly and share. We had hummus, various meats, feta, the kind of food where everything arrives looking simple and tastes far more considered than it looks. We decided what we wanted to order by cross-checking with pictures on their Instagram page, but the waiter also offered to help us. It’s been in the Michelin Guide since it opened, and getting a dinner reservation can take weeks, so book ahead. Lunch is slightly easier.
If you’re a fan of the film, Notting Hill, you can find William and Spike’s famous 📍 blue door too.
AFTERNOON
Covent Garden and the Royal Opera House
From 📍 Notting Hill, tube to 📍 Covent Garden. Before you get drawn into the piazza, make your way to the 📍 Royal Opera House. Most people walk straight past without realising they can just walk in. Head to the fifth floor and you’ll find Bar Cicoria and the Piazza Terrace, a covered rooftop bar looking directly down over Covent Garden Piazza. You don’t need to book, just walk in anytime from noon. It’s been going viral on TikTok as one of London’s undiscovered spots, and it absolutely deserves the attention. Go earlier rather than later; once a show finishes, it does fill up instantly.
From there, walk around Covent Garden itself. There are street performers in the piazza, independent shops, and restaurants in every direction. 📍 Neal’s Yard is tucked away a short walk from the main square, a small courtyard of colourful independent shops and cafes that looks completely unlike anywhere else in London. 📍 Seven Dials is right next door with more independent shops and bars, and the food hall hosts live music on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays if the timing works.
EVENING
Soho
📍 Soho is a fifteen minute walk from 📍 Covent Garden and the right place to end any London evening. It’s packed with bars and restaurants, and there’s energy on every corner, and the pavement drinking culture is worth experiencing in itself. On a warm evening, people spill out of pubs onto the street with their pints, completely normal, completely accepted, and one of the things I love about London.
For dinner, Balans on 📍 Old Compton Street is one of those Soho institutions that’s been there since 1987 and shows no signs of going anywhere. It’s a café, restaurant, and bar all in one, open until 5 or 6am, which gives you a clue about the crowd it attracts. The red Thai curry is the one I always go back for. Try to get a booth at the back if you can. I can also recommend Ave Mario, which is part of the Big Mamma brand. I can recommend all of their restaurants, but Ave Mario is in the Soho area.
After dinner, Soho is yours. Cahoots on 📍 Kingly Court is a 1940s underground tube station-themed bar. The Ticket Hall upstairs is open from the afternoon and has a more relaxed pub feel, while the Underground below is the full immersive experience with live jazz on Friday and Saturday evenings. The 📍 Little Violet Door is spread over two floors with velvet sofas and a kitchen disco. And if the night ends with a tuk-tuk home through the West End, the small pink ones with fairy lights and speakers, that’s exactly how it should end. There are more bars and restaurant tips in our Girls weekend London guide.
Got one more day?
3 days in London
If you’ve got three days in London, you can slow things down a little. You’ve already covered most of the big first-time must-see sights, so Day 3 takes you away from the classic sightseeing route for a mix of neighbourhoods, views and a bit more time to actually enjoy the city.
Day 3
Thames, Primrose Hill, Camden, Sky Garden, and Bustronome
MORNING
Thames Clipper
Start Day 3 on the water. The Thames Clipper runs between central London piers and is one of the best ways to see the city from a completely different angle, and unlike a tourist river cruise, it’s a legitimate commuter service that Londoners actually use, which keeps the price reasonable. If you board at 📍 Embankment or 📍 Waterloo and ride east toward Greenwich. You’ll pass the South Bank, Tate Modern, Shakespeare’s Globe, Tower Bridge, and Canary Wharf all from the water. Just tap in with your contactless card as you would on the tube, or pre-book using the links below.
