After I wrote my post about things you should know, a commenter suggested writing a list specifically about London, which I thought was a rather good idea. I suspect many Londoners will disagree with some of the points on this list, and you ought to come into the comments and make it clear if you do.
If you visit London, someone will inevitably suggest that the best option for good Indian food is Dishoom. They’re wrong. For something cheap, try somewhere in East Ham or order from a local takeaway you’ve heard recommended (mine is the Tiffin Tin). For something spectacular but expensive, try somewhere in the Michelin Guide: Chutney Mary, Veeraswamy, Ambassador’s Clubhouse, and of course Gymkhana are all good options. For South Indian, I like Rasa N16.
In general, looking at Bib Gourmand options in the Michelin Guide is good for finding places at reasonable prices. The Infatuation is another good option. Reading Jay Rayner’s column in the FT is also useful for those who have access. TopJaw on TikTok can also be quite interesting, although take the recommendations with a pinch of salt.
A note on the Michelin Guide: it is not filled with expensive restaurants. Yes, restaurants with a star or two or three are expensive, but the ‘Bib gourmand’ restaurants are cheap, and you can filter the price to £ or ££, so you don’t see all the ££££ restaurants. Many countries have specific ways of finding good restaurants that are better than the Michelin guide (like in Japan, which has Tabelog), but the Michelin guide is generally a good starting point!
I think a fun activity for a tourist who is interested in British politics would be to go to parliament and sit in the public gallery and watch the proceedings of the house.
If you have a friend who works in Parliament who will take you for lunch on the terrace, that may be even better!
For where to stay, I can recommend both Primrose Hill and De Beauvoir Town for a village-like feel that isn’t so congested as staying in Piccadilly or wherever it is you may be considering.
That being said, De Beauvoir is not ideal if you need to get around central a lot because of lack of tube access, so it’s only worth doing if you intend to cab or cycle (take a lime bike!) or don’t mind getting places with a bit more hassle. If those things don’t apply to you, consider staying somewhere nearer to a tube station.
If you want somewhere to get some work done, it can be pleasant to go to work in a nice hotel, like the Renaissance in King’s Cross. The coffee will be expensive, but I think it’s worth it. Other options include the Wellcome Collection, the British Museum reading rooms, and just finding a well-lit and quiet pub in the early afternoon.
For pubs, my recommendations are Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese on Fleet Street (go to the underground bit), the Flask in Highgate (not Hampstead!), and Ye Olde Mitre in Hatton Garden.
Of the galleries and museums, I have quite conventional taste and like both the National Gallery and the British Museum. If you are travelling with children, the Science Museum and Natural History Museums are better options (and right next to one another). I also like the National Portrait Gallery. I’m sure others have more interesting and unconventional options here, please leave them in the comments.
For parks, I like Hampstead heath (with a stroll through Hampstead village) and Primrose Hill (with a stroll through Regent’s Park Road). They’re all pretty good though, I’m not sure you can go wrong if you go to any of the major parks. Getting an Uber boat on the Thames to Greenwich Park is also a pleasure.
I am slightly hesitant to recommend this place because the joy of it is the fact that it’s often close to empty, but St John’s Lodge Garden in Regent’s Park is very much worth your time if you want somewhere lovely to read or take a picnic.
If you want to go to a restaurant that’s very English, try Wiltons. Rules, the oldest restaurant in London, is also fun, but the food is worse than at Wilton’s. These places are quite expensive and I’ve only been to Wiltons once, but I do think they might be worth it for a tourist trying to evaluate whether traditional English food is really as bad as everyone claims (it isn’t!), or a local who has never had proper English food. Avoid pie, mash, and liquor or jellied eel or any of that stuff that sounds disgusting and is disgusting.
I like going to see jazz at Grow in Hackney Wick, but I’m not so discerning about where the good jazz is, I just like the atmosphere there. It feels almost like Berlin or Prague or something (except for the prices).
Restaurants by the Wolseley group often have a pleasant atmosphere, but the food isn’t that incredible. If you want to feel as though you’re in a grand European coffee house or an Art Deco American cocktail bar from the 20s, go to one of these places. For people staying in Central London, Bar Américain in Piccadilly is worth going to. The food isn’t great, they’re expensive, and they feel a little cheesy or contrived. But they’re fun!
I’ve already recommended Shu La La, but it’s probably my favourite restaurant in London for medium-to-large groups, and is very good value for money. I also like Taste of Chongqing for apparently authentic Sichuan food (h/t Ben Yeoh for the recommendation).
Someone probably recommended that you go to East London. Shoreditch and Brick Lane are a little boring, Dalston is probably slightly more interesting. As mentioned, I prefer De Beauvoir Town to stay in, but for vibrant nightlife Dalston is probably the best bet. Maybe Hackney Wick, too?
London bookshops are pleasant to browse in. Primrose Hill Books is nice and has a better tote bag than Daunt Books if you want to signal how well travelled and learned you are. It’s not very fashionable, but I also like the Waterstones in Hampstead. There are many good ones, most bookshops you walk into will be fine.
Interestingly, the founder of Daunt Books, James Daunt, is now the CEO of Waterstones. He seems to be quite an underrated British businessman, more impressive to me than most of the classic British success stories you hear about. He built Daunt Books, and then resuscitated Waterstones and made it a much more pleasant place to browse in. Here’s an interview with him.
Miscellaneous restaurant recommendations include Noble Rot in Lamb’s Conduit (good for a date!), Sushi on Jones in King’s Cross, Barrafina in Soho (although this seems to have declined in quality recently, but I still recommend it), Gerrard’s Corner in Chinatown (I can see why others would think it was terrible, but I still like it. You should order British-Chinese dishes like crispy duck pancakes), Akara for good West African food, and Wolkite for decent Ethiopian food.
I’ve never actually been, but many other people have recommended Sir John Soane’s Museum.
I asked ChatGPT what else I might like given this list so far, and it recommended the following places that I’ve also heard are good: Guinea Grill, Sweetings, Hoppers, Sichuan Folk, The Grenadier, the Lamb, Leighton House, the Hunterian Museum, Kyoto Garden, and Hatchards book shop. I haven’t been to any of these.
I personally like the Design Museum, but it’s got quite a mixed reception from people I’ve recommended it to. Go if you have an interest in design, I suppose.
I’m not really the person to ask about where to go for good theatre, but I have enjoyed performances at the National Theatre when I’ve been. For tourists, I think seeing Shakespeare at the Globe could be fun. If you happen to be in London right now, this performance of Othello has been recommended to me several times, and I’ll be going soon! It runs until January 2026.
This may be a little odd for advice about London, but if you’re an American, you should also think carefully about whether you want to go somewhere else while you’re here. For me, one of the best things about London is how easy it is to get to the continent. Consider taking the Eurostar to Paris or Amsterdam or something, or maybe taking a flight to Eastern Europe. In NYC, a trip of a few hours might get you to Boston or Philadelphia. In London, you can get to Rome or Prague or Copenhagen or wherever else - take advantage of it!
I think those are all the recommendations that come to mind. If you’re visiting London, message me (@sam_atis on Twitter) and I’ll take a day to show you around!
I really like Novelty Automation in Holborn. It costs about 20£ to try all the machines and you can easily do it with two people together, probably takes like an hour or two.
https://www.novelty-automation.com/
Agree with most of this. Doubly recommend Sir John Soanes.