How to eat, see and do London – by a Londoner

Everyone has an opinion about London, whether they’ve lived there, visited or just heard about it.

I once had an American guy on the phone ask me, upon finding out where I lived, whether Big Ben was “as magical in the mist” as he imagined?

“Sure,” I told him, “magical.”

Another time, on a Chinese Airways flight back from New Zealand I heard them say London is often described as “the city of fog,” which made me chuckle as I wondered who these people were who’d decided to give the Chinese a false impression that London is usually covered by a mysterious – or you could say magical – cloud of fog. I’m going to lay the blame on JK Rowling.

But generally: diverse, busy, expensive, overwhelming, grey, exciting, historical and cool are the words I’d more often hear associated with London. It’s a big, beast of a city which can never be completely ‘done’ and for most of the 28 years I lived in London I really did not do it justice. You may, if you’ve been reading my blog for a while, remember this post: Why not to ask a Londoner what to do in London.

But now I’m telling you to ignore that advice and read this post about what to do in London, by a Londoner. I have learnt the error of my ways. I have repented, I am a born-again Londoner, and here is my guide.

Take a walk in the park

London has the best parks. It’s only something I really appreciated when I left and I looked for parks in every city we went.

Montpellier doesn’t really have parks. It has a beach not too far and beautiful villages nearby and plenty to write home about, but it’s got nothing on the parks front. Even Paris’s parks in my opinion, are nothing in comparison to London’s.

At one point I lived between Regent’s Park and Hyde Park and I was spoilt for choice on where to run or go and sit and enjoy the sun (when it was out). St James’s Park has some pretty great ducks and also. Out in zone 2 you also get the likes of Battersea Park in the south, and Primrose Hill, home to the rich and famous, in the North.

Parks which are a bit further out such as Richmond Park also have deer running around and striking views of the city from the top of the hill. You are spoilt for choice and on a sunny day it really is one of the loveliest ways to just enjoy London and feed the ducks, or the squirrels.

Visit Royalty

Now I’m not talking about Buckingham Palace, though of course you can go visit Buckingham Palace if you want. I personally think it’s a bit boring as far as palaces go but that’s just me.

For history and grounds worth taking a turn in and the possibility of Henry VII barging through all angry, try Windsor, Hampton Court or the Tower of London. I have to be honest and say that these are all pretty expensive visiting options, which goes against the whole not breaking the bank thing, BUT if you’re into history then this is one thing worth spending money on, especially when so many other attractions don’t cost a penny.

Have Tea

In the past it was only high tea and the top hotels that did it but nowadays you don’t have to go to The Ritz or The Dorchester for a good quality tea.

We had afternoon tea for my hen’s party at an excellent little place called Drink,Shop,Do, and there are many places around London that will do excellent tea with ridiculously good cakes such as the one at Bea’s of Bloomsbury for £19.

Of course tea at the Ritz, which costs around £60, is an experience in itself but there’s no reason why you can’t enjoy this very British tradition without the extra price tag.

Visit Parliament

The Parliament building is quite possibly my favourite building in London. I used to walk to work along the Thames just so I could see it appear out from behind Waterloo Bridge. Whether it’s sunny or misty, day or night, the gothic building is such a work of art that you could just stop and stare at it for ages. And that’s just the outside.

A tour of the inside of the houses costs £25 for oversees visitors while UK residents can also arrange a free tour with their MP in advance. When I was studying journalism we had a look around as part of our public affairs course and it’s just a fascinating way to get to see inside the place where all the key political decisions are made.

See Shakespeare

Whether you’re into the Bard or not, a show at the globe is just an experience worth doing. In the last couple of years we’ve been three times and loved it every time. Twice we went with my American cousin who went for the love of Shakespeare…ahem…or at least the love of the lead actor from Merlin playing Ariel in The Tempest. Still, she got an autograph and hug, my husband got his head smacked by the monster, so it was totally worth it. Those were the £5 standing seats, which if you can get yourself up to the stage gives you a place to lean and the possibility of having something spilt on you from the stage, always a bonus.

