Things to do while vacationing in London, England

Iconic London tourist sites

There are unlimited things to do while visiting London. I've selected some of the tourist attractions that I consider "must do" while visiting London. I would also highly suggest that you purchase the Lonely Planet Guide to London and that you buy the weekly TimeOut magazine when you arrive (you can get it at any bookstore and most corner shops in London). The following are some of the must-do things in London as a tourist:

• London Bus Tours would be a nice way to start your holiday in London. There are several bus options and I've linked to one of them, although I'd imagine they're all pretty similar. Taking a bus ride with live commentary gives a nice overview of the city and helps you figure out the places where you want to go back and spend more time. Most also let you hop on and off, so for a museum or attraction, it's an easy way to get around.
• Tower of London: head to the Tower for a couple of hours to see the Crown Jewels, explore its history, see its cells - and make sure not to miss the frequent tours given by the Yeoman Warders. If there isn't one about to start, WAIT for one. It's absolutely worth it! Entrance to the Tower for adults costs about £17, although if you'll also be visiting some of the Palaces, inquire about purchasing a pass for all of them. Once inside the Tower, the tours and all other areas are free. The Tower of London borders the water of the Thames and is next to Tower Bridge - one of the iconic bridges in London. Make an afternoon of it and explore around, walk across the bridge, and enjoy the area! The nearest Tube stop is Tower Hill (arrive via either the District or Circle Lines).
• The London Eye is another not-to-miss experience. This was originally built for the year 2000 celebration and was supposed to be taken down after the festivities. But it was such a success, London decided to make it a permanent tourist attraction. Only go to the Eye on a nice day - the 30 minute slow "ride" (one revolution of the wheel barely able to tell it's even moving) gives you amazing views all around London in every direction. If you don't mind spending a few extra pounds, look for the "Fast Track" signs when you purchase your ticket; Fast Track is slightly more expensive, but lets you skip the entire line of people waiting (which can take hours on busy days!) and lets you just board the next pod. It's well worth the cost.
• Buckingham Palace doesn't require too much explanation! It's beautiful to look at - from the outside. Very rarely are there opportunities to tour the inside, but well worth 20 minutes plus a stroll through the nearby gardens.
• Oxford Street / Soho is a fun street and area to wander around. You can take the Central line to Oxford Circus and wander up Oxford Street towards Tottenham Court Rd station, then cut along Shaftesbury Ave and into Soho, where you'll find plenty of activity. Carnaby Street is a fun shopping street to wander down if you wind up in that area. Make sure to grab a map ahead of time before wandering around, there are tons of small streets and it's easy to get confused.
• Victoria Street and Westminster: if you take the tube to Victoria Station, this puts you at the top end of Victoria Street. A 20 minute relaxing walk down Victoria Street (heading south) will take you past the Catholic Cathedral almost immediately (Westminster Cathedral), and further on, past Westminster Abbey. When you get to that area at the end of Victoria Street, you'll see Big Ben and Parliament. You can tour the Westminster Cathedral and the Abbey, but tours to Parliament are only available to UK residents, sorry! Keep walking past Parliament and you'll have a great view of the Thames and be quite near the London Eye.
• Outdoor markets There are some fun outdoor markets that are nice to explore. In East London, near Liverpool Street tube station, go look around Spitalfields Market (see the bottom of their page for which days have which themes - Sunday is the best day for a wide assortment). Camden Market is another great outdoor market, and boasts that it is the 4th most visited tourist attraction in London. And the last famous one is Borough Market, which is the oldest food market and full of snacks and little bites to eat! Depending where you're staying, there may well be other local markets nearby. If you do head to Camden Market, it's worth a few minutes' detour to head to Primrose Hill. This is one of the tallest outdoor parks in London and has nice views back into London. Personally, I don't think it's worth a trip simply for it alone, but if it's a nice day and you want to walk with a destination, it's a good option. The London Zoo is quite nearby also.
• The Covent Garden area is well worth a stroll, and make sure you include Leicester Square (pronounced "Lester"). Leicester Square has several half-price show ticket stores, and you can often find last minute decent tickets for the musicals and plays being performed around London. It also has several large movie theatres in the immediate area.
• Museums and Art Galleries: There are SO MANY around London, I can't possibly do them justice. There's a good page run by a tourist agency that lists the major museums and major art galleries in London. These include the British Museum, Natural History Museum, Tate Modern, National Portrait Gallery, and more. The one specific place that I will call out is the British Library. For free, you can visit the Treasures gallery, which has a selection of their most famous pieces in the collection. This ranges from original Beatles song sheets to one of the original Magna Cartas (the Magna Carta is in a special room so look for it!). You can easily spend an hour or two wandering through this one room - well worth the trip, even through there's not a lot near the British Library.
• Plays, Musicals and Theatre: I mentioned above the half-price ticket booths around Leicester Square. That's a good option if you're the kind of person comfortable with the hit-or-miss. If you really want to go to a specific show, or really need a specific day, splurge and buy your tickets ahead of time. It's more expensive, but you'll get your choice of what you want. Your hotel conceirge can help sort it out, or you can pay full price ahead of time at many of the "half price same day" places in Leicester Square.

