Years later, we went back, and it hit just as hard. Maybe even harder, because this time we knew what we were doing, and had a few more pennies. The thing about London is, you can never really run out of things to do. There’s always some new street, some hidden corner, some museum you haven’t seen yet.
But if it’s your first time, the sheer amount of options can feel a bit overwhelming. So we put together this guide, basically the things we think you should not miss, whether it’s your first visit or your fifth. Let’s get into it.
Big Ben
You’ve seen it a thousand times in photos and movies. And yet, when you actually stand in front of it, it still manages to surprise you. There’s something about seeing it in person that photos just don’t capture.
Big Ben (which is technically the name of the bell inside, not the tower, the tower is officially called Elizabeth Tower, just so you can sound smart at dinner) stands at 96 meters tall. The gothic details on the clock face are genuinely beautiful up close, and if you’re around at the full or half hour, wait for the chimes.
We didn’t climb it, we think the best view is just from the ground. You’ll get your postcard shot, you’ll find the best angle, and you’ll want to stand there for a while just framing it.
But if you’re into clocks and history and want the full experience, 334 steps to the top await you.
Tickets for climbing are released three months in advance, only on official website, on the second Wednesday of every month at 10am (What? I know!), and they sell out almost immediately through official channels. It’s a bit of a lottery, honestly. We didn’t even tried to get those. If you want to get up, and are planning this trip on a second week of the month, good luck!
⏰ Opening hours: Monday to Saturday, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, tours start at Cromwell Green.
Tower Bridge
London has a lot of bridges over the Thames, but Tower Bridge is on another level. It’s the one that looks like a castle, and honestly, it might be the most beautiful bridge you’ll ever see.
What most people don’t know is that you can go inside the bridge and walk the glass-floor walkway up top for panoramic views of the city. Down below, you can also visit the Victorian Engine Rooms, which have the original steam engines that used to power the bridge lifts. And yes, the bridge still lifts. Not all the time, but you can check the scheduled lift times on their website and time your visit around it.
The bridge took 8 years to build and opened in 1894. The stonework is actually covering a steel frame underneath, it was designed to blend in with the nearby Tower of London, a medieval castle right next door. You’d never guess just by looking at it because they are totally different.
⏰ Opening hours: 9:30 AM to 6:00 PM daily.
🎟️ Tickets: £18 (~21€)
🛒 Buy Tickets Here
Buckingham Palace
Yes, people live here. Well, the King does. Buckingham Palace is the official residence of the British monarch and very much a working building, used for official royal events and ceremonies. It has 775 rooms, and 19 of them are State Rooms you can actually visit! The gardens are open too, and there’s something a bit surreal about walking through the gardens of a royal palace while somewhere inside, actual royal business is happening. Maybe.
🎟️ Tickets: ~£30 (~35€), bookable on the official Royal Collection Trust site, or as part of a bundle with other activities.
The Changing of the Guard is a must-see and it’s completely free, happens in front of the Palace. It happens every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday at 11:00 AM and lasts about 45 minutes. Just know it gets very crowded, we’re talking elbow-to-elbow. We wrote a full guide on how to get the best spot, check it out before you go.
The British Museum
Honestly, the fact that this is free still confuses us. Most countries would charge a lot for a museum of this scale, and we really appreciate that they don’t.
The British Museum is home to around 8 million objects, one of the largest collections in the world. It covers human history and culture from prehistoric times to the present. And yes, we know, the whole “museum of stolen things” discussion. But at the same time, it’s incredible being able to see all these pieces in one place. You could spend days here and still not see everything.
You do need to book a time slot in advance because it fills up fast. Walk-ins are technically possible depending on daily capacity, but we wouldn’t risk it.
Also, go in the afternoon. When we visited it was barely half full compared to the morning, and we got to actually enjoy it properly instead of shuffling through with the crowds.
Some things you should not miss (if you don’t know where to start):
The Rosetta Stone is probably the most famous object here. It’s the key that allowed scholars to finally decode Egyptian hieroglyphics, and it’s smaller than you’d expect, which somehow makes it even more impressive.