MID-MORNING
Primrose Hill
From the river, take the tube northbound to 📍 Chalk Farm. 📍 Primrose Hill is a short walk from the station, a small but perfectly formed hill with a protected view of the London skyline that’s completely free and one of the best viewpoints in the city. On a clear day you can see the Shard, the Gherkin, the BT Tower, the London Eye, and St Paul’s all from the same spot. It’s a locals’ favourite rather than a tourist destination and feels completely different from the tourist trail. Sit on the grass for a while and just take it in.
From Primrose Hill walk down into the 📍 village, a quiet residential neighbourhood with independent cafes worth stopping at for a coffee before heading to Camden.
EARLY-AFTERNOON
Camden
📍 Camden is a fifteen minute walk from Primrose Hill or one stop on the tube from Chalk Farm to Camden Town. Give yourself a good chunk of time here, three to four hours minimum. 📍 Camden Market and 📍 Camden Lock are good starting points, with food stalls, independent fashion, street art, and an energy that’s unlike anywhere else in London. Eat some lunch from the market stalls, which cover pretty much every cuisine you could want and are good.
If you’re an Amy Winehouse fan, Camden was her world. She described it to her father as her playground, and walking through it today, you can still feel why. 📍 The Hawley Arms on Hawley Crescent was practically her second home; she drank here, sang here, and used to jump behind the bar to pull pints even after she was famous. Inside, the walls are deep red and lined with photos, gig posters, and old set lists. Her favourite drink was the Rickstasy, vodka, banana liqueur, Southern Comfort, and Baileys. A bit too sweet for my liking, so I stuck to a wine. 📍 The Good Mixer on Inverness Street is another of her locals, a no-frills pub where she played pool and first met Blake. 📍 The Dublin Castle on Parkway was where she played some of her earliest gigs alongside Madness and Oasis. Her bronze statue stands in 📍 Stables Market, and there are at least five murals of her dotted around the area. I had to Google if the statue was life-sized, because it struck me how petite it was, and it was. If you want to do the Amy Winehouse trail properly, there are guided pub tours that take you through the key locations with a drink included at each stop.
Beyond the Amy Winehouse trail, Camden Lock itself is worth spending time around: the canal, the lock gates, the independent stalls, and the chaos of it all. Stables Market is the more atmospheric of the market areas, housed in the old horse hospital buildings. The food court at Camden Market is enormous and a good spot to sit down and eat properly rather than grazing as you walk.
LATE-AFTERNOON
Sky Garden
Tube back to 📍 Bank or 📍 Monument, and walk to the 📍 Sky Garden on Fenchurch Street. Try to book your slot for around 5.30pm. It’s the highest public garden in London, and completely free, but you must book in advance. Tickets are released every Monday morning three weeks ahead on the Sky Garden website. People do get turned away without a booking, so don’t risk it.
The views are extraordinary; the Thames, the Shard, the Gherkin, St Paul’s, and Tower Bridge are all from the same spot on the 35th floor of the Walkie Talkie building. One of the things that struck me was looking down at the Tower of London, nearly a thousand years old, sitting right there in the middle of a modern city skyline. It looks completely out of place, and that contrast is somehow more powerful than seeing it from the ground. Each timed ticket gives you one hour from entry.
EVENING
Bustronome
From 📍 Sky Garden, it’s a short walk to Victoria Embankment for 📍 Bustronome. I have had lunch on Bustronome, but the evening experience is a step up from the lunch. There are six courses rather than four, a glass of champagne included alongside wine pairing, and seeing London lit up after dark from the glass roof is completely different from the daytime version. The bus departs at 7.15pm from Coach Bay 40B on Victoria Embankment; arrive at least 15 minutes before. The whole experience runs until around 10pm, which means you step off having seen London by night, well fed and well watered, and the day is done.
Evening dinner without wine pairing is £120 per adult, £150 with. Book well in advance with Bustronome for dinner, it fills up fast, particularly at weekends. Or alternatively, you can book lunch below.
If Bustronome is outside your budget…
You can still enjoy an unforgettable dinner experience in London. Here are three great alternatives that offer something a little different for a fraction of the price.
