London is bustling, large, layered with history, so you will want to do some planning before your first time visit to London. Your excitement is likely off the charts. And you may have so many questions about this fascinating city.
Writer Samuel Johnson said in the 1700s: “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.” And many of the stellar attractions of London today weren’t even around back then. Whatever your interests, you will find something to capture your heart in London.
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Planning your visit may seem overwhelming. London is hectic and sprawling. Reading up on a few basics about this iconic city will help you navigate more easily and enjoy it to the fullest. Knowing what to expect before you go will help ensure a fabulous trip!
Read on for practical tips, planning which of the top sights of London to include in your itinerary, and a bit of background and history to help you decide on your priorities.
First the fun part – what do you want to do during your first time visit to London? Practical information on transportation and where to stay follow. Here’s a sample, easy itinerary for a first visit to London that you can tweak according to your interests.
Overview Itinerary
If you have two days in London, a sample itinerary may be:
Day 1
Morning: A fantastic free museum
Afternoon: Tour of Westminster Abbey
Evening: Dinner and a show in the West End
Day 2
Morning: Tower of London
Afternoon: Churchill War Rooms
Late afternoon / evening: London Eye and walking around Westminster
Now, on to a look at some of the amazing experiences London has to offer!
Enjoy London’s famous free museums
One incredible aspect of London is access to free world-class museums. Other museums may require tickets and reservations. Amazingly, London offers more than 25 world-class museums free of charge to visitors. You can enjoy whatever kind of displays most interest you.
Top picks for museums include:
The Natural History Museum with exhibits on dinosaurs, ocean, space, and British wildlife.
The National Gallery, with its tagline of “Bringing people and paintings together,” features art from 1864 to the present. Take a look at the website’s must-see paintings to help plan your time.
The Victoria and Albert offers something for every visitor. The museum invites visitors to “take an incredible journey through 5000 years of human creativity.” Exhibits cover architecture, design, photography, ceramics and so much more, with over 1.25 million items in its collections.
The British Library holds more than 170 million items ranging from manuscripts and letters to music. Peruse the permanent Treasures Gallery or use the St. Pancreas Reading Room for research. Note that the Library is closed on Sundays.
The Imperial War Museums offer both the Imperial War Museum (IWM) and the Churchill War Rooms in London.
The IWM in London is the world’s premier museum covering war and conflict. Its goal is to give “voice to the extraordinary experiences of ordinary people forced to live their lives in a world torn apart by conflict.” Any history buff will want to spend hours here.
The Churchill War Rooms are covered below, as they are not one of the free museums, but if I had only one afternoon in London, this is where I would go!
And of course, there is the iconic British Museum is the largest London museum, and the one to take in if your time in London is short.
The British Museum is similar to the Louvre in Paris in that its vast holdings would take weeks to see. Before you go, figure out which parts of the museum you want to fit in your day.
More than 60 galleries allow you to walk through two million years of history. Look online before your visit to narrow down your choices. Note current and changing exhibitions. Then peruse the map of the galleries. Go with a list of your priorities. Are Egyptian mummies calling to you? Is European art from the 1800s a must-see? I found the clocks and watches gallery so intriguing. And you will likely want to include gazing at the Rosetta Stone, key to deciphering Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs.
While the museum is free, the number of visitors is limited to avoid crowding. So, book your timed ticket before your visit.
The Tower of London
To experience the heart of this city, head to the Tower of London. First built as a castle in 1078, the Tower expanded through the years to include a palace, a fortress, a lovely chapel, and an infamous prison. This is where Henry VIII’s wife Anne Boleyn lost her head. And the Crown Jewels of the monarchy reside here.
You would do well to put this on your itinerary first in your day. Plan to arrive before opening to check in. You can purchase tickets online for easy entrance. Then head straight to the Crown Jewels. The line can grow long as the day goes on. The website suggests spending an hour viewing these exquisite gems.
Next sign up for a Yoeman Warder tour. These tours leave every 30 minutes from the entrance. They are led by the legendary guards, who will regale you with funny and horrifying stories about the Tower’s history.
There’s also the White Tower, with its extensive display of armor. And keep an eye out for the famous ravens.
The website advises spending three hours at the Tower of London complex.
Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey, located in the heart of London, England, is one of the most well-known and historically significant religious buildings in the United Kingdom. This magnificent Gothic abbey has played a central role in the country’s history, serving as the venue for coronations, royal weddings, and numerous other important events for over a thousand years.
Walk around the exterior of Westminster Abbey and gaze up at the architecture. And if your schedule allows, tour the interior. The website has information on how to get tickets as well as times of church services when you may not be able to tour.
So many notable people are buried in the church or memorialized. Westminster Abbey is the resting place for monarchs through the centuries. You’ll also find Poet’s Corner where writers are interred or remembered. These include Geoffrey Chaucer, Robert Browning, Rudyard Kipling, and Alfred Tennyson. Musicians include George Frederick Handel and Ralph Vaughan Williams.
Consider touring Westminster Abbey with London Walks. My excellent guide told us not only about the people memorialized here, but he also had fascinating stories, especially of the ins and outs of the monarchy and their families. People have been dug up and reburied to “reposition” them due to family quarrels. One poor guy was buried standing up because a lengthwise plot in the church was too expensive.
The Churchill War Rooms
For anyone interested in WWII history, a visit to the Churchill War Rooms is a must. Touring the Churchill War Rooms in London is a fascinating experience that immerses you literally in the hallways of history. The War Rooms still exist in an underground complex that served as the nerve center of British wartime operations during World War II. A tour of the War Rooms takes you along the hallways where the English planned their strategy. The offices look just as they did in the 1940s. Everything from the war years sits in place, from the furniture to the colored map pins to the red and green telephones.
