Things to do in London

Citorah PickSight

Westminster Abbey

Citorah says The classic core: Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, Whitehall down to Trafalgar Square.

Citorah PickSight

Houses of Parliament

Citorah says The classic core: Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, Whitehall down to Trafalgar Square.

Citorah PickSight

Trafalgar Square

Citorah says The classic core: Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, Whitehall down to Trafalgar Square.

Citorah PickSight · South Bank / Waterloo

London Eye

Citorah says Cross to the South Bank and walk the river east — the London Eye, the Tate Modern (free), the Globe, toward Tower Bridge. One of the best free afternoons in the city.

Citorah PickSight

Tower Bridge

Citorah says The City of London — St Paul's Cathedral, the Tower of London (book ahead), Tower Bridge.

Citorah PickSight

Portobello Road

Citorah says Walk north through Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, then west into Notting Hill — Portobello Road, the pastel houses, the antiques.

Citorah PickSight

St Paul's Cathedral

Citorah says The City of London — St Paul's Cathedral, the Tower of London (book ahead), Tower Bridge.

Citorah PickSight

Tower of London

Citorah says The City of London — St Paul's Cathedral, the Tower of London (book ahead), Tower Bridge.

Citorah PickMuseum

National Gallery

Citorah says The National Gallery on the square is free and world-class — give it an hour.

Citorah PickMuseum · South Bank / Waterloo

Tate Modern

Citorah says Cross to the South Bank and walk the river east — the London Eye, the Tate Modern (free), the Globe, toward Tower Bridge. One of the best free afternoons in the city.

Citorah PickMuseum · Kensington / South Kensington

V&A

Citorah says South Kensington — pick one or two of the V&A, the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum. All free, all enormous; don't try to do all three.

Citorah PickMuseum · Kensington / South Kensington

Natural History Museum

Citorah says South Kensington — pick one or two of the V&A, the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum. All free, all enormous; don't try to do all three.

Citorah PickMuseum · Kensington / South Kensington

Science Museum

Citorah says South Kensington — pick one or two of the V&A, the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum. All free, all enormous; don't try to do all three.

Citorah PickMuseum

British Museum

Citorah says From Soho Square, TfL's Journey Planner gives a 14-minute walk to the British Museum, 22 minutes to the National Gallery, 25 to Embankment and 33 to Marble Arch.

Citorah PickMuseum

Tate Britain

Citorah says The National Gallery, the V&A, the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, Tate Modern and Tate Britain are all free to visit; some exhibitions charge.

Citorah PickPark

Hyde Park

Citorah says Walk north through Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, then west into Notting Hill — Portobello Road, the pastel houses, the antiques.

Citorah PickPark · Kensington / South Kensington

Kensington Gardens

Citorah says Walk north through Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, then west into Notting Hill — Portobello Road, the pastel houses, the antiques.

Citorah PickDay trip

Greenwich

Citorah says A neighbourhood you've not seen — Greenwich (the river, the observatory, the park) is the best option, reachable by the scenic Uber Boat / Thames Clipper.

Citorah PickBeach

Camber Sands

Citorah says What you're getting is the real thing: roughly three miles of proper soft sand backed by actual dunes, the only sand-dune system in East Sussex — everything east of here is shingle — not the shingle-and-stones that disqualifies Brighton and Hastings for anyone who wants to lie down.

The catch Wrong choice if you want arcades, candyfloss, or a Wetherspoon's view.

Citorah PickBeach

West Wittering

Citorah says The point of coming is that it's actual sand — pale, fine, dune-backed sand that goes on for a mile and keeps going as the tide drops back several hundred metres at low water, RNLI-lifeguarded May to September, and it makes Brighton's grey shingle look like a building site.

The catch Go midweek or don't go in August

Citorah PickBeach

Climping

Citorah says Climping sits just west of Littlehampton, postcode BN17, and it's the strangest thing on this stretch of coast: an undeveloped beach with no promenade, no arcade, no pier, no row of guesthouses staring at it.

The catch Wrong beach if you want chips-and-donuts energy

Citorah PickBeach

Botany Bay

Citorah says What you get is fine pale sand, properly broad at low tide, hemmed in by the chalk stacks that Turner painted and most London beach lists ignore.

The catch Wrong choice if your day needs candyfloss or a seafront Wetherspoons.

Citorah PickBeach

Whitstable / Tankerton

Citorah says This is the pick over Brighton because Brighton is a city that happens to have a beach; Whitstable is a working oyster town that happens to face the sea, and the light at sunset across the Isle of Sheppey is the actual reason to come.

The catch Wrong choice if you want a pier, arcades, or a club night.

Citorah PickBeach

Mersea Island

Citorah says Mersea sits in the Blackwater estuary nine miles south of Colchester, postcode CO5, and it's the closest thing London has to a proper island day-trip — the causeway floods at high tide, which is either inconvenient or the entire point depending on your mood.

Citorah PickBeach

Frinton-on-Sea

Citorah says What you're going for: a long, properly sandy beach (not Southend mud, not Brighton shingle) with a Blue Flag, tidal but gentle.

The catch Wrong beach if you want rides, slot machines, or a pint at 11am

Citorah PickBeach

Hayling Island

Citorah says What you get for the schlep is a long, mostly-shingle beach with patches of sand exposed at low tide (don't go expecting Camber-style soft sand — tide tables matter here in a way they don't at Brighton), and the West Beach end where windsurfers congregate because Hayling is genuinely where modern windsurfing was invented in 1958 by a 12-year-old called Peter Chilvers.

The catch Don't go expecting Camber-style soft sand

Citorah PickVenue · South Bank / Waterloo

National Theatre

Citorah says It's a riverside walk and a theatre district: the National Theatre on the South Bank, The Old Vic on The Cut, and the Bridge Theatre between City Hall and Tower Bridge.

Citorah PickVenue · South Bank / Waterloo

The Old Vic

Citorah says It's a riverside walk and a theatre district: the National Theatre on the South Bank, The Old Vic on The Cut, and the Bridge Theatre between City Hall and Tower Bridge.

Citorah PickVenue · South Bank / Waterloo

Bridge Theatre

Citorah says It's a riverside walk and a theatre district: the National Theatre on the South Bank, The Old Vic on The Cut, and the Bridge Theatre between City Hall and Tower Bridge.