London travel guide
Where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Things to do in London, planned over three days
Best time to visit London
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Spring sweet spot. Blossom, longer evenings, Columbia Road at its best and May mild with pre peak crowds.
Peak London and peak prices. Long days, outdoor theatre and rooftops, crowded markets and hot Tube lines.
Autumn is the locals favourite and value pick, with summer light lingering in September and thinner crowds.
Winter is dark and cold, magical from mid November for Christmas lights, then cheapest and emptiest in January.
Best months overall are mid May to late June, and September.
What's on
- London Marathon April
Book hotels early for marathon weekend.
- RHS Chelsea Flower Show late May
Tickets sell out, with free Chelsea in Bloom street displays alongside.
- Trooping the Colour June
The official birthday parade in June.
- Wimbledon late June to early July
Ballot and queue for tickets, and hotels spike.
- BBC Proms mid July to mid September
Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, with cheap Promming tickets on the day.
- Notting Hill Carnival late August bank holiday
Europe's biggest street party. The area and transport are packed.
- Open House London September
Free access to normally closed buildings. Book the popular ones instantly.
- London Design Festival September
Design events across the city in September.
- BFI London Film Festival October
Major autumn film festival in October.
- Christmas at Kew from late November
Light trail at Kew. Book weeks ahead.
Worth the trip for
Best things to do in London
Tower of London
A thousand years of history in one fortress, with the Crown Jewels and Beefeater tours.
The British Museum
Free flagship museum to do with a hit list, from the Rosetta Stone to the Parthenon Sculptures.
National Gallery
The best single free art hit in London, with Van Gogh, Turner and Monet in a finishable building.
Tate Modern
Free modern art in a power station, plus a free tenth floor view and the South Bank walk outside.
Borough Market
London's great food market to graze through, sharing doughnuts, cheese, oysters and raclette.
West End
A big musical or serious play in a real West End house is one of London's best nights out.
Greenwich
A river boat ride to a village like borough of observatory, market, Cutty Sark and naval college.
Columbia Road Flower Market
One East London street of flower stalls, independent shops and cafes, on Sunday mornings only.
Where to stay in London
Marylebone / Fitzrovia
first trip, all-round base
Village feeling streets north of Oxford Street, with Regent's Park, Soho and the West End walkable.
Bloomsbury
value central base, museums and Eurostar
Garden squares by the British Museum and the main stations, quieter in the evenings.
South Kensington
families and museum trips
Calm white stucco streets by the V&A, Natural History Museum, Science Museum and Hyde Park.
Bankside / South Bank
food-and-culture trips
Tate Modern, Borough Market and the South Bank walk from the door, with newer larger rooms.
Shoreditch / Hoxton
nightlife, design and repeat visitors
The creative East End with the best bar scene, Brick Lane and Columbia Road on Sundays.
Soho / Covent Garden
theatre-first, shortest trips
Everything walkable and the densest restaurant map, at the highest rates for smaller noisy rooms.
Think twice about
- Leicester Square and the immediate Oxford Street strip
Tourist trap bars and chains, crowds at all hours, and Oxford Street is the epicentre of phone snatching.
- Station forecourts at Victoria, Paddington, King's Cross and Euston
Heavy traffic, transient crowds and the highest rough sleeping concentration around the big termini.
- Whitechapel High Street and the far East End beyond Brick Lane
The visitor offer thins out fast and you will commute to everything. Visit for Tayyabs, do not base there first trip.
- Elephant & Castle, Stratford, Wembley and airport corridors sold as central
Safe and connected but long rides from the London most visitors came for, and quiet in a non local way at night.
Best restaurants in London
Dishoom
The Bombay cafe to send anyone to first, for bacon naan rolls, black daal and Chicken Ruby.
St. JOHN
Fergus Henderson's nose to tail pilgrimage, famous for roast bone marrow and Eccles cake.
Gymkhana
North Indian fine dining splurge in Mayfair, famous for tandoori lamb chops and biryani.
BRAT
Basque style wood fire cooking in Shoreditch, built around a whole turbot to share.
Barrafina
Marble counter tapas in Soho where you watch the plancha and order from the specials board.
Kiln
Thai charcoal grill counter in Soho with clay pot noodles and astonishing value.
Padella
Hand rolled fresh pasta at market prices by Borough Market, worth the virtual queue.
