London is an amazing city and probably my favorite one in the world.
Maybe you never had the occasion to travel in the UK or in London, or maybe you’re about to go there and look for some advice, so let me help you.
I lived there for half a year and I discovered so many things that are so beautiful. It’s time now, to share it with you guys.
Here is some London tourist tour advice…
If you’re not familiar with London and if it’s your first time ever, you’ll need first of all an Oyster Card and some good shoes. Because, yes, you’re going to walk a lot. The city is huge, the tube is freaking expensive and you’d better save you money for shopping…
So be smart, buy an Oyster card and plan cleverly all your visits in London so you’re saving money on your Oyster Card.
You can visit so many things in London for free, most of the museum are free and it’s really nice.
Here is a list of 12 things you should see in London:
- Trafalgar Square and National Gallery
- Downing Street
- Elizabeth Tower / Big Ben and House of parliament
- Westminster Abbey
- Saint James Park and Buckingham Palace
- London Eye
- The Thames and St Paul’s Cathedral
- Tower Bridge and Tower of London
- Piccadilly Circus
- Hyde Park
- Portobello Road
- Other Museums
1. Trafalgar Square and National Gallery
You can start your London tourist tour by Trafalgar Square (named after the battle of Trafalgar ), it’s the biggest square in London city,
On one side of the square, you can also visit the National Gallery (free visit) where you have the chance to admire 6 centuries of amazing masterpieces from wonderful artists like Rubens, Vermeer, Van Gogh, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Renoir, Claude Monet, Toulouse-Lautrec and so on…
2. Downing street
Once you’re done with this amazing visit, you can walk along WhiteHall road, this road is quite long, but on the right, you’ll pass in front of Downing-street, where is the official residence of the UK prime minister (house number 10). You can not miss it, as there are some police officers that keep this road safe.
3. Elizabeth Tower / Big Ben and House of parliament
If you keep walking on the WhiteHall road, you’re going to see the Clock Tower also known as Elizabeth Tower. Keep in mind that Big Ben is not the tower’s name, but the nickname for the Great Bell.
Elizabeth Tower is one of the fourth towers that is part of the House of parliament. It’s the seat of the two parliamentary houses: the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
4. Westminster Abbey
When I’m around this area, I also like to have a look on Westminster Abbey. Since a long time, all the royal coronation are made in this wonderful Abbey.
You should surely remember the royal weddings: Kate and William or Diana and Charles.
5. Saint James Park and Buckingham Palace
From here, you can walk through St James Park and go till Buckingham Palace where live the Royal family.
I would better suggest you to go in the morning for the changing of the guard in front of the palace (check out the British army calendar before to go).
6. London Eye
Honestly, after viewing Westminster Abbey, I prefer to go back to Elizabeth Tower, go through the bridge and have a look on London Eye.
7. The Thames and St Paul’s Cathedral
Then, I like to walk along the Thames and enjoy the view, the street shows…
If you walk well (around 1,5 kilometers), you’ll have the chance to see St Paul’s Cathedral (on the other side of the Thames), it’s the largest cathedral in Europe.
8. Tower Bridge and Tower of London
If you still walking around for 2,5 kilometers (and if your feet don’t hurt yet) you’re going to see the amazing Tower Bridge, which is one of the most known London’s bridge.
At the other side of the Thames, you also have a look at Tower of London. The tower had many used like armory, treasury, home of the royal mint, home of the Crown Jewels of England… and also jail.
Currently, you can still see some armory pieces, the Crown Jewels, there are also some reconstructions that are really nice to see.
9. Piccadilly Circus
Piccadilly is this nice square (full of people) with this giant advertisers screen, where people meet because this place is closed to Regent Street, Oxford Street (perfect to do a bit of shopping), Chinatown, Soho, and a bit far away you also have Trafalgar Square.
You should definitely have a look on Piccadilly Circus during your London tourist tour.
For the ones that have the chance to spend a bit more time in London, here are some proposals:
10. Hyde Park
Have a look on Hyde park for a lunch or a walk which is the largest park in London. There is a huge artificial lake, some fountains, one of them is the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain…
You’ll see also some squirrels walking around.
11. Portobello Road
The area around Portobello Road is really amazing and if you take some time to look around, you’ll see those wonderful houses full of color.
12. Museums
There are so many museums in London (most of them are free). If you’re a museum fan, you should try some of them during your London tourist tour. Like :
Natural History Museum (free visits)
This is the largest museums of natural history of the world. You can admire dinosaur’s skeletons, large mammals, reptiles, fish, birds… it’s an amazing museum for kids and adults.
British Museum (free visits)
I think that this is the biggest museum I’ve even seen in my life. In fact, this is the largest museum in the United Kingdom.
They have many civilization’s collections like the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon in Athens, an amazing Egyptian collection that contains the famous Rosetta Stone, they also have collections about Prehistory, Ancient Greece and Rome, Americas, Africa, Asia, Europe…
Which is your favorite place to see in London or which one do you wish to visit?
Do you have some recommendations of places to see that are not mentioned in this post?
Let me know in the comments down below.