Seeking recommendations for a solo journey to London
Some background: this trip was originally my 40th birthday present from my now ex-wife. We've since divorced and I'm insistent on going by myself, as something always seems to come up and ruin my overseas travel plans. So, I want to treat this as a sort of growth/healing/looking forward trip.
About me: I've traveled quite a bit but I've never been outside of North America. Europe is completely new to me. I am very fond of football, food, beer, hiking, history, and new experiences. I prefer to stay away from tourist traps and I'd rather find hole in the wall type places that are recommended to me by locals. When I travel somewhere, I want to immerse myself.
I'll be there for ~9 days and I have the first 5 days fully worked out. What I need help with is figuring out what I want to do in London for the last 3 days of the trip before I head back to the airport. Other than going to a Fulham game next Saturday, I'm completely wide open. I would prefer to stay in the greater London area since the first half of the trip already involves quite a bit of travel.
I'd love to hear your recommendations do's/don'ts, or general guidance. I'm open to pretty much anything.
London?
The Tower is definitely worth it. Camden Markets. Walk along the Thames. Westminster Cathedral was nice. Find a Real Ale pub and have a proper English cask ale pint (unless you don’t drink). Personal favorite pub was Cittie of Yorke. The British Museum (see the Rosetta Stone if nothing else).
There’s probably a lot more to come up in the 10-ish years since I lived there.
If you’re up for day trips out, Bletchley Park and the adjoining British Computer History Museum were both amazing. Stratford upon Avon is good if you’re a theater/Shakespeare nerd.
Missing the computer history museum is one of my few regrets! I did Kew Gardens instead and had a great time though
As someone who lives in London:
Weird hidden gem that I love: novelty automation, a sort of satirical arcade owned by a wonderful guy, made with old-style mechanical things and logic boxes. Best to go with somebody else (I think some of the things are designed to be done with another person, can't quite remember) but I think it'd still be a nice evening without.
https://www.ianvisits.co.uk/ has a shit ton of info about stuff going on, also here's his opinion on what museums to visit, be aware it's slightly out of date, the museum of london shut down and will re-open in a different space in 2026
Will second british museum, try to go without a bag because then you don't have to queue for security
If you're interested in books there's a big waterstones nearby and a good secondhand store called skoob books.
Borough market is always good for food but will always be absurdly busy and quite expensive
Sir John Soane's Museum is awesome, an old house converted into a museum packed incredibly tightly full of cool artifacts (has a sarcophagus in the middle!)
London Mithraeum, Guildhall Roman Amphitheatre might be interesting to you
Consider trying to use one of the rental bikes for getting around, london's bike infrastructure is really good (especially in The City i.e. nearer the centre), and they're a nice way for seeing the sights at speed.
London's green spaces are a big deal, would second hampstead heath or kew gardens for a nice walk, maybe richmond park if you want to see the deer.
The olympic park is also pretty nice to walk around, though I don't know if there's enough to justify the journey for a tourist (don't think you can enter the stadium just to look round)
London has an absurd amount of great places to eat, it's definitely worth researching places (booking is almost always necessary to get a place), I'd recommend dishoom if you like Indian food, brick lane has a food market that might be worth a look around if you're nearby
J Draper on youtube has a bunch of cool stuff including neat london tourism tips e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Tg8nRELmpY
I loved the Novelty Automation! When reading this topic I was trying to remember the name (it has been a while), but you beat me to it. I still have the picture of the 'picture booth', there. There are indeed some machines that require 2 players, but if I remember correctly there's enough to do for one player as well.
If you like history, I'd also recommend theLondon Transport Museum , and the HMS Belfast . I wouldn't call these 'unknown gems', so they might already be in your plans.
I had great fun following parts of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thames_Path
Also there are few amazing "normal" parks, which I found unexpectedly wild, e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hampstead_Heath
I find London rather nice now, but it's big and it took me quite a few visits to find the places I like.
I just went there for the first time in June. I highly recommend day trips out of the city. I did one to Bath and one to Stonehenge. Stonehenge was amazing in person and I spent the entire train ride back wondering about it. Both trips were much more interesting to me than my time spent in the city. Having been to NYC and many other major cities London wasn’t particularly foreign. I did really enjoy a Greek restaurant named Halepi in London.
I loved walking around Hackney in general, but I especially loved the Museum of the Home. Museums in general are amazing in London, and a lot are free. But Museum of the Home had really neat historic exhibits showing interior design through the centuries and last few decades.
Take the train down to Seaford and walk (or “hike” if you could call it that) to Eastborne, then take the train back to London. You can see the famous chalk cliffs. Most tourists get bussed straight to the seven sisters and bussed out.
I had a wonderful time getting out to Kew Gardens, had some great fish n chips and the gardens made for a great day. The town itself is absolutely bursting with quality home gardens as well, the wander through the neighborhood was gorgeous.
Honestly I'd say just find a spot about an hour in the tube out of town with something cool and you'll love the change in vibes. Totally different being in the burbs where people are just living their lives.
What are you planning on doing the first 5 days? Kinda hard to make recommendations without knowing what you already have on the list.
Heading out to Norwich area as soon as I land to visit a friend and see an Isthmian League football match. Then, I’m immediately heading to Gatwick to fly to Italy and stay with some old friends for a few nights. I return to London Saturday morning, and I have a ticket to the Fulham game Saturday evening. Other than that, I have no plans Saturday, Sunday, or Monday. Headed back to the airport early Tuesday.
If it helps, I’m staying in South Kensington.
If you like books, London has amazing book stores.
The British museum has a huge variety of things. I liked the medieval clocks and the illuminated manuscripts.
Oxford isn't far by train and the old college architecture is stunning. (Likewise Cambridge)
London has great theater, including but not limited to Shakespeare