This one is for when you have a bit more time and want to actually enjoy it rather than power through it. Let’s get into it.
Day 1: Westminster, a Slow Start
Day 1 is deliberately lighter. You’ve probably just landed, maybe you’re a bit jet-lagged, maybe you just want to ease into things. This day covers the postcard landmarks of Westminster without rushing, and you’ll likely be done by early afternoon with the rest of the day free.
Big Ben & Westminster Bridge
Big Ben is one of those things that’s somehow more impressive in person than every photo you’ve ever seen of it. The detail in the stonework, the size of it, standing right underneath looking up.
Walk onto Westminster Bridge for the view that has Big Ben on one side and the London Eye on the other. It’s London in one frame, basically.
A small thing we always find interesting: Big Ben technically refers only to the bell, not the tower. The tower’s actual name is Elizabeth Tower.
⏰ Opening hours: Monday to Saturday, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, tours start at Cromwell Green.
🎟️ Tickets: Tickets: you can purchase it on the official website released three months in advance, if you catch them, awesome, if not, just admire it from the outside. Still pretty!
Westminster Abbey
A short walk away. Even just standing outside, the scale of the building is something. Gothic spires, centuries of detail, that feeling of walking past something genuinely old in a way that’s hard to find elsewhere.
Westminster Abbey has hosted every coronation since 1066, and it’s the final resting place of more than 3.300 people, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Stephen Hawking, Charles Dickens among them.
Daily services are free through the Great West Door. For the full visit, general admission gets you inside properly.
⏰ Opening hours: Monday to Saturday, 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM last entry.
🎟️ Tickets: £31 (~36€) and you can buy them here
St James’s Park
After the Abbey, take it slow through St James’s Park. It’s genuinely one of our favourite parks in London, smaller than Hyde Park but with a charm of its own. Pelicans have lived here since 1664, gifted to King Charles II by the Russian ambassador, and a few descendants are apparently still around, occasionally causing chaos by attempting to eat pigeons. We’ve never personally witnessed this, but we’ve seen some cute squirrels playing around.
Buckingham Palace, The Mall & the Changing of the Guard
From the park, walk toward Buckingham Palace along The Mall, the long tree-lined avenue that connects the two. It’s a proper royal approach, and it sets the scene nicely.
If you want to catch the Changing of the Guard, time this for Monday, Wednesday, Friday, or Sunday and be there by 10:30 AM. It starts at 11:00 AM, runs about 45 minutes, and it’s free, though it does get crowded really fast. If the timing doesn’t work for your Day 1, don’t stress, the Palace itself is worth seeing regardless.
The State Rooms and gardens are open to visitors if you want to go inside, 775 rooms total, 19 of which are open to the public.
🎟️ Tickets: ~£30 (~35€)
🛒 Buy entry tickets and attend Changing of the Guard
Check out our full guide on how to get the best spot for the Changing of the Guard.
Trafalgar Square
A short walk from the Palace. Big open square, Nelson’s Column in the middle, the National Gallery behind it. The four bronze lions guarding the base of the column were cast from melted-down French cannons captured at Trafalgar. A nice little bit of revenge built right into the monument. We hope that it is not under construction as it was everytime we visited it (even in 2014!)
This is a good spot to end Day 1. Grab a chai latte, sit for a bit, enjoy.
Where to eat on Day 1:
- Timmy Green: brunch place in Victoria, a short walk from Buckingham Palace, great for an easy start to the day
- 50 Kalò di Ciro Salvo: Neapolitan-style pizza just off Trafalgar Square, perfect for lunch or an early dinner after the square, on 50 Top Pizza list!
- Marugame, The Strand: Japanese udon noodles and tempura, handy if you’re finishing the day near Trafalgar Square or Westminster
Day 2: South Bank East, Borough Market & Tower Bridge
This is the big one. Genuinely our favourite day of the whole trip, because it includes a dedicated food spot, haha. South Bank, the river, Borough Market, Tower Bridge, and a rooftop to finish. Comfortable shoes, this is a long walking day.
Millennium Bridge & St Paul’s Cathedral
Start on the Millennium Bridge and stop right in the middle. The view of St Paul’s Cathedral from here, framed above the river, is one of those views that are postcard like. We may have spent a solid couple of hours here, but look at the pictures!
St Paul’s has stood here for more than 1.400 years in some form, built after the Great Fire of London in 1666 and taking 35 years to complete. Churchill’s funeral was held here. So was the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana. It’s seen a lot.
We didn’t make it inside, tickets were sold out by the time we got there, our fault for not booking ahead. But the outside more than makes up for it.
