What to see in London

London highlights

The places you can’t miss. In the app we sort them by day and close to each other.

1. Big Ben

   The Parliament clock tower; the best photo is from Westminster Bridge or the South Bank.

2. British Museum

   Free entry: the Rosetta Stone, the Parthenon friezes and the Egyptian mummies.

3. Tower Bridge

   A Victorian bascule bridge; the high-level walkway has glass-floor sections.

4. Camden

   Markets by the canal, street food from half the world and an alternative vibe.

5. Tate Modern

   Free modern art in a former power station; the top-floor viewing level is free too.

6. Hyde Park

   A huge park with the Serpentine, Speakers’ Corner and Kensington next door.

7. St Paul’s Cathedral

   You climb 528 steps to the lantern: first the Whispering Gallery, then all of London at your feet.

8. Natural History Museum

   The blue whale skeleton hangs in the Victorian hall. Free entry and long queues: go as soon as it opens.

9. Borough Market

   Stalls of cheese, oysters and curry under the railway. Weekday lunchtimes are manageable; Saturdays aren’t.

10. Royal Observatory Greenwich

    The Prime Meridian starts here. The climb through the park gives the best panorama of the Thames and Canary Wharf.

11. Hampstead Heath

    Three hundred hectares of untamed countryside. From Parliament Hill you can see the City’s skyline, and there are ponds where people swim all year round.

12. Sir John Soane’s Museum

    A Georgian architect’s house crammed with sarcophagi, busts and paintings by Hogarth. Free, limited capacity, closed Mondays and Tuesdays.

13. Columbia Road Flower Market

    Sunday mornings only: a narrow street overflowing with plants and traders shouting their prices. After midday, haggle.

14. Leadenhall Market

    A Victorian arcade of iron and glass painted maroon and gold, wedged between skyscrapers. On Sundays it’s empty.

Day trips from London

We take you straight to the best-rated tour on GetYourGuide, with its reviews and dates.

• Harry Potter Studios ★ 5.0 (5 reviews)
• Stonehenge ★ 4.8 (3,267 reviews)
• Tower of London ★ 4.0 (284 reviews)

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Book ahead

Tickets that sell out or have long queues, and closing days.

• Opening hours Columbia Road Flower Market

  Sundays only, 8 am to 3 pm.

Typical food of London

The dish you have to try there and how to make it at home, to whet your appetite before the trip (or to go back to London from your kitchen).

Scones

The little cakes of afternoon tea, served warm in London with clotted cream and strawberry jam.

• Serves 8
• 30 min

Ingredients

• 350 g flour
• 1 tablespoon of baking powder
• 85 g cold butter
• 3 tablespoons of sugar
• 175 ml milk
• 1 teaspoon of lemon juice
• 1 egg for glazing
• Clotted cream and strawberry jam

How to make it at home

1. Preheat the oven to 220 °C.
2. Mix the flour with the baking powder and a pinch of salt and rub in the diced butter until it looks like sand. Add the sugar.
3. Warm the milk with the lemon, add it and mix with a knife without kneading.
4. Pat the dough out to 4 cm thick and cut out rounds with a cutter, without twisting it.
5. Brush them with egg and bake for 10–12 minutes. Serve them warm with cream and jam.

The trick: Cream first or jam first: Devon and Cornwall argue about it.

Frequently asked questions about London