London Info

What you need to know!

Isabelle Kemp

Google

We had a great day out with Nikky. She clearly knows London inside out. We went to so many places and Nikky knew exactly what she was doing. We crisscrossed the city using bus, tube and even Thames boat. We also went into places which we never knew were open to the public like an old church , a rooftop garden and the oldest police station in London (now a lovely pub!)! We also had the BEST ice cream in London. We could not rate it any better – a fantastic day out with a great guide. You won’t regret booking this one.

Jay C

TripAdvisor

My family did the London half day tour with Nikky. She was like a walking encyclopedia of all things London! We got to see some amazing places, including iconic Piccadilly circus, where they shot some scenes for 28 days later (one of my all-time favorite movies). Having lunch at covent garden after the tour was also awesome. The pub we went to (great suggestion btw) had the best fish and chips I’ve ever had, but they even had vegan options for my MIL :-). We highly recommend this tour!

Sadie Callan

Google

My 13 year old daughter and I did the 8 hour London day tour with Nikky. Highly recommended – a great way to see the city, and much more of an experience than just doing a bus tour. The itinerary has been exceptionally well planned – you get to see all the famous sites (Westminster, Buckingham Palace, St James palace, Piccadilly, Leicester Square, covent garden, St Paul’s, and many more). You get to use the underground tube, the bus, and even a boat in amongst walking. The walk was fairly easy, didn’t feel strenuous at all, and after lunch we were using public transport to get around. Nikky was a brilliant tour guide. It was a privilege to spend a day with someone so knowledgeable, helpful, and cultured. She really knew her stuff, explained everything well (and was really good at engaging with my daughter at just the right level), and was just an all-round class act. If you have a day to spend in London then I can’t recommend this tour highly enough.

Richard_L

Viator

Nikki, was one of the best tour guides we’ve ever had. She was personable and very knowledgeable. Nikki did a great job engaging us in the rich, sometimes dark and always interesting facets of history for each sight we visited. Nice features of this tour included a double-decker bus ride and a boat ride on the Thames to reach some of the sights. Although there’s a good amount of walking, it was interspersed with stops at the many sights, a stop for lunch and stops for coffee/drinks. Nikki also took some great photos of us and provided recommendations for places we were interested in going over the next few days. We give Nikki 5/5 stars!

Isabel D

TripAdvisor

I’ve never done a tour quite like this one, with a bus trip as well as using the Underground and taking an uber boat. We covered a lot of London, seeing covent garden, Saint Paul’s, tower of London and south bank. It was a cold day, but the guide N was amazing and kept us moving and made some unscheduled hot chocolate stops. Highly recommended.

Jeeva_R

Viator

We booked the London full-day tour and it turned out to be an exceptional experience. The tour started right on time and the meeting point was very easy to locate. Nikky is incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about London’s history. She explained every place in great detail and shared tons and tons of historical facts that truly brought the city to life. What made this tour unique was that we visited so many “firsts of the world”—an unforgettable experience. Highly recommended for anyone visiting London and wanting to experience its rich history in the best possible way. A big thank you to Real London Experiences for an unforgettable day!

Edgar Wallace

Google

I booked the London in a day tour for my family of 4 on a trip to London (husband and wife and 2 kids). So glad I did. It was a full day and we saw pretty much everything the family wanted to see- Buckingham Palace, westminster, tower of London, covent Garden and Piccadilly circus. Even better they took us on a bus, a Thames boat and on an underground train. The guide was so good and took tons of photos. An amazing day. Thanks!

15 Things to Do in London

Things to Do in London
Things to Do in London: Tate Modern

Guests ask us all the time for our recommendations of the best things to do in London (other than our tours of course!). There are, as you might expect in a city like London, a LOT of options. So, how do you narrow it down? Easy! Check our selection below.

