London is quite well connected, so even hotels a little out of the city centre should work well as long as they are close to a tube station. For example, basic-but-fine Premier Inn and Travelodge both have a number of central branches within walking distance of the city centre—including a new Premier Inn branch by Tate Modern—but there are also branches in Putney Bridge on the river (~30 minutes out from the centre on the District Line) or Kensington Olympia (a number of tube lines and buses from Earl's Court).
A smarter option is Shoreditch Rooms – a small number of hotel rooms which come with access to the private members' club Shoreditch House in one of London's youngest and most fashionable areas near Liverpool Street Station. Guests can use the rooftop pool and Cowshed Spa, and there are plenty of bars and restaurants, including Spitalfields Market nearby. This area would really make a nice base for a few days in London, so other hotels in the area would be worth considering too. The same enterprise (Soho House) also runs the lovely Dean Street Townhouse in the super central and lively Soho. More central than Shoreditch, this is the old red-light district and historically the centre of London's LGBT scene. It still maintains a slightly racy vibe but is now saturated with smart (and busy) mainstream bars, clubs and restaurants. Probably not the most peaceful setting but perfect for those seeking some night life and a central base! They also have a branch in the upmarket West London suburb of Chiswick which would be much more peaceful but require a 30minute-ish tube journey to reach the centre. If you do decide to stay in the Chiswick and Barnes area, try one or both of Charlotte's bistro in Chiswick and The Depot in Barnes, both of which are rather swanky and serve delicious food.
For those seeking to really blow the budget, the Corinthia is London's newest super-luxe hotel and is awesomely flashy (as viewed from the bar, anyway). It's well located by Parliament and Trafalgar Square for sight-seeing, although the immediate area isn't overflowing with restaurants and bars for evening activities – you may not get further than the brilliant Bassoon Bar inside the hotel. Or the Lanesborough has a suite of Bentleys and provides each guest with their own butler, apparently.
Other out-of-town areas that may work well for a base include Richmond and Greenwich. Both would require a fair journey into the city, but both should also be quite a lot more peaceful than the city centre.
Tower of London (and the Crown Jewels). Given that most London museums are free, this seems expensive at around £20pp (book ahead online for a small discount) but it is nicely interpreted with exhibitions exploring different aspects of the Tower's long history. It also houses the glitzy crown jewels, although be prepared to be whisked past on an electronic walkway to prevent overcrowding. A visit to the Tower combines well with food at St Katherine's Docks (Try the branch of Ping Pong there for ok dim sum), or a walk across Tower Bridge to the Butler's Wharf area, where there are some renovated old pubs on the backstreets and chain bars and restaurants on the waterfront. Pizza Express and Ask are both relatively reliable affordable chains – or La Pont de la Tour offers something more upmarket.[1] The Design Museum is nearby – it's worth a look in the shop for design-led souvenirs or gifts. Also close by is Vinopolis – a slightly odd wine tasting experience combined with mini-museum – it is heavily marketed but probably not one of London's finest features so may be best avoided. A gentle stroll from the Tower area would also bring you to Bermondsey street – see pub/restaurant recommendations below.
Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace. Parliament and Westminster Abbey are a stone's throw away from each other. UK citizens can arrange a free tour of Parliament through their MP, but the two main routes for overseas visitors to see inside the Houses of Parliament are to book a paid Guided Tour (Saturdays only) or to queue up on the day for a free opportunity to watch live debates in the House of Commons or Lords (Monday-Thursday). Those looking for an Iron Lady style debate will probably be disappointed (the best debate is during Prime Ministers' Questions but tickets are generally snapped up by Brits first), but if the queue is small, this would give you a chance to see the grand old interiors, which are quite striking. The Parliament website has digital tours if you want to see what to expect before parting with money or time. Overseas visitors are also allowed to enter the Palace of Westminster to watch the smaller scale Select Committee meetings (see calendar published here) so if there's a topic that interests you, this would give you an up-close opportunity to hear witnesses being grilled by MPs, and also to wander through the 16th century bits of the building on the way. You won't see inside the House of Commons or House of Lords if you do this, though.