⏰ Opening hours: 8:30 AM Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 10:00 AM on Wednesdays, closing at 4:30 PM.
🎟️ Tickets: £27 (~32€) and you can purchase it here
Check out our guide to the best views of St Paul’s Cathedral.
Borough Market
Continue along the South Bank to Borough Market, around since 1885 and one of the best food markets in the city. This is lunch, no question.
Arrive with a plan, the popular stalls have queues. Here’s what we tried:
- The Black Pig: the best sandwich we’ve had in London
- The Ginger Pig: hot sausage roll, simple and British
- Bread Ahead Doughnuts: the crème brûlée one gets all the attention, but the chocolate s’more might be better
- Tacos Padre: three tacos for around £10 (~12€), good value, tasty
- Wild Mushroom Risotto: made with barley instead of rice, mushrooms were good, but barley, not a fan, but that is personal preference
- there is so many more stalls with fresh juices, strawberries with chocolate, try whatever you like, I’m sure it will be good
⏰ Opening hours: Monday to Friday 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Saturday 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Sunday 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.
River Cruise
From London Bridge Pier, a short walk from the market, board a Thames river cruise heading east toward Tower Bridge. You’ll pass HMS Belfast and get a completely different angle on the City skyline from the water. It also conveniently delivers you right where you need to be next.
You can book the cruise on the spot if seats are available, we recommend booking it online just so you get the timeslot that you want.
HMS Belfast
Permanently moored between London Bridge and Tower Bridge. HMS Belfast served in the Arctic convoys during the Second World War and fired some of the first shots on D-Day, 6 June 1944. Nine decks are open to explore.
The Gun Turret Experience recreates what it would have sounded like inside one of the gun turrets during D-Day. It’s a unique thing to visit, especially in London, so do not skip it.
⏰ Opening hours: 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM daily, last entry 5:00 PM.
🎟️ Tickets: £26,80 (~32€), book it here
Tower Bridge & Tower of London
A short walk further east. Stop at More London Place on the south bank first, the view of Tower Bridge is one of the best photo spots in the city.
Here’s something most people don’t realise: Tower Bridge isn’t actually built from stone. It’s a steel structure dressed in Victorian masonry, designed specifically to match the much older Tower of London next to it. The bridge can still open for tall ships, not often, but you can check the lift schedule at towerbridge.org.uk/bridge-lifts.
⏰ Opening hours: 9:30 AM to 6:00 PM daily.
🎟️ Tickets: £18 (~21€) if you want to enter Tower Bridge, purchase your tickets here
The Tower of London next door is far more than a tower, it’s a medieval fortress that’s been a royal palace, a prison, and a place of execution across nearly 1.000 years. The Crown Jewels are kept here and seeing them in person is something else. Still don’t get why they are here, in a prison? The free Yeoman Warder tours run every 30 to 45 minutes from 10:00 AM, and we heard the stories can be quite interesting.
⏰ Opening hours: Tuesday to Saturday 9:00 AM to 5:30 PM, Sunday and Monday 10:00 AM to 5:30 PM, last entry one hour before closing.
🎟️ Tickets: ~£34 (~40€), book it online
Evening: Sky Garden or Garden at 120
End the day with a rooftop view and a drink. The rooftop and view are free, both are nearby. You can choose what you like.
Sky Garden at 20 Fenchurch Street gives you 360-degree views from three floors of landscaped gardens. Free, but booking is essential. New tickets are released every Monday at around 10:00 AM for dates three weeks out, and sunset slots disappear within hours. If you’ve missed the free booking window, reserving a table at one of the bars inside gets you in regardless.
⏰ Opening hours: Weekdays 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM, weekends 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM.
🎟️ Tickets: Free, book at skygarden.london/booking
Garden at 120 at 120 Fenchurch Street is the quieter alternative, and we honestly think it might be the better one. London’s largest public rooftop garden, 15 storeys up, with views taking in The Shard, Tower Bridge, St Paul’s, and the Gherkin all at once. No booking, no fuss, just walk in through security on Fenchurch Street and take the lift up.
⏰ Opening hours (April to September): Monday to Friday 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM, Saturday and Sunday 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
🎟️ Tickets: Free, no booking required.
