4–5 Days in London: The Complete Itinerary

Start at Westminster Tube station (Jubilee/District/Circle lines) and emerge at the bridge. The view — Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, the Thames — is the one you came for. At 8:30 AM you will have it largely to yourself. Cross to the South Bank side and look back for the photograph everyone goes home with.

Walk south along Parliament Square to Westminster Abbey. Every British monarch since 1066 has been crowned here. The exterior Gothic towers are extraordinary from the west entrance on Broad Sanctuary. If going inside (GBP 29), book online — it opens 9:30 AM Monday through Saturday. The Cloisters and College Garden are included and considerably quieter than the nave.

Walk through St James's Park towards Buckingham Palace. The bridge over the lake gives you simultaneous views of Westminster and Buckingham Palace — one of the great London views that most people miss. Arrive at the Victoria Memorial by 10:45 AM if the Changing of the Guard is scheduled (11 AM most days — check online before you go).

Walk or Tube to Borough Market (Jubilee line to London Bridge, 2 stops). London's oldest food market — established on this site since 1014. Try the grilled cheese toasties from Kappacasein, the steak sandwich from Roast, or the Ethiopian wraps from Arabica. Budget GBP 12–18. Open Wednesday through Saturday at full capacity.

Walk west along the South Bank to the Tate Modern (free). The Turbine Hall is spectacular even if modern art is not your thing. The Switch House viewing terrace (Level 10, free) has a rooftop view over London that rivals the Eye. Walk across the Millennium Bridge towards St Paul's — the view of the cathedral at the end of the bridge is London's most photographed sight.

Walk west along the South Bank to the London Eye for an evening slot (GBP 34, book online in advance). A 30-minute rotation gives you 360-degree views as London's lights come on. The evening slots are the most atmospheric. Prefer to save the money? Waterloo Bridge at sunset is London's best free view — looking east to St Paul's and west to Parliament simultaneously.

Book the first entry slot (Tower Hill Tube, District/Circle line). The Tower of London is 2,000 years of English history on one site: the Crown Jewels, the White Tower (built 1078), the Yeoman Warders, and the ravens. Allow 2.5–3 hours. The Crown Jewels queue moves fastest at opening time — head there immediately.

Cross Tower Bridge to the glass-floored walkway 42 metres above the Thames (GBP 12, separate ticket, book online). The views upstream to the City skyline and downstream to Canary Wharf are extraordinary. The ticket also includes the Victorian engine rooms below the bridge — they are worth 20 minutes and most visitors skip them.

One Tube stop from Tower Hill (Circle/District line to St Paul's). Wren's masterpiece is one of the great buildings of the world. Entry is GBP 21 (book online). Climb the Whispering Gallery (30m up), Stone Gallery (53m), and Golden Gallery (85m) — 528 steps total — for the finest City panorama in London at a fraction of the Eye's cost. Or enjoy the extraordinary exterior and the free crypt.

Tube to Liverpool Street and walk east into Shoreditch. The streets around Shoreditch High Street, Great Eastern Street, and Redchurch Street are London's outdoor gallery: large murals, paste-ups, and works by internationally recognised artists that change regularly. Brick Lane runs south into Banglatown: curry houses (open from 5 PM), vintage shops, and the 24-hour Beigel Bake whose salt beef bagel (GBP 4) is one of London's great cheap eats.

Shoreditch has some of London's best eating. Dishoom on Commercial Street for Bombay-inspired sharing plates (walk-in, put your name in when you arrive in the area). Bleecker Street Burger on Old Street for London's most discussed smash burger. Brat on Redchurch Street for wood-fire cooking from a Michelin-starred kitchen. Or Boxpark Shoreditch for casual street food across a dozen kitchens.

Free entry. One of the world's greatest museums: the Rosetta Stone, the Elgin Marbles, Egyptian mummies, the Lewis Chessmen, the Sutton Hoo helmet, and the Persian Oxus Treasure in one building. Norman Foster's Great Court — a glass-roofed inner courtyard — is one of the most beautiful public spaces in London. Pick three rooms you care about and go deep; trying to see everything produces an exhausted blur.

Walk south from the British Museum to Covent Garden (10 minutes on foot). The piazza has street performers, independent shops, and the Royal Opera House colonnade. Neal's Yard — a hidden courtyard of colourful buildings two minutes from the main piazza — is one of London's most photographed spots and almost impossible to find without knowing where to look.

Flat Iron in Covent Garden serves a GBP 12 flat iron steak (no reservations, queue moves fast). Dishoom on St Martin's Lane does Bombay-inspired sharing plates. Wahaca on the piazza is excellent Mexican at good value. The market building itself has food vendors on the lower level for a quicker option. For the best coffee: Monmouth Coffee on Monmouth Street is a five-minute walk.