There are some icons you definitely will know, like the the Tower of London and the Tate Modern, as well as a few lesser known spots like Monument and the Wallace Collection, via a collection of Royal parks. Either way we give you our advice, based on the fact that we're experts on the London, so you can make the most of your trip here.

We also produce a guide to the top events happening here every month, such as screenings, festivals, exhibitions and concerts on Inside London. Have a look at that too for more ideas on activities to make the most of your stay.

Activities & Places of Interest in London

1. VISIT A MUSEUM

London has so many amazing museums that any comprehensive list would be endless. Nevertheless the following museums are widely considered to be the top institutions in London and every one has more than enough exhibits to withstand multiple visits.

Also, the vast majority of museums in the U.K. are free.

British Museum: open daily, 10 am to 6 pm (Fridays to 8.30 pm) – website

Tate Modern: open daily, 9 am to 9 pm – website

Tate Britain: open daily, 9 am to 9 pm – website

Natural History Museum: open daily, 10 am to 5.50 pm – website

Science Museum: open daily, 10 am to 6 pm – website

Victoria & Albert Museum: open daily, 10 am to 5.45 pm – website

National Gallery: open daily, 10 am to 6 pm – website

London Museum: open daily, 9 am to 9 pm – website

National Portrait Gallery: open daily 10.30 am to 6 pm – website

London Transport Museum: open daily 10 am to 6 pm – website

2. VISIT A PALACE

Since the Middle Ages London has acquired quite a lot of palaces and the following are open to the public.

Buckingham Palace: open July to September, 10 am to 6 pm (Fridays to 8.30 pm) – website

Kensington Palace: open daily, 10 am to 6 pm – website

Hampton Court Palace: open daily, 10 am to 5.30 pm – website

Tower of London: open daily, 9 am to 5.30 pm – website

The Wallace Collection: open daily, 10 am to 5 pm – website

Kew Palace: temporarily closed, but hopefully reopening soon – website

Lambeth Palace: currently closed, but opens on certain days – website

3. VISIT A PARK

The great parks of London are known as the city's lungs, and they help give it the classification, believe it or not, of being a forest. On top of that many of them have year-round activities and programs of events. A visit to London is not complete without visiting one of its many great parks.

Hyde Parkwebsite

Kensington Gardens: website

Regents Park and Primrose Hill: website

St James's Park: website

The Green Park: website

Hampstead Heath: website

Richmond Park: website

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: website

Battersea Park: website

Holland Park: website

London Theatre
London Theatre

4. VISIT A CHURCH, CATHEDRAL, MOSQUE, SYNAGOGUE OR TEMPLE

London is known for its cathedrals and churches. Growing up here I always loved the sound of church bells calling the faithful to prayer on Sundays. Every church has its own signature sound.

Famously after the Great Fire of London, in 1666, Sir Christopher Wren designed many of the city's rebuilt churches, and many of them can be visited and admired today.

St Paul's Cathedral: website

Westminster Abbey: website

Wren Churches: website

Westminster Cathedral: website

The Central Synagogue: website

St John's Wood United Synagogue: website

London Buddhist Vihara: website

London Central Mosque: website

Central Gurdwara (Khalsa Jatha): website

London Mithraeum: an ancient Roman temple, website

5. WALK THE STREETS

London is a lovely city to walk (even if the weather isn't always the best). Here are some ideas of neighborhoods you can just have fun wandering the streets.

South Bank

Covent Garden

King's Road

Little Venice

South Kensington (Museum Row)

6. VISIT A PUB

The U.K. is famous for its pubs and London has a lot of lovely ones. You can often find a nice pub just by walking around, but here are some ideas.

Richmond riverside

Chiswick riverside

Hammersmith riverside

If you're looking for more inspiration here's a list of 36 of the best pubs in the UK.

7. VISIT A LONDON SUBURB

It's not only Central London that;s worth visiting, many of the city's suburbs also merit investigation. Here are some ideas for the most picturesque, historic and fun.