Where to eat on Day 2:
- Flat Iron Borough: steak house right by Borough Market, great for dinner if you want a proper sit-down after a long day
- Texas Joe’s Slow Smoked Meats: barbecue, also around Borough Market
- Lina Stores Broadgate Circle: Italian, near the City, handy if you’re ending the day around Leadenhall or the rooftops
- Darlish Ice Cream: for something sweet before or after the rooftop views
Day 3: Churchill’s Bunker, the City & a Night at the Theatre
A day with a bit more variety. History first thing, a working courthouse, a covered Victorian market, then into Covent Garden for the afternoon, ending with a proper West End show.
Churchill War Rooms
Tucked underneath Westminster, the Churchill War Rooms are the actual underground bunker where Churchill and his War Cabinet ran the Second World War. Everything has been left as it was the day the lights went off in 1945, maps still pinned to the walls, telephones on desks, even cigarette ends in ashtrays. It’s a strange feeling walking through, like the war just ended yesterday.
Give it at least an hour, and book ahead, slots fill up fast, especially weekends.
⏰ Opening hours: Daily 9:30 AM to 6:00 PM, last entry 5:00 PM. Fridays and Saturdays from 9:00 AM.
🎟️ Tickets: £34 (~40€)
Royal Courts of Justice & National Justice Museum Phone Booths
From Westminster, a short walk east toward Temple. The Royal Courts of Justice looks more like a cathedral than a courthouse, all Victorian gothic spires and stonework. It’s a working court, so you might catch barristers in full wigs and robes walking in and out.
Just around the corner, the National Justice Museum has a row of classic red phone booths outside, a much quieter photo spot than most of the famous ones.
Leadenhall Market
A bit further into the City. Leadenhall is a covered Victorian market with an ornate painted ceiling that looks more like something from a palace than a market. Late morning to early afternoon tends to be calmer than the lunch rush. We came here for one reason only, Harry Potter, and this is Diagon Alley, and it’s not hard to see why they picked it.
Covent Garden, Neal’s Yard & Mr Fogg’s Tavern
Head toward Covent Garden for the afternoon. The piazza is always busy, street performers doing their thing, people everywhere, that constant low hum of activity. Wander into the side streets, that’s where it gets interesting.
Neal’s Yard is one of those places that looks almost fake it’s so colourful, every wall painted, flowers everywhere, tiny independent shops tucked in. Easy to walk straight past if you don’t know to look for it, we kinda wondered until we found it. While you’re there, the doughnuts from St John Bakery are worth the small detour.
Mr Fogg’s Tavern on Great Queen Street is themed around Jules Verne’s Around the World in 80 Days, packed wall to wall with Victorian curiosities and travel memorabilia. Cute little stop.
Liberty London
A short walk toward Oxford Street. Liberty’s mock-Tudor building dates from 1924 and, slightly bizarrely, was built using timber salvaged from two decommissioned Royal Navy warships. The inside is just as beautiful, dark wood, stained glass, multiple galleried floors. We didn’t buy anything, we just walked a bit around. On the inside they often change the theme so it’s always special to visit it, especially in Decemeber.
Evening: West End Show
You’re already right in the middle of Theatreland, so make the most of it. An evening at a West End show is one of those things London does better than almost anywhere else.
Long-running shows worth considering:
- The Phantom of the Opera at His Majesty’s Theatre, marking 40 years in 2026
- Les Misérables at the Sondheim Theatre
- The Lion King at the Lyceum, 26 years running and still going strong
Book through the theatre’s own website or via Get Yout Guide. For same-day discounted tickets, the TKTS booth in Leicester Square is the move, sometimes up to 50% off, and it’s a 5 minute walk from Covent Garden. Most performances start at 7:30 PM.
Where to eat on Day 3:
- The Black Penny: brunch place, great way to start the day before Churchill War Rooms
- GAIL’s Bakery Strand: pastries, sweet and savoury, good for a quick bite between stops
- Buns From Home: more pastries, easy grab-and-go option
- Shoryu Ramen Covent Garden: Japanese ramen on Great Queen Street, same street as Mr Fogg’s, easy lunch or pre-theatre dinner
- Blacklock Covent Garden: steak house, solid option for dinner before the show
- Crème: cookies and soft serve, perfect for a sweet treat while wandering Covent Garden
- Agrodolce London: Italian, another good dinner option in the area
Day 4: West London, Kensington to Notting Hill
A day that feels noticeably different from the rest. More green space, more museums, and a properly photogenic finish.
Natural History Museum
Start here, early if you can. It’s free, and it’s one of the best museums anywhere, not just in London. The building itself is worth a look before you even get inside, the terracotta exterior was designed specifically to cope with London’s once notoriously sooty air, and there are 78 carved stone monkeys decorating the arches above the main entrance. Inside, the dinosaur gallery tends to have its own queue, so head there early.
