Things to Do in London
Prices, opening hours, best times to visit and the stuff nobody tells you, everything you need for a first trip to London, plus one pigeon's opinions on all of it.
Right, home turf. I've got opinions about every square inch of this city and I intend to share all of them. This is the proper, no-nonsense guide to things to do in London: what things actually cost, when to go, what to skip, and which bits deserve the queue. Eight main stops below, roughly in the order that makes sense for a first visit, plus a quiz waiting for you elsewhere on this site to see if you were paying attention.
Big Ben & the Houses of Parliament
Technically Big Ben is the bell, not the tower, the tower is the Elizabeth Tower, renamed in 2012 for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. Nobody uses the correct name. I've stopped correcting people, mostly.
You can't just wander in, the Houses of Parliament run UK-resident-only tours on sitting days and paid tours for everyone else on Saturdays and during recesses. Most visitors just admire it from outside, which is free and, frankly, gives you the best photo anyway, especially from across the river by the London Eye.
Hours Exterior viewable any time; tours run Saturdays year-round and most weekdays during parliamentary recess
Address Westminster, London SW1A 0AA
Official site parliament.uk/visiting
Richmond Park
A royal deer park since Henry VIII decided he fancied somewhere to hunt, and home to over 600 red and fallow deer who wander around like they own the place, which, fair enough, they sort of do. It's the largest of London's Royal Parks, sprawling and wonderfully wild-feeling for somewhere still technically inside the M25.
The deer are used to people but they're still wild animals, keep a sensible distance, especially during the autumn rut when the stags get properly loud about things. Pen Ponds and the Isabella Plantation (best in late spring for the azaleas) are the two spots to build a walk around.
Hours Roughly 7am–dusk (pedestrian gates), exact times vary by season, check before an early visit
Address Richmond, London TW10 5HS
Official site royalparks.org.uk
Portobello Road Market
Famous for antiques, though most tourists these days just queue for the doughnuts. It's the largest antiques market in the world by some counts, stretching over a mile through Notting Hill, and Saturday is when the whole thing properly comes alive, stalls, buskers, and enough vintage teapots to furnish a small museum.
Weekdays it's much quieter, mostly the fruit and veg and general market stalls rather than the full antiques spread, so if you specifically want the antiques experience, come on a Saturday and accept you'll be elbowed by strangers holding vintage teapots.
Hours Antiques stalls mainly Sat 8am–6.30pm; general market Mon–Sat, quieter midweek
Address Portobello Road, Notting Hill, London W11
Official site portobelloroad.co.uk
The British Museum
Free entry to one of the largest and most comprehensive museum collections on the planet, the Rosetta Stone, the Parthenon Marbles, an Egyptian mummy collection large enough to make you slightly uneasy. The Great Court, with its extraordinary glass roof, deserves a look even before you've seen a single exhibit.
It's seriously huge, trying to see everything in one visit is a mistake most people make once. Pick two or three galleries and do them properly rather than speed-walking the whole building. Special exhibitions do charge separately, the permanent collection never does.
Hours Daily 10am–5pm, Fridays until 8.30pm
Address Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG
Official site britishmuseum.org
Tower of London
Nearly a thousand years of history behind those walls, a fortress, a royal palace, a prison, and now home to the Crown Jewels, which is honestly reason enough on its own, thousands of gemstones including the largest clear-cut diamond in the world sitting in a sceptre. The Yeoman Warders (Beefeaters) run free guided tours included with your ticket, best done early before the queues build.
It isn't cheap, sitting at the pricier end of London attractions, but the Crown Jewels alone are truly unlike anything else you'll see. Book online in advance, it's usually cheaper than paying at the gate and comes with a timed slot so you're not stood in a queue for half your visit.
Hours Tue–Sat from 9am, Sun–Mon from 10am, closing times vary by season
Address St Katharine's & Wapping, London EC3N 4AB
Official site hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london
The London Eye
A thirty-minute rotation in a glass capsule, one of thirty-two, one for each London borough, minus the unlucky thirteenth. On a clear day you'll spot Big Ben (sorry, the Elizabeth Tower), Buckingham Palace, and the Thames winding its way through the whole city beneath you.
Book online rather than turning up, walk-up prices run noticeably higher and online tickets come with a timed slot so you skip a chunk of the queue. It closes for about two weeks each January for maintenance, so if you're visiting then, check the official site before building a day around it.
Hours Typically 11am–6pm, longer in summer, check the day's exact hours online
Address Riverside Building, County Hall, London SE1 7PB
Official site londoneye.com
Borough Market & Tower Bridge
Borough Market has been trading in some form since at least the 12th century, these days it's the best food market in the city, stalls piled with cheese, cured meats, and enough free samples to constitute a small meal if you time your route through cleverly. It gets seriously packed on weekends, weekday mornings are calmer.
A ten-minute walk along the river takes you to Tower Bridge, often mistaken for London Bridge by visitors, which is the plainer one just upstream. The Tower Bridge Exhibition lets you walk the glass-floored high-level walkways and see the original Victorian engine rooms, a good option if you want more than a photo from below.
Hours Market Mon–Sat, full stalls Wed–Sat; Tower Bridge Exhibition daily 9.30am–6pm
Address 8 Southwark Street, London SE1 1TL
Official site boroughmarket.org.uk
Camden Market
A sprawling collection of markets along the canal in north London, alternative fashion, street food from every continent you can name, and a wonderfully eclectic crowd. It's louder and more chaotic than Portobello Road, in a good way if that's what you're after.
Camden Lock's food stalls are the main draw for most people these days, dozens of cuisines packed into one market hall, and a good spot to end up if you've walked the canal towpath from Regent's Park.
Hours Daily, roughly 10am–6pm, stalls vary by day
Address Camden Lock Place, London NW1 8AF
Official site camdenmarket.com
Best time to visit London
Late spring through early autumn (April–October) gives you the best odds of decent weather for the parks and the markets, and it's when most attractions run their full hours. That said, London doesn't really slow down in winter, the museums are just as good, and the Christmas lights along Oxford Street and Regent Street are well worth seeing if your visit lines up with late November through December.
Avoid the last two weeks of August if you can, that's peak school-holiday season and the paid attractions get noticeably busier and pricier.
Getting around London
The Underground (the Tube) covers the whole city and is the fastest way between most of the attractions above, an Oyster card or contactless bank card is cheaper than single paper tickets and caps your daily spend automatically. Central London is remarkably walkable between nearby sights, Westminster to Borough Market along the river takes about 25 minutes on foot and is a nicer route than the Tube anyway.
Frequently asked questions
- Is London worth visiting?
- Yes, obviously, though I'm biased. Free world-class museums, genuinely historic sights at every turn, and a park system most cities would kill for.
- How many days do you need in London?
- Three full days covers the highlights above comfortably; a week lets you add day trips to places like Windsor or Oxford without rushing.
- Is London expensive?
- Yes, honestly, it's one of the pricier major cities. The free things (museums, parks, markets) help balance that out considerably.
- What is London famous for?
- Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, the Tower of London and Crown Jewels, its Royal Parks, and being one of the most visited cities in the world.
That's everything I've got.
A note before you plan around this: prices, opening hours, booking requirements and admission details in this guide were correct at the time of writing, but venues change these often and sometimes without notice. Always check directly with the attraction or its official website before you travel or build a schedule around a specific time or price.
Before travelling to any destination featured on this site, please also check your government's latest travel advice, as safety situations, entry requirements and travel warnings can change.