Eat at a market

One of my favourite ways to eat in London is on the go, from stalls brimming with tasty food cooked on the spot. Brick lane market and Borough market are among the favourites, though Borough tends to be quite expensive. For a cheaper option with plenty of diversity, Camden market offers everything you could possible want from Vietnamese to churros.

See a West End show

You can’t really go to London and not see West End show and there are so many of them and so many price options that again, it really doesn’t have to be the most expensive affair.

One of the best ways to get tickets is either online through something like lastminute.com or by going to one of the booths in Leicester square (the one just behind the statue of Shakespeare is the best) where you can get last minute discount tickets.

Big musicals like Wicked often have good deals, Woman in Black is always a good value scare, Let the Right One In is a brilliant new play based on the Swedish movie and we’ve recently managed to see Book of Mormon, which was on the pricier end and much harder to get tickets for but so SO worth it.

Skip the TUBE. Walk the square mile, the south bank, Wherever, just walk.

Central London is actually quite small and very walkable. It’s tempting to try and take the tube everywhere and that’s ok too but you can walk most of it and some of the walks which have no real things to see give you a real feel for what London is really like.

One of my favourite walks would be to head from the city – so Bank, down to St Paul’s Cathedral where you cross the millenium bridge and walk along where the Globe and Tate Modern are. Or a walk across Waterloo bridge, looking out over the Houses of Parliament, and then through Embankment, along The Strand and then over to Covent Garden.

If you’re new to London the very best way to get your bearings is to get your map out and see what it’s like above ground, avoiding the tubes which can get stuffy and overcrowded especially around the West End.

If you’re not feeling too confident alone a walking tour, one of my favourite things to do in any city is the perfect option. Bits of history pop up everywhere in London, especially when you’re keeping an eye out.

Go to a museum

Ok you’ve spent all your money on palaces and parliaments and the weather is rubbish, what do you do? Since most museums and galleries in London are free and there are so many of them for different cultural tastes. The Science Museum and the Natural History Museum, the British Museum and the British library are my personal favourites but for galleries too the Saatchi and the Tate Modern are worth spending a couple of hours in just to soak up some art, and fuel some debates about what really constitutes art.

Go to the pub

But not just any old pub. You have a choice of all the pubs everywhere for this but there are some special ones that are worth visiting if you want something a little extra cool.

There are a lot of pubs that claim to be ‘the oldest pub in London’ and well, they may or may not be, but they’re old and worth checking out, such as The Cittie of York in Holborn or The Olde Cheshire Cheese which is just up the road on Fleet Street. Plus there’s pubs like The Spaniards Inn which saw the likes of John Keats, Charles Dickens, Robert Louis Stevenson, William Blake, Joshua Reynolds, John Constable, Mary Shelley, and many others come through its doors. Our old local, The Prospect of Whitby, in Wapping is said to be London’s oldest riverside pub and was once most often frequented by smugglers, thieves and pirates.

If it’s more a beer garden and a nice sunday roast you’re after, then my personal favourites are the Edinboro castle in Mornington Crescent or our own local over in Enfield, the lovely little Crown and Horseshoes.

Go for a full English

If you search for the best full English breakfasts online you’ll possibly be directed to the likes of the Wolseley which, while certainly exceptional, will set you back far more than is necessary for some proper eggs and bacey. So, get out of town and go somewhere like The Walpole in Ealing or take a walk along Upper Street, past the chains and towards the ever-so-slightly dodgier Highbury and Islington side where you can get a full English with tea for around £5.

GET OuT OF THE CITY AND INTO London’s Villages

London may be a big old city but it’s filled with little villages. Hampstead, Richmond and Wimbledon Village all have that quaint little village feel with boutiques and cafes while still being in London. A bit closer into town, over by Tower Bridge is St Katherine Docks, with one of my favourite coffee shops in town, White Mulberries, and then there’s Marylebone which is next to Oxford Street and feels like you’ve stepped into a little bit of Paris.

Now personally there are things I wouldn’t bother with like The London Eye or Oxford Street, but that’s just me. And there are plenty more places I would love to recommend but that will have to wait for another post. What’s your favourite thing to do in London?