A museum on the life of Winston Churchill is included with your tour. It offers interactive exhibits, multimedia displays, and informative panels that help visitors understand the significance of the events that took place in the War Rooms.
Buy tickets online before you go to avoid a long line at the entrance.
Experience a breathtaking view of London
The London Eye bills itself as the world’s tallest cantilevered observation wheel. It’s much like a Ferris wheel, but the capsules are glass-enclosed and move slowly in a circle. And they give you a 360-degree view over central London.
The spacious capsules hold several people and allow viewing through the glass from all angles. You can sit on benches in the middle, but you will likely want to stand at the glass and move around the capsule to take in all directions of the city. The London Eye is on the banks of the Thames near Big Ben, so as you soar into the sky, you can see nearby Westminster and Buckingham Palace.
You can book ahead or walk up for tickets, though you may be caught in a line. I’ve tried both approaches and both worked fine. It was great to “skip the line” with prepurchased tickets. But on another visit, I decided at the last minute to ride the London Eye on my last evening in the city. And the line was short. Check the website for different options, hours, and FAQs.
Time your ride for sunset if possible. The changing light patterns on the Thames and the iconic London sights twinkling at dusk are truly breathtaking.
London is a city with inexhaustible treasures. If royalty fascinates you, attend the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. If you love theater, take in a world-class show in the West End. If you love to shop, make Harrod’s a priority. And if you’re a foodie, you will want to eat at the Borough Market. Put some thought into your top interests and what you most want to visit in London. Then you are sure to enjoy a memorable first time visit to London.
Notes on transportation
London provides the most efficient transportation system I’ve encountered in my travels. My main advice is to do a bit of planning before you arrive, but don’t stress because it really is a breeze to navigate. Here are a few things to know about transportation.
Figure out how you will get from Heathrow Airport into London
If you are flying into London from the U.S., you will likely land at Heathrow Airport. So, the first thing to figure out is how to cover the 24 kilometers from the airport to the city. Options include taking the Underground, hiring a taxi at the airport, arranging for a private car before you arrive, and hopping on the Heathrow Express. This last choice is great unless you travel with heavy luggage.
Arriving with my carry-on bags, I found it super easy to catch the Heathrow Express. It runs every 15 minutes and arrives at Paddington station in 15 minutes. From this central station, you can catch an Underground to your lodging. On my last trip, this involved just one leg on the Sloane Square line. I saved money by not taking a taxi, and I saved time by going Heathrow Express rather that taking an Underground line with many stops on the way.
Check out which option is best for you so you don’t have to stand in a bustling airport trying to decide how to get into the city to begin your adventures. Basically, you can choose from the Heathrow Express, the Underground, and the fairly new and spiffy Elizabeth Line. I’ve taken both the Heathrow Express and the Elizabeth Line with carry-on luggage and all went well. If you have larger checked luggage or issues hopping on an underground, you may want to opt for a taxi.
Before you arrive, check out where your hotel is, consider luggage sizes, and figure out your best choice.
Download the Live Tube Map app
Get the official Tube Map app before you go to London. You can play with it, putting in various possible routes. It will help you plan out your days when you see how to get from point A to point B and how long it may take. Find the one or two closest underground stations to your hotel. And, of course, this app will be helpful when you are out and about in London.
The Oyster Card Is your friend
The Oyster Card is your key to the efficient, vital London transportation system. Available at any Underground station, the Oyster Card is a smart card that allows you to prepay for public transportation. Buy a visitor card for a nominal fee, then load it up with pounds.
The card is good not only for the Underground but also for those quaint red double-decker buses, some river boats, and most National Rail services.
You can top off your card. And if you are leaving London and have money left on the card, you get a refund. That takes the worry out of how much to load on your card.
You can purchase an Oyster Card online and have it mailed to you before you leave home. My advice is to wait until you arrive. I’ve had trips to London cancelled due to health issues. While you can apply for a refund, I think it’s easy to land in London and then buy the card at any Underground station.
Tip: Look carefully before you cross the street
Lastly, here’s a safety tip. If you come from the U.S. or another country where you drive on the right, take care when crossing the street in London. Remember to look the opposite way you’re used to looking for oncoming traffic. Many busy crossing points are painted with “Look Right” or “Look Left” to remind people.
And pedestrians don’t have the right-of-way in London. Even at zebra crossings – like the one on Abbey Road made famous by the Beatles – traffic may not stop for you. So, take caution whenever crossing the street.
Where I stayed in London
I’m a repeat guest at the boutique Lime Tree Hotel in the Belgravia area of London. The hotel, recently remodeled, gives you elegance and comfort in a former town home. And it’s in an upscale neighborhood but offers reasonable rates. You can easily walk to and from busy Victoria Station and also from convenient Sloan Square station. From these underground stations, you can basically get anywhere you want to go. Also, I’ve walked from the hotel to Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and the Churchill War Rooms.
Add to those plusses a delicious breakfast at the Buttery and a garden out back where you can sit and relax after a hectic day in the city. You are across the street from tempting Peggy Porschen Cakes. For dinner near the Lime Tree, try Sicily Restaurant right around the corner. I’m a repeat customer here, too. The food and atmosphere are perfect.
The Lime Tree Hotel is quite a find!
Check out availability at the Lime Tree Hotel when you’re traveling to London. You will be pleased you did.
Book your train tickets with Trainline for easy and reliable service
LEARN MORE ABOUT LONDON
Bletchley Park and the Codebreakers of WWII
The Tower of London
Viewing and Visiting Westminster Abbey
London’s Battle of Britain Monument
Riding High on the London Eye
The Royal Air Force Museum of London
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