10 Fun things innit?
A cultural hub like London offers a seemingly limitless amount of opportunities for fun. I was fortunate enough to get to live in London for 3 months, and, during that time, it truly felt like you could live your whole life in the city and still not do and see everything there is. Because it’s such a large, diverse city, there really is something for everyone there. This list is by no means exhaustive, and with so much going on it’s difficult to narrow it down to JUST 10 things. However, if you’re looking for some ideas on where to start, here are 10 fun things to do in London. I’ll add that I’ve tried to include some less frequently mentioned options.
Markets: At the risk of being inflammatory, people who say that London doesn’t have good food have no clue what they’re talking about. My absolute favorite thing to do in London is explore the markets in various neighborhoods. Each market has its own sort of vibe to it, but for the most part they all offer shopping (including some great vintage clothing), art, and, of course, food.
Just about every type of food imaginable is available at the markets, and it’s all delicious. Seafood paella, chicken and sausage paella, falafel, birria and other tacos, gyros, bao, pasta, Pad Thai, every curry color of the rainbow, Lo Mein, orange chicken, fried chicken, buffalo fried chicken, BBQ pulled pork sandwiches, pizza, cheese, french fries, tater tots, duck confit sandwiches or wraps, donuts, crepes, waffles, cookies, cakes, croissants, and more. There is EVERYTHING. I likely haven’t discovered all of the markets yet, but here are some of the more prominent ones that are absolutely worth checking out:
Most of these are open on Saturday and Sunday and are tube accessible. Going to these markets for lunch and then exploring the different neighborhoods is a fun way to learn the city and piece the different neighborhoods together. I’ll leave you with just a handful of pictures from the meals I had at markets.
2. The Burmondsey Beer Mile: Located in the Burmondsey neighborhood, just south of Tower Bridge, the beer mile is exactly what it sounds like. It’s over a miles worth of micro-breweries situated beneath the arches (presumably once used for storage/shipping) of a railroad track. Along with all of the breweries lining the street, there’s often a variety of food vendors positioned along the way. Saturday is deemed the best day to go, and it’s located close enough to Tower Bridge and Borough Market (linked above) that you could knock out several attractions in close succession.
3. Take a River Taxi: OK. I know this seems like a weird one, but hear me out. I had gone to London to visit one of my friends who was living in London at the time. He had mentioned that Greenwich was a charming neighborhood that was worth exploring. In evaluating transportation logistics, he concluded that the river taxi might actually make more sense.
It turned out to be one of my favorite things we did that trip. It offers some incredible views of the city skyline from a vantage point that would otherwise be inaccessible. It also, depending on where you’re going, is a convenient way to cover a lot of ground. There’s also a bar on board, so you can sit back, relax, and enjoy the views. All of this said, I’d try to do this on a day when the weather is nice (as it was for us at the time).
4. Premier League Match: Even if you’re not a soccer/football fan, I highly recommend going to a premier league game. The fan experience as you pub crawl your way up to the stadium and the constant singing, flag waving, and drum beating from hooligans at matches is unlike any sporting event I’ve ever been to in the U.S.
Fortunately, London has several clubs in the Premier League, so you should be able to find a match near the neighborhood you’re staying in if you don’t currently support a club. If you’re an impressionable individual and searching for a Premier League club to pull for, join me as a Crystal Palace supporter.
5. St. Paul’s Cathedral: This is a good one because it checks a lot of boxes for different types of attraction seekers. It covers the history buffs, the people, like my mom, who have to look inside every church they pass, and it offers the photo-centric travelers some of the best views of the city. Admittedly, I was a bit turned off by the price of admission considering many of London’s fabulous museums are free, but it’s worth it for the view from the top alone.
6. The National Gallery: London’s got like a billion museums, so feel free to swap this one out with one that offers something of greater interest to you. That said, during my time in London, I visited The Tate Modern, Tate Britain, The British Museum, The Natural History Museum, and the Iconic Images Gallery. If I had to pick just one worth visiting, for various reasons, it’s either the National Gallery or the Iconic Images Gallery (I love music, so the Iconic Images Gallery was pretty epic).