Thames dinner cruise with live jazz
Three courses on the water, cruising past Big Ben, the London Eye, and Tower Bridge after dark.
Around £60-80 per person
Fawlty Towers Dining Experience
Three courses with live actors improvising the entire show around the room. Hilarious and completely unpredictable, no two nights are the same.
Around £70-80 per person
Dans Le Noir
Dinner in complete darkness, guided by visually impaired hosts, with a surprise menu you won’t know until afterwards. One of the most unusual dining experiences in London and significantly cheaper than Bustronome.
Around £60-100 per person
Staying a little longer?
Choose your day 4
If you’re spending 4 days in London, you will have covered all the major landmarks by now. Here are four different ways to spend your fourth day, depending on what you’re into.
THE NED FEAST & ST PAUL’S CATHEDRAL
The splash out Sunday
A Sunday well spent with incredible food, history, and one of London’s iconic buildings.
SHOREDITCH, CANARY WHARF, STRATFORD & HACKNEY WICK
The quirky East London day
Street art, markets, waterside views, and the London that Londoners actually live in.
HARRY POTTER LONDON & STUDIO TOUR
The geek day
Platform 9 3/4, the Warner Bros. Studio Tour, and the best Harry Potter spots in the city.
HARRODS, BOND STREET, LIBERTY & OXFORD STREET
The shopping day
Iconic department stores, designer shops, and some of the best shopping streets in the world.
The Splash Out Sunday, The NED Feast, and St Paul’s Cathedral
If your fourth day falls on a Sunday and budget isn’t a concern, then this is the one.
📍 The NED Feast is my recommendation for the best Sunday lunch in London. The building is the former Midland Bank headquarters designed by Edwin Lutyens. It has soaring ceilings, 92 African verdite marble columns, a black and white chequerboard floor, and walnut banking counters, which are now lined with restaurants. The downstairs vault appeared in the 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger, and the 20-tonne door is still there. It’s worth seeing even if you’re not eating.
The Feast itself was around £120 per person last we checked (it’s worth confirming current pricing on their booking page before you plan around it); it’s all you can eat and spread across the room in stations. There’s cold seafood including whole lobsters, rock oysters, and smoked salmon. There is a carved meats counter too. Then, on the other side, there is a full Sunday roast with all the trimmings. There’s a cheese section, and the dessert counter is extraordinary. There’s also a live jazz band throughout. It’s expensive, but it’s worth every penny. I would book well in advance, it’s one of the hardest Sunday reservations to get in London.
From The NED, 📍 St Paul’s Cathedral is a five minute walk away. If you’d like to attend a service, worship at St Paul’s is free. Check the service schedule before you go. A sightseeing visit, including access to the visitor areas, requires a ticket, currently around £25 for adults. The building is one of Christopher Wren’s great masterpieces and was completed in 1710. Inside, the scale hits you immediately. If you’re lucky enough to be there while the Grand Organ is being played, over 7,000 pipes in an instrument that Bernard Smith was originally contracted to build in 1694 (substantially rebuilt since), the sound it makes in that space is unlike anything else I have ever heard. It’s one of those unexpectedly moving moments you don’t plan for.
The quirky East London day, Shoreditch, Canary Wharf, Stratford, and Hackney Wick
This is the day for seeing the London that Londoners actually live in. You can take the DLR for most of it as it runs above ground through some of the most interesting urban landscapes in the city, and the views alone are worth it.
Morning – Shoreditch
Start in 📍 Shoreditch, where London’s creative energy has lived for the past twenty years and shows no signs of moving on. There is street art covering almost every surface. 📍 Brick Lane and the surrounding streets have some of the most concentrated outdoor art in Europe, much of it by internationally recognised artists. The 📍 Sunday Upmarket and 📍Columbia Road Flower Market both run on Sundays and are worth building a morning around if your timing allows. There are vintage fashion shops, independent food stalls, record shops, and cool coffee shops. If you wanted to spend an evening here, I can recommend Gloria, part of the Big Mamma group, which I cover in more detail in my Girls Weekend London guide. There’s also a 📍 Box Park, which has some great vibes. My friends and I had a great evening there and chatted to so many locals.
