We will be spending a few days in London in mid-October. I haven’t been there since 1980 something and am feeling a little overwhelmed by the options. (Back in the day, it was arrive and find something cheap at the tourist office!)
Main question - any thoughts about where we should stay? We’ll be arriving at Euston Station and leaving by either Victoria or London Bridge to get to Gatwick. We’ve made reservations to see a play at the Globe, but other than that I have no agenda. I’ve been to many of the art museums (at least pre-1989) and seen most of the sights and even a lot of the old housing estates as part of my senior thesis. I spent 3 weeks in London that summer.
Of course if you have any thoughts about other things I should not miss that are perhaps off the beaten tourist path, I’m all ears. We probably will lose at least part of a day if not a whole day with my son’s in-laws. We got to know them in Hong Kong and like them very much, but our sightseeing time is likely to be limited.
I like to stay in the Kensington Area. Plenty to walk to, good public transportation options and lots of restaurants and pubs. You are also close to both V&A as well as Natural History Museum if you want to pop in (both are free, I believe Natural History still has timed entry pre-ticketing which I’d highly recommend if you are interested in going).
The Bailey’s Hotel on Gloucester is super close to the tube (across the street) and makes a good spot in Kensington. Mid range hotel. Another hotel on the same street just up the road a couple of blocks is Melia London Kensington. Another mid-range hotel that we’ve found to be good. Rooms are European sized. You can often get breakfast included in price at The Bailey’s Hotel.
I will put a plug into eating at Dishoom if you like Indian food. I really like their Kensington location, they took over an old department store and kept the art deco vibe from when the store was first built. Walk in only after 5:45pm, so be prepared to wait or snag a reservation for 5:45 and take your time ordering.
If you are looking to do afternoon tea, I would recommend Candella Tea Room. Near Kensington Park, small and reasonably priced for afternoon tea.
I always like visiting Holland Park, and the Japanese gardens are lovely. Again an easy walk from the Kensington area.
Churchill War Rooms- seconded here! Outstanding. And if the Tate Modern is since your last visit, well worth a trip across the river.
I like staying near the British Museum… supermarkets so you can pick up a quick and cheap lunch, not too noisy at night since the restaurants and bars seem tame compared to other parts of the city.
I like Premier Inns for “cheap and cheerful” although nothing is really cheap in London. We have stayed near The City near Monument and Bank and not too far from Tower Bridge and have also stayed not too far from Kensington in West Brompton in a micro-hotel run by Premier Inn called Hub. It was fine for one night but I wouldn’t want to stay there for too long. Premier Inns are bigger than the Hubs. Some of the rooms can be quite spacious. The PI in Kensington was not, however. I really liked the PI in the City because it was so close to the Thames and we could do the Thames walk easily. I like to find places that are close to tube stations.
Last visit we stayed in Earl’s Court and enjoyed it. I believe the Imperial War Museum has recently been completely overhauled so I would suggest that. I have been several times, but have a list of things we never did for our next visit - including tour Royal Albert Hall and the Royal Botanic Gardens (Kew). Greenwich is a nice place to visit, that is a little out of the way .
I’m going next Friday! I’m staying in an Airbnb studio in Paddington/Little Venice. I read Hillary Mantel’s Wolf Hall trilogy over the pandemic and got really into Tudor history sooo…I’m visiting lots of historic sites. Hampton Court, Tower of London, Westminster, Naval College/Greenwich and then a little longer (1 hour) train trip to Hever Castle. One thing I would like to do is attend Evensong at Windsor or St Paul’s Cathedral. St Paul’s is every night at 5 and it is free. I’m going alone and planning on sightseeing til I drop, basically. I need to start planning a few nice dinners next. I haven’t had a real vacation in forever, very excited!
Sounds like a great trip. I remember how beautiful the gardens were at Hampton Court. If you have time and like gardens the trip to Blenheim (near Oxford) is great. I also loved walking around Oxford and imagining Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane there.
I second Covent Garden as a great place to stay. Westminister and Mayfair are a bit dull at night. Kensington and Knightsbridge are good too, and there are a few hotels near Earl’s Court Station.
One cool thing to do is to take a tour of the Houses of Parliament. Tours must be booked in advance due to security considerations but are a singular experience if one has an interest in the British political system. The tours are not advertised as they are mainly for UK citizens, but anyone can go.
