I might be able to spend a long weekend (Friday-Monday morning) in London in early October. What are the can’t-miss things to see and do over that short time period? I will likely try to see the changing of the guard, ride on the Eye, and see the Tower of London, but other than that I’m not sure what I should do. I am a bit hampered by not knowing where I’ll be staying yet, but I’ll take any restaurant suggestions you can give, from fine dining to places off the beaten path that the locals love.
get lost in the streets and alleys.
I loved loved loved the Museum of London.
The London Dungeon is a lot of fun, if you’re into Jack the Ripper history and gory/thrilling stuff.
Edit: Looks like they’ve added a lot of cool stuff to it since we were there in 1997.
For a long weekend, I’d recommend the following:
An afternoon (or more) in the British Museum
Westminster Abbey, the Eye, and Westminster Hall if you can swing a tour. They’re all pretty close together.
Tower of London
St. Paul’s & the crypt underneath
HMS Belfast is cool if you like naval stuff
See a show. The theatres themselves are often historic buildings and there are great deals to be had on tickets. We bought ours in Covent Garden for same day performances. I recommend The Woman in Black. Amazing.
Just take a walk about.
Nothing like it.
Another is go to the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand.
Forget the eye. There are seriously interesting things to do and see in London. Things that are inherently, substantially fascinating and unique. Why go to an artificial tourist trap?
I love the science museum. There are so many things in there that are the first examples of technology that have quite literally changed human life.
It might help if we know what you enjoy or what your interests are – there really is something for everyone and the choice is vast so help us narrow things down a bit or you’ll get 1000 random suggestions!
Anyone going to the Science museum has to also check out the natural history museum as its next door.
I think the London eye is OK to get a good view of the whole of London but maybe going up the dome at Saint Pauls might be a better alternative. Saint Pauls itself is a must see I would say.
This. And avoid the touristy parts of town.
Also in Covent garden you’ve got a great chance of seeing some street performers, ranging from living statues, musicians to a guy on a unicycle messing around with chainsaws, that kind of thing.
Won’t be as much there in October as there is over summer, mind.
Its actually a lot better to visit from Sep to late Oct. Weather is still ok (getting colder though) and less of a rush. You can actually take in the tourist attraction.
If you have time; take one of the outer London tours, most commonly they commonly take you to Windsor, Stonehenge and Bath and its back to London in the evening.
Bath is one of the places in the world you wish you lived in.
Finally always have an umbrella. Never trust the sky or the weatherman, even if it is completely blue and the BBC assures you that the nearest cloud is over the Russian Pacific. Never trust the weather. I swear I saw cloudless rain once.
Plus a plentiful of tourists.
I rather like the Eye. It’s the Tower I find an artificial tourist trap - so much of it is a Victorian reconstruction that I found it a major disappointment. If you do go to the Eye, book your tickets in advance over the interweb to avoid the ticket queue. The queue to get on moves pretty quickly. It’s a pleasant half hour and if the weather’s nice you can walk down the Thames all the way to London Bridge, which is a good stroll.
Restaurants? Hard to say. I mean, it depends on where you are and what you like. The Ivy is overrated and you can’t get in. Jamie’s Italian is surprisingly good. And for cheap and cheerful I will always eat at Nando’s if the opportunity arises (YMMV but I loves me some spicy chicken). I am temporarily blanking on the names of some good curry houses in central London but I’m sure someone else will come up with something.
This^^. Honestly, never believe the weather reports and always carry at least a small umbrella (and don’t leave it on the bus/tube!).
I went on the Eye for the third time a few weeks ago. I think it’s fantastic. It’s a tourist trap but it’s a fucking excellent one. The view of the Palace of Westminster alone is worth the money.
Me, I like Chinatown but I guess that isn’t really what you’re in London for.
Lahore Kebab House; there are two, one near Aldgate Station and another outside Lords
Tayybs in Whitechapel.
Be warned they sactually serve real Indian and Pakistani food, not juts the Anglicised versin elsewhere.
You could spend a week just touring the museums.
On just one corner of town near South Kensington tube you have the Science museum, Natural history museum and Victorian and Albert museum - there’s a couple of days gone already.
Then the British museum, the Imperial war museum, National Gallery and Tate modern and Tate Britain…and all of these are free!
I’d also recommend a boat trip down to Greenwich and see the Observatory and the National Maritime museum…again, free! (apart from the boat ride)
To eat, Pret a Manger sandwich shops are cheap and cheerful and Wahaca is a favourite mexican of mine that is tasty and reasonable.
And get anOyster card as well, it makes life much more simple for travel.
Oyster for a weekend? I’m not sure it’s worth it. A paper ticket will suffice.
But Pret and Wahaca are good (although coming to London for Mexican food seems a bit perverse).
Oh yeah - Pret. Inexpensive and fresh sandwiches. Love the elderflower soda, the cheddar & pickle sandwiches, basically anything I tried from them. Chocolate croissant and an Americano in the morning as we headed out to see the sights was perfect.
I also loved Wagamama and now that they have a couple of Boston locations we go there regularly. Inexpensive (by London and Boston standards) and yummy noodles.