I second Sir John Soane’s Museum and highly recommend booking their highlights tour. It gave me an even greater appreciation of Soane’s genius. Highlights and Private Apartments Tour | Sir John Soane's Museum
Hampstead is a great area to explore. Not only is the Heath a beautiful park and a great place to people watch, it’s home to Kenwood House an exquisite period home that houses a world-class art collection including works by Vermeer and Rembrandt. Kenwood | English Heritage
Lindagaf, you are a woman after my own heart. Not too many people know about Sir John Soane’s museum (I’ve been twice) and I didn’t know there was a statue of Beau Brummel. I’ve never seen the Churchill War rooms (and I keep seeing it recommended) so we’ll see if we have time for that. The good news is my kid will be stationed in England for at least two more years, so I plan to come back at least once a year if possible.
There are some incredibly moving moments in the War Rooms- I won’t spoil them for you. But the experience makes you realize there were SO many times that Britain thought they were going to lose the war. So Churchill’s encouragement/bluster/bravery on the radio and to the troops was just a majestic act (the likes of which we haven’t seen since).
The museum at Kenwood mentioned above is worth seeing. And a pint at the Spaniard’s! Forgot about that pub!!!
Small world - my D (American who lives and works in London) volunteers at Kenwood House! She works in finance but was a history major and that’s her passion, so she found a way to explore that love. She told me that Sir Paul McCartney loves the paintings at Kenwood House and is an occasional visitor.
That is so cool! She is living my dream in every way.
We stayed at the Point A hotel in Canary Wharf. Great little small room, modern hotel with en-suite bathrooms. Canary Wharf is a happening, lively fun place, with easy access to the DLR and the Elizabeth underground line. (Direct route to get to Heathrow, for those flying in or out of there.)
Evensong at .st Paul’s is lovely and we attended last week. The professional adult choir was singing, as the boy choristers had just started term time again.
I’m in London now, staying at the Melia White House, which is not that far from Euston Station. Pretty good hotel. I had a great stay at the St. Pancras Renaissance. I’m traveling on business and using the exec lounges, so may not have the normal experience. Lots of hotels near Euston Station (including the aforementioned Premier Inn).
Near Victoria? I have never stayed in that neighborhood that I can remember (probably stayed at 20 or 25 hotels in London), but often stay a the Conrad in Westminster. Very nice but rather expensive.
My wife organized a guide for the Victoria & Albert. It was terrific.
I had dinner at a very nice upscale South Indian restaurant called Quilon (always excellent) near Buckingham Gate. If you want a total splurge with a genius of food, you can try the Frog in Covent Garden (probably need to reserve way in advance). I have been eating at Adam Handling’s restaurants since he was 23 – it has always been extraordinary but now that he has his first Michelin star, the prices at the Frog have jumped. On the lower price end, I always enjoy Nando’s (African/Portuguese chicken).
One lesser known site that H and I visited in London—The Royal Mews. The Mews houses the royal horses as well as all the royal carriages—many historic carriages, including those used in coronations, weddings, etc. You can also see the horses. I’m not even a horse person and I found it fascinating. We just stumbled onto this and decided to go inside.
If you can get tickets for the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London, it’s a wonderful experience. Last I checked, there was a long backlog though.
The Dennis Severs house is an offbeat museum that takes you through several centuries in a home https://dennissevershouse.co.uk/
Doing a canal walk or boat ride is fun, and you can end up at either the zoo or Camden Market.
For a fun and free experience, go to the Abbey Road crossing and reproduce the iconic Beatles image … and then stay and watch all the other tourists narrowly avoiding traffic. Don’t make the mistake of going to the Abbey Road tube stop; you want the Saint John’s Wood one (there was a lovely little Beatles shop in the station last time I was there). There’s also a webcam that stores the images so you can see yourself once you get home. https://www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/place/35809687-abbey-road
Wow! So many ideas! So little time!
You could have a month and still need more time. London is like NYC, sooooo much to see and do, and never enough time.
Note that you can get Thameslink to Gatwick from St Pancras (5 mins walk east of Euston), so if you want to avoid hauling luggage on the tube from Euston after arrival then that’s easy. Tube connections are good from that area to get to Westminster, South Kensington etc and the British Museum is a short walk. I sometimes stay at the Hilton across from Euston station.
My son lives right across the street from Abbey Road Studios in St. John’s Wood. Gets a laugh out of the people trying to recreate the photo and dodge traffic at the same time!
Though because it’s a zebra crossing, more like traffic forced to suffer through waiting on them. Driving through that intersection must really be tiring for anyone who has to do it regularly, though I love checking in on the cam now and then to watch the show!
London is awesome and there are a lot of sights to see. Don’t forget about all the great events!
Go see a soccer match…tons of London teams (Tottenham, Arsenal, Chelsea, West Ham, Brentford, and a bunch of other Championship and lower level teams).
Go see a show…tons of incredible theatre.
There are almost always great concerts going on in great venues as well if you are into live music. I
Someone mentioned ABBA Voyage earlier…also terrific. Even just walking around the city and parks and going to the local pubs is awesome.
We have tickets for As you like it at The Globe. We’re keeping the other night open for now till we know what we are doing with my DIL’s parents.
I’m going to see SIX as part of my Tudor theme!
When I was there last month, also kept a few nights open.
The below link was a great resource for same day/discounted tickets-
Make sure you sign in early in the am to get the best selection. We saw Witness for the Prosecution at a deep discount and actually preferred this to the full pay Cabaret production!
I have the Cartoon Museum on my wish list. So far I’ve missed it, either because they don’t open every day, or because they were moving premises. A friend has managed to visit and tells me that I missed a treat.
I did not know there was a cartoon museum. We really will only have two full days. One we are going to spend with my DIL’s parents and will let them lead the way. They have promised us a good Chinese meal which since they are from Hong Kong, I am looking forward to. The other day we will do the Churchill War Rooms, The Tate Modern and walk around (maybe check out Beau Brummel!). We have the Globe theater that evening.