An overlooked small museum is the Courtauld Institute of Art at the University of London near Covent Garden. It has one of the finest (and smallest) Impressionist collections in the world.
Try to take in a play at the National Theatre for a unique experience. There are three venues in the Brutalist edifice, prices are reasonable, and you’ll likely see some of your favorite British actors.
Get out of central London one day and visit a neighborhood. Primrose Hill, Hampstead, and Camden Town are all unique and within walking distance of one another.
If you’ve done the Cabinet War Rooms and the Imperial War Museum, the RAF Museum in Hendon is really worth a trip. It’s about 30 minutes from London on the Tube.
I was just in London last week to drop off dd at her post grad year south of London. We only had 2 short days in London. I highly recommend the Wilde Apart Hotel in Covent Garden (it’s on the Strand and easy walking distance to Covent Garden, Charing Cross rail station, and Embankment tube stop). Easily walkable to Westminster, Buckingham Palace, etc. super clean, new , etc. I am going back over Thanksgiving and bringing my son to meet up with his sister and disappointed to learn that hotel was sold out. We will probably stay at their location in Paddington.
Forgot to add, The British Museum has “out of hours” tours which get you into the museum before it opens to the public. Very much worth doing if you’s like to experience the museum without the crowds usually associated.
We did a different tour not offered currently and were able to enjoy several wings after the tour (on upper floors) that didn’t fill up for over 90 minutes after the museum opened to the public. So almost 3 hours at the museum with minimal or no crowds.
I am by no means a London expert, but we were there with another couple for 5 days in 2019. One of those days we took the water taxi to Greenwich and had a lovely time there, visiting the Naval College, the Queen’s House and shopping at the Greenwich Market. It was actually one of our favorite days of the trip!
This is a bit touristy, but the London Eye, if you can get the champagne car for the sunset trip, was delightful. We on a whim booked it for our trip when we were there for a few days five years ago, after not having been to London since 1980. It was fun sipping our flutes while looking out over the city as the sun set.
I also love just walking around. We ended up walking a long way along Regents Canal, from behind Kings Cross Station to Regents Park. Another day around Chelsea and Battersea Park. Spent a day in the British Museum–very changed since when I was last there.
We end a tour of England/Wales in a couple of weeks in London. The tour is taking us to the Tower of London, so we might try to get over to St. Paul’s before finding a cab back to the hotel in Victoria.
The next day is on our own. We plan on just walking around (never been to London). From Victoria we should be able to get to Westminster, then up Whitehall to Trafalgar Square. From there maybe we can start circling back via Buckingham Palace. Our hotel in Victoria is about a 15 minute walk from Buckingham Palace. It’s a lot, but we like to walk. This is a Sunday, so Westminster Abbey is only open for services.
We have a 5:30 PM flight the next day. I’ve booked 9:30 admission to Westminster Abbey, before our bus to the airport at 1PM.
I think this is ambitious but manageable. Lots more we’d like to see, but trying to keep things in the Westminster/Whitehall area.
Last time we were in London we went to the Churchill War Rooms and the Greenwich Observatory two places we had never been before in all of our trips to London. I highly recommend both of them.
We will be in London next month staying in Kensington near the Glouscester Road tube station where we have stayed before. We also like to stay in Covent Garden.
When we are there next month we are going to the old Battersea Power Station that’s been redone into shops and restaurants. We are also going to Bletchley Park where the allies broke the German code in WWII.
I go to London usually twice a year. Art galleries don’t tell you the history of the place, with maybe the exception of the National Portrait Gallery, which I recommend.
My must-do’s are The Churchill War Rooms, Tower of London, Highgate Cemetery, V&A, and Sir John Soane’s Museum. Hampton Court Palace is always worth the extra time to get there, as is Windsor Castle.
I love walking around Fortnum & Mason and Jermyn Street behind, which is amazing for men’s clothing. I LOVE New & Lingwood, which is divided into two shops on the end of Piccadilly Arcade, where you will find the charming statue of Beau Brummell, the famous London dandy. The one shop sells high end men’s clothes, but the other sells amazingly sumptuous £1000+ silk men’s robes (dressing gowns.) https://www.newandlingwood.com/mens-dressing-gowns?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI3dejwKWpgQMVQgOtBh0MvQYdEAAYASABEgKsvvD_BwE
So many other recs. South Bank is good for strolling after The Globe. Too much to do!