Our verdict
Best overall
The Tower of London
Crown Jewels, the White Tower and a Yeoman Warder tour included in a £38 ticket. If you pay for one thing in London, make it this — and give it a morning.
Best value
A free museum morning
The British Museum, National Gallery, Natural History Museum, Science Museum, V&A and Tate Modern charge nothing for their collections. Book the free timed ticket where offered and skip the queue.
Best with kids
Harry Potter Studio Tour
One of the most-reviewed experiences we track in London — 28,000+ reviews for one transfer package alone. Book early and compare coach versus train on our page.
Skip it if
You only have one day
Don’t try to tick off a list. Pick one area — Westminster or the Tower and South Bank — and follow our one-day plan.
The best things to do in London, at a glance
Ten headliners first, then 35 more by type. Prices are official adult prices, or the “from” price in our partner feeds for tours.
| Thing to do | Price | Time | Book ahead? | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tower of London | £38 | 2–3 h | Recommended | History, the Crown Jewels |
| British Museum | free | 2–3 h | Free ticket advised | Everyone |
| Westminster Abbey | £32 | ~2 h | Yes (Mon–Sat only) | Royal history |
| Changing the Guard | free | ~1 h | No | Pageantry |
| Thames cruise, Westminster–Greenwich | from ~£18 | 1–2 h | Day before | Sights from the water |
| London Eye | from £29 online | ~1 h | Yes — £10 cheaper | Views |
| St Paul’s Cathedral | £27 | 1.5–2 h | Recommended | Dome climb, City views |
| Natural History Museum | free | 2–3 h | Free ticket at busy times | Kids, dinosaurs |
| Jack the Ripper walk | from ~£16 | ~2 h | Day before | An evening out |
| Harry Potter Studio Tour (with transfers) | from ~£90 | ~7 h | As early as you can | Fans of any age |
Top-rated things to book in London, checked today
London: Tower of London and Crown Jewels Exhibition Ticket
from £38
See on GetYourGuide
London: The London Eye Entry Ticket
from £29
See on GetYourGuide
London: Westminster Abbey, Big Ben & Buckingham Guided Tour
from £33
See on GetYourGuide
London: Westminster to Greenwich River Thames Cruise
from £18
See on GetYourGuide
London: The Original Jack the Ripper Walking Tour
from £22
See on GetYourGuide
London: Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio Tour with Transfers
from £92
See on GetYourGuide
Big Bus: London Hop-on-Hop-off Bus Tour with Optional Thames River Cruise & Evening Tour
from £32per person
See on Headout
London: Classic Gold 3.5-Hour Bike Tour
from £40
See on GetYourGuide
London: Traditional English Scone Making and Tea Workshop
from £23
See on GetYourGuidePrices and ratings checked 21 Oct 2026; they change daily.
Free things to do in London
- British Museum — free, daily 10.00–17.00, Fridays to 20.30; book a free ticket to avoid the queue.
- National Gallery — free, daily 10am–6pm, Fridays to 9pm.
- Natural History Museum — free, daily 10.00–17.50.
- Science Museum — free, but pre-book a timed ticket.
- V&A South Kensington — free, daily 10.00–17.45, Fridays to 22.00.
- Tate Modern — free collection; open to 9pm on Fridays and Saturdays.
- Sky Garden — free views from the City with a timed ticket, released up to three weeks ahead.
- Changing the Guard — free at Buckingham Palace; 11:00 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in October–November 2026. Details on our Westminster and palace page.
- A free walking tour — pay what you think it was worth; compared on our free walking tours page.
- St James’s Park and Green Park — the walk from Westminster to the palace.
- The South Bank — Westminster Bridge to Tower Bridge on foot, past the Globe and Tate Modern.
Royal and historic London
- Tower of London (£38) — Yeoman Warder tour included; see our Tower tours page for early-access and after-hours options.
- Westminster Abbey (£32) — closed to sightseers on Sundays.
- Buckingham Palace State Rooms — summer only (9 July–27 September in 2026, from £33).
- Buckingham Palace East Wing tour — the winter option, £100, 6 November 2026 to 31 January 2027.
- Houses of Parliament tour — £40, Saturdays and recess.
- Big Ben tour — £55, age 11+.
- Churchill War Rooms — £34; children 5–15 half price.
- HMS Belfast — from £26.80.
- Tower Bridge — £18 for the towers, glass-floor walkways and engine rooms.
- St Paul’s Cathedral — £27, including the dome galleries.
- The View from The Shard — from £28.
- London Eye — from £29 online. All ticket prices compared on our attraction tickets page.
Tours worth booking
- Westminster walking tour — Abbey, Big Ben and the palace in 3–4 hours, from about £33.
- Jack the Ripper walk — evening in Whitechapel; the original tour has close to 9,000 reviews. Compared on our Ripper page.
- Harry Potter film-locations walk — from about £15–£20; see Harry Potter walks.