Give it an hour at least, depends on what you like. Free timed entry slots need booking in advance.
⏰ Opening hours: Daily 10:00 AM to 5:50 PM, last entry 5:30 PM.
🎟️ Entry is free.
Kensington Palace
A ten minute walk through Kensington Gardens. Kensington Palace has been a royal residence since 1689, and Queen Victoria was born here. It’s also where Princess Diana lived for years, and the Sunken Garden has a bronze statue of her.
Note: closed Mondays and Tuesdays, so plan this day around that if needed.
⏰ Opening hours: Wednesday to Sunday, 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM, last entry 5:00 PM.
🎟️ Tickets: £20,60 (~24€)
Royal Albert Hall
Right next door to Kensington Palace. The circular Victorian concert hall opened in 1871 and hosts around 400 events a year. Even without tickets to a show, the exterior is worth a slow walk around, the scale of the building is genuinely impressive up close. If something happens to be on during your trip, it’s worth checking, the acoustics are famous for a reason, I only know this place for Kylie Minogue performance and the interior looked amazing on the show.
Hyde Park
Walk into Hyde Park from Kensington Gardens, technically they’re the same green space but Hyde Park is the larger eastern half. This is the spot to slow right down. Find the Diana Memorial Fountain, wander toward the Serpentine Lake, sit on the grass if the weather’s behaving. There’s no real agenda here, just space. You can rent a bike and just wander around. London with bikes, it’s something so special.
Bywater Street
From Hyde Park, head south into Chelsea to find Bywater Street. It’s a short residential street of pastel-painted houses that looks like it was styled for a photoshoot, because honestly it kind of is one, constantly. Quiet, slightly tucked away, and a nice contrast to the bigger sights of the day. And of course we had a photo session as well, couldn’t help ourselves.
Evening: Piccadilly Circus
On your way back toward central London, stop at Piccadilly Circus for the evening. It’s a completely different place after dark, the screens lit up, everything is brighter and louder. A good, easy spot to end the day and grab dinner nearby.
Where to eat on Day 4:
- The Mayfair Chippy: fish and chips, close to Hyde Park, great for lunch after the museums
- Tortilla Oxford Circus: Mexican, handy if you’re passing through toward Piccadilly
- Shoryu Ramen Regent Street: Japanese ramen, near Piccadilly Circus, perfect for dinner to end the day
Day 5: North London & a London Eye Finale
The last day, and it has a nice arc to it, starting in north London and working back toward the centre, ending on the river where we kinda started.
Baker Street & the Sherlock Holmes Museum
Start at Baker Street, where the station walls are decorated with silhouettes of a certain detective, you know which one. At 221B Baker Street, the Sherlock Holmes Museum recreates the rooms exactly as described in Conan Doyle’s stories, you can visit it if you like.
⏰ Opening hours: Daily 9:30 AM to 6:00 PM.
🎟️ Tickets: £19 (~22€)
King’s Cross & St Pancras
A short trip across to King’s Cross. Platform 9¾ is here, complete with a luggage trolley embedded in the wall and a small shop, worth five minutes. Go early, the photo queue moves quickly in the mornings.
The real highlight though is St Pancras International, right next door. Step outside King’s Cross and look right, the Victorian gothic red brick facade is one of the most striking buildings in London, and most people walk straight past without a second glance.
Camden Market
Two stops north on the Tube. Camden Market sprawls across several indoor and outdoor areas along the canal, street food from every corner of the world, vintage clothing, music memorabilia, art stalls. It has a completely different feel from anywhere else on this trip, louder, scruffier, and we mean that in the best way.
⏰ Opening hours: Most stalls daily 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM.
The British Museum
Head back south into Bloomsbury for the afternoon. The British Museum is free, enormous, and one of the great museums of the world, 8 million objects spanning human history from prehistoric times to now. Free timed entry needs booking ahead, and afternoons are noticeably quieter than mornings.
We’ve put together a full guide to the things inside that you really shouldn’t miss, because honestly you could spend days here and still not see everything.
⏰ Opening hours: 10:00 AM to 5:30 PM daily, Fridays until 8:30 PM.
🎟️ Entry is free but requires booking!
Evening: London Eye
Save this for the very last evening. After five days of walking London inside out, there’s something fitting about ending up 135 meters above it, watching the whole city light up below you. Book online in advance, it’s cheaper, and the queues can be long even in the evening.
⏰ Opening hours: 10:00 AM to 8:30 PM Friday to Sunday, 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM on other days.