Westminster Abbey is just the other side of Parliament Square, but at £18 to see inside, possibly a high price to see where Will and Kate got married. Food and drink options around Parliament Square are pretty limited – best to head up Whitehall (past Downing Street and Horseguard's Parade with some nicely uniformed men on horses) for a few decent pubs – including the Clarence and Walkers of Whitehall. This leads onto Trafalgar square, where the crypt café of St Martin's in the Field church is a nice lunchtime spot – service is canteen style, so expect to fight with fierce old ladies to get a table, but it's a beautiful and unusual spot with tasty hot food and sandwiches. There are also classical concerts from top ensembles, and jazz nights, supporting St Martin's wider charitable work (particularly with London's homeless). From Whitehall, you can also walk through Horseguard's Parade to St James's Park, one of London's prettier parks with lily-ponds and pelicans – and a nice way to approach Buckingham Palace. The State Rooms of the Palace are closed to visitors between February and August but there is a formal Changing of the Guard every other day – the schedule for spring will be published online shortly.
The South Bank, London Eye and the Tates. The South Bank of the Thames has a number of things worth seeing, with most of the attractions focused in the stretch between Parliament to the west and St Paul's Cathedral to the east. Starting at the Parliament end, the London Eye is super popular as a way to see London from above – although the views are obviously weather dependent so with tickets starting at £18, this isn't without risk. Alternative options for a bird's eye view of London include a no-frills ascent of Wren's Monument to the Great Fire of London for £3, a tour of the brand new Shard (tallest building in Western Europe) for £25, or dinner at the well-reviewed Sushi Samba at the Heron Tower in the city. Heading eastwards from the London Eye (avoid the immediate area which is unpleasantly touristy), you'll pass some decent chain cafes and restaurants – for the most original try the pop up branch of wahaca on top of the Queen Elizabeth Hall for fresh Mexican-style tapas food from a fairly young British venture. You'll also pass the Royal Festival Hall/Southbank Centre, National Theatre, and British Film Institute, all of which often have free daytime artsy sessions as well as concerts etc – see their websites for published schedules.
The Southbank Centre has a busy terrace bar and nice shop for arty knick-knacks. Continuing eastwards along the river, the bar in the BFI underneath Waterloo Bridge has a good range of cocktails and there's a book market outside most days. Further along you'll pass the Oxo Tower run by Harvey Nichols (great views from both the smart restaurant and cheaper-but-still-not-very-cheap brasserie). Keep threading along the riverside path to reach the Tate Modern – London's best collection of modern art, with most of the collection free to visit. From there, you can cross the pleasantly wobbly Millennium Bridge to reach St Paul's Cathedral. For those with more classical taste in art, walking West from the London Eye instead leads to the Tate Britain – free like its sister museum, but housing art from the 16th century onwards.
The National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery. Both situated in Trafalgar square, these are mainly free to visit (except some special exhibitions). The National Gallery's comprehensive European collection is well worth a look (Van Gogh's Sunflowers, Canaletto, Turner etc), and the 20th century galleries at the Portrait Gallery have lots of familiar faces – including Kate Middleton's new portrait! St Martin's in the Field café in the crypt (see above) is on the doorstep. Also nearby is Gordon's Wine Bar in Embankment – if you can get a table, the bar has a fantastic atmosphere. An alternative option to the National Gallery is the Royal Academy on Piccadilly. This very well endowed art gallery is currently running a large Manet exhibition which closes on 14 April.
The British Museum. Located near the Western end of Oxford Street, this is free to visit, with world-class collections including the Rosetta Stone and Elgin Marbles – but also some fantastically creepy old mummies and lots of temporary exhibitions. A recent renovation has created an airy glass-ceilinged central lobby, which makes a nice spot for a coffee. The unusual Princess Louise Pub (see below) is within walking distance too.
Afternoon tea. Most of London's hotels offer a formal afternoon tea. The Department store Fortnum & Mason does a nice version in its elegant dining room – although there's also a less formal café on the ground floor too (surely it's the same food?). The store makes pleasant browsing and has some nice gift ideas too. Claridges, The Berkeley, the Athanaeum and the Langham are also well reviewed for their afternoon teas. Book ahead as the big places get booked up well in advance – and beware of dress codes. Lastminute.com has discounted deals for many of the main hotels.
Greenwich. A leafy and historical area of London, a few miles east from the centre. The nicest way to reach Greenwich is to take the boat past the Tower of London and Tower Bridge – either the standard commuter services [2], or the guided tour boats [3], both of which can be boarded at Westminster. Greenwich has some well-maintained museums – including the Royal Observatory (exhibitions on the history of time/navigation and a planetarium) and the National Maritime Museum – and some 17th century architecture, notably Christopher Wren's Naval College and Inigo Jones's Queen's House. You can walk up the hill in Greenwich Park for a bit of exercise and great views of London. There's also the Cutty Sark, a rare 19th century tea clipper that has been restored to her original condition and turned into a shiny visitor attraction in a dry dock by the river. The town itself is pretty relaxed and a bit scruffy in places (lots of young professionals/students live here) – there are more independent shops than elsewhere in London, plenty of cafes and bars, and a covered market Tuesday to Sunday. Afternoon tea in the Fan Museum (Tuesdays and Sundays only – book ahead) is served in a Georgian Orangery and is apparently very popular.
