How To Spend 3 Days In London This Year

Last Updated on: 26th June 2024, 12:24 pm

London is a popular place to visit when people come to England. But I often see people trying to squeeze too much into a weekend. Maybe it’s because they don’t realise London is huge! It isn’t just about central London, it is huge and not everything can be reached by walking. If you only have a few days in London, maybe you’re doing a stopover on the way to another city. Or maybe you’re doing a city break. Here is a great itinerary of how to spend 3 days in London and enjoy it.

Day One Of Your 3 Days In London

Day Time

A great place to start is Westminster. It is easily reachable by tube or bus and there are quite a few places to see within walking distance. If you come out of the tube by Westminster, it brings you right out by Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and the Houses Of Parliament. You can book to go into Westminster Abbey and see where many famous people are buried and where many royals have been married. There are many great photo opportunities here, you might even find a red phone box to take iconic photos.

Take a walk up Parliament Street and head towards Downing Street. On your way, you can pay your respects at The Cenotaph and The Women Of WWII. You cannot go into Downing Street as it is gated with armed guards. Carry on walking down Parliament Street to head to the Horse Guards Parade. Please do not get too close to the Horses or The Guards. Please respect them at all times and do not get in their way.

You can either cut through Horse Guards Parade to get to St James Park, or you can walk to the end of the road and it takes you to Trafalgar Square. If you choose to cut through to St James Park, then you can reach Buckingham Palace. There are months in the summer when you can pay to go inside. If you decide to head towards Trafalgar Square, you can explore the space and also head into the National Gallery, which is free.

Evening Time

After the National Gallery, you can walk to Leicester Square, Picadilly and Covent Garden for the evening. There are plenty of places to eat and drink, from Burger King to Classy Restaurants. You can buy last-minute tickets to see a show in the West End. Look for ticket booths in Leicester Square or pop into the theatre to see what is available.

The shops around Leicester Square stay open until 10 or 11 pm. You can shop at M&M Store, Lego Store or many of the tourist stores. Walk around Leicester Square gardens and find the Mr Bean chair! If you decide to visit Buckingham Palace, the walk to Leicester Square is slightly longer and it may be easier to get a tube.

Day 2 Of Your Trip

Daytime

This is going to be your riverboat Day. It all depends on where you are staying on your 3 days in London. If you are staying In Central London, you want to head to the London Eye Pier. You can take a ride on to the London Eye where you can see many different landmarks from 443 feet in the air. This normally takes about 40 minutes to go around but it can get busy during the day. The best time to visit The London Eye is first thing in the morning or in the evening. The queues can get quite long during the day.

Head to the London Eye Pier and buy an all-day River Roamer ticket, where kids go free with paying adults. You can hop on and off the boats all day with this ticket. Make sure you sit by the window on the boat to be able to get photos.

Your first stop is The Tower of London and Tower Bridge. The Tower of London takes about 3 hours to go around. Make sure you go to see the crown jewels. There are a lot of steps, and booking in advance is recommended. When you have finished, walk to Tower Bridge (not London Bridge). Go to the ticket booth and buy a ticket to walk over the glass floor at the top of the bridge. This is awesome, you can see the cars and red London buses below you.

Return to Tower Pier and get back on the Uber Boat. Take the Uber Boat to Greenwich. This is where you will find The Cutty Sark and The Royal Observatory where you will find the Meridian line. The Meridian Line represents the world’s Prime Meridian, Longitude Zero (0° 0′ 0″).

Evening Time

Head To the O2. This isn’t just full of activities for the evening, you can spend the afternoon here too. You can climb over the top of the O2 or go indoor skydiving. There is also a selfie studio and places to enjoy concerts and the cinema. A retail centre on the second floor is filled with bargain-priced designer shops. Finally, enjoy a meal with your friends or family. There is a wide range of places to eat and drink in the O2, from budget to classy restaurants. You can take the

Day 3 Of Your Trip

Daytime

If the weather is good in the morning, you can see a completely different side to London by taking a Go Boat down the Regents Canal. The Go Boat is a self-drive boat for up to 8 people. You take the tube to Edgware Road or Paddington Station and it is a few minutes walk to the Go Boat place. You get given life jackets for all kids under 16, but the water isn’t deep anyway. A member of staff shows you how to drive the boat and then you head off down the canals for a leisurely morning. This is such a relaxing activity after a couple of busy days and you will see a bit of greenery in the middle of London. You can book the Go Boat here. You can book the boat for 1 hour, 2 hours or 3 hours.

After a relaxing morning, you can now be ready for a bit of retail therapy. So head off to Oxford Street and Regents Street for a shopping experience in London. You can stop for lunch here or some afternoon tea. walking down Regents Street takes you to Picadilly Circus, where there are more options for places to eat. Take the tube at Picadilly Circus to Knightsbridge where you will find Harrods. This is a shopping experience and it is a real treat to buy something there. If you cannot afford to buy anything, you can always nip to the food hall and buy something, just to get your Harrods bag. I used to take my daughter to the book department and buy her a book as a treat.

Evening

After Harrods, if you still have energy, you can take a walk through Hyde Park back to central London. There is so much to see in Hyde Park from Serpentine Lake to the Diana Memorial Fountain. There is a rose garden to walk through and the Status Of Achilles. In the winter, You can have fun in Winter Wonderland if you want.

If you still have time in the evening of your 3 days in London, then you can visit the London Eye in the summer as it closes at 8.30 pm (if you didn’t do it already). Then head somewhere nice for dinner, you can take an evening dinner cruise up and down the Thames. They have dinner and dance boats and boats where you just have an evening meal. Or you can find a pub in London for some good old English pub grub.

Enjoy Your 3 Days In London

Whatever you decide to do in your 3 days in London, you will never have enough time to see everything. Don’t squeeze too much in otherwise you will be overwhelmed. Whatever happens – have an amazing visit.

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