London in one to four days: the West End, the river, the City and the villages
Four days, four different Londons. Day one is the famous centre on foot, from Oxford Street through Soho and Chinatown to Trafalgar Square, the Palace and Big Ben. Day two is the oldest London: the City, the Tower, Borough and Tower Bridge, then the boat to Greenwich. Day three is the South Bank, from Waterloo to St Paul’s. Day four is the London people live in, Camden to Notting Hill. Every stop is free to see. Where going inside costs money, we say so and what it costs, and you choose.
- Time
- One to four days
- Start
- Day one: Bond Street station, 10am
- Cost
- Free to walk. Anything ticketed is listed as an option, with its price
- Best for
- A first visit of one to four days
10 min readChecked
Day one: Oxford Street to Westminster
The famous list in one direction, written out here in full and free. Shops and Soho first, then Covent Garden, then Trafalgar Square and the royal half, so the day ends with Big Ben and Westminster Bridge as the lights come on.
Any day works. On a Monday, Wednesday or Friday you may catch the guard changing at the Palace at 11am, if you start with it instead; on a Sunday the Abbey is open for services only.
Oxford Street, from Selfridges
W1 · Bond Street station · most shops open at 10am, noon on Sundays
Start at Selfridges and walk east along Oxford Street to Oxford Circus. A look and a coffee, not the shopping day.
About 12 minutes to Oxford Circus, then 3 to 5 down Regent Street, walked
Regent Street, Carnaby Street and Liberty
W1 · free · the Christmas lights are on from 4 and 5 November
The curve of Regent Street, then the street the sixties made famous. Liberty, at its top, is a Tudor building from 1924 made from the timbers of two old warships.
About 5 minutes
Soho
W1D · free to walk
Old Compton Street, Frith Street and Dean Street: Bar Italia, open since 1949, and Ronnie Scott’s across the road. Soho is a grid, so you cannot get lost, only distracted.
About 10 minutes across Shaftesbury Avenue
Seven Dials and Neal’s Yard
WC2H · free
Seven streets meeting at one sundial pillar, then the painted courtyard most people walk past.
About 5 minutes
Covent Garden
WC2 · free · its Christmas lights are on from 12 November
The market hall and the street performers under the portico of St Paul’s, the actors’ church. Walk through the market building rather than round it.
About 5 minutes
Goodwin’s Court
Off St Martin’s Lane WC2N · free
A gaslit alley of Georgian bow windows between two busy streets. Thousands walk past its entrance every hour without looking in.
About 5 minutes
Chinatown, for lunch
Gerrard Street W1D · free to walk
Under the gate and along Gerrard Street. Roast duck in a window, dim sum or a bowl of noodles: this is where to eat on day one.
About 8 minutes through Leicester Square
Trafalgar Square
WC2N · free · the National Gallery is free to go in
Nelson’s Column, the lions and the view straight down Whitehall to Big Ben, which is where the day ends.
About 15 minutes through Admiralty Arch and along the Mall
Buckingham Palace
SW1A · free to see · the Changing of the Guard is at 11am on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays
The Mall straight to the Palace and the Victoria Memorial in front of it. If you want the guard, start the day here at half past ten instead and walk the list the other way.
About 5 minutes into the park
St James’s Park and Horse Guards
Free · always open
Stand on the Blue Bridge for the view east over the lake, then walk the length of it to Horse Guards Parade and through the arch onto Whitehall, past the mounted sentries.
About 10 minutes down Whitehall, past Downing Street
Westminster Abbey, Parliament and Big Ben
Free to see · inside the Abbey £32, ticketed, optional, last entry 3.30pm on weekdays
The Abbey where every coronation since 1066 has happened, Parliament and the Elizabeth Tower, all on one square.
About 3 minutes
Westminster Bridge, to finish
Free
Walk out onto the bridge and look back for the photograph of Big Ben everyone wants, best as the lights come on. The other bank is day three.