The Parthenon Sculptures, also called the Elgin Marbles, are stunning pieces of ancient Greek art. Greece has been officially asking for them back since the 1980s, and the debate is still very much going.
And the Hoa Hakananai’a is one of the famous Easter Island statues, sitting in a quiet gallery mostly by itself, Bust of Ramesses the Great, Sophilos Vase.
And then there are the weird gems. In the Enlightenment Galleries, there’s a brick taken from the Ziggurat of Ur, one of the earliest human settlements ever built, and right in the middle of it is a dog’s paw print. A dog walked across wet clay thousands of years ago and left a mark that survived all of it. It’s just funny.
There’s also a “merman,” which is actually half a monkey stitched to half a fish, mummified. Upstairs, in the Ur display, there’s a soldier’s skull still wearing its crushed helmet, sitting at the bottom of a low glass case. You almost miss it. And his teeth are still perfect. It’s kinda sad. There’s also reportedly a mummified frog in the Egyptian gallery, and cats.
If all of this sounds overwhelming and you think you will get lost, we know we did more than once, you can book a guided tour with an expert, this tour has amazing reviews and we will probably book it on our next visit.
⏰ Opening hours: 10:00 AM to 5:30 PM daily, Fridays until 8:30 PM
🎟️ Entry is free
🛒 Book a free time slot here
🙋♀️ Book a guided tour here
Borough Market
One of the oldest food markets in London, Borough Market has been around since 1885. It’s become a bit of a foodie destination in recent years, and for good reason. The quality is genuinely high and you could spend a lot of money trying out everything.
Best time to visit is weekday mornings, right when it opens. It gets packed later in the day, especially on Saturdays. Hours can shift around bank holidays and in December, so worth checking before you go.
⏰ Opening hours: Monday to Friday 10am to 5pm, Saturday 9am to 5pm, Sunday 10am to 4pm.
What to eat, what we would recommend:
The Black Pig is the best sandwich we’ve had in a very long time. Worth every minute of the queue.
Bread Ahead Doughnuts are dangerously good, full of filling.
La Tua Pasta does fresh pasta with multiple topping options.
The Ginger Pig is your spot for a hot sausage roll. Tacos Padre for tacos, Humble Crumble for dessert, and the Wild Mushroom Risotto which is actually made with barley, not rice, but the mushrooms are so good.
You can always book a food tour with a local guide to try the best British classics, and this tour looks really good.
London Eye
You’ll see it from pretty much anywhere along the Thames. The London Eye is the world’s largest cantilevered observation wheel, 135 meters tall, with views stretching across the South Bank and beyond.
We’ve done the ride. We’ve also just stood on the riverbank and watched it from the ground. Honestly, the view from the ground is better, and it’s free. We’re not sure the ticket price quite justifies the experience compared to everything else London has to offer, but this is also just our opinion, and if it’s your first time and you really want to go, go.
🛒 Just book online in advance as it’s cheaper, and be ready for a queue.
⏰ Opening hours: 10am to 8:30pm Friday to Sunday, 11am to 6pm on other days.
🎟️ Tickets: £29
Westminster Abbey
This place feels important the second you walk up to it. Westminster Abbey has been the site of every single royal coronation since 1066, and it’s also the final resting place of more than 3,300 people, including 30 kings and queens, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Stephen Hawking, and Charles Dickens.
You’ve probably seen it on TV during royal weddings.
There are a couple of ways to visit
A general admission ticket is £31 (~36€), you can purchase it here. Daily services are free to attend, entering through the Great West Door.
And if you want the full historical context, a guided tour is worth it. And this one has amazing reviews if you want to lear more about the history behind it.
St. Pauls Cathedral
St. Paul’s has been overlooking London for more than 1.400 years. Architect Christopher Wren designed it after the Great Fire of London in 1666, and it took 35 years to build. It’s been the backdrop to some of the biggest moments in British history, Churchill’s funeral, the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, and a lot more in between.
We didn’t make it inside this trip because tickets were sold out by the time we checked, stupid, but the exterior alone is worth seeing. Every photo we’ve seen of the interior looks truly magnificent and it’s top of the list for next time.