South Kensington, Knightsbridge and Hyde Park. Newly pedestrianised South Kensington is London's museum capital, with the Natural History Museum (dinosaurs, fossils etc), the V&A (decorative arts, design, jewellery) and the Science Museum (hands-on displays, space galleries, Stephenson's Rocket etc) all free to visit and within walking distance of each other. Queues are long at the weekend, especially for the NHM, so arrive early (doors open at 10am) to avoid the worst. All have special exhibitions too – check websites for details and to book tickets in advance. The best "grown up" café among these is in the V&A – great for teas and cakes, although there is hot food, salads and decent sandwiches too. Cafes in the NHM and Science Museum are more family-focused. Also in walking distance is Hyde Park where you can hire bikes or check out the Serpentine Gallery for contemporary art. Alternatively, head east from Exhibition Road to Knightsbridge for a look round gaudy Harrods. Further along, Harvey Nichols often has great window displays.
Camden, Regent's Canal, Regent's Park and London Zoo. These are all situated North of the city centre. Billed as London's "alternative" area, Camden has plenty of grungy teenagers but also some great music venues (see schedules for the Electric Ballroom, Proud Camden and the Roundhouse) as well as Camden Locks, and canal-side markets with a huge range of stalls and loads of cafes, restaurants and bars. A nice place to kill some time browsing through shops. Regent's Park is also in walking distance – with a large boating lake and some elegant rose gardens, and the massive London Zoo (£20pp entry). Canal boats travel between Camden, Regent's Park and the picturesque restaurants and bars of "Little Venice" near Edgware Road. Services pass through the zoo, and give a chance to glimpse the animals for free.[4]
A walk along the river. If you're ready for a walk, strolling along the Thames from Hammersmith to Barnes Bridge (30 mins), or from Putney to Barnes Bridge (1hr) can be lovely – especially if the weather is nice. There are plenty of pubs to pop into along the way. To reach the river at Putney, either take the train to Putney train station (trains run from Waterloo), walk down the high street and left onto the river path, or take the District Line to Putney Bridge and cross the river. You're aiming to head westwards along the south side of the Thames. Once you reach Hammersmith cross over the bridge and walk up the north side of the river. Alternatively, head straight to Hammersmith by tube (District or Piccadilly lines), follow signs to Hammo bridge to reach the river, but stay on the same side (north side) and turn right onto the river front. At Barnes Bridge, you can either take the train directly back to Waterloo or a bus to Richmond. Favourite pubs are the Black Lion in Hammersmith and the White Hart in Barnes. The Dove claims to be one of the oldest pubs in London and has a nice old-fashioned bar with a conservatory overlooking the river.
Hampton Court Palace. Henry VIII's old home, and nice for those into Tudor History (or just interesting old buildings). Run by the same team as the Tower of London, it has audio guides, live interpretation etc. This is a bit of a way out of London – you can get there by an overland train out of Waterloo to Hampton Court (two trains per hour, journey time 35 minutes, Oyster cards accepted) or by a longish journey by river boat from Westminster. A visit here could be combined with a visit to Richmond or Kew Gardens, although getting full value out of both would probably make for quite a busy day!
Richmond and Kew Gardens. Both accessed on overland trains from Waterloo in c. 40 minutes. Richmond has up-market shops and cafes, and also has London's biggest park, with deer. From Richmond station, avoid the temptation to head right to the "Old Deer Park" (neither a park nor containing deer) and instead walk left through the town centre and climb uphill past some of London's most desirable houses for about 20 minutes to reach the huge Richmond Park. About half way up the hill, the Roebuck is a very ordinary pub with extraordinary views across the Thames (take your drinks out the front door and cross the road to sit on the benches overlooking the river). Inside Richmond Park the Georgian Pembroke Lodge has a café and toilets. Nearby Kew Gardens (train from Waterloo to Kew) has acres of plants and glasshouses, and a walkway experience with views over the treetops – entry is about £14, but gardening enthusiasts report it to be money well spent.
