Give London four days and walk the centre in slices. Devote one to the City and the Tower, one to Westminster and the South Bank, one to the museum quarter in South Kensington, and one to a market and a neighbourhood you have never heard of. The national museums charge nothing for their permanent collections, so the budget goes on food, theatre and the two or three ticketed sights that genuinely earn it.
London is not one city and never pretends to be. The square mile of the City empties at the weekend, Soho fills, and the residential villages the map calls boroughs each run their own high street, their own market day and their own accent. The useful strategy is to stop trying to see it all. Pick two areas a day, walk between them, and let the Tube handle only the long hops.
Landmark· St Katharine's & Wapping, London EC3N 4AB
Nearly a thousand years of fortress, prison, mint and palace on one riverside site, and the most complete surviving example of an eleventh-century fortress palace in Europe. Arrive at opening and go straight to the Crown Jewels before the queue forms, then double back for the White Tower and the wall walk. The Yeoman Warder tours are included and are the best hour of the visit.
Museum· Great Russell St, Bloomsbury, London WC1B 3DG
Eight million objects and a glass-roofed Great Court that works as a landmark in its own right. Entry to the permanent collection costs nothing, which changes how you use it: come twice for an hour each rather than once for four. The Egyptian and Assyrian galleries draw the crowds, so start upstairs and work down.
The coronation church since 1066 and the burial place of monarchs, poets and scientists, packed into a space that rewards looking up. It forms a UNESCO World Heritage site with the Palace of Westminster next door. Come on a weekday morning, and check the day's services first: the abbey closes to sightseers around them.
A wholesale market since the middle ages and now the most serious food hall in the city, sitting under the railway arches beside Southwark Cathedral. Weekdays are for buying (cheese, bread, produce). Saturday is for eating standing up and accepting the crush. Go hungry and skip breakfast.
A decommissioned power station turned into the best-sited modern art museum in Europe. The Turbine Hall installation is the reason to check what is on before you go, and the Blavatnik Building viewing level puts the river and St Paul's in one frame. The permanent collection is free.
Wren's dome survived the Blitz and still sets the shape of the City skyline. The climb matters more than the floor: the Whispering Gallery, then the Stone Gallery, then the Golden Gallery at the top for the best view of the river bend. It is a working cathedral, so sightseeing hours are shorter than you expect.
Created in 1759, inscribed by UNESCO in 2003, and home to more than 50,000 living plants, the largest and most diverse botanical collection anywhere. It is a half day rather than an afternoon: the Palm House, the Temperate House and the treetop walkway are spread across 300 acres. Best in late spring, when the whole place is doing something.
A faithful reconstruction of the open-air playhouse, a few hundred metres from where the original stood. Standing in the yard as a groundling is the cheapest ticket in London theatre and by far the best way to see it: no roof, no seat, and the actors working the crowd. The outdoor season runs through the warmer months.
Eight hundred acres of unmanicured heath in north London, which is exactly what separates it from the royal parks. Parliament Hill holds the protected view south over the whole skyline, and the swimming ponds run year round for people who mean it. Walk up from Hampstead village and come down through Kenwood.
Longitude zero, fixed here as the world standard in 1884, on a hill above the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage site. Come by river rather than rail: the boat down from Westminster is half the point, and the observatory, the Cutty Sark and the National Maritime Museum sit within ten minutes of each other at the far end.
Four is the honest minimum for a first visit: one for the City and the Tower, one for Westminster and the South Bank, one for the South Kensington museums, and one for a market and a neighbourhood. Five lets you add a day trip without rushing the rest.
Are London's museums really free?+
The permanent collections of the national museums are, and have been since December 2001. That covers the British Museum, the National Gallery, the V&A, the Natural History and Science Museums, Tate Modern and Tate Britain, and the Imperial War Museum. Temporary exhibitions at all of them are ticketed separately.
What is the cheapest way to pay for the Tube and buses?+
Tap a contactless bank card or phone at the gate. Daily and weekly capping is applied automatically, so you never pay more than the equivalent travelcard would have cost, and there is nothing to buy in advance. Buses take no cash, only contactless or Oyster.