Midday – Canary Wharf
From 📍 Shoreditch, there are various tube options that will get you to 📍Canary Wharf in around thirty minutes. Most visitors write Canary Wharf off as a corporate business district, with glass towers, suits, and nowhere interesting to eat. As someone who spends a lot of time in Canary Wharf, this couldn’t be further from the truth.
For lunch, 📍Market Halls is a food hall on the wharf bringing together some of London’s best independent vendors under one roof. There are two floors, with everything from burgers to sushi, craft beers, and cocktails. It’s great for groups who all want to eat different things. Then you’ve got one of my favourite places to eat, Roe. It’s the same team behind Fallow, with innovative modern British cooking in an impressive space, with a hydroponic garden on site that supplies the kitchen. It’s one of the best restaurants in Canary Wharf and one of the best lunches in London right now. I would book ahead, though, to secure a seat.
If you’ve ever seen people floating past in what looks like a hot tub and wondered what on earth is going on (like I have), that’s Skuna Boats. It’s a wood-fired hot tub on the water, heated to around 38 degrees, just cruising through the Docklands with up to eight people and a bottle of champagne. There’s a 20-minute induction before you set off, then 75 minutes on the water. It needs to be booked well in advance and requires a swimsuit, but it is one of the most surreal and enjoyable things you can do in London.
I am always partial to one of the Big Mamma restaurants, and there is one in Canary Wharf called Barbarella. The decor in this one is insane; it overlooks the water and is as good as the other Big Mamma restaurants. I’ve been for lunch, and the waterside terrace in summer is hard to beat.
Afternoon – Stratford and the Olympic Park
From 📍 Canary Wharf, the DLR to 📍Stratford takes around ten minutes. The 📍Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is the legacy of the 2012 Olympics, the 📍London Aquatics Centre, the 📍Velodrome and miles of parkland all on one site. West Ham United now play at the Olympic Stadium. 📍Westfield Stratford is one of the largest urban shopping centres in Europe if you want to combine a browse with the park. My friend once lived in the Olympic Village apartments, and it is fascinating to see how much this area has developed as a result of the olympics. We spent many a night on Hackney Wick, the next stop on this day…
Evening – Hackney Wick
📍 Hackney Wick is around a 20 minute walk or bus ride from Stratford and makes the logical end to this day. It’s post-industrial warehouses converted into street art spaces, canalside craft breweries, and some of the most interesting bars in London. It reminds me of the Baltic Market area in Liverpool. My friend once lived in the Olympic Village apartments, and it is fascinating to see this area develop
📍 Crate Brewery sits right on the canal and serves its own beer alongside wood-fired pizza. The canalside terrace on a warm evening is one of those London spots that feel completely removed from the city around it. 📍 Number 90 Bar and Kitchen is the go-to for waterside drinking with DJs and a proper bar menu. 📍Barge East is a 125-year-old converted Dutch barge on the canal that now serves as a restaurant, one of the most unusual places to eat in London. 📍All My Friends is a plant-filled bar and record shop where the playlist spans hip hop, neo soul, jazz funk, and house, a place you go for one drink and leave three hours later. 📍 Lord Napier Star is the original Hackney Wick pub, recently refurbished with street art covering the exterior and a cocktail menu inside.
Getting back – Uber boat
If you want to end the day in style rather than getting the tube, the Uber Boat by Thames Clippers runs from 📍Canary Wharf Pier back into central London until around 11.30pm on weekdays and 11.45pm at weekends. Hop back to Canary Wharf from Hackney Wick by DLR, board the boat and come into the city along the Thames at night, passing Tower Bridge, the South Bank, the London Eye and the Houses of Parliament all lit up. Tap your contactless card just as you would on the tube. It’s a far better end to the day than standing on a packed tube platform.