Blacklock
The Sunday ritual is the All In roast with beef, lamb, pork and duck fat potatoes.
Outdoor things to do in London
Richmond Park
A vast Royal Park for cycling or walking the perimeter trail among free roaming deer.
Hampstead Heath
Cold, lifeguarded bathing ponds in wild woodland, then the skyline view from Parliament Hill.
Back of Beyond Adventures
Beginner paddleboarding and kayaking on the calm green Thames around Richmond and Kew.
Thames RIB Experience
A rigid inflatable ride that cruises the sights then speeds up east of Tower Bridge.
Up at The O2
A harnessed guided climb over the O2 roof to a summit platform 52 metres up.
Sunningdale Golf Club
The heathland golf benchmark on the Surrey sandbelt, with limited visitor play to book well ahead.
Seven Sisters Cliffs
A proper chalk cliff hike between Seaford and Birling Gap, then Brighton and the train home.
River Cam
A university day trip made active by punting the Cam past the colleges along the Backs.
Best hotels in London
The Marylebone Hotel
Reliable upscale base on Welbeck Street with a good gym and pool for central London.
Durrants Hotel
Family run Georgian townhouse hotel that is old school, quiet and anti chain in feel.
Ham Yard Hotel
Firmdale splurge with individually designed rooms, a roof garden, a bowling alley and a courtyard in the middle of Soho.
The Zetter Bloomsbury
Design led townhouse hideaway on Montague Street, moments from the British Museum.
Morton Hotel
Literary themed boutique overlooking Russell Square, praised for staff and character.
Kimpton Fitzroy London
The grand Russell Square landmark for a classic full service Bloomsbury stay.
YHA London St Pancras
The genuine budget stay opposite St Pancras, with dorms, private rooms and a cafe bar.
The Ampersand Hotel
Boutique base on Harrington Road, two minutes from South Kensington Tube and the museums.
Is London expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | £90 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | £210 a person |
| Splurge | £450 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Tower of London: weeks ahead
- The British Museum: a few days ahead
- National Gallery: a few days ahead
- Tate Modern: a few days ahead
- West End: weeks ahead
- Sky Garden: weeks ahead
- Hampstead Heath: a few days ahead
- Back of Beyond Adventures: a few days ahead
- Sky Garden free tickets release on Mondays about three weeks ahead and sunset slots go in minutes.
- Book the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, headline theatre and football days to weeks ahead.
- Gymkhana, St. JOHN, BRAT and Blacklock Sundays book out weeks ahead.
- Book free timed tickets for the British Museum, Tate Modern and National Gallery at weekends and school holidays.
- Check official calendars for the Ceremony of the Keys, Changing of the Guard and Christmas season events.
Is London safe?
- Phone snatching is the top visitor crime. Never hold a phone out over the kerb and do not leave it on a cafe table edge.
- Watch for pickpockets on busy Tube lines and at Oxford Circus, Leicester Square, Covent Garden and Borough Market.
- At night use the Night Tube, night buses or a licensed cab or app car, never an unlicensed minicab tout, and watch your drink.
- Look right first at kerbs and look both ways even on a green man, as cyclists and e-bikes run red lights.
- Emergency number is 999. Check your government's current travel advice before you go.
London travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Madame Tussauds and the big paid immersive experiences around it.
- The London Eye at full price in a midday queue and the Shard viewing platform, when free views exist.
- Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus restaurants, Angus Steakhouse type chains and any place with a tout.
- Oxford Street candy and souvenir shops. Buy nothing there.
- Pedicabs in the West End with unregulated fares, and Westminster Bridge shell games. Walk or take the Tube.
- Camden Market as a half day. Columbia Road, Spitalfields and Maltby Street are rated higher by locals.
Getting around London: public transport and more
- Tap a bank card or phone on Tube, bus, Overground, Elizabeth line and river boats, with daily capping.
- Walk short central hops like Leicester Square to Covent Garden, which are faster on foot than by Tube.
- Use Citymapper or TfL Go for live closures, especially for weekend engineering works.
- From Heathrow take the Elizabeth line or Tube, not the Heathrow Express. From Gatwick use Thameslink or Southern.
- Stand on the right on Tube escalators, let people off first and have your card ready at the barrier.
Who London suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Great |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Great |
Make London your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
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