Windsor. Worth a visit if you have the time. It's an easy day trip with two direct trains each hour from Waterloo (train journey takes just over an hour). It's worth paying the expensive entrance fee into the castle and if you're lucky the queen might even be at home! For food we like the Browns by the river, or there are lots of pubs on the hill leading up to the castle. The town centre has some nice shops.
Hunterian Museum. Housing the collection of the Royal College of Surgeons, this two-room museum is free to visit (Tuesday-Saturday) and has some fairly gruesome and intriguing medical artefacts. Highlights include jars full of pickled body parts, and a human nervous system mounted whole as an aid for early surgeons. Not to everyone's tastes – but great for some. The Museum is tucked away behind Holborn Station and can be hard to find. Just across the square is Sir John Soane's house. Now converted to a museum, this is also free and merits a quick wander for a few architectural curiosities. Two great pubs are also nearby – both owned by the Yorkshire Sam Smith's enterprise.[5] The Princess Louise on High Holborn is worth checking out for its original 19th century gin-palace-style interior (plus a comfy upstairs area with sofas etc). Or by Chancery Lane tube station, the Cittie of Yorke is built on the site of one of London's oldest pubs, and retains a lot of charm including small Victorian booths in its dark wooded interior. Not a good choice for food, though, according to most reviews. For a less Dickensian feel in the same area, the Belgian Belgo Bierdrome on Kingsway is a fine option for drinks or food. The 5-7 p.m. set menu deal (mussels, roast chicken etc) is good value and the beer choice is vast.
The Medieval Banquet. The Tower-Bridge attraction that everyone loves to hate. Don't expect fine food or wine, but apparently it can be a lot of fun! In a similar vein, The Tiroler Hut in West London dishes up pretty dreadful German food, but with the help of a few overpriced Steins of beer and the entertainment (Sound of Music themed silly audience participation) it can make for a really fun night out for those in the right mood.
Decent bars and restaurants can be found in most areas and are probably too numerous to list individually – Time Out London publishes frequent reviews depending on your area. If anyone is after fine dining there are many Michelin stars about, and many of the starred restaurants offer set-menu lunch deals at a fraction of the tasting menu cost. Some need to be booked in advance – see the list. Brick Lane (tube to Aldgate East or Liverpool Street) is the centre of the Bangladeshi community in London. Most of the restaurants on Brick Lane itself are average quality (although you can negotiate with the bullying "street hosts" to get cheap deals or free alcohol included). Better quality food is at nearby Tayyabs (BYOB, make a reservation online to avoid the queue) or Café Spice Namaste. For Indian food outside this area, Dishoom's Shoreditch and Covent Garden branches seek to provide a "more authentic" Indian café experience and have some tasty food. Hoxton and Shoreditch are popular with the young artsy crowd (The White Cube gallery is here and worth a look in the daytime).
There's good Vietnamese food options at Kingsland Road (also known as the Pho mile), and local bar/clubs like the Hoxton Square Bar and Kitchen and Cargo are crammed with media/design types from surrounding offices. Nearby Smiths of Smithfields is a swish converted warehouse with progressively fancier restaurants on each floor. More centrally, Soho is packed with bars and restaurants – Cuban Floridita has salsa music and cocktails, or register online for the guest list at the Paramount Bar in Centre Point – it feels like you're entering an office block, but once inside a quick lift ride takes you to an classy and under-used bar and restaurant with 360° views across London. Drinks are pricey but with the altitude you might not need many.
Veggie options include the lovely Mildreds in Soho, hectic-but-wholesome Food for Thought in Covent Garden and classy The Gate which is further out in Hammersmith. Borough Market and London Bridge have some good food and drink options. Brindisa tapas is really scrummy, although with no bookings at the Borough branch queues can get long in the evening (they also own restaurants in Soho, south Kensington and Shoreditch). There's a fine pub opposite Brindisa, or cut behind London Bridge station to Bermondsey Street, where the Woolpack, Garrison and its sister café Village East are all good options for evening food/drink, brunch and Sunday roasts. There's also Zucca (Italian), Pizarro (spanish) and Jose (small, tapas). On the cultural side there is also another White Cube gallery here which exhibits usually-weird modern art.
There are concerts from top orchestras at the Royal Festival Hall / Queen Elizabeth Hall on the South Bank, and at the Barbican Centre, north of the river, all of which can be booked online. Tickets to Broadway-style shows in the West End are widely available in theatres, discount booths in Leicester Square and Westfield Shopping Centre, and online at lastminute.com for on-the-day tickets. The best deals tend to be at the official ticket booth in the centre of Leicester Square, which is where the main theatres sell off their spare tickets (check online for details of the day's haul, go in the morning, and expect to queue). Even better deals are to be had at the theatres themselves just before the show starts as they'll sell off any spare tickets for significantly reduced prices, but of course it's a risk.
