London is where I grew up, where I became a travel writer, and where I completed my first Lonely Planet assignment. I love London and know it better than most. So, when you’ve visited the “must-see” sights, here’s how to experience my London the way I do it.
For each day of this four-day itinerary, I’ll take you to a different compass point of this truly global city. You’ll taste delicious Afro-Caribbean delights in the south, be dazzled by the refined and classically English air in the West End, and find yourself in stitches at the South-Asian-meets-Cockney “banter” of the East End, before staring in awe at the Anatolian wonders of north London.
When to arrive: Ideally, you’ll arrive in London on a Thursday evening – flights are cheaper than a Friday and you’ll have four full days ahead of you.
How to get from the airports: All the major airports are connected by rail and bus transfers that take you straight into the center. Heathrow and London City Airport are on the city’s Underground system.
Getting around town: London has a vast and sprawling transport system that covers every corner of the city, so just download the free TfL Go app and let it plan all your routes. If you’re a confident cyclist, there are also numerous bike share schemes across the city.
Where to stay: Staying in London is not cheap, but avoiding the city center and leaning towards the south tends to be more reasonable.
What to pack: This is London, so you always need an umbrella or a lightweight raincoat in your bag. Grab your most comfortable walking shoes as this is a city best admired on foot.
Friday in South London
Morning: After grabbing a coffee made with beans roasted on-site at the Roasting Plant Coffee, taste your way through one of the oldest foodie markets in London, at Borough Market, where you can also learn to bake artisan bread at Bread Ahead or make your own sausages at the Ginger Pig.
How to spend the day: Spend the rest of the day exploring the buzzing South Bank; start by taking in a play at Shakespeare’s delightful Shakespeare’s Globe theater for as little as £5. Modeled on England’s great Bard’s Elizabethan-era round theater, you’ll find yourself immersed in the raucous action with these standing tickets. Then head around the corner for the magnificent Tate Modern where you’ll enjoy one of the world’s largest collections of free modern and contemporary art spread across almost 35,000 sq m (376,000 sq ft), including the cavernous Turbine Hall. After getting your fill of world-class art, be sure to take in the stunning views of St Paul’s Cathedral from its restaurant, maybe as you enjoy afternoon tea. Then take a stroll along the southern section of Jubilee Walk, a truly festive route lined with street entertainers, buskers, food trucks, skateboarders and one of the quaintest outdoor second-hand book markets, all in the shade of the iconic London Eye.
Dinner: For dinner head to the south’s hip and vibrant neighborhood of Brixton where the cozy Salpike serves up authentic Latin-American and Caribbean dishes like pumpkin and sweet potato curry, or for a more traditional African hit, May Foods on Market Row is where you can get banku and okra stew just the way a Ghanian grandmother cooks it.
After dark: Start your evening with rooftop cocktails at Pergola Brixton before heading to Brixton Jamm for a raucous night of house, garage or disco beats played by live, celebrity DJs.
Saturday in West London
Morning: Start with breakfast at sunrise atop 110 Bishopsgate, at the 24-hour Duck and Waffle, and as you tuck into the Victorian sausage in your full English breakfast watch the glitzy, glassy city, slowly awaken in the hazy, orange glow of a new dawn.
How to spend the day: There are more world-class free museums in London than in most countries, and South Kensington is its museum district. Say hello to Fern the diplodocus on your way into The Natural History Museum where you can take a virtual reality trip to see the future of our planet. From there, admire the largest Persian carpet at the V&A, before unleashing your inner child in the Science Museum’s retro gaming Power Up experience of Game Boy Marios and Sega Sonics. Then take a slow walk along Brompton Rd to the world-famous Harrods store, where after a dreamy window-shop across its seven, designer-laden floors, step into the uber-elegant Prada Caffè to have avocado on toast served on designer crockery, eaten with designer cutlery as you sip coffee decorated with designer art.
Dinner: Continue the indulgence at the celebrity haunt, the Ivy Market Grill, where a three-course set menu might start with a sumptuous truffle pasta and end with cherry and pistachio nougat gláce flambé, before enjoying laid-back after-dinner street entertainment in Covent Garden.
After dark: Soho’s club and bar scene is legendary. If you’re looking for gay Soho you have to start with the iconic G.A.Y. Bar, whilst those after a club night can let their hair down at Soho Zebrano.
Sunday in East London
Morning: Get your energy up with a modern, fusion East End breakfast at Momlette, where the owner’s British-Bangladeshi mother will personally cook your desi-style full English, complete with spiced sausages and parathas instead of toast.
How to spend the day: Sundays are all about markets in east London and you should start by hunting for vintage bargains and rare antiques along Brick Lane, stopping for either an Indian thali or slow-cooked beef kofta for lunch at London’s biggest halal food market inside the Truman Brewery’s Upmarket. After getting lost in the boutique stalls of the hidden Backyard Market and grabbing a chocolate treat at the cacao connoisseurs Dark Sugars, make a beeline for Columbia Road Flower Market. Using your elbows to wade through the crowds, seek out late floral bargains from the ol’ East End stallholders who sell knockdown sunflowers and “cheap as chips” bouquets “for your mother-in-law” along this bustling and quaint street lined with boutique stores and delicious coffee joints, like Café Columbia.
Dinner: For the best Panjabi grilled lamb chops in east London, it has to be the iconic Tayyabs, but if it’s authentic Bangladeshi curries you’re after, sit down with the locals at Graam Bangla and ask for the bortha platter (spiced, lightly fried fish/vegetables) with your rice.
After dark: The Vortex Jazz Club is the best place to end a Sunday in east London. Tap your feet to the funky sound of some of London’s finest jazz musicians including Denys Baptiste and the Kezia Abouma Quartet, surrounded by regulars at this Dalston institute.
Monday in North London
Morning: Locals swear by the shakshuka (poached eggs in a tomato sauce) at West Hampstead’s Roni’s and who are we to argue? Combine it with a delicious coffee and those weary legs will be ready to traipse through north London.
How to spend the day: The refined high street surrounding the marvelous Hampstead Heath will keep you busy hunting for expensive art, boutique gifts or maybe a literary treasure in Keith Fawkes along quaint, Flask Walk. Then take in the marvelous views from atop Parliament Hill before braving a wild swim in one of the Heath’s famous lakes. If cold-water wading isn’t your thing, spend a few hours on cultural visits to the former residences of either Sigmund Freud or the romantic poet, John Keats.
Dinner: For dinner head to Anatolian north London and its stunning neo-Ottoman monument, the Aziziye Mosque, home to a restaurant where you can book a private booth decked out in soft padded cushioning, allowing you to recline like an imperial pasha as you tuck into the finest Adana kebabs this side of the Bosphorus.
After dark: Wander Regent’s Canal in Hackney Wick where the craft beer is brewed locally, and the sourdough pizzas are never in short supply. The twinkling fairy lights draped over the canal-side terraces of Grow and those wrapped around the starboard of Barge East create the perfect atmosphere for your final farewell drinks.
