The Ultimate Guide to London
If you're looking for the best of what the UK has to offer, you're going to want this ultimate guide to London.
As I've mentioned a million times here on the blog, I'm in love with London. My first trip was in 2003 where I fell head over heels for the city, and I headed back for a study abroad program while in college. My love runs so deep that I devoted two years of my life to studying the post-World War II novels set in London as a part of my master's thesis.
It stands to reason, then, that I'm the first to sing the city's praises. And that's pretty easy to do because London has SO much to see and do.
Here's my ultimate guide to London, my favorite city in the world. (It will probably be yours, too, after you finish doing all of these!)
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101 Best Things to Do in London
[Note: If you’ve never been to London before, I suggest checking out my first time visitors guide to London to help you figure out how to arrange all of these items in your itinerary.]
View the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace.
Admire the Queen's art collection at Buckingham Palace.
Figure out who the murderer was on a Jack the Ripper tour.
See how the financial world works at Lloyd's of London.
Take a tour through the people who've made English history at the National Portrait Gallery.
Cruise the Thames on a Duck tour.
Learn about the English throne and its ties to the Anglican church at Westminster Abbey.
Find out how many attractions you can point out while on the London Eye (the visual equivalent to an ultimate guide to London!).
Follow in the footsteps of John Keats in Hampstead Heath.
Be inspired by the Bard at the Globe Theatre in Southwark.
See how you measure up to a dinosaur at the Museum of Natural History.
Buy a hamper of food from Harrod's, Fortnum and Mason, or (if you're on a budget) M&S, and have a picnic in one of London's many parks.
Explore miles of books on every subject while rubbing shoulders with the ghosts of Virginia Woolf and Charles Dickens (past members) at the London Library.
Say your piece at the Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park.
See the buskers' performances at Covent Garden.
Walk in the footsteps of John Keats in Hampstead Heath.
Get lost in a play for a few hours on the West End.
Discover the heartbreak and passion that was Henry VIII's marriages at Hampton Court Palace.
Experience an earthquake at the Science Museum.
Walk in the footsteps of the Beatles when you use the zebra crossing just outside of Abbey Road Studios.
Make your way around London on a double decker bus. Try Route 11 or 211 for a sightseeing tour that's more authentic and cheaper than the tourist bus companies.
Hone your art history knowledge at the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square.
Explore the Victorians' morbid fascination with death with a Highgate Cemetery tour.
Be amazed by the whispering gallery at St. Paul's Cathedral. Be prepared for some aching legs getting to the top.
Catch an open session of Parliament. Don't forget your powdered wig!
Have afternoon tea at the British Museum. Make sure you try the clotted cream.
Try some Indian food on Brick Lane.
Spurge on a few luxury purchases in the shops around Sloane Square.
Brave the heights at the Tower Bridge Glass Walkway.
Learn more about the atrocities that occurred during the Holocaust at the Jewish Museum.
Go shopping for the perfect souvenir at one of London's many street markets.
Be inspired by the art and textiles at the Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington.
See if the ravens are still at the Tower of London.
Say your piece at Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park.
Learn the magic behind the movies at the Warner Brothers Harry Potter Studios.
Catch evensong at St. Martin-in-the-Fields.
Make a few laws of your own at Guildhall, where the city council of London meets.
Explore the oddities at the Sir John Soane Museum.
See the hidden London with a tour of an abandoned Tube station.
Pretend to sail the high seas on the Cutty Sark in Greenwich.
Buy a new wardrobe on Oxford Street.
Get a fresh perspective on London from the Shard's observation deck.
Dive into Victorian fiction with a trip to 221B Baker Street.
Take a visual tour of world history at the British Museum.
Straddle the prime meridian at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich.
Be inspired by the original manuscripts of Beowulf, the Gutenberg Bible, Handel's Messiah, Lewis Carroll, and Shakespeare in the permanent exhibition at the British Library.
Get in a festive spirit at the annual Notting Hill Carnival.
Make friends with a few Chelsea celebrities on King's Road.
Learn more about contemporary art movements at the Tate Modern.
See how Winston Churchill led the Allies to victory at the Imperial War Rooms.
Go behind the scenes with a tour of the BBC.
Learn more about animals (both modern and prehistoric) at the Museum of Natural History.
Practice your cheers and head to one of London's football/ soccer stadiums to watch your favorite team.
(If you need even more inspiration, read a few great books set in London!)
Have you ever been to London? How many of the items on this ultimate guide to London have you checked off?
