Spend a day exploring London
If you just have a single day to spend in London it may seem a bit of challenge what to see and skip as it is a massive city. While you may not have the luxury of time to spend touring most of the city’s attractions, you can plan an itinerary on seeing the places you fancy and always wanted to visit. S few options to spend an exciting 24 hours in London are as follows:
Accommodation: As time is at a premium you need to find a suitable place to stay in the heart of London. If you feel like indulging yourself a bit, how about putting up at any of the luxury hotel suites in London!
You could stay in luxury without having to break the bank at any of the London city suites by Montcalm London, which offer the best in premium luxury and facilities at an affordable price too. Plus as you will be in central London getting around to the top attractions would be convenient.
Some of the options you have to spend a thrilling day in London are:
Go sightseeing: The good thing about staying in the centre of the city is that most of the major attractions are inc close proximity to each other. If you use the bus or Tube you could cover quite a few sights with comfortable ease. You could begin your tour in South Kensington, from where you could explore the museums or travel along the route to Knightsbridge. It is where you will find some of the most iconic stores like Hamleys and Harrods, which are a tad bit less crowded in the mornings. After you have picked up a few items including memorabilia you could traipse off to Buckingham Palace and St James’s Park just around the corner.
From there you could walk along the Mall till you reach Westminster. You could see the House of Parliament and Big Ben which is next door. It is also close to. You could then choose to take a boat ride on the River Thames to Tower Bridge or choose to travel across Westminster Bridge on foot to the South Bank and explore the area. If you decide to do it on foot make it a point to visit The Globe Theatre and the Tate Modern. If you choose a boat trip you will get to see a number of prominent landmarks and get commentary about the places you pass. Both are enjoyable experiences in their own right.
You could then decide to tour Borough Market and see the Shard nearby or alternately take a tour of the Tower of London and enjoy a tour of the fortress conducted by the Beefeaters. Later hop on to bus 11 and travel west, which will get you through the older part of town. On the way, you will go past St Paul’s Cathedral, through Fleet Street, past the Strand and reach Trafalgar Square, which offers a terrific photo op.
At evening you could soak in some culture with a visit to the West End to watch a show. Explore the famous Theatreland area which has some fascinating sites. As tickets may be hard to come by you could make your theatre bookings in advance. Normally shows start at 7:30 pm and wind up by 10 pm. You could wind up the evening with dinner at any of the restaurants in the area.
Go on a shopping spree: London is famous for its popular street markets, with the old ones getting a new look and feel and new markets coming up around the city. If you are in the mood to do some serious shopping, head to Topshop at Oxford Street, which is a great place to shop. After that, you could move further down in the direction of Marble Arch where you will find John Lewis, Selfridges and other famous names. It is also the location for Primark. Another alternative for high-end shopping is visiting Regent Street and New Bond Street where you will find some of the best flagship stores. Other popular shopping areas include Covent Garden, Carnaby Street and Seven Dials that are pedestrianised and have plenty of boutiques and smaller independent shops. If you still are in the mood to shop you could head to White City in the west or Westfield in the east. Both of these have terrific food courts and cinemas, where if you get the time you could watch a movie at the end of your shopping.
Enjoy some culture: London’s museums are world famous with millions visiting them every year. The great thing is that a large number of them are free and they have fantastic interactive exhibits.
A good starting point would be the Museum of London where you could learn about the history of the city, starting from Roman Times to the present. The area of Kensington is home to three fine museums, The Science Museum, The V&A Museum and the Natural History Museum, all of which are within a stroll of each other. The permanent exhibitions are free to visit, so you could visit the many such exhibitions in the museums and not have to spend a penny. If you have the time you could also visit the magnificent British Museum, whose imposing Grand Court is a major attraction in its own right.
If you are an art lover three of the best galleries to visit in London are the National Portrait Gallery, The Tate Modern and the National Gallery, all of which house some of the most valuable and famous paintings on the planet. You could spend the better part of the afternoon admiring the impressive collection of paintings, which includes pieces by some of the most famous artists in the world. Before your visit check to see their opening timings!
