For travellers
London · United Kingdom
Two thousand years of city, most of the best museums free, and a park always within ten minutes' walk.
London is enormous and endlessly divisible, so treat it as a collection of villages rather than a single city. The good news for a visitor: the great museums cost nothing, the parks are extraordinary, and the transport system will take you anywhere with one tap. Walk between central sights — they are closer together than the map suggests.
6 things worth building a day around in London.
Photo: Wikimedia1From Westminster to Tower Bridge along the river: the Eye, the National Theatre, Tate Modern, Borough Market and the Globe, all on one path.
Local tip: Cross the Millennium Bridge towards St Paul's — the view along it was designed to frame the dome.
2 hours · free
Photo: Wikimedia2Eight million objects and free admission, under Norman Foster's glass-roofed Great Court. The Rosetta Stone is thirty seconds from the entrance.
Local tip: Pick three galleries and accept you will not see the rest. Late openings on Fridays are much quieter.
2–3 hours · free
Forty-odd theatres in half a square mile, many in Victorian houses that are worth the ticket by themselves.
Local tip: The TKTS booth in Leicester Square sells genuine same-day discounts; theatre websites release day seats each morning.
Evening · £25–150
A thousand-year-old market under railway arches at London Bridge, and the best single hour of eating in the city.
Local tip: Weekdays are far more pleasant than Saturdays. Go hungry and buy from three stalls rather than one.
1 hour · £10–20
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Photo: Wikimedia5Hyde Park, Regent's Park, Hampstead Heath or Richmond — the last with actual wild deer and the best view back at the skyline.
Local tip: Hampstead Heath's swimming ponds are open year-round, and Kenwood House at the top is free.
Half a day · free
Not a chain: a Victorian corner house with etched glass, a fireplace and cask ale served at cellar temperature.
Local tip: Order at the bar; nobody will come to your table. A Sunday roast in a good pub is one of the city's great meals.
Evening · £6–8 a pint
The dishes and places that make London taste like itself.
Britain's national cuisine by adoption. Tooting, Southall and Whitechapel do it better than the tourist strips.
The greasy-spoon café is a disappearing institution. Find one and order the set breakfast with a mug of tea.
Beef, Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes, gravy. Book — the good pubs fill by 1pm on a Sunday.
Which part of London suits the trip you are taking.
Riverside walks, theatres, markets
Best for: First-timers, walkability
Street art, nightlife, food scene
Best for: Younger travellers, nightlife
Elegant, museums, the famous market
Best for: Couples, families, culture
Markets, music, canal-side buzz
Best for: Music lovers, value
AD 43
The Romans found Londinium on the Thames; the bridge site determines the shape of the city for two thousand years.
1066
William the Conqueror is crowned at Westminster Abbey and begins the Tower of London.
1666
The Great Fire destroys most of the medieval City; Christopher Wren rebuilds St Paul's and fifty parish churches.
1863
The Metropolitan Railway opens — the world's first underground railway.
1940–41
The Blitz destroys vast areas of the East End and the City; the rebuilding shapes modern London.
2000s–now
Docklands and the Olympic Park transform the east, and the population passes its pre-war peak.
The London Underground opened in 1863 and is the oldest underground railway in the world — though only around 45% of it is actually underground.
More than 300 languages are spoken in London, more than in any other city.
The national museums — the British Museum, the National Gallery, Tate Modern, the V&A, the Natural History Museum — are free because of a policy that has held since 2001.
Almost 40% of Greater London is green space, and it is officially classified as a National Park City.
Big Ben is the bell, not the tower; the tower is the Elizabeth Tower.
Not a schedule — a shape for the days, clustered so you are not crossing London twice.
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Tap a contactless card or phone at the gate — no ticket, no Oyster card needed — and the fare caps daily and weekly. Buses are cheaper and better for sightseeing. Central London sights are closer together than the Tube map implies; walk where you can.
May to September has the best weather and the longest days — light until 9pm in June. December is dark and cold but the city does Christmas exceptionally well. It rains less than the reputation but more often than you would like.
Museums are free, which changes the maths considerably. Theatre £25–150, a pint £6–8, a good dinner £30–60. Service is often included on restaurant bills — check before adding more.
The Underground, tapping in with a contactless card or phone. There is a daily and weekly fare cap, so no travelcard is needed. Buses are cheaper and better for seeing the city.
Yes. The British Museum, National Gallery, Tate Modern, V&A and Natural History Museum all have free general admission. Special exhibitions are ticketed.
Four is a good first visit. Cluster by area — river one day, museums and parks another, east London a third — rather than criss-crossing the city.
For the biggest shows, yes. Otherwise the TKTS booth in Leicester Square sells same-day discounted seats, and most theatres release cheap day seats each morning.
Ninety nights a year is the hard ceiling for entire-home lets in Greater London — and your lease may set a lower one at zero.
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