Discover the Best of London

Diverse, welcoming, vibrant—London is home to myriad multicultural communities, historically significant royal architecture, and more than 3,000 green spaces.

Wildlife

Twitter recently voted the red fox as the Best Wild Symbol for London, of which there are 10,000 roaming the streets. There is even a hashtag—#LondonFoxFortnight—to track interesting sightings. Fantastic Mr. Fox has been recorded prowling the choir stalls at St Paul's Cathedral and outside 10 Downing Street.

Natural Wonder

London’s Fatberg, dubbed the “Monster of Whitechapel,” is no more than an epic amount of congealed waste that, at six meters longer than the Tower Bridge, brought London’s sewers to a standstill in 2017. The Museum of London has put the concrete-like Fatberg on display to disgust and horrify the nation this summer. Catch it while you can?

Local Quirk

Ever wondered what it’s like to live like a prime minister? Open House London offers free tours during September of 10 Downing Street and other official, strange, iconic, or quirky buildings usually closed to the public. Peek in on the dusty 18th century library inside St. Paul’s, where Sir Christopher Wren’s cathedral plans are stored.

National Park

Don your deerstalker hat, hire a horse, and make like King Henry VII at the Royal Richmond Park, where thousands of deer roam freely. The hills and grasslands undulate across 2,500 acres and from its high point enjoy uninterrupted views of St. Paul's Cathedral, 12 miles away.

Archaeological Site

The romance of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert endures with the Prince Consort National Memorial. Located in Kensington Gardens, the ornate tribute to Victoria’s husband is described by the Royals Parks as “the grandest high-Victorian gothic extravaganza anywhere.”

Best Day Trip

Just over an hour from Paddington Station, Henley upon Thames’s annual Royal Regatta is a day of ra-ra society, spectacle, and sports. Float your own boat along the riverside and ogle lavish country piles that might have inspired Toad Hall in The Wind in the Willows. After, while away an hour wandering the town’s popular River and Rowing Museum.

Most Iconic Experience

Watch tennis whites fly by at the world-class tennis championship that is Wimbledon. Tickets are allocated ahead by ballot only, so your best bet is to purchase ground admission tickets and then queue on the day for Centre Court return tickets from around £10. Catch the action on the big screens in the grounds and enjoy a quintessentially British punnet of strawberries and cream.

Cultural Site

“When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life,” extolled author Dr. Samuel Johnson, whose Grade I-listed residence in East London is now a museum displaying a first edition of his infamous 1738 penned work, “London: A Poem.”

Off the Beaten Path

Discover the dark side with a guided tour of the city’s most famous graves. Highgate Cemetery is the final residence of Karl Marx, who rests amid the evocative, ambient architecture. And Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey boasts the final resting place of Robert Browning, Geoffrey Chaucer, Lewis Carroll, and more.

UNESCO Site

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, is more than 250 years old and London’s largest World Heritage site. Highlights include the smallest Grade I-listed royal palace, the world’s largest pot plant, the Palm House with its rain forest climate, and an 18-meter-high treetop walkway that snakes through a “living library” of 14,000 trees. Exquisite.