r/LondonTravel • u/SwanRadiant7118 • 14h ago
Trip Planning 1 week itinerary
Hi yall! I posted a few weeks ago looking for recommendations and yall were so helpful! With all your help on recommendations for things to see/do, I’ve just pretty much finished my daily itinerary and wondering what y’all think. Does it seem do-able? Should I change anything? A lot of evenings are pretty free, considering going to a show of some sort one night, and just random exploring, maybe some pubs and etc. But if you have any idea what areas are best for evenings and nightlife, I’d love to hear them! Otherwise I’m going to just roam around and find things as I go. I’m a night owl so unless I’m SUPER exhausted, I’ll probably be out pretty late most nights, especially so I can get pictures because there will be less people and I get shy 😅
Arriving October 18th, leaving October 25th- solo trip
Staying in Notting Hill
Day 1: (Sunday)
Noon-3pm: arrive, check in Airbnb
Local grocery for snacks
Get food
Explore walk-by sights: Big Ben, London eye, Westminister Abbey, Tower Bridge, Kensington Palace
Open evening
Day 2:
930am: Buckingham palace
11:00: changing of the guards
12:00: St James Park, Duck Island cottage
(Undecided on touring inside Westminister Abbey)
Afternoon tea at Sanderson
Airbnb to rest for an hour-ish
5:00/6:00: Piccadilly Circus, China Town
Food
Evening exploring SoHo and/or Covent Garden
Day 3:
9:00 Tower of London
12:00 quick stops to see All Hallows by the Tower, St Dunsten in the East
1:00/1:30: Leadenhall market, food
2:30: St Paul’s Cathedral
St Bartholomew the Great if time allows.
Airbnb to rest for an hour-ish
Night open— explore Camden or soho
Day 4:
10:00: national gallery
12:00 Covent garden, Neal’s yard, food
3:00 British museum
Airbnb for an hour-ish
Night free- maybe soho, china town, Camden
Food
Day 5:
10:00 Kyoto garden
11:00 afternoon tea
4:00 Airbnb rest
5:30– open evening
Day 6:
10:00: highgate cemetery
12:30 St Pancras Old Church
3:00 kings cross area
Airbnb to rest
Open evening
Day 7:
10:00 Portobello market
1:00 Airbnb rest
3:00 shoreditch, whitechapel, self guided Jack the Ripper walk
Food
Open evening
Day 8 leaving
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u/INTwhoaJ 14h ago
I would 10/10 recommend the Westminster Abbey tour (or self-guided walk-around) if you're on the fence about it.
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u/SwanRadiant7118 14h ago
I still debating, or even going to an evening service, others have mentioned the evensong. But I would probably rather the tour only because I would want to take pictures lol just seeing if I will be able to afford it really
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u/INTwhoaJ 14h ago
If you go to take pictures, a wide-angle (28mm or wider) and a closer lens for details (85mm or 50mm in a pinch) will be your best friends. We did it with the kids last time; I wasn't that excited about it but it ended up being a highlight of the trip. Your idea of an evening service could be even better, though.
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u/Portdal12 13h ago
You're just missing evening plans. Book a nice restaurant every evening (whatever "nice" means to you), go see a west end show, go see some comedy (Soho Theatre or Always be Comedy), go find a pub walking tour (London Walks has a good one). London in the evening is fantastic and often overlooked in the planning process, which is really unfortunate.
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u/SwanRadiant7118 13h ago
I’m a big night owl so definitely looking for night plans! I will check out some of these. Thank you!
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u/No-Zombie9567 4h ago
Make sure the Airbnb has good reviews. There are loads in London that are fakes or scams
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u/hazzacanary 13h ago
Do you have any evening plans? I think where London really shines is the evening stuff - when it comes to music at least, (especially classical) we might be the best in the world! Definitely check out what's on at the BFI and the National Theatre, and the west end in general will have lots of shows on. There's also a great standup comedy scene here, if that's your thing.
And you could always try something random - go bouldering, hit up a dance class, try some life drawing!
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u/SwanRadiant7118 13h ago
I don’t have many evening plans yet, but am looking! I love the night time. I love music, even classical. I have never done a comedy show so might be interested in checking one out. I will definitely check out the BFI AND national theatre, and was already looking at the royal ballet and opera theatre also
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u/hazzacanary 8h ago edited 8h ago
Soho theatre often has really good comedy on (quite a few Edinburgh transfers ATM), more in the proper show realm. If you want stickier, more low key pub comedy check out the Camden comedy club, Amersham arms and the tommyfield/always be comedy.
Do you know about bachtrack.com? Really great site for classical listings! The RBO is great, and also check what's on at the royal festival hall the alert hall and the barbican. For chamber stuff, the Wigmore Hall is very special - I saw a string quartet there last year and it was fantastic!
And just saw you're planning to be in kings cross one of the days - see if there's anything on at jamboree! It's an eclectic music venue with a broad mix of genres and a decent cocktail menu. If you need to burn an hour or so, the British library is nearby, or you could have a go on a snooker table at the hurricane rooms!
And a final word on being out late: London is an almost inexplicably pants late-night city. I'd plan to be heading home by 12 at the latest every night, as travel is much more difficult without the tube. Most restaurants and pub kitchens will stop serving food around 9:30-10, and central London pubs tend to close at 10:30 or 11 on weekdays. If you need a late night meal, Chinatown or the Edgware road have some spots open late, and virtually all of London has fried chicken and kebabs within walking distance. Even supermarkets and grocery shops often close by 11 these days!