Richmond

Hampstead

Greenwich

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8. VISIT THE MOTHER OF PARLIAMENTS

Westminster is known as the Mother of Parliaments, since it is one of the oldest and most important democratic bodies in the world. Since 1265 there has been an elected House of Commons, as well as the House of Lords.

Plan your visit by checking Parliament's website.

9. GO TO THE THEATRE

Since Shakespeare's time, London has been known as a centre for theatre, why not catch a show while you're in London? Check this website for more information.

10. TAKE A TRIP ON THE RIVER THAMES

Winston Churchill described the Thames River as "the silver thread that runs through British history". That was a suitably poetic description by the great man, but at least the river is much cleaner today than it was a few decades ago.

Why not take a trip up or down the river on the new Uber Boats (website).

11. GO TO THE OPERA

How about a night at the Opera? London has some of the leading companies in the world.

Royal Opera House: website

English National Opera: website

Sadlers Wells: website

Opera Holland Park: website

12. GO TO A SPORTS GAME

Bearing in mind that the British invented so many sports (football, rugby, cricket, tennis and golf to mention a few) London is full of famous sports teams and stadiums. Why not catch a game or do a stadium tour?

Premier League Football

There are several teams in the Premier League that call London home:

Arsenal Football Club: website

Brentford Football Club: website

Chelsea Football Club (the best one): website

Crystal Palace: website

Fulham Football Club: website

Tottenham Hotspur: website

West Ham United: website

Cricket

London is home to the oldest cricket ground in the world, Lord's, as well as the Oval, a legendary cricket stadium in South London (which also sometimes hosts Australian Rules Football games).

Rugby

London is considered the home of rugby (even though that should be New Zealand really). If you're in town check out a game at its spiritual headquarters, Twickenham.

Tennis

If you're in London at the right time a trip to Wimbledon, or The Queen's Club, can be very rewarding.

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13. GO SHOPPING

London is justifiably famous for its shopping. Back when the city was founded the main location would have been the Forum, now there are many places to go shopping. A trip to London isn't complete without visiting one of its busy departments stores and shopping districts..

Oxford Street

The lengthy street has some of London's biggest department stores:

Selfridges
John Lewis
Liberty London
Marks & Spencer

Nearby are some lovely shopping districts such as:

Carnaby Street
Savile Row
Bond Street

Covent Garden

Wander the streets surrounding the area, as well as the market itself.

King's Road

Stroll down King's Road from Sloane Square. Or you can check out department store Peter Jones, which is on Sloane Square itself.

Knightsbridge

Just up Sloane Avenue from Chelsea is this famous neighborhood, with its expensive designer stores as well as iconic department stores like Harvey Nichols and, arguably the most famous, Harrods.

14. VISIT A MARKET

London is home to a plethora of famous, beautiful and historic markets Here are some suggestions:

Leadenhall Market: website (lovely high-end shops of all kinds)
Old Spitalfields Market: website (good for clothes, jewellery and design)
Camden Market: website (especially good for clothes and jewellery)
Brick Lane: website (great for vintage clothes)
Borough Market: website (one the best food markets in the world)
Portobello Road: website (great for all kinds of things)
Shpherd's Bush: website (close to the enormous Westfield London mall too)

15. ENJOY SOME GREAT FOOD

London has some of the best restaurants in the world, but you don't have to spend a fortune. Most pubs have a good menu, London is the birthplace of the gourmet pub after all.

There are usually a bunch of good restaurants and cafe's surrounding most tube stations.

Of particular note in London is the cuisine from all over the world. You can get great Thai, Indian, Japanese, Italian and French food.

The British food ain't half bad either. See Borough Market (above), it has fantastic British food as well as all kinds of food from around the globe.

Chelsea Football Club
Chelsea Football Club

If you have any feedback on our list of 15 things to do in London, or if you have some recommendations of your own, please email us and let us know. We’ll be sure to take it into account.