The Geek Day, Harry Potter
For the visitor whose entire reason for coming to London is the Wizarding World.
Start at King’s Cross Station. 📍 Platform 9¾ is there, the trolley disappearing into the wall, the official photo opportunity, and the 📍Harry Potter Shop beside it. The shop is designed to look like Ollivanders, packed with wands, house robes, sweets, and collectibles. Even if you don’t buy anything, it’s worth a look for the experience.
From King’s Cross, the 📍Warner Bros. Studio Tour in Watford is the main event. It’s around 20 minutes by train from 📍Euston to 📍Watford Junction, then a shuttle bus to the studios. You need to book well in advance; it sells out months ahead, particularly at weekends. If you want to make the most, I would allow a full four to five hours there. Everything you’ve ever seen in the films is there. There’s Diagon Alley, the Great Hall, the Forbidden Forest, and the original Hogwarts Express. When they opened the Great Hall doors at the beginning, it literally sent shivers down my spine. The studio shop at the end is fun, and it is hard not to spend a small fortune.
For Harry Potter shopping in central London, 📍House of Spells near Leicester Square is the best of the independent options; its décor and atmosphere evoke Diagon Alley, and it stocks wands, spellbooks, robes, and memorabilia from Harry Potter and other fantasy franchises. The unofficial shops near 📍Trafalgar Square are less recommended; they look the part, but quality and authenticity vary significantly.
Update for Potter fans: the UK’s first official Harry Potter flagship store opens on Oxford Street on 4th November 2026, deliberately timed to the 25th anniversary of the first film. Located at 134-140 Oxford Street, it’s a 21,000 square foot two-floor immersive retail experience inspired by Diagon Alley. With a full-sized Knight Bus, a Leaky Cauldron serving Butterbeer, and exclusive merchandise. If you’re visiting after that date, this replaces everything else for Potter shopping in London.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is also still running at the 📍 Palace Theatre, a ten-minute walk from the new Oxford Street flagship. It’s not something I have managed to see yet, but I hold all hope that my kids will love Potter just as much as I do, so when the time is right, I hope to take them. I read that Time Out gave it four stars.
The shopping day, Harrods, Liberty, and Oxford Street
For the visitor who has come specifically to shop.
📍 Harrods in Knightsbridge is the starting point. Go to look as much as to buy; the food halls are extraordinary, the building inside and out is like nowhere else, and even if the price tags aren’t for you, the experience of being in there is worth the detour. Grab a snack from the food hall rather than a full meal; I personally don’t think the prices match the quality for a sit-down restaurant there.
From Harrods, 📍 New Bond Street and the surrounding streets have the designer shops, Chanel, Cartier, Louis Vuitton, Burberry. It’s worth a walk even if you’re window shopping.
📍 Oxford Street is next, the full length of it if you want, or just the stretch around 📍 Oxford Circus. 📍 Liberty London is just off Oxford Street on 📍Great Marlborough Street and is worth going into regardless of whether you’re buying anything. The Tudor building alone, dark wood panelling, creaking floors, a maze of rooms across multiple floors, is one of the most distinctive interiors in London. Their own brand fabric and homeware are distinctive and make a brilliant gift to bring home. From 4th November, the Oxford Street Harry Potter flagship also sits on this stretch if the timing works.
📍 Carnaby Street is right next door, pedestrianised, with independent and boutique retailers, a different feel from the high street. 📍 Seven Dials in Covent Garden is the logical end point, with independent shops, good bars and restaurants, and a relaxed neighbourhood feel to end a shopping day on.
A few more day 4 ideas:
A museum day
London’s free museums are world-class. The Natural History Museum, the V&A, the British Museum, the Science Museum, and the National Gallery are all within easy reach of each other in South Kensington and Trafalgar Square. Check each one’s website beforehand; some recommend a free timed slot during busy periods, others let you walk straight in.