Day two: the City, Tower Bridge and Greenwich
The oldest London, in one loop and then down the river. The day starts in the Square Mile, walks the river from the Tower to London Bridge, crosses to Borough, comes back along the south bank and over Tower Bridge, then takes the boat from Tower Pier to Greenwich.
In winter it is dark by about 4pm and the Greenwich sights close at 5pm, so Greenwich is best done while it is light.
Leadenhall Market and the Royal Exchange
EC3 · free · weekday places, quiet at weekends
The covered Victorian market with its painted roof, and the Royal Exchange across the road, in the middle of the towers of the City.
A free view over the City
Sky Garden or Horizon 22, free but booked ahead · the Garden at 120, no booking
Up above the City for the whole of the day laid out below: the Tower, the bridge, the river and Greenwich in the distance. The plan gives the exact Monday the free tickets come out.
Tower Hill and the Tower of London
Free to see from outside · inside £38, ticketed, optional
The Tower from its own hill, a stretch of the Roman wall and the moat. Going in for the Crown Jewels is your choice; the walk round it is free.
Along the river to London Bridge
Free · the Monument £7, ticketed, optional
The riverside path west from the Tower, past a ruined church turned garden that most visitors never find, to London Bridge, with the Monument to the Great Fire a minute away.
Borough Market, Southwark Cathedral and the George Inn
SE1 · free · the market is shut on Mondays until 30 November
Across London Bridge for lunch at the market, the oldest Gothic church in London beside it, and London’s last galleried coaching inn.
Back along the south bank
Free · HMS Belfast is ticketed, optional
East past Hay’s Galleria and HMS Belfast, with the Shard behind you and the Tower across the water, to the classic view of Tower Bridge.
Up onto Tower Bridge and across
Free on the bridge · the high walkways and glass floor £18, ticketed, optional
Up the steps, across the bridge on foot and back down to the path on the north bank, then round to Tower Pier.
The boat to Greenwich
Uber Boat from Tower Pier · paid by contactless, not part of the tube cap
Down the river past the docks to Greenwich, seen first from the water.
Greenwich
The grounds, the park and the view are free · Cutty Sark £22, Painted Hall £19, Royal Observatory £24, all ticketed, optional
The Cutty Sark, the market, the twin domes of the Naval College, the climb through the park to the view back up the river, and the foot tunnel under the Thames. Finish at the Trafalgar Tavern or the Sail Loft, on the water.
Greenwich in full
Day three: Waterloo to St Paul’s
The South Bank end to end, from the graffiti tunnel under Waterloo station to the dome of St Paul’s. It is the gentlest of the four days, which makes it a good first day off a flight or a rest between days two and four.
Leake Street
SE1 · free
The tunnel under Waterloo station where painting the walls is allowed, so it is never the same twice.
The London Eye
Free to see · the ride from £29, ticketed, optional
Most people want to stand under it and photograph it; some want to go up. Either way it is the start of the river walk.
The Southbank Centre, the BFI and the book market
Free · the book market is under Waterloo Bridge
The concrete arts centre, the skate park in its undercroft, and the second-hand book tables beneath the bridge outside the BFI.
The National Theatre, Gabriel’s Wharf and the OXO Tower
Free
Along the Queen’s Walk past the theatre and the small shops of Gabriel’s Wharf to the OXO Tower, and under Blackfriars Bridge.
The Queen’s Walk in fullTate Modern and Shakespeare’s Globe
Tate Modern free · the Globe free to see, the tour is ticketed, optional
The power station turned gallery, with the Turbine Hall and the free collection, and the Globe rebuilt next door.
The Millennium Bridge and St Paul’s
Free to see · inside St Paul’s £27, ticketed, optional
Across the bridge with the dome straight ahead of you, to Wren’s cathedral.
One New Change, to finish
Free · the roof terrace, by lift
The roof terrace of the shopping centre opposite, with the dome at eye level and the river behind it.
