“When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.” – Samuel Johnson. London is the most visited city in Europe and could take you a life time to explore! I spent a year living in England and have visited London many times and still never get bored, there is just so much to do! Fortunately for you I have narrowed it down to the top 10 things everyone should do on your first trip to London.

1. Visit a Market (or many)

In my opinion no trip to London is complete without a visit to one of its many markets, ideally several. My personal favourite is Portobello Road Market, the world’s biggest antiques market and one of London’s oldest. It is busiest on Saturdays and is located in the posh neighbourhood of Notting Hill. I also love the Brick Lane Market in East London which has a diverse collection of second hand goods, vintage clothes and exotic foods (keep a look out for the Canadian poutine stand!). It is busiest on Sundays. Another popular one is Camdon Market where you’ll find lots of items from London’s alternative ‘punk’ scene. Old Spitalfields Market is a flower market that is a lot of fun to explore and has lots of cool spots to eat around it. There are dozen or markets to explore in London, one day I’d like to explore them all! Pick your favourite and add it to your list of things to do on your first trip to London.

2. See a show

London is the second biggest theatre city in the world (next to New York) and tickets are not normally that expensive. I go to see a show almost overtime I’m in London and will continue to! There are an unbelievable amount of shows in London, but you can see what is happening here. You can also visit the TKTS booth in Leicester Square or the particular cheater’s box office for last minute discount tickets.

3. Soho & Chinatown

These could be two individual line items on this list, but I’ve grouped them together because they are located close together and kind of similar (plus 10 list items sounds better than 11!).  Chinatown is easily accessible from either Leicester Square and Piccadilly Circus. Chinatown is a lot of fun to walk around, but also has a lot of really good places to eat. Soho is another of my favourite London neighbourhoods and is a great place for shopping or drinking. Timeout London did a great round up on some of the best things to do in Soho. Both Chinatown and Soho are generally close to most of London’s theatres and could be easily combined with a show.

4. Museums

Some of my favourite museums in the world are in London and most of them are free! To make them even more enticing, most of them are free. The British Museum is slightly out of the way, but is open every day from 10-5:30. Its home yo such treasures as the Rosetta stone, the Eglin marbles and a huge totem pole from BC. A must see for any history buffs.

The National Gallery and Natural History Museums are free and have some impressive exhibits. The National Gallery is a personal favourite and is located right in Trafalgar Square which is a lot of fun to see as well. The Tate Modern also has some great exhibitions and is just across the river from St. Paul’s.

5. Walking Tours

London is a walking city, it is so easy and so interesting to walk around. As much fun as walking around on your own is, there are tons of walking tours to do in London and I love walking tours. They are a great way to get introduced to the city or to explore a particular location or theme more exstensively. You could spend a whole week just doing walking tours. In fact Nomadic Matt did and did a great round up of the walking tours in London.

I have done a Jack the Ripper tour and a East End Graffiti and Street Art Tour. There are tons walking tours around different themes – Harry Potter tours, Shakespeare, Ghost tour as well as basic intro tours. Although I haven’t done one yet I will be adding a Unseen Tour to my next London trip. They are a social enterprise company where the walking tours are lead by homeless or ex-homeless people.

6. Westminster Abbey

It is absolutely amazing how much history there is in London and Westminster Abbey has a heavy concentration of it! Westminster Abbey is interesting to see from the outside, especially because it is right beside Parliament and Big Ben. I suggest walking down the Thames from St. Paul’s to Westminster if you think you could handle that many churches in one day. However Westminster is truly spectacular on the inside.

Keep a look out for Scientists and Poet’s Corner where famous scientist like Newton and writers like Jane Austen are commemorated. A particular favourite of mine is Queen Elizabeth’s (who is one of my favourite Tudors) tome and her rival Mary Queen of Scot’s tome. Elizabeth’s successor and Mary’s son James made sure to make his mother’s (Mary) tome just every so slightly bigger and better than Elizabeth’s. I fully appreciate both the history and the pettiness that went into those particular tomes.

7. The Park System

London has a really impressive park system and visiting at least one of them is well worth your time. Particularly if it is a nice day out, you’ll find Londoners all over soaking up the rare bit of sun. Hyde Park is probably the most famous and a visit to Speakers Corners is particularly interesting on weekends. St Jame’s Park is also popular as it borders the famous Buckingham Palace. In my opinion the London park’s are one of the best in the world and its a good idea to take full advantage of them on your first trip to London.

8. St Paul’s Cathedral

This is London’s second most popular cathedral, but I think it might actually be my favourite. The architecture is phenomenal and the view from the top is pretty stunning, but I think the reason I like it so much is because of it’s history. It burned down during the Great Fire of London and Sir Christopher Wren was tasked with its redesigned. He was meant to build a cathedral in Gothic style (like Westminster) but instead he built one in classical style and hide it behind scaffolding till it was too late for any one to do anything about it. The building itself is spectacularly designed and it is incredibly interesting to learn about how Wren built it.

St Paul’s is also located in the City of London which is a small area in greater London that operates as an entirely different entity. Different mayor, different taxes, different city. Even the Queen official has to ask permission to enter the City of London. Although you won’t really be able to tell from walking around the area (except for the occasional signage) it is an interesting hisoty. If you want to know more about the history of the City of London I found the historical fiction ‘London – The Novel‘ very interesting and informative.

9. Tower of London

Talking about London history – the Tower of London is a must. Over 900 hundred years of history as a palace, a fortress and a prison plus a visit to the Crown Jewels. Have a look at the famous Beefeaters guards or the ravens that are rumoured to protect the crown of England. Some of England’s most pivotal moments (Anne Boleyn execution!!!) have happened here and its well worth the visit on your first trip to London.

10. The Warner Bros. Studio Tour

Ok so I’ve never actually been here, but I’ve always wanted to and as a major Harry Potter fan it irritates me that I never had. Don’t be like me and include it on your first trip to London! The Blonde Abroad does a great round up of tips for visiting.

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