There are some clubs and bars open late (notably the jazz clubs ronnie scotts and blue note), but they're clustered in certain areas and usually very loud and expensive! To get a late licence here, businesses have to hire extra security and pay a contribution to the police budget, which they recoup on drinks.
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u/SwanRadiant7118 6h ago
Thanks so much! I’m trying to look into comedy shows, but there’s so many options and I’m overwhelmed, and I don’t know anything about comedy so I’d just end up picking some random show if I decided to do that. I used the site you mentioned to check out classical concerts, I don’t know about much of that either, but I do like to listen to it, so I’ve added a couple to my maybe list. But I have always wanted to see live jazz too, so am looking for a good place for that that’s not super expensive. But is it weird to do that alone? Lol
Good to know about the trains stopping at 12, I’m not sure why I thought they were 24/7 lol
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u/Cute_Vegetable370 2m ago
Some lines run thru the night! Check out the TFL site for up to date info on the ‘night tube’
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u/Leoturnedswnola 9h ago
I’m coming from the the States and doing the London Walks Westminster Abbey tour Monday early afternoon!
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u/doodle_sheriff52 9h ago
i would definitely group a few of these by area bc london travel time adds up fast. day 1 looks kinda packed for an arrical and tower of london plus st pauls is already a lot for one day. for nights i personally love just wandering around soho and covent garden for food and ppl watching. when we went last month it was a super last min trip for a surprise bday celebration and we honestly had no idea where to go lmao. my friend ended up booking tours through let me show you london which helped us figure out what to see without spending forever planning everything ourselves. id also leave some room for spontaneous exploring bc london has so many little streets and places worth checking out. since ure staying in notting hill portobello market is good one to explore without rushing always check the travel time too. enjoy!!!
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u/SwanRadiant7118 6h ago
I did try to group them by areas. The Tower of London/St Paul’s day will probably definitely be the busiest day, but since all of the places were close to each other, I’m going to try 😅 I’m a super solo and shy person so didn’t want to do tours by myself. I’ve traveled a lot solo, but I’m really stepping out of my comfort zone on this trip. Like I’ll normally get food to take back to my Airbnb/hotel instead of eating out alone lol but I am definitely going to the portobello market on Saturday and most nights will probably wander, maybe find a comedy show or something, try to book at least one nice dinner, and thinking of seeing the stranger things theater show, otherwise just exploring the other nights.
This is also my birthday trip to myself after not celebrating the past 8 years, and my first trip abroad, so I’m just super excited to be going. I cry a lot while planning my days because I can’t believe I’m doing it 😂
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u/SilverAcanthisitta00 4h ago
I’m proud of you and excited for you! I’ll be going to London for my first time on 10/24, so I hope you’ll give some updates on your best days and wanders. 🥰
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u/mrvinniyoedd 7h ago
pretty balanced actually -- day 3 city-cluster is great, all hallows + st dunstan ruins + st pauls + st bartholomew is one of the densest history walks in london (st dunstan still roofless from the blitz is the one everyone misses, and pudding lane where the 1666 great fire started is literally one street east of monument).
day 7 jack the ripper walk is where id spend extra brain cycles -- most of the whitechapel sites are now just corners with nothing marking them, which is kinda the point but also easy to walk right past.
one nerdy thing that helped me a lot wandering london solo late at night: yorepath. free on ios/android, plays local off-plaque history for wherever youre standing. for your day 7 self-guided ripper loop it fills in a lot of the context the plaques dont (ten bells pub mary kelly connection, dorset street demolished-and-renamed to duval street, the mitre square tunnel sightline). probably overkill if youd rather just wander, but for a night-owl solo trip it earned its keep. pre-download the london region, signal gets patchy in the whitechapel side streets. have a great trip!
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u/SwanRadiant7118 7h ago
I was worried there wouldn’t be enough time for all of the day 3 things, but I’m going to try my best! I’m really excited for St Dunstan in the East. I honestly haven’t mapped out the ripper walk yet or where all the stops are, so I will definitely be checking out the app! Thank you!
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u/LePetitCantaloup 14h ago
Looks good and surprisingly balanced for this sub.
Where is your airbnb out of interest?
It is great on your Day 3 that you are looking to do more stuff in the City (the finance district) than simply St Paul's. Consider stopping in at one of the ancient atmospheric pubs; I like Williamson's tavern but in that part of London you will simply be able to search for pubs and find something decent.
St Bartholomew the Great is worth making sure you have time for. Nearby, the area around Farringdon tube is one of the best places to eat in London and barely gets any tourists.
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u/SwanRadiant7118 14h ago
My Airbnb is in Notting Hill. Thanks for the food recommendations also! I haven’t planned out places to eat and was just going to go with the flow, so will probably definitely check these out!
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u/Cute_Vegetable370 1m ago
If you’re into film, check out what’s showing at the IMAX (Siuthbank near National Theatre etc)
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u/john_g22 14h ago
In general I would say this is pretty well balanced and manageable. You seem to be doing afternoon tea twice? Unless you’re really keen for it I would say once is plenty, and then you could maybe swap in the National Gallery/British Museum into one of those slots. They’re certainly doable where you have them but both have a lot more than a couple of hours to offer if you want to experience them fully.