Things to do in London
Plans for any day: one bank of the Thames, a market or a park, and a museum or a show if the weather turns.
London is often described as a list of landmarks and then left there. The landmarks are real. So is the rest: a park you can cross without a ticket, a market that feeds a neighbourhood, a string of museums that can absorb a wet afternoon, and a theatre district that only works if you have checked what is actually on. This guide is organised by mood so a weekend does not collapse into one queue.
Prices, opening hours and timed-entry rules change. Check before you go. For the kinds of ticketed nights the city has, see events in London this week. Those cards are examples, not a bill.
Date night
The easy version is a walk while the light is still good, then dinner somewhere you do not need a second Tube between courses.
South Bank at dusk
Walk from the London Eye toward Tate Modern, or the other way, while the bridges are still busy. Eat afterwards in a real room near Borough or back toward the National Theatre. The path is the plan. A boat is optional and only if one is leaving.
Soho
The densest choice in the centre. You can walk it, reject two menus and sit down at the third. Book on Friday and Saturday if you mind waiting. Individual rooms open and close; trust the neighbourhood, then check the room.
A West End show
Covent Garden and the streets around it are full of theatres. If something is on that you actually want to see, build the night around the curtain time. If you have not looked, do not assume a matinee exists. Check the schedule.
Shoreditch after dark
East of the City, the evening is bars, small rooms and a walk that is interesting rather than pretty. It is a different night from the South Bank. Do not try to do both unless the Tube is still your friend.
Greenwich if you are already there
The park, the river and the pubs by the pier make a good evening when the day was Greenwich. It is a poor add-on after a West End curtain. Stay where you are.
Free things to do
Several of London’s best hours do not need a ticket. Museums that are free still have paid exhibitions, and markets are free to walk and not free to eat. Check the door.
Walk the South Bank
A public path beside the Thames, from Westminster Bridge past the Southbank Centre and the National Theatre toward Tate Modern and Borough Market. Mornings and late afternoons are kinder than a wet midday. It is free.
Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens
The park runs from Speakers’ Corner to the Serpentine and on into Kensington Gardens and Kensington Palace. You can cross it without spending anything. Boats, cafés and exhibitions inside the palace are separate. Check if a corner of the park is closed for an event.
Hampstead Heath
North of the centre, a wilder park with Parliament Hill’s view back over the city. It is free. The ponds have their own swimming rules and are not a casual lido you can assume is open. Check before you bring a towel.
The British Museum
The main collection in Bloomsbury is one of the city’s great free rooms. Special exhibitions are often ticketed. Bags, entry times and which galleries are open all change. Check before you go.
The National Gallery
On Trafalgar Square, with the permanent collection free to enter. The square itself is the waiting room: fountains, a column, and more people than you wanted if a protest or a festival has taken it. Check both.
Outdoors
London’s outdoors is parks, heath and river, not a mountain. The serious hills are outside the city. Give a park the morning and stop pretending it is a hike.
Regent’s Park
A formal park north of the West End, with rose gardens and the edge of London Zoo. The zoo is a paid day and a separate decision. The park itself is the walk. Check whether a fair or a film set has taken a lawn.
Greenwich Park and the river
The park rises to the Royal Observatory and a view down to the river, the Cutty Sark and the old naval college. The observatory, the ship and the National Maritime Museum are the indoor half. The slope is the outdoor half. Do it as its own trip.
Kew Gardens
The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew are west of the centre and worth the journey when plants are the point. It is a paid garden, large enough to fill a half-day, and a sour detour on the way to a theatre. Check opening times.
The Thames path in the centre
You can walk the north bank from the Tower to Westminster and the south bank for longer. Bridges are the point: Tower Bridge, the Millennium Bridge, Westminster Bridge. Do not try to collect all of them and a museum in one hour.
A boat, if one is running
River services between the central piers and Greenwich are a real way to see the city. Operators, names and timetables change. Check the pier board. A sample card on the events page is not a departure.
Rainy day ideas
London rain is ordinary. These are the indoor places that are worth getting wet for, once you have checked the door.
Tate Modern
The old power station on Bankside. The permanent collection has long been free, and the big exhibitions are not. The building itself is the reason to be on this bank in the rain. Check bag rules and which turbines are open.
South Kensington museums
The Natural History Museum, the Science Museum and the V&A are neighbours. You will not do all three well. Pick one. Permanent galleries are often free and temporary shows are often not. Check which entrance is in use.
The Barbican
A concrete estate in the City with a concert hall, a theatre, a conservatory and a confusing map. Go if something is on, or to be indoors in a place that does not feel like a mall. Check the programme and the way in.
Borough Market, if it is a market day
Covered enough to be a rainy lunch, and only worth it when the stalls are actually trading. It is crowded on Saturday for a reason. Check the day, eat one thing standing up, and do not plan a quiet conversation in the middle of the hall.
St Paul’s and the City churches
St Paul’s Cathedral is a paid visit and a real one. The smaller City churches are a different, quieter hour, and some keep irregular hours. Check before you cross town. The Sky Garden, above the Walkie Talkie, is a free timed view when tickets are released. It is not a walk-up on a wet Saturday.
A matinee, if the bill is real
A wet afternoon is a good excuse to see what a West End theatre, the National Theatre or the Globe is actually staging. If nothing fits, the building is not a museum you can wander. Shakespeare’s Globe has a roofed indoor theatre as well as the yard. Check the schedule.
Making the most of it
Treat London as clusters. South Bank, Borough and Tate Modern are one. Westminster, Trafalgar Square and a West End theatre are the next, and they are already a full day if you add a gallery. Hyde Park and South Kensington are the west. Greenwich is downstream. Hampstead is north. Two clusters in a day is plenty. Three is a commute with a camera.
Check timed tickets for the Tower of London, the London Eye, Kew, a palace and the Sky Garden. Check market days if Borough, Portobello, Broadway or Columbia Road is the reason you are going. The Museum of London left its London Wall home, and the newer London Museum at Smithfield has been a moving target. Check which building, if any, is open rather than arriving at a closed door. If you want a deck instead of a plan, open the FeelingFlexi app, set London and a distance, and swipe. Guest use is enough.
Questions
What are the best free things to do in London?
Walking the South Bank, crossing Hyde Park, walking on Hampstead Heath, and visiting the permanent collections of the British Museum and the National Gallery are the usual free plans. Special exhibitions and some gardens are paid. Check on the day.
What can you do in London when it rains?
Tate Modern, one of the South Kensington museums, the Barbican, or Borough Market if it is a market day. A matinee works when a show is actually on. Check hours and tickets before you cross town.
Is Greenwich part of a central London day?
Greenwich is on the river and feels like its own town: the park, the observatory, the Cutty Sark and the maritime museum. Go by boat or by train and give it the half-day. It is a poor add-on after the Tower and a West End show.
What is a good date night in London?
A dusk walk on the South Bank and dinner near Borough, or Soho if you want more choice, or a show once you have checked the bill. If the day was Greenwich or Hampstead, stay there for the evening.
More cities
Swipe more in the app
Pick a city and a distance, then swipe: right to like, left to pass. No account needed, and your likes stay on your device.
