Things to Do in London: The Complete Guide
If you’re wondering what are the best things to do in London, the honest answer is that you’ll run out of days before you run out of options. This city packs world class museums, ancient markets, riverside walks and some genuinely brilliant food into a space you can cross by tube in under an hour. Whether you’ve got a weekend or a full week, here’s how to spend it well.
We’ve split this guide by what you’re actually after: free things, food, nightlife, family days out and the spots most visitors never find. Use it as a menu rather than a checklist. Nobody sees all of London in one trip, and trying to will just wear you out.
Getting Your Bearings: London’s Best Areas to Explore
London isn’t one place, it’s dozens of small towns stitched together by the Thames and the Underground. Start in the centre and work outward as you get more confident with the layout.
The West End is where most first time visitors base themselves, and for good reason. Covent Garden’s street performers and covered market sit a short walk from Leicester Square’s cinemas and Soho’s tangle of restaurants, bars and independent shops. It’s touristy in patches, but it earns the reputation.
South Bank runs along the river from Westminster Bridge to Tower Bridge, and it might be the single best stretch for a first day. You get the London Eye, the Tate Modern, Borough Market, Shakespeare’s Globe and a wide riverside path with buskers, second hand book stalls and food trucks the whole way.
Notting Hill and its famous Portobello Road market are worth the trip out west, especially on a Saturday when the antiques stalls are in full swing. Pastel coloured houses, a proper neighbourhood feel, and good coffee wherever you turn.
Shoreditch and Hackney in the east are where London’s creative crowd lives. Street art, warehouse bars, vintage shops and some of the city’s most interesting food scenes. It’s a different pace to the centre, rougher round the edges and better for it.
If you’re building out a longer itinerary, our guide to planning a London trip around neighbourhood markets goes deeper into which areas suit which kind of traveller.
Free Things to Do in London
One of the best things about London is that its greatest attractions cost nothing to walk into. The permanent collections at the British Museum, the National Gallery, the Tate Modern, the Tate Britain, the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum are all free. Donations are welcome and genuinely help, but nobody will stop you at the door.
Beyond the museums, a walk along the South Bank at golden hour costs nothing and delivers some of the best views of St Paul’s Cathedral and the Shard you’ll get anywhere. Hyde Park, Regent’s Park and Hampstead Heath are enormous, free, and each has a completely different character, from the boating lake at Hyde Park to the wild swimming ponds up on the Heath.
Watching the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace is free if you don’t mind the crowds, and wandering through Camden Market or Borough Market costs nothing if you can resist the smell of the food stalls, which honestly is unlikely.
Where to Eat: London’s Food Scene
London’s restaurant scene has genuinely become one of the most exciting in the world, and it isn’t just about fine dining anymore. Borough Market remains the best starting point for food lovers, with stalls doing everything from fresh oysters to Ethiopian stews within a few feet of each other.
For a proper sit down meal, the choice can be overwhelming. If you want a fuller rundown of where to book, our guide to London’s best Indian restaurants covers one of the city’s genuine culinary strengths, since London arguably does Indian food better than anywhere outside India itself.
Sunday isn’t complete without brunch, and London has turned the concept into something of a sport. Bottomless brunch spots have popped up across Shoreditch, Soho and Clapham, pairing unlimited prosecco or cocktails with a full plate for a fixed price and a time limit. It’s become such a fixture of weekend life here that it deserves its own guide, which we’ve written separately if that’s what you’re after.
Nightlife: From Rooftop Bars to Late Night Markets
When the sun goes down, London changes gear. The city has some of the best rooftop bars in Europe, with skyline views over the Thames that make even an average cocktail feel special. Shoreditch and Soho are the obvious hubs for a night out, packed with everything from cosy cocktail dens to proper late night clubs.
If you want a wider spread of options beyond the rooftops, from speakeasies to riverside terraces, it’s worth reading up before you head out since booking ahead saves a lot of queueing, especially on weekends. Theatre is another after dark option worth planning around. The West End has more stage shows running on any given night than almost anywhere else on earth, and last minute day tickets are often available if you’re happy to queue at the box office.
London With Kids
Families are genuinely well catered for here. The Natural History Museum’s dinosaur skeletons and the Science Museum’s hands on exhibits will keep most children entertained for a full day each, and both are free to enter. The London Dungeon and the London Eye sit close together on the South Bank and work well as a combined half day.
For something a bit different, a trip to see the marine life at one of the city’s aquariums is an easy win on a rainy day, and London has more rain than sun on plenty of visits, so it pays to have an indoor option in your back pocket. Hyde Park’s playgrounds and the Diana Memorial Playground in Kensington Gardens are excellent for younger children who need to burn off energy between sightseeing stops.
Hidden Gems Most Visitors Miss
Beyond the obvious landmarks, London rewards anyone willing to wander off the main routes. Leadenhall Market in the City is a stunning Victorian arcade that most tourists walk straight past on their way to the Tower of London. Sir John Soane’s Museum near Lincoln’s Inn Fields is a bizarre, brilliant house crammed with antiquities that somehow remains free and uncrowded.
Little Venice, where the canals meet near Paddington, offers a genuinely peaceful narrowboat filled scene that feels a world away from central London despite being minutes from it. And the Golden Hinde replica ship tucked behind Borough Market is easy to miss but worth the five minute detour.
If you fancy getting outside the city entirely for a day, plenty of towns within an hour or two of London make for an easy staycation style break, and it’s worth building one into a longer trip if you have the time.
Planning Your Visit
The Oyster card or contactless payment on the Underground and buses will save you money over paper tickets, and the tube is genuinely the fastest way to cover ground. Walking is often just as practical in central zones though, since stations can be closer together than the map suggests.
Whatever time of year you visit, pack for rain regardless of the forecast, book major attractions and popular restaurants ahead where you can, and leave gaps in your itinerary. Some of the best things to do in London aren’t the ones you plan, they’re the ones you stumble into on a street you didn’t mean to walk down.
More London guides
Still getting your bearings? These practical reads help you settle in fast:
- A First Timer’s Guide to Getting Around London
- London Neighbourhoods That Don’t Make the Postcards
- Rediscovering London’s Parks and Green Spaces
- Common Mistakes Visitors Make in London (And How to Avoid Them)
- A Local’s Guide to London on a Tight Budget
- How London Changes With the Seasons
- Spending a Weekend in London Without a Fixed Plan
London after dark
There is more to the city than its daytime sights. A few reads on the nightlife and the older history behind it:
