Things to Do in London: Tours, Tickets & Day Trips
London needs four days and a plan for the queues. Day one, royal London: the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace (check the day), Westminster Abbey with a timed ticket, Big Ben and a Thames cruise from Westminster Pier to the Tower. Day two, the City: the Tower of London and Crown Jewels first thing (book ahead), Tower Bridge’s glass walkway, St Paul’s dome, then Borough Market for lunch and the Tate Modern (free). Day three, the free museums: the British Museum, the National Gallery and Covent Garden, or the Natural History and V&A in South Kensington, with the London Eye at dusk. Day four, out of town: Stonehenge, Windsor and Bath on one coach day (from $75) or the Cotswolds (from $94), or the Harry Potter Warner Bros. Studio in Leavesden (from $104 with transport, sells out weeks ahead). Get an Oyster or tap a contactless card and walk the rest.
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All experiences in London — FAQ
What are the top 10 things to do in London?
By traveller ratings: 1) the Tower of London and Crown Jewels, 2) Westminster Abbey, 3) the British Museum, 4) Buckingham Palace and the Changing of the Guard, 5) a Thames river cruise, 6) the London Eye, 7) the Harry Potter Warner Bros. Studio, 8) Borough Market, 9) St Paul’s Cathedral and its dome climb, and 10) a Stonehenge and Windsor day trip. Tower Bridge and the Sky Garden (free, book ahead) round out the list.
How many days do you need in London?
Four days: royal Westminster, the City and the Tower, the free museums, and a day trip. Five lets you add the Harry Potter studio or Greenwich, Camden and Notting Hill. A long weekend covers the icons if you skip the day trip and pre-book the Tower, the Abbey and the Eye.
What can you do in London for free?
The British Museum, the National Gallery, the Tate Modern, the Natural History Museum, the V&A and the Science Museum are all free. So are the Changing of the Guard, Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, the Sky Garden (book a slot), Borough and Camden markets to browse, the Southbank walk from Westminster to Tower Bridge, Greenwich Park, Primrose Hill and the Houses of Parliament’s public galleries.
What are the best day trips from London?
Stonehenge, Windsor Castle and Bath on a single coach day (from $75, 11 hours), the Cotswolds villages (2 hours, from $94), Oxford (1.5 hours, often combined with the Cotswolds or Stonehenge), Cambridge (1 hour by train), the Harry Potter studio in Leavesden (1 hour, from $104), and Paris by Eurostar (2 hours 15 minutes). Every one has guided tours leaving from Victoria or King’s Cross.