⏰ Opening hours: 8:30 AM Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 10:00 AM on Wednesdays, closing at 4:30 PM
🎟️ Tickets: £27 (~31€)
But some of the best views of the cathedral are from nearby bridges and rooftops around the city anyway. Check out Best views of St. Paul’s Cathedral: a guide to the photo spots we loved.
Piccadilly Circus
Bright screens, crowds, noise, traffic, music… welcome to Piccadilly Circus.
It’s a road junction technically, but it’s also sort of the beating heart of London’s West End. Big advertising screens, crowds in every direction, streets shooting off toward Soho, Regent Street, and Trafalgar Square. It’s loud and alive and a little chaotic, and we kind of love it for that.
The iconic statue in the middle is almost always called Eros, but it was actually designed in 1893 to represent the Angel of Christian Charity. Almost nobody calls it that, though.
There’s nothing specific you need to do here. It’s more of a feeling. Walk around, grab a coffee somewhere nearby, and just watch the city move for a bit.
Hyde Park
When you’ve had enough of the crowds and noise, and you will eventually, Hyde Park is your answer. It’s the largest park in central London and a completely different world from the streets outside its gates.
You can walk for hours, sit on the grass, feed the squirrels, visit the Rose Garden, the Diana Memorial Fountain, or just sit by the Serpentine Lake and do absolutely nothing.
On a sunny day it’s honestly one of the nicest places in the whole city. There’s something about London in the sunshine that feels special.
Best time to visit London
Genuinely, any time works.
We’ve been in June and in December, and both were special in completely different ways.
Summer and the winter holidays bring the biggest crowds, but we visited during both and loved it.
We were there during a heatwave once and actually enjoyed it, it’s not as brutal as the rest of Europe, their heatwaves are milder. We’ve also been there in pouring rain and still managed to have a great time.
London just works in any weather, somehow. Because their winters are not that cold, and their summers are not that worm. Perfection I would say.
One thing to keep in mind: air conditioning is really not common in the UK, so if heat is a concern for you, maybe skip July and August for that reason alone. April to early June or September to October tends to hit a nice sweet spot, decent weather, smaller crowds, and the city feels a bit more breathable. But don’t let the season stop you, really, London is always a good idea.
How to get around London
Walking, lots and lots of walking!
Walking will be your main mode of transport, which is actually great because London is very walkable. But you’ll definitely need public transport too.
The Tube is the easiest option and you can pay with your phone or a contactless card, no separate ticket needed. Buses are excellent and riding a double-decker at least once is basically mandatory in London, it’s an attraction of its own.
Trains are great if you’re heading to the surrounding areas. Taxis exist but they’re expensive, and with how well-connected everything is, there’s rarely a reason to use them, unless that’s something you prefer.
So, open Google Maps or Apple Maps, type in where you want to go, select public transport, and follow it. It just works. London’s network is one of the easiest we’ve used anywhere.
Where to stay in London
Ugh, London is not cheap, and accommodation in the city centre reflects that pretty quickly.
On our trips we stayed in Earl’s Court and in Bethnal Green, both a bit outside the centre, and it was never an issue. A quick metro or bus ride and we were in the middle of everything in about 20 minutes. It comes down to budget really.
We will list a couple of recommendations that we liked, and also a couple of hotels if the budget allows you in the city center:
- 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
How to stay connected in London
If you’re visiting from within the EU, your data and calls should work on roaming at the same price as home, so you should be covered. But this depends from telco to telco.
Coming from outside the EU, an eSIM is the easiest solution. You can set it up before you even board the plane. Either way, Wi-Fi is everywhere in London, cafes, restaurants, hotels, bars. You won’t struggle even with minimal data.
Here are the best options for eSIM apps that we always use on out travels:
- 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
All in all, London is a place you have to visit once in your life, right? There’s no city like London. The history, the landmarks you’ve seen your whole life on TV, the museums, the food scene… there’s honestly nowhere else quite like it.
We hope this helps you plan your trip, ntil next time, be mesmerized ❤️