Walk north from Covent Garden into Soho: London's most vibrant neighbourhood. Wander Carnaby Street, Old Compton Street, and the backstreets around Berwick Street Market. This is where London feels most alive: record shops, independent cafes, street art, galleries, and genuine neighbourhood energy that has survived the tourist age largely intact.

London's West End is the best theatre district in the world. The big shows run in the streets around Leicester Square, Shaftesbury Avenue, and the Strand. Book in advance for new productions and popular long-runners. For same-day tickets at up to 50% off, the TKTS booth in Leicester Square opens at 10 AM — queue before 5 PM for the best selection. Most shows are 2.5–3 hours including interval.

Notting Hill Gate Tube (Central/Circle line). The full Portobello Road Market runs on Saturdays — antiques, vintage, food, flowers, everything. On other weekdays you get the permanent vintage shops and fruit stalls that line the street year-round. The market runs north from the station along Portobello Road. The Victorian townhouses flanking the street, painted in pastel colours, make this one of London's most photogenic walks regardless of the day.

Take the Tube from Notting Hill Gate to South Kensington (one stop, Circle line). Both museums are free. The V&A (Victoria and Albert Museum) has the world's greatest decorative arts collection: fashion, ceramics, furniture, jewellery, sculpture, and photography across 145 galleries. The Natural History Museum next door has a blue whale skeleton in the Central Hall, the dinosaur gallery, and the Darwin Centre. If you can only choose one: families → Natural History, everyone else → V&A.

Hyde Park connects directly to the South Kensington museum area. 350 acres of Royal Park — free to enter and walk. The Serpentine Gallery (modern art, free) sits on the boundary between Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. The Albert Memorial is a 10-minute walk into Kensington Gardens. The Lido Cafe on the Serpentine lake does good sandwiches and coffee for lunch in the park.

A 10-minute walk south from Hyde Park (Knightsbridge Tube). Harrods is worth visiting for the Food Halls on the ground floor alone — a genuinely extraordinary display of produce, meat, cheese, patisserie, and chocolate from around the world. The Egyptian Escalator and the memorial to Dodi Fayed and Diana on the lower ground floor are curious additions to what is undeniably the world's most famous department store.

The area around Knightsbridge and South Kensington has excellent eating. Zuma (Japanese, the glass-walled tables are an event in themselves — GBP 50+). Dinner by Heston Blumenthal in the Mandarin Oriental (GBP 100+, book months ahead). For more reasonable options: Brasserie Zédel near Piccadilly Circus (GBP 20–30, grand Art Deco dining room), or walk back towards Soho for the neighbourhood's full evening scene.

Board the Thames Clipper from Embankment or Waterloo Pier (GBP 9 each way, takes 40–50 minutes). This is the best introduction to London from the water: you pass under Tower Bridge, see Canary Wharf rise up, and arrive at Greenwich Pier with the Cutty Sark directly in front of you. The boat journey alone is worth the morning.

The Cutty Sark is the world's last surviving tea clipper — the fastest sailing ship of her age, launched 1869. You can walk beneath her hull (mounted in a glass dry dock) and explore the ship across multiple decks. Entry is GBP 20 (book online). Allow 60–75 minutes. The conservation is outstanding and the engineering of the ship's construction is genuinely impressive even if maritime history is not usually your interest.

Walk up the hill through Greenwich Park (15 minutes, steep) to the Royal Observatory. This is where Greenwich Mean Time was established and where the Prime Meridian line — longitude zero — runs through the courtyard. Stand with one foot in each hemisphere. Entry to the Observatory is GBP 16 (or part of the combined ticket). The view from the hill of the London skyline — Canary Wharf, the City, the Shard — is the finest in the city and entirely free.

Back down the hill in the park, the National Maritime Museum is free and genuinely world-class: Nelson's uniform (the one he was wearing at Trafalgar, with the bullet hole visible), the Armada Portrait of Elizabeth I, and the full sweep of British naval history. Allow 60–90 minutes. The adjoining Queen's House — one of the finest examples of Renaissance architecture in England — is included and worth 30 minutes.

Tube from Greenwich back towards Central London: DLR to Bank, then Northern line to Camden Town (about 40 minutes). Camden Market is an assault on the senses: street food from 40 countries, vintage clothing, record shops, and Victorian canalside warehouses. The Stables Market has the most character. Lock 17 overlooks the canal. The canal towpath towards King's Cross (20-minute walk) is quieter and genuinely beautiful in the late afternoon light.

A 10-minute walk south from Camden brings you to Regent's Park (free). The formal gardens, the boating lake, and the view of the Nash Terraces from the Inner Circle make for a genuinely beautiful early evening. The Open Air Theatre (May–September) stages excellent productions — book ahead for one of London's most atmospheric performance spaces. End the five days where every London visit should end: walking through a Royal Park with nowhere to be.