River day
If you didn’t do the Thames Clipper on Day 3, a morning boat from central London down to Greenwich is a brilliant way to see the city from the water. Greenwich itself has the Royal Observatory, the Cutty Sark, the National Maritime Museum, and a good market on weekends.
Football day
If you’re visiting during the season and can get tickets, a Premier League match is one of the most atmospheric things you can do in London.
Lunch on the go
The itinerary is packed, so here are the best quick lunch options to grab without losing half a day to sitting down. Pick whichever is closest to where you are that day.
Sandwich Sandwich
📍 Gresham Street (near St Paul’s), 📍 Mark Lane, City, or 📍 Tottenham Court, Soho
This is probably the most talked about sandwich shop in London right now. Originally from Bristol, they arrived in London and were named the best sandwich in the city by Time Out within days of opening. The portions are enormous; most people can only manage half at lunch. I have only tried their Christmas sandwich, which comes complete with its own pot of gravy, but the chicken Kyiv sandwich with caramelised onion chutney is the one that keeps coming up in reviews. I would come hungry. They were voted UberEats Restaurant of the Year in 2023. I’ve been, and the size alone makes it worth it. There’s always a queue out the door at lunchtime, so go early or late.
Rogue Sarnies
📍 Hackney
This is an East London cult favourite that started in a tiny conservatory on Hackney Road and has since expanded. The sarnies are wood-fired bread with bold fillings. Expect a 30-40 minute lunchtime queue. They’re more of a detour than a convenience stop, but worth it if you’re in that part of London.
Crunch
📍 Dean Street, Soho
Their viral fried chicken sandwiches on golden brioche with dill aioli consistently show up on London food TikTok posts, and for good reason. It’s a good idea if you’re in Soho and want something quick before an evening out.
The Black Pig
This is already in the itinerary for Day 1, but it’s worth repeating here. The slow roasted pork ciabatta with honey truffle mayo, parmesan, and fennel apple slaw has racked up hundreds of thousands of views on TikTok and consistently comes up as one of the best sandwiches in London. They’re in Borough Market and open every day except Monday.
Dusty Knuckle
📍 Dalston
This East London bakery has queues every weekend. Their giant focaccia sandwiches look incredible. They have a cult following that has nothing to do with marketing and everything to do with the food. Another one worth a detour if you’re in East London.
Borough Market generally
If you’re on the South Bank any day except Monday, Borough Market gives you an entire lunch on the go situation, without needing to commit to one place. Graze between stalls, eat standing up, and don’t leave without a Bread Ahead doughnut.
Where to eat and drink in London
London’s food scene is world-class and overwhelming if you don’t know where to start. Here’s everything organised by budget and occasion, with honest opinions from someone who eats here regularly.
One golden rule before anything else: book ahead. Walk-ins in central London are hard even on quiet nights. If you see somewhere you want to eat, book it before you go rather than hoping for the best on the day. Even now, on work trips, I get caught out when I haven’t planned ahead and end up standing on a pavement at 8pm with nowhere to go.
Pub culture, how it works and why it matters
One of the things that strikes you immediately in London, particularly around Soho, Covent Garden, and the South Bank on a warm evening, is the pavement drinking. People spill out of pubs onto the street with their pints, completely normal, completely accepted, and one of the things that makes London feel alive in a way that’s hard to manufacture.
A few things worth knowing before you walk into a pub. You order at the bar; there’s no table service unless you’re in a gastropub or restaurant. Find a seat or a spot first, then send someone to the bar. And if it’s a warm evening and the crowd has spilled onto the street, just join them.
It’s worth noting that Westminster City Council has periodically tried to crack down on pavement drinking in the West End, which has caused political pushback in the past, with both the Prime Minister and the London Mayor publicly defending the tradition. Whether anything actually changes is worth checking closer to your visit, but the fact that it’s caused that level of reaction tells you everything about how central pub culture is to London life.
London for first-timers FAQs
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