The Tower of London
Nine hundred years of fortress, prison and palace, with the Crown Jewels inside and the Beefeaters' tour bringing the executions to life. Go at opening before the coach parties.
£35, book aheadThe City & Bankside
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Everything about LondonThings to do, other areas, day trips, weather
Things to do — all 15
Westminster Abbey & Big Ben
The abbey where every coronation since 1066 has happened, with the poets and kings buried under your feet — and Big Ben and Parliament right outside. The abbey needs a ticket; the view is free.
£29 abbeyWestminster & the South BankThe British Museum
The Rosetta Stone, the Parthenon marbles, and an attic of the world under one great glass roof — and it's free. Pick two rooms and don't attempt the rest.
FreeSoho & Covent GardenBuckingham Palace & the Changing of the Guard
The Queen's — now King's — front door, with the bearskin-hatted guard changing to a brass band. Check the days it runs and get there early for a spot on the railings.
Free to watchWestminster & the South BankTower Bridge
The one everyone thinks is London Bridge — Victorian, blue and gold, and still lifting for tall ships. Walk the glass-floored high walkway, or just photograph it from the north bank.
£12 walkway, free outsideThe City & BanksideThe London Eye
A slow half-hour turn on the giant wheel for the whole city laid out along the river. Touristy and not cheap — book a timed slot at dusk and it earns it.
£33, book aheadWestminster & the South BankSt Paul's Cathedral
Wren's great dome, survivor of the Blitz — climb the 528 steps to the Golden Gallery for the best paid-for view in the City. The Whispering Gallery on the way is the party trick.
£25The City & BanksideThe National Gallery & Trafalgar Square
Van Gogh's Sunflowers, Turner, and eight centuries of painting — free — above the lions and fountains of Trafalgar Square. An hour inside, then a coffee on the steps.
FreeWestminster & the South BankTate Modern
A power station turned temple of modern art, free, with a top-floor view back across the river to St Paul's. Cross the wobbly Millennium Bridge to reach it.
FreeThe City & BanksideBorough Market
London's best food market under the railway arches — cheese toasties, fresh oysters, and free samples down every aisle. Go hungry, go before noon, avoid the weekend crush.
£6–10 a biteThe City & BanksideCovent Garden
A cobbled piazza with street performers under the old market's glass roof, boutiques around the edges, and the Opera House next door. Touristy, pretty, and good for a wander.
Free to wanderSoho & Covent GardenThe Natural History Museum
A cathedral to nature — the blue whale hanging in the great hall, dinosaurs, and a building as good as its contents. Free, and the best rainy-day plan in London.
FreeSouth Kensington & ChelseaPortobello Road, Notting Hill
The world's biggest antiques market down a street of pastel houses — busiest and best on Saturday. Come for the bric-a-brac, stay for the prettiest streets in London.
Free to browseNotting Hill & BayswaterSky Garden at sunset
A glass jungle on top of a City skyscraper with the best free view in London — the Eye, the Shard, the river, all of it. Book a free slot weeks ahead, or try the bar.
Free, book aheadThe City & BanksideA West End show
London does theatre better than anywhere — a musical or a play in a gilded old house off Shaftesbury Avenue. Grab a same-day discount at the TKTS booth in Leicester Square.
£30–90Soho & Covent Garden
Other areas to stay
Prices are relative to United Kingdom, a expensive country.
1/4
The postcard centre
The centreWestminster & the South Bank
The London of the postcards — Big Ben, the Eye, the river walk, and half the big sights on foot. Busy and not cheap, but you step out of the door into it.
£240–420/ night
high for the country · typical
What’s here
- Westminster Abbey & Big Ben
- Buckingham Palace & the Changing of the Guard
- The London Eye
- The National Gallery & Trafalgar Square
1/3
Nightlife & theatres
5 min · 1.5 kmSoho & Covent Garden
The West End — theatres, restaurants shoulder to shoulder, and bars that don't quit. Loud, central and brilliant if being in the thick of it is the point.
£240–420/ night
high for the country · typical
What’s here
- The British Museum
- Covent Garden
- A West End show
1/6
Historic City & river
8 min · 2.5 kmThe City & Bankside
Two thousand years of London in a square mile — the Tower, St Paul's, and across the river the Tate, the Globe and Borough Market. Quiet at weekends when the bankers leave.
£140–240/ night
mid for the country · typical
What’s here
- The Tower of London
- Tower Bridge
- St Paul's Cathedral
- Tate Modern
- Borough Market
- Sky Garden at sunset
Smart & museum-rich
12 min · 4 kmSouth Kensington & Chelsea
Grand white stucco, the big free museums on the doorstep, and expensive calm. Safe, leafy and a little sleepy at night — the easy, grown-up base.
£240–420/ night
high for the country · typical
What’s here
- The Natural History Museum
Leafy & local
15 min · 5 kmNotting Hill & Bayswater
Pastel houses, garden squares and Portobello Road — pretty, residential and quiet after dark, with Hyde Park at one end. Better value than the centre and a short Tube in.
£140–240/ night
mid for the country · typical
What’s here
- Portobello Road, Notting Hill
Worth knowing: No beach, obviously — but Brighton's beach is an hour away by train, and the Thames does the job at sunset.
Day trips
Windsor
Site40 min away
The oldest occupied castle in the world, still a royal home, in a pretty riverside town. Do it in a half-day and be back for dinner.
Mid · £12 each wayMid price for this country, £12 each way
Train from Paddington or Waterloo
Oxford
City1 hr away
The dreaming spires — honey-coloured colleges, punts on the river, and the halls where Harry Potter and half of Britain's prime ministers were filmed and formed.
Mid · £15–25 each wayMid price for this country, £15–25 each way
Train from Paddington or Marylebone
Bath
City1 hr 25 min away
A whole Georgian city in golden stone, built around Roman baths you can still stand in. The most beautiful day trip from London, and worth an overnight if you can.
Mid · £25–45 each wayMid price for this country, £25–45 each way
Train from Paddington
Brighton
Beach1 hr away
London-on-Sea — a pebble beach, a Victorian pier, and the batty Royal Pavilion, plus the Lanes for junk shops and lunch. The city's favourite day at the seaside.
Mid · £15–30 each wayMid price for this country, £15–30 each way
Train from Victoria or London Bridge
Weather & about
Best time to go
May, June and September — the longest days, the parks at their best, and the least rain London manages.
Cheapest: January and February — cold and dark, but hotel prices drop and the (free) museums are empty.
Pick your dates above and we’ll tell you exactly what the weather does then.
August
23° / 14°C
Some rain
Good time to go- Best weather
- May, June and September — the longest days, the parks at their best, and the least rain London manages.
- Best value
- January and February — cold and dark, but hotel prices drop and the (free) museums are empty.
- Best events
- December — Christmas lights down Regent Street, ice rinks, and the city at its most festive.
London isn't one city, it's a few dozen villages that grew into each other and never quite agreed to match. That's the charm: a royal palace, a Roman wall, the world's best free museums, and a thousand pubs, all stitched together by the Tube. It's grey more often than not and it's expensive — but nowhere packs in more, and the good stuff (the parks, the galleries, the river at dusk) costs nothing.
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