Day four: Camden to Notting Hill
The London people live in. Camden and Primrose Hill in the morning, a museum in the middle if you want one, and Notting Hill by the end of the day.
Camden Market and Camden Lock
NW1 · free · or with us: Camden’s three lives, 2.5 hours, £150 for up to five
The market before it fills, the lock and the canal: the industrial canal, the punk years and the food market it is now, all in one place.
Camden to Primrose HillThe Regent’s Canal and Primrose Hill
Free
Along the towpath and up the hill. From the top you can pick out the places of the last three days.
A museum, if you want one
Free · the Natural History Museum, the V&A or the British Museum
One museum, chosen for who is coming: the dinosaurs and the blue whale, fashion and jewellery at the V&A, or the British Museum.
The free museums, comparedKensington Gardens
Free · closes at dusk
The park walk to Notting Hill, past Kensington Palace and the Round Pond.
Notting Hill and Portobello Road
W11 · free · the market is fullest on Friday and Saturday
The painted terraces, the antiques end of Portobello and dinner in Notting Hill. The coloured houses are at their best in daylight.
Not the whole of London
Four days will not show you everything. They show you the most of London’s different sides in the time most people have. Staying longer, or want it different? We plan the rest with you.
Short of time altogether? The Jubilee line day sees most of London in six hours by tube and one boat, including Canary Wharf, the O2 and Stratford, which these four days leave out.
Which day of the week each one works on
- Day one
- Any day
- Day two
- Tuesday to Friday
- Day three
- Any day
- Day four
- Friday or Saturday
The guard changes at the Palace at 11am on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Inside the Abbey is closed to visitors on Sundays
Leadenhall and the Royal Exchange are weekday places and Borough Market is shut on Mondays until 30 November
St Paul’s is open to visitors Monday to Saturday
Portobello is fullest on those days and mostly shut on Sunday
Four days rarely fall on the right four weekdays. Putting them in the right order for your dates is half of what a plan does.
What the four days cost
With your own guide
Private day, your itinerary
You tell us what the day is for. We build it. Up to 8 hours.
- Up to 5 people
- £340
- 6 to 8 people
- £480
Want a tailor-made London trip? Tell us who’s coming and what you’d love to see. Request your personalised quote
What else you will spend
Rough, and on the day, whether you come with us or not.
- Day one
- Free
- Day two
- Free to walk
- Day three
- Free
- Day four
- Free
- Travel
- Capped each day, plus the boat
Inside the Abbey is £32 if you want it
Options: the Tower £38, Tower Bridge walkways £18, the Monument £7, Cutty Sark £22, Painted Hall £19, Royal Observatory £24. Nobody needs them all
Options: the London Eye from £29, inside St Paul’s £27
The museums are free. Camden with your own guide is £150 for up to five
Contactless on the tube and buses is capped daily. The river boat is paid on top
Want the days timed for your dates?
Day one is free and stays free. Days two to four are explained here. A plan is the same days put on the right weekdays for your dates and timed hour by hour, with the walking time between every stop, which tickets are worth it for who is coming, where to eat each day, the date each free ticket is released, a total for each day and what we moved for your dates.
Every day can be changed round what you like, and if you book a guided day with us for the same trip, what you paid for the plan comes off it.
Questions people actually ask
What is the best way to see London in four days?
Give each day its own part of London. The West End and Westminster on day one, the City, Tower Bridge and Greenwich on day two, the South Bank to St Paul’s on day three, and Camden to Notting Hill on day four. You never cross the same ground twice.
Do I have to go inside the Tower, the Abbey or the Eye?
No. Every stop on these days is free to see from outside, and that is what most people want: to be there and take the photograph. Where going in costs money we give the price, and it is your choice.
Which day is the easiest?
Day three, the South Bank from Waterloo to St Paul’s. It is flat, short and works well on the day you land.
When is the Changing of the Guard?
At 11am on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at Buckingham Palace. If you want it, start day one at the Palace and walk the list the other way.