For more cultural options, there's the English National Opera (near Trafalgar Square) or the Royal Opera House (Covent Garden). There are almost always cheap tickets to ENO at the tkts booths in Leicester Square. The Royal Opera House is also home to the Royal ballet, and the ballet is generally a much cheaper way of getting in to see something on the main stage.
Museums – particularly the Wellcome Collection – often have free evening events too.
A quick disclaimer: This guide has embedded links to the websites of many of the places we've recommended – but a good search engine should also throw up these websites (for example, if you're reading in hard copy). We've generally kept directions and descriptions to a minimum, so best to use this guide in conjunction with Google maps, a copy of the London tube map and a decent guidebook!
Public transport in London is largely reliable, comfortable and safe – pretty much everyone uses the tube, trains and buses, and although taxis can be more convenient at the end of a night, the network's good CCTV means safety isn't really a major issue. Transport for London (TfL) runs the tubes and buses and has an app and good website with route planners. If you're in London for more than a day, buy an Oyster card (£3 deposit). This card is accepted on all tubes, buses and trains in the capital[6] and makes travel much more simple (and cheaper). Unless you're here for a week[7] or more, just load the Oyster card periodically with cash and use it on a pay-as-you-go basis – this way, your travel costs will automatically be capped once you reach the price of a day travelcard.
London's Boris Bikes can now be hired instantly by anyone with a credit/debit card. Banks of these blue bikes can be found throughout London – particularly in parks and by tube stations. On your first trip, use the touch screen terminal next to the bikes to pay an access fee (£2 for 24 hours, £10 for 7 days), and you'll receive a code that lets you pick up bikes from any of the docks across London. As long as you dock the bike within 30 minutes of taking it (this can be in another place), you won't pay any further charges. The bikes are intended for short-ish journeys – use the bike for more than 30 minutes at a time, and you'll pay an additional charge, which is £1 for the first hour, and increases exponentially thereafter.
The main shopping street is Oxford Street, but other useful shopping options include Covent Garden, Spitalfields Market, Camden etc. There are also two huge (by UK standards) indoor shopping centres owned by the Westfield group in Shepherd's Bush (West) and Stratford (East).
Most shops/restaurants/pubs use chip and pin debit/credit cards rather than swipe cards – to trick a machine into letting you swipe instead you need to try inserting the card 3 times, on the fourth it should let you swipe.
Train travel. Train tickets bought at least 24 hours in advance can be significantly cheaper than those bought on the day. East Coast Trains has a great website for booking trains (Hannah's brother-in-law Mark works for the company). Search for your route and date, then select the ticket price range, then the train time you wish. Note that some cheaper options require you to select a specific train time for your ticket to be valid, and some options require a particular train route/train operating company. You will need to create an account to buy the ticket, select that you want to pick the ticket up at the departure station, then write down the booking reference number and take the credit/debit card you used to the station as both will be needed to print from the ticket machine.
Heading West. Oxford university (even the Lonely Planet agrees that Cambridge is prettier so why bother?!), Bath (Spa town with Georgian architecture), and the hills of Wales.
Heading South. Chartwell house in Kent (Churchill's house), Hever Castle (childhood home of Anne Boleyn), Battle Abbey (site of the Battle of Hastings), Brighton beach, Dover Castle and the white cliffs of Dover, Eastbourne beach and Beachy Head.
Heading North. Ely Cathedral; York Minster, Viking museum and walled city; Edinburgh Castle and the highlands of Scotland.
Written by Alison Conboy, with help from Becky Henderson and Andrew Naish
1 – Keep an eye on the offers section of the website for occasional deals.
2 – An Oyster card will get you a discount, but you'll need to pay extra to use these boats on top of the capped daily rate for tube/bus/train travel
3 – For the guided tours there are a few competing operators, so just show up at the pier (North side) and take your pick.
4 – These canal boats aren't affiliated with Transport for London, but there are a few options: London Waterbus Company, The Electric Barge and Jason's Trip.
5 – This means they only serve Sam Smiths drinks, though (not that this should be a problem!)
6 – Oyster cards are accepted on overland trains in central and outlying areas of London like Richmond, Hampton Court etc. Trips outside of London (to Cambridge, Oxford etc) require a paper train ticket.
7 – If you are in London for a week and travelling every day, load your Oyster card with a weekly travel pass, which is cheaper than seven daily costs