- Ghost walk — the ghost tours page separates the theatrical from the historical.
- Bike tour — 3.5 hours of parks and palaces from about £39–£45, rated up to 4.9★; bike tours.
- Live-guided vintage bus — 90 minutes on an open-top Routemaster, about £30.
- Hop-on hop-off bus — from about £32; operators scored.
- Private black cab tour — from about £318 per cab for 3–4 hours; black cab tours.
- Beatles and Abbey Road walk — from about £20.
- Pub walk — three or four historic pubs in 3.5 hours, about £35, 4.9★.
- Food tour — including a 4.9★ tour of Brixton’s African and Caribbean kitchens; food tours.
- Scone-making and tea workshop — one hour, about £23, rated 4.9★ by 1,100+ people.
On the water
- Thames sightseeing cruise — Westminster to Tower Bridge or Greenwich, from about £14–£18.
- Uber Boat — the river bus, with contactless: £9.90–£11.90 in the central zone. Uber Boat guide.
- Lunch, dinner or afternoon tea cruise — dining cruises compared.
- Thames speedboat — the fast, loud way past the sights; speedboats.
- Regent’s Canal boat — Little Venice to Camden; canal boats.
Bigger days and seasonal extras
- Harry Potter Warner Bros. Studio Tour — from about £90 with transfers; Studio Tour guide.
- Afternoon tea bus — tea and cake on a moving sightseeing bus, from about £49; tea buses.
- Football stadium tour — Emirates, Stamford Bridge or Wembley, from about £28.
- Christmas lights bus tour — from about £23 in season; Christmas lights tours.
- A day trip — Windsor, Stonehenge, Bath, Oxford or the Cotswolds; day trips compared.
How to fit it in
London rewards doing one area well rather than crossing the city three times a day. Group by neighbourhood — Westminster and St James’s; the Tower, Tower Bridge and the City; the South Bank; South Kensington’s museums — and use a river cruise or a hop-on hop-off bus to move between them. Our 1-, 2- and 3-day itineraries do exactly that.
Questions people ask
What are the best free things to do in London?
The British Museum, National Gallery, Natural History Museum, Science Museum, V&A and Tate Modern are free (special exhibitions cost extra). Sky Garden is free with a timed ticket booked up to three weeks ahead. The Changing the Guard at Buckingham Palace is free to watch, and the royal parks and the South Bank walk cost nothing. Tip-based free walking tours are the other zero-cost option.
What should I do in London for the first time?
Spend one morning in Westminster (Abbey, Parliament, the guard), one on the Tower of London and Tower Bridge, take a river cruise between the two, and give an afternoon to one free museum. Book one evening walk — Jack the Ripper is the classic. Our first-time itinerary puts it in order.
What is there to do in London in November and December?
Christmas lights bus tours run through the West End, Buckingham Palace offers its East Wing guided tour from 6 November 2026 to 31 January 2027 (£100), and Tower Bridge runs behind-the-scenes tours in autumn and winter. Museums are the obvious answer to a wet day — most of the big ones are free.
What can you do in London with kids?
The Natural History Museum and Science Museum are free and made for children. Paid favourites include the London Eye (children 2–15 from £26 online), the Harry Potter Studio Tour, HMS Belfast (under-5s free) and a kid-friendly Harry Potter walk. A 5-attraction pass covering the Eye, Madame Tussauds, SEA LIFE, the Dungeon and Shrek’s Adventure costs about £59.
Do I need to book London attractions in advance?
For timed sights, yes. The London Eye is £10 cheaper online than at the desk, Sky Garden and the Science Museum need a free timed ticket, and the British Museum advises booking its free ticket. Popular tours and the Studio Tour can sell out, so book those as soon as your dates are fixed.
What's on in London this weekend?
Exhibitions, shows and events change weekly, so check the venues directly. For a weekend that always works — Saturday tours of Parliament, late opening at Tate Modern on Friday and Saturday until 9pm, and a Sunday morning on the South Bank or in a royal park.
Sources
- British Museum — visit (free entry, hours) (checked 21 Oct 2026)
- National Gallery — visiting (free admission, Friday late) (checked 21 Oct 2026)
- Natural History Museum — visit (checked 21 Oct 2026)
- Science Museum — visit us (free, pre-book) (checked 21 Oct 2026)
- V&A — visit (free admission, Friday late) (checked 21 Oct 2026)
- Tate Modern — visit (free collection, hours) (checked 21 Oct 2026)
- Sky Garden — booking (checked 21 Oct 2026)
- Household Division — Changing the Guard calendar (checked 21 Oct 2026)
- Historic Royal Palaces — Tower of London tickets (checked 21 Oct 2026)
- Royal Collection Trust — Buckingham Palace (East Wing tour) (checked 21 Oct 2026)
- Tower Bridge — what's on (checked 21 Oct 2026)
- Headout — things to do in London (partner feed)
Written and checked by the Private Tours London desk