If you are planning on a trip to London or live in London and want to take family and friends on a less touristy, more enjoyable tour then follow this guide!
From my experience people want to do 3 things: sightseeing, sampling the culture (including the food), and shopping!
First of all I take them on a tour of the most famous central places. I find that walking is the best way to get around and enables you to take in more of the beautiful London streets and buildings. For the sightseeing part of the trip I find that it is important to cover these main places or your guests might start to question whether they are really visiting the British capital: Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, Covent Garden, Leicester Sq, Green Park, Trafalgar Sq, The Strand..it goes on. Zones 1-2 can be walked around easily and even if you don't know where you are going you are bound to stumble on some pretty famous places.
For sights such as Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, the London Eye, and the Shard, take a trip along the Southbank in the evening or during the day. A beautiful walk along the Thames hits all these sightseeing nails on the head and there are loads of nice places to stop for eating and drinking along the way.
And so this leads me to the next stage...sampling the culture. British pub culture is a must see...whether for a traditional fish & chip dinner or just a pint. There are so many to choose from, pop into a few in the central area and see what quaint establishments you can find.
Another huge part of London culture is the musicals showing in the West End. Whether looking for something funny, theatrical, serious or tear-jerking there is something for everyone. If you aren't sure then you can't go wrong with a classic like Phantom of the Opera, or the Lion King.
If you have time a trip to South Kensington is well worth it for the museums. The V&A, the Natural History, and the Science Museum are all not to be missed. Depends on how much time you have and what your interests are of course.
You can't come to London without going shopping! A trip along Oxford Street and Bond Street are the cherry on top of the tour. Try to avoid Saturdays as it will be absolutely mobbed and not even enjoyable. Don't waste all of your time going into every single shop...I would recommend hitting 3 main stores....Topshop, Sakare, and of course, Selfridges.
You can't not take a trip into the biggest store in the world...Topshop. Be aware though, you will get lost and you will lose phone signal so agree a meeting place and time! My next stop is always Sakare on Bond Street....the most luxurious and exclusive street in London. Sakare offers beautiful cosmetic products at decent prices and the experience of looking around this store is not to be missed. Finish off by looking around the prestigious Selfridges department store, with everything you could dream of buying in one place. End the day with a glass of champagne in the food hall....you will probably need it by this point!
Make sure you plan your days ahead of time so that you don't miss anything out but most importantly....enjoy!
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