The two things I liked the very best in London were Westminster Abbey and the treasures room at the British Library.
Westminster Abbey is expensive, I think the admission was at least £14 when I went, but the treasures of the British Library are free and include notebooks of DaVinci, a manuscript of Jane Austen’s, a letter by Elizabeth I, scribbled lyrics by the Beatles, the Magna Carta, and much much more amazing amazing stuff!
and also the Tower of London. The tip I learned from previous travelers was: go first thing in the morning, skip the tour and go directly to the crown jewels. They will not be crowded yet, because all the other early arrivals are on the tour. Then take the tour.
Have a wonderful time!
P.S. A day trip to Oxford is a wonderful idea…London Walks does a day trip to Oxford and the Cotswolds every Wednesday and your tour price includes your train ticket: The Cotswolds & Oxford Day Trip
If you don’t mind standing, you can see a play at the Globe for about $8 US. Even the seats aren’t that expensive – they range from about $25-$50.
When I was in London my friend and I were able to get decent Globe tickets by lining up at the box office a couple of hours before showtime. They released unsold tickets then and there were also people trying to get rid of tickets they couldn’t use. This was about ten years ago so I don’t know what the policy is now, but a London guidebook would probably have more info.
Always worth looking off West End. For eg, the Menier Chocolate Factory puts on small theatre productions that frequently transfer to the West End. Nice cosy atmosphere, completely different from the big West End theatres.
The Menier is also just down the road from **Borough Market **- a food lover’s paradise. don’t be surprised if you see Jamie Oliver or such like filming his latest food programme here. Open Thursdays-Saturdays.
Art, where to start?
For your grand masters and impressionists, head to the daddy of them all, the National Gallery, right on Trafalgar Square (free). Next door is the great National Portrait Gallery, which is like a history of Britain in painting form - see original and recognisable original portraits of Elizabeth I, Cromwell, Duke of Wellington, Maggie Thatcher, etc etc.
Also for old masters, the Courtauld is a lovely, more intimate gallery space, less crowded than the National.
For contemporary art, the biggie is the Tate Modern (our equivalent to the MOMA in NY). Spectucular industrial building too (free). Also, the Saatchi Gallery – Charles Saatchi is an art collector who pretty much created the Brit Art movement from the 1990s, popularising Damien Hirst and his gang. The Saatchi Gallery is always cutting edge.
There’s a ton of smaller galleries, but these are the feature ones.
History
The British Museum is possibly the greatest history museum in the world, stuffed to bursting with the spoils of empire, from the Rosetta Stone to the Elgin Marbles. It’s vast, but free, so you can duck in and out.
For a history of London, the Museum of London is fascinating, charting the city from Roman times. (free)
Don’t miss Westminster Abbey, where the tombs are like a who’s who of British history. This is also where we crown and marry our royals. Parliament is opposite, so you can grab a photo of the famous exterior. If you fancy a taste of British politics, you can watch live debates of parliament when it’s sitting, from the visitor’s gallery. Info here. The interior is even more spectacular than the outside.
The Cabinet War Rooms are mandatory if you have any interest in WWII - these are the basement rooms where Churchill operated his war command. They were sealed up at the end of the war and are a perfectly preserved time capsule. I’m not sure the Imperial War Museum is completely open yet, so perhaps save that for another time.
Design
The [**V&A /B]is a vast museum of art and design, with everything from medieval gold icons up to 20th century design classics - one of my favourite museums in London (free). Right next door is the Science Museum (free, fun but full of kids) and the Natural History Museum (free, and worth it even if you just duck into the foyer, as the building itself is a spectacle).
There’s also the Design Museum - near Borough Market again. Much smaller than the V&A so more digestible perhaps. Not free. There are frequent great design exhibitions/retrospectives ate the Barbican Centre, so worth checking out their website.
Science
The Hunterian Museum (part of the Royal College of Surgeons) is nice and ghoulish. If science is your thing, you may be interested in the free public lectures given by the Royal Society.
Street Markets:
On top of Borough Market, head to Columbia Road Flower Market on a Sunday morning for a real slice of East End traders jossling with tourists. The street also has a tonne of art and gift shops. Go in the morning, and then book Sunday lunch in the dining room of the Royal Oak pub - a proper way to spend a London Sunday lunch. After lunch, wander down Brick Lane, where there’s a Sunday street market selling food, second hand clothing, and all manner of weird art. This describes my perfect London Sunday.
One last point I would make - research your restaurants. London has some amazing dining to be had at all price levels, but the West End is full of tourist traps preying on weary and naive visitors. It depresses me when people visit London and complain about the food, when they have obviously just fallen into the nearest pizza chain or crappy pub and fallen victim to the over priced and mediocre. And never ever ever go to any restaurant that has ‘Aberdeen’, ‘Angus’ or ‘Steakhouse’ in the title - the most notorious tourist traps in London. Literally not a single local would ever step foot in one.
I recommend the London Pass with the Travelcard thrown in. Plan your three days for all the places you want to see and which charge, then see the free galleries on the other days or get 6 days and take your time. All of the above suggestions are great except the Tate Modern which is undergoing restoration (I was there a month ago) and so will take less than the usual three hours to look around.
Start day one at the Tower, then Tower Bridge, on to … ah, actually, see Post #3 here for my response, plus lots of other good info in that thread. As far as I can tell it’s still up to date.
If you do get a London Pass and get sick of taking the tube or the bus, you can use a ride on the Thames to both get from Point A to Point B and get a different view of London. It’ll cost money off your card, but it’s probably worth doing in good weather.
If you’re willing to make some day trips, Bath is a nice town and has the old Roman baths. Canterbury is nice too and might mean more if you’re Episcopalian or into religious buildings in general. We did a day trip up to York as well, but that was a lot of time on the train.
Wahaca for Mexican food if you really miss it and don’t have enough options in the US - it’s a small chain and there are about half a dozen in zone one
Tayyabs for a very cheap and amazingly tasty Indian, you can also go to the Whitechapel Art Gallery nearby
Ottolenghi’s for strikingly original Middle Eastern food
Franco Manca’s for what might be London’s best pizza - but go on a weekday (I’d go to the Brixton branch- interesting market nearby too)
Whitecross Street Market - surrounded by offices, but worth it if you’re a foodie. About ten minutes walk from St Pauls and even closer to the Museum of London, which is excellent.
I really, really want to make a Hyperdrive joke here.
Instead, I’ll give a bit of advice and say that if you do decide to go to Camden Market you might want to not get off at Camden Town but at Chalk Farm or Mornington Crescent.
Or depending where you’re coming from or if you have time, can take a waterbus along the canal from Little Venice (just a bit behind Paddington station) that lets you off right at the markets.
I’m not really interested in the restaurant scene. I have plenty of that at home. But I am interested in interesting, cheap street food. Does that happen in London?
My gf went to London with a friend recently. They just did pubs and cemeteries. They are discussing a second trip to do everything but pubs and cemeteries.