Day by day
Day 1: Westminster, South Bank, and Borough Market
- Westminster Abbey: 1.5 hr. Book the first entry slot online. Poets' Corner, Coronation Chair, and the Royal Tombs are the three non-skippable rooms. Audio guide is included in the ~$35 ticket.
- Parliament Square exterior: Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben), Houses of Parliament, and Churchill statue. 20 min.
- Walk across Westminster Bridge: 10 min.
- Rest valve: flat white at Pret a Manger on the South Bank riverside terrace. 20 min.
- Tate Modern: Turbine Hall plus Level 10 viewing platform. 1.5 hr. Take the Blavatnik Building lift to Level 10 first; the 360-degree view costs nothing.
- Walk east along the South Bank riverside path. 20 min.
- Borough Market: 1 hr. Thursday–Saturday full market; arrive before noon to get the pick of stalls. Kappacasein grilled cheese ($9–12) and the Gujarati Rasoi curry bowl ($10–14) are the recommended stops.
- Tower Bridge walk (free): 20 min.
- Tower of London: 2 hr. Crown Jewels first (east end of the complex), then the Beefeater tour from the main entrance. Last tour departs 45 minutes before closing.
- Total: ~7 km walking; 0 Tube segments
Day 2: British Museum, Shoreditch, and Brick Lane
- British Museum: 2.5 hr. Montague Place side entrance. Key rooms: 4 (Rosetta Stone and Egyptian galleries), 40 (Lewis Chessmen), 50 (Lindow Man and Iron Age finds). The Great Court glass roof is best photographed from the central reading room steps.
- Walk east through Bloomsbury to Holborn Tube, take Central line 3 stops to Liverpool Street: 10 min walk plus 8 min Tube.
- Spitalfields Market food hall: 45 min. The Victorian market hall on Commercial Street has 100+ stalls; cooked food in the east wing, vintage and craft in the west.
- Rest valve: tea and pastry at Café Katsouris on Brushfield Street. 20 min.
- Walk south on Brick Lane: street art, the old Truman Brewery complex, and Bengali food market stretch 600 metres. 1 hr.
- Beigel Bake, 159 Brick Lane: salt beef bagel ($6–9). 15 min. Open 24 hours; the queue for hot bagels peaks noon and 7 PM.
- Shoreditch street art walk: Redchurch Street, Calvert Avenue, Arnold Circus. 45 min. The mural density is highest between Bethnal Green Road and Old Street.
- Back to central London via Elizabeth line from Liverpool Street (2 stops to Tottenham Court Road): 10 min.
- Total: ~8 km walking; 2 Tube segments
Day 3: National Gallery, Covent Garden, and the Thames Embankment
- National Gallery: 1.5 hr. Free entry, no booking required. Rooms 34–46 on Level 2 cover the Impressionists: Van Gogh's Sunflowers, Monet's Water Lilies, Seurat's Bathers at Asnières. The Sainsbury Wing on the west side holds the Early Renaissance collection.
- Trafalgar Square exterior: Nelson's Column (52 metres) and the Fourth Plinth rotating art installation. 20 min.
- Walk north along Charing Cross Road to Covent Garden: 10 min.
- Covent Garden market hall and piazza: 45 min. The 1830 market building is now a food and retail arcade; the Apple Market on the upper level sells craft goods. Street performers in the central piazza are formally auditioned by the council.
- Rest valve: lunch at one of the cafes on the market's lower level, facing the piazza. 30 min.
- Walk or Northern line (1 stop from Covent Garden to Leicester Square) to Chinatown and Soho: 15 min.
- Soho food walk: Berwick Street market (produce, cooked food stalls), Dean Street, Old Compton Street. 45 min.
- Walk south to the Thames Embankment at Waterloo Bridge: 20 min. The view from the middle of Waterloo Bridge covers the City eastward and the Houses of Parliament westward, making it the best single vantage point of the river.
- Total: ~8 km walking; 1 Tube segment (optional)
British Museum
The British Museum on Great Russell Street in Bloomsbury has been collecting since 1753 and now holds 8 million objects on a 6.7-hectare site. Entry is free with no booking needed for the permanent collection. The Great Court is the largest covered public square in Europe at 2 acres. The Elgin Marbles (Parthenon sculptures) are in Room 18; the Sutton Hoo helmet is in Room 41. Plan for at least 2 hours, as the building is deeper than it looks from the street. Guerilla Tip: enter from Montague Place on the north side; the queue is a fraction of the main entrance even on busy Saturdays.
Borough Market
Borough Market sits under the Victorian railway arches between London Bridge station and Southwark Cathedral. The full market (100+ stalls) runs Thursday, Friday, and Saturday 10 AM–5 PM. A reduced market operates Monday–Wednesday with fewer cooked-food options. The market sits on the corner of Stoney Street and Borough High Street; London Bridge Tube is a 4-minute walk. Guerilla Tip: arrive Thursday at 10 AM for full stall choice without the weekend crowds. Saturday is the most photographed but most congested session; expect to queue at popular stalls for 15–20 minutes.