🎟️ Tickets: £29 (~34€) and buy them in advance if you want a specific time slot
Where to eat on Day 5:
- HALFCUP Kings Cross: brunch place, great start to the day before Platform 9¾
- Flat Iron Kings Cross: steak house, solid lunch or dinner option in the area
- Fortitude Bakehouse: for something sweet, tucked in Bloomsbury near the British Museum
- Via Emilia by Food Roots: northern Italian, a bit further out in Shoreditch but a great dinner option if you want to end the trip somewhere a little different
If You Have More Time
Greenwich is worth a half day if you can fit it in. A river boat ride down the Thames, then up to Greenwich Park for one of the best skyline views in London, plus the Cutty Sark and the Royal Observatory.
London Zoo in Regent’s Park is a solid choice if you’re travelling with kids, or just fancy something completely different from museums and markets, they even have butterflies there!
Things to Know Before You Go
- book Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, Churchill War Rooms, St Paul’s, and Kensington Palace well in advance, they all sell out
- Kensington Palace is closed Mondays and Tuesdays
- Changing of the Guard runs Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday, be there by 10:30 AM
- Borough Market is closed on Mondays
- Sky Garden tickets are released every Monday at 10:00 AM for three weeks ahead, set a reminder
- Garden at 120 needs no booking at all
- the Tube is your best friend, pay with your phone or contactless card
- a ride on a double-decker bus is basically mandatory at some point
- many major museums are free, always check before assuming otherwise
- Day 2 is the longest walking day, around 7 to 8 km, wear shoes you trust
Things to Know Before You Go
London doesn’t really have a bad season. We’ve visited in summer and winter and found things to love about both.
Summer means long days, rooftop bars, parks full of people, and the city at its most alive. Winter means shorter days but also Christmas markets, quieter museums, and a version of London that feels a bit more local and a bit less touristy. The crowds are heaviest in July and August and again around Christmas, but even then the city absorbs them reasonably well.
The one practical note is air conditioning. It’s not common in the UK, not in shops, not on much of the Tube, not in a lot of hotels. If that matters to you, late spring or early autumn is the sweet spot. May and September in particular tend to get the balance right, decent weather, manageable crowds, and a city that feels like it’s running at a comfortable pace rather than full tilt.
Getting Around London
Five days means a lot of walking. More than you’re probably planning for right now. That’s not a complaint, London is genuinely one of the most rewarding cities to walk around, but by Day 3 your feet will be sending you messages.
The Tube fills in the gaps, and it’s one of the easiest metro systems in the world to use. Contactless card or phone, tap in, tap out, done. No separate ticket, no planning ahead, just go. Buses are excellent too, and if you haven’t ridden a double-decker by the end of Day 1 we’ll be disappointed. Upstairs, front row, non-negotiable.
For navigation, Google Maps and Apple Maps both work brilliantly in London. Public transport directions are accurate, real-time, and easy to follow. Just open the app and go.
Where to Stay in London
A longer trip gives you a bit more flexibility on where to base yourself, which is useful because central London accommodation gets expensive fast.
We’ve stayed in Earl’s Court and Bethnal Green across different visits, both a little outside the tourist centre, and on a five-day trip the slightly longer commute barely registered. You spend so much time out in the city that where you sleep almost doesn’t matter as long as the Tube connection is decent.
If budget isn’t a concern, staying central in Westminster, South Bank, or Covent Garden means you roll out of bed and straight into the itinerary. Either way, London’s transport network makes almost any neighbourhood workable.
- London House Hotel
- Cleveland Residences Kensington
- St Pancras, Autograph Collection – if budget is not a problem
- Hotel Meridiana – affordable close to city center
- Apartments in Bethnal – affordable, bit outside city center
Staying Connected in London
EU visitors are covered on roaming, you’ll pay the same as at home. Worth a quick check with your provider beforehand just to be sure.
From outside the EU, an eSIM is the move. Set it up before you fly and you’ll have data the moment you land, no hunting for a SIM card at the airport. Wi-Fi is also genuinely everywhere in London, so even on minimal data you’ll manage fine.
- Airalo – use code TAJANA3694 for 3€ off your first purchase
- Holafly – use link for 10% discount
- if you need help with choosing the best eSIM and how to set it up, hope this blog will help you How To Stay Connected Abroad
Five days gives you a proper feel for London, not just the highlights but the rhythm of the place, the way the neighbourhoods can be so pretty and full of color, the parks, the markets, the river. It’s still not enough, honestly. It never is. But it’s a very good start.
Until next time, be mesmerized 💚