The National Gallery is centrally located so it should allow you to knock out a lot of other attractions without having to go too far. One thing to keep in mind, however, is that this area gets EXTREMELY busy and crowded. If you’re planning to go, I recommend getting there as early as possible to beat the crowds. They also offer a sort of ‘express lane’ ticket, but for the times I’ve been that’s never seemed to make a tremendous difference and doesn’t seem to be worth the price.
7. Royal Albert Hall: I have watched countless YouTube videos of concerts that have taken place at Royal Albert Hall. One of my favorite artists, Ben Howard, happened to be playing a show there, so I decided it was the perfect opportunity to see for myself what all the fuss was about. As someone who’s been to many legendary music venues like Red Rocks, The Fillmore, The Greek Theater, 9:30 Club, and Freebird Live, just to name a few, Royal Albert Hall is one of the coolest spaces to see a show. Artists voice their reverence for the venue during shows and there’s something about this grand architectural work of art that seems to elevate performances. If you don’t see a show that you fancy, I believe it’s possible to get a tour of the building.
8. Random Pub Basement Show: London has an incredible music scene. From its famous jazz club scene with places like Ronnie Scott’s and Jools Holland’s Boogie Woogie & Blues Spectacular to monster rock shows at places like Wembley Stadium, it covers every end of the spectrum. When living there, I was keen to see some of the more local music scene. I learned that many of the pubs also have music venues within them (often in the basement). I saw a 9-piece brass band perform The Strokes, “Is This It” album from start to finish, a random band from Ohio that I had never heard of before, and the Dune Rats, which I saw with some Australians I befriended during my time in London.
What really surprised me was that while all of these were all bands I’d never heard of before, all three of those shows were completely sold out. And, while attending these shows, when speaking to people, it was clear they weren’t necessarily followers of the bands either. They just loved going to live gigs.
In fact, the only reason I got into the Ohio band’s show was because I was listening to them soundcheck and bumped into the manager. I mentioned I was disappointed it was sold out and she put me on the guest list so that I could get in.
I’ve played in a band myself, and have friends who are musicians, and so I know how grueling it can be to draw a crowd of people who have never heard of you before. It was insanely cool to see the support that the people of London have for new music.
Trust me, there’s nothing quite like going to the deep chilly darkness basement of a seedy pub and rocking out in a packed, sweaty, room.
Dune Rats
9. Soho/Guitar Shops: The Soho neighborhood is centrally located, so, if you’re doing some sightseeing, you’re likely to pass through it. It’s generally a pretty touristy and crowded area, but I think it’s worth going through because it’s got a lot of character. It’s a bohemian, artsy feeling neighborhood with plenty of pubs, good restaurants, shopping and vintage apparel. The neighborhood was really popular for musicians living and playing in London. It’s cool to explore the streets that The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Eric Clapton and others walked.
One of my favorite things to do is go to Denmark St. and explore all of the guitar shops there. There’s like 4 or 5 legendary guitar shops all on the same street, and are all places where some of the musicians listed above would buy/repair equipment. It’s basically just a fun neighborhood to go explore.
10. Richmond: This one’s for my Ted Lasso fans out there. At this point, I think many fans of the show know that the charming suburb of Richmond is where a lot of Ted Lasso was filmed. Richmond is a quaint, beautiful suburb that is metro accessible as well as bike accessible via a path that follows the Thames. It’s easy to get to and not far from the city center. The, now famous, pub from the show sits right on the edge of the Richmond Green and is a delightful place to enjoy a pint outside on a lovely day before walking along the river bank.
London truly has something for everyone regardless of your travel style. Personally, I’d recommend leaving time to just explore the city with no agenda whatsoever. If something looks interesting, go check it out. I’ve yet to wander aimlessly in this city and not find a historical site, museum, pop-up market, fun pub, or just an all-around lovely area.
One final note. When people ask me why I like London so much (usually a comment regarding the ‘poor’ weather is thrown in there), I tell them, “access”. In many ways, “access” is just another word for “freedom”. There’s a plethora of unique neighborhoods to explore, food to try, museums to wander, and countries to visit all at your finger tips. It couldn’t be easier to experience so many different things in one place.
Whether you do any of the things on this list or choose to do something entirely different, I have little doubt you’ll manage to have some fun.