When is the best time to visit London?+
May, June and September. You get long daylight, the parks at their best and the outdoor theatre season running, without the August crowds or school-holiday pricing. Winter is genuinely fine for museums and theatre, but the daylight is short.
Which sights need booking ahead?+
The ticketed ones, particularly the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Kew and anything at the Globe or in the West End. The free museums do not usually require it for their permanent collections, though some ask you to reserve a slot at busy times, so check the day before rather than on the way.
Collections
Best museums in London
Six that reward a return visit, and every one of them free to walk into.
Marching bands and floats from Piccadilly to Parliament Square.
Jan–Feb
Chinese New Year
Chinatown and Trafalgar Square host the largest celebration outside Asia.
Apr
TCS London Marathon
Greenwich to The Mall. The 2026 race ran on 26 April.
May
RHS Chelsea Flower Show
The Royal Hospital grounds turn into show gardens for a week.
Jun
Trooping the Colour
The King's Birthday Parade on Horse Guards, held on 13 June in 2026.
Jun–Jul
The Championships, Wimbledon
Grass-court tennis in SW19, with a public ballot and a daily queue.
Jul–Sep
BBC Proms
Eight weeks of concerts at the Royal Albert Hall, with standing tickets each night.
Aug
Notting Hill Carnival
Europe's largest street carnival over the August bank holiday, 30 and 31 August in 2026.
Getting around
London transport & airports
How to arrive and move around the city.
LHR
Heathrow
The main hub, 23 km west. The Elizabeth line reaches Paddington in around 25 minutes and carries on across the centre; the Heathrow Express is faster and costs more.
The three outlying airports, each served by a dedicated express train into Victoria, Liverpool Street and St Pancras. Budget 30 to 50 minutes on the train plus the transfer at the airport end.
The terminals fan out to the rest of Britain, and Eurostar runs to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam from St Pancras International. Book long-distance tickets in advance; walk-up fares are the expensive ones.
Tap in with a contactless card or phone on the Tube, buses, Overground, Elizabeth line and river boats. Daily and weekly capping applies automatically, so there is nothing worth buying in advance. Buses take no cash at all.
Beef or lamb, roast potatoes, gravy and a Yorkshire pudding, served in pubs from lunchtime until it runs out.
Fish and chips
Battered cod or haddock with thick-cut chips. Salt, vinegar, no ketchup.
Full English breakfast
Eggs, bacon, sausage, beans, mushroom, tomato and toast. Built to cover the whole morning.
Pie and mash
Minced beef pie, mashed potato and parsley liquor. An East End trade now down to a handful of shops.
Chicken tikka masala
Invented in Britain, refined in curry houses, and the dish that best explains modern British food.
Salt beef beigel
Brick Lane, at any hour, with mustard and a pickled cucumber. The queue moves fast.
Afternoon tea
Scones with clotted cream and jam, finger sandwiches, and a standing argument about which goes on the scone first.
Eton mess
Broken meringue, cream and strawberries. Summer, and no more complicated than it looks.
London fact sheet
London at a glance
The essentials worth knowing before you go.
Country
United Kingdom
Region
Greater London, England
Population
9.1M Greater London
Founded
Londinium, c. AD 47
Nickname
The Big Smoke
Language
English
Currency
Pound sterling (£)
Time zone
GMT · UTC+0 (BST in summer)
Calling code
+44 20
Airports
LHR · LGW · STN · LTN · LCY
Power
230V · Type G
Emergency
999 · 112
Interesting facts
Entry to the permanent collections of the national museums has been free since 1 December 2001, which is why the British Museum, the National Gallery, the V&A and Tate all cost nothing to walk into.
Greater London holds four UNESCO World Heritage sites: the Tower of London, the Westminster group (the Palace of Westminster, Westminster Abbey and St Margaret's Church), Maritime Greenwich, and the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew.
The Royal Observatory at Greenwich defines longitude zero. An international conference in Washington adopted the Greenwich meridian as the world standard in 1884.
Kew keeps more than 50,000 living plants, the largest and most diverse collection of plant species anywhere on earth.
The Underground opened in 1863 as the world's first underground railway; the narrow deep-level tube tunnels came three decades later, bored beneath the streets the first lines were cut into.
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