[LONDON] — I’ve been to London four or five times. Sometimes just a couple of days on business, sometimes a long weekend to meet friends, sometimes just an overnight to catch a flight elsewhere. There are lots and lots of good London guides, so I won’t go into much detail here, just think of this post like an old postcard rack at the train station — look for places that look good, then go find them. These are all my favorite places in London.

There are plenty of good guides to London, so I won’t go into much detail here. Just think of this post like a cluttered old postcard rack at the train station. Look for places that look good to you, then go find them.

This is no way a comprehensive list of London things, just all my favorite places in London.

Get Wowed at British Museum

There are museums, and then there is the British Museum. One of the best in the world. It has something for everyone and room for everyone to find something. I almost love museums for how they are designed as much as what they contain. My favorite part is how they melded the old with the new in creating a modern expansion years ago. This atrium is just breathtaking.

Come see all the stuff the British stole! jk. There are things from all over the world, all in one place, including the world famous Elgin Marbles in the Parthenon Room, which were brought here to “protect them”, but will probably be forced to return to the new Acropolis Museum in Athens someday soon.

Come Hungry to Borough Market

A perfect cloudy afternoon thing to do in London is to go walk among the stalls of Borough Market. Tucked under a viaduct and carved out of various nooks and crannies, the Borough is just a great place to while away a morning, then head out to see other sites around central London.

Go early and beat most of the crowds.  

There’s something for everyone in Borough Market, most of it prepared food, not just veg.

The Most Beautiful Flower Shop, In Borough Market

Check the listings, this might be closed now. If it is, this is its memorial.

Fill Up at Monmouth Coffee in Borough Market

And make sure you check out Monmouth Coffee, some of the best coffee I’ve had.  The lines are long (for a reason) but their system moves you fast. So don’t fear the line. Grab a cup, have a walk ’round.

Take The Tube, Everywhere

The streets in London date back to Roman times, then medieval times and so getting around is like a mouse maze. But the best way to get anywhere is The Tube. Get used to the map, it is your friend and it can take you everywhere. It’s super clean, the stations are works of art and everyone keeps quiet and doesn’t invade other people’s space. So shut up, get on and get to where you need to go.

You’ll see the name Transport for London in lots of places, that’s the administration that oversees all modes of transport.

Chill Out in the Perfect London Parks

There are so many amazing parks in London, all spotless and trimmed down to the metre. I’ve only been able to make it to a few, but I could spend a whole week just exploring all the amazing spaces. Definitely make the trek out to the farther ones, everyone says the views are the best.

Here are a couple right in the heart of things and easy to get to. They’re all like paintings, so perfect. In addition to these, there’s Hyde Park, and everyone raves about the amazing views from Parliament Hill in Hampstead Heath overlooking all of London as well as Primrose Hill, like from the song. And the wild stags and forests in Richmond Park.

Look for Kate in Beautiful Kensington Gardens

Kensington Gardens used to be part of Kensington Palace, but now open to the public.

Wonder at the Views in St. James’s Park

St. James Park is right behind Buckingham Palace, so very easy to duck into. This is where The Mall and all the parades pass through, so always some fun things to see and horses to clop by.

Catch the Cavalry in Horse Guards Parade

Horse Guards Parade is where the action happens. Right behind where all the people try to make Horse Guards break, this vast pea gravel parade ground is just stunning. You’ve seen it on TV during all the trooping and such. God, I love pea gravel and this is one of the best specimens I’ve seen, it’s like they ironed it, not a pebble out of place. Go scrunch around in it.

Oogle How the Other Half Lives in Mayfair

Go to Mayfair, just walk ’round, ‘ave a look up at the fancy houses and the supercars nonchalantly parked on the street. This is where people you don’t know live. I believe the most expensive place on earth. Even more amazing that this is all owned by a single family and now the young Duke of Westminster, the richest guy in England. That would be nice to say: “Yeah, you know Westminster? I own all that.”

Get Lost in SoHo

You know all about SoHo, it’s as cool as its history. Everything is here, including great shops, the best restaurants and the coolest streets and pubs. Just go get lost.

Seek Out The Pump That Changed History

Here me out on this. Before 1854, the world thought people got sick because of “bad air”, breezes on your neck and other wives tales. Understood because London was a mess back then, everyone burning coal, open sewers drained into the Thames, over crowded immigrant housing and people just dumping dead horses into the rivers and wells.

Then a big cholera outbreak hit and wiped out a huge swath of the population. John Snow, a doctor, started plotting on a map where people were dying and found that the most people were drinking from the same common well and discovered it was fouled water that made everyone sick. There were dead bodies in the well, rotting. He removed the pump handle to stop everyone from using it and cholera dropped drastically. That discovery changed medicine forever.

From then on, germs and clean water were the known culprits and changed everything about cities. It was detailed in this fantastic NY Times Bestseller book called The Ghost Map, one of my favorites. And so you can just stumble upon, as I did, this famous, nondescript handle-less pump in the middle of a busy street. You should have heard me shriek when I accidentally bumped into it.

Be Humbled at the Churchill War Rooms

This unassuming place is my favorite in London. Quite famous, too. The nondescript Churchill War Rooms. One of the best museums in London. A secret underground bunker where all of Churchill’s staff hid out and planned Britain’s response to WWII. Very cool tour and everything preserved as it was during the war. Definitely go here. It features prominently, almost a central character in the fantastic movie The Darkest Hour.

It’s small, so book ahead.

Blow Your Mind at the Tate Modern

The Tate. That’s all you need to know. Go there. A fantastic museum built in an old powerplant, as only London does best. You never know what’s going to be there, but always mind-blowing.

 Walk Along The Thames and Bankside Down to Battersea Power Station

London is constantly reinventing itself. Enormous amounts of redevelopment, skyscrapers and residential areas have concentrated all along The Thames, including the massive new Battersea Power Station redevelopment, which looks just gorgeous. This formerly down-trodden area is now the place to be.

Hang Out in King’s Cross

The King’s Cross area has really bloomed since the eyesore I ran across in early 2001, this was industrial, cheap rents, abandoned rail tracks and warehouses. Then they build the St Pancras station that whisked people under the Chunnel to Paris and a huge real estate development built in reclaimed buildings and post-industrial chic. Tons of of open space, shops, restaurants and events. You can read about a couple places to go (below) in another post on London I made. Just go hang out here.

 

Have a Blast All Night at The Ned

The Ned is something else. A pretty huge 250 room boutique hotel in an abandoned and now mint-restored 1920s bank in the heart of The City, designed by and named after the famous architect Ned Lutyens.

It’s a partnership with the Soho House gang and the Sydell Group (owners of my fave NoMad hotel in New York, now renamed The Ned New York). But what’s really cool is the gigantic 3,000 sq meter bank lobby, the Grand Banking Hall, filled with eight classic restaurants nestled in all the old wood teller stations.

A band plays on a raised platform in the center, so you can hear and see the music from all over. The bands change about every hour. It’s a world unto its own and you don’t even need to leave the place, you just move from one place to the next. Here’s a big post I made on the hotel and all the restaurants.

— Last Visited 2001, March 2007, March 2011, December 2018; Post Updated July 2024 ––

More Information on What to Do in London

Here’s a Google Map I made that you can save to your phone. It shows all of these places on a map. One of my favorite Instagram accounts is Living London History. Fantastic account, website and if you go to London, you should hire Jack as a fun guide. He knows all the cool and quirky things in London.

Here’s a great page on cool things by London’s postal code. Here’s the official Visit London website.