Day trips outside of London

London is great - but there's a lot more to explore around in England. Within a day - sometimes best done overnight if you really want to explore - are easy trips on the train or tour bus to Stonehenge, Bath, Edinburgh Scotland (overnight), Salisbury Cathedral, Stratford-upon-Avon, the Lakes District, and the Cotswolds. There are many tour companies operating from London that would be happy to arrange tours for you. One that has a nice website and takes pre-bookings has eight options for trips - check out their range of day trips from London. The English countryside is pretty and traveling a bit outside London for a day can help you more fully appreciate the country.

Where to stay in London

Like most large cities, there are endless options for hotels. Since I live in London, it's rare that I actually stay in a hotel room! But there are absolutely some world-class hotels here. Two favorite hotels - if money is no object - are the Soho Hotel and St. Martins Lane Hotel. Both are centrally located, stylish, and fun. If you can't splurge for one of those, check out Tripadvisor's London hotels page to select an alternate. The key thing is to make sure you are staying near some of the central attractions - be walkable to one or more of Covent Garden, Picadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, or Soho. Doing so will ensure a great visitor experience, easy access to everything, and good transport options.

Key things to know before visiting London

London is an amazing, world-class city to visit. It's full of life, plenty of activities, brimming with history, and has something for everyone to enjoy. There are a few key things to know about London (or even England) before visiting.

• The currency in the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland) is the pound (£). Similar to how the dollar has a nickname (a "buck"), the pound's nickname is a "quid".
• Most public toilets are not free! You can find public toilets in major train stations and sometimes even stand-alone around tourist areas. It is important that you always carry a pound worth of change since many public toilet require 20, 30, or 40p to enter - and don't make change. Many times you will not need it, but when you do need it, it is well worth to have the change"
• You will not need a car in London - in fact, do NOT get one. Public transportation is great, more relaxing, and a nice way to truly experience the city. Black cabs - taxis - are available on a meter rate and you can flag them down on most any large street in London (generally no tip expected, although rounding up to the nearest pound is typical. If they help with bags, etc, a couple of pounds tip is appreciated.) There are also mini-cabs, which are not on a meter and where you need to negotiate the fee up front. Unless you're going a long distance or feel particularly confident, stick with a black cab - the drivers have an amazing test they have to pass, are background checked, and are licensed.
• Trivia for the day: What's the difference between the United Kingdom and Great Britian? Give up? Great Britian includes England, Scotland and Wales; the United Kingdom includes those three plus Northern Ireland.
• London weather in the spring and summer is often beautiful (or "brilliant" as they say over here). The closer you get to winter, the higher the chance it's more overcast and rainy. There's a good weather planner you can explore to answer the question of when should I visit London?

Getting around in London

Before you figure out navigating around London, you need to sort out how you get TO London from the airport. If you arrive at Heathrow and are staying in a central London hotel, you should take the Heathrow Express airport train into Paddington Station. The Heathrow Express leaves roughly every 15 minutes from Heathrow and is a nonstop train to Paddington. From Paddington, you can catch a taxi to your hotel. You can certainly take a taxi from Heathrow to your hotel, but it will be expensive and you may well sit in traffic. If you have 3+ people, the taxi will cost about the same as buying 3 Heathrow Express tickets. There are other options, but these by far as the two easiest options for tourists visiting London.

London's public railway / subway system is known officially as the London Underground, but much more commonly known simply as "the Tube". The Tube is divided into "zones" which determine how much the fare is to travel between two stations. The tube zones start in central London where everything is in Zone 1. And the further outside central London you travel, you get all the way up to Zone 6 and beyond. For most tourists, you will spend most of your time in Zones 1-2.

Save yourself hassle and cost by purchasing a Travelcard, which gives you unlimited travel on the Tube and buses, among other things. You can buy a travelcard valid for 1, 3, or 7 days. As an example of its costs, a 7-day travel card valid for zones 1-3 for an adult is just over £25. The travelcard is a physical paper ticket. Slightly more exciting - and a great souvenier - is the Oyster card, which is London Underground's pay-as-you-go electronic travelcard. Most London residents have an Oyster card because it can easily be replenished, guarrantees you never pay more than what you use, and is easier and more robust than a paper ticket. While a travelcard gives you unlimited travel for a fixed fee, the Oyster card deducts money as you use the card. With an Oyster, the system will never charge you more than what you would have paid with a travelcard, but will charge you less if you don't use it a lot on a particular day. The only downside is that you will have to replenish the Oyster card with additional cash if you haven't added enough. For visitors from the USA (and many other countries), you can purchase an Oyster card ahead of time - and I'd suggest buying the £30 value Oyster card. The total comes to $47 which includes the postage and processing and currency conversion.

London itself is highly walkable and easy to nagivate around on the tube. Here is an online Tube map - note the alternating gray and white areas - these indicate the Zones.

If you have any suggestions for things that others should not miss, please post them in the comments below! And similarly, if there are big things you're wondering that I haven't covered, please make a comment and I'll update this page as time permits. Enjoy your trip - and purchase the Lonely Planet Guide to London - it's your bible for planning your trip!