What to do in London. Part 1

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So... what to do in London?!?!

There are plenty of things to do in this city but first let me give you a quick transportation explanation about how to use the bus, tram, overground, and underground!

In order to travel in London's TFL (Travel for London) system one must have: an Oyster card, a contactless card, OR Apple pay. One card per adult is needed!

Traveling with kids:
Kids 10 and younger travel FREE in all (well... most) of TFL. The adult must have a card and enter through the wheelchair/luggage gate with the children at the same time.

Kids 11-15 travel at a DISCOUNTED rate. It gives children a 50% discount up to 14 days.

You just need to buy the Young Visitor Discount Card at a tube station office (please note that not all tube stations have offices, go to a big one: King's Cross, Euston etc.)

OYSTER CARD:
You can get an oyster card at any big station, the cost is £5 (get a refund after your visit at any machine). Top up with LOTS of pounds at a machine or set up the app and you can add money on the go.

CONTACTLESS CARD:

This one needs to be set up online with your bank and pretty much deducts the money of the fare each time you tap in and out.

APPLE PAY:

By far the easiest way to pay if you are a tourist*! If you already have apple pay set up on your phone you are ready to go. The fare charges with apple pay are the same as "Pay as you go" (or Oyster/ contactless)
* Just be careful if your credit card on file charges you an international trade transaction fee then it would make no sense for you to use apple pay as your method of payment as each time you touch in they would add up that transaction fee to the cost!

VERY MPORTANT:

TUBE: You MUST tap-in and tap-OUT! This is the only way that the system will know how much it can charge you, if you forget to tap-out then it charges you the highest price, thinking you went to the end of the line.

BUS/TRAM: You only need to TAP-IN, and then have unlimited travels for 60 mins with as many changes as needed.

FARES:
All of TFL underground/overground fares are based by ZONES.
ALL buses are £1.50 in any zone.
As a first time visitor you will find most attractions to be between zones 1 and 2.

Single ticket (a rip-off if you ask me!) is £4.90 for single journey zone 1-3... way more expensive than having a contactless payment method.
For example Heathrow to zone 1 or 2 is £3.10 with an oyster/contactless but a single fare ticket is £5.90!

Peak hours
Traveling between 6:30-9:30am and 4-7pm- this means you pay more.
Travel between zone 1 and 2 costs £2.90 with oyster/ contactless, travel between other zones (not passing zone 1) costs £2.80.

Off-Peak
Travel between zone 1 and 2 cost £2.40, travel between other zones (not passing zone 1) costs £1.50

Traveling between zones in the tube and not going through zone 1 costs £1.50 (let's say going from zone 2 to zone 4 will cost £1.50 as long as you don't go through zone 1)

Also very important: IF you ever see a PINK card reader... TAP YOUR CARD... this lets the system know that your purposely did not go through zone 1 and therefore will charge a lower fare.

CAP FARES:

London transport might seem expensive but have a cap system in place, meaning that they will not charge more than that amount no matter how much you use the tube/bus per day.

TUBE: Cap of £7 per day for zone1 and 2.

A zone 1-2 day travel card is £12.70 so not the best choice... get an oyster!

Weekly cap of £37.10 with oyster/contactless.

BUS: Cap is £4.50 per day!

TFL App
Very useful to keep track of your expenses! AND if you happen not to touch out if will give you a warning so you can get a refund!

Cap after 3 tube rides!

Now... the fun part about London!

As I said before there are gazillions of things to do that are fun in this town! Let me start with those activities that are free of charge!!!

Free Activities

Museums

All (well.. most) museums in London are completely free to enter unless interested in one of the exhibitions which comes with a charge.

Science museum

Super fun for kids and adults. The free part is great to explore (when I went I especially liked the interactive part where they teach you about garbage and how we can create less of it by recycling, reusing, composting etc.)

Although the museum is free there are lots of "Labs" and special expositions that charge a fee to enter.

For more info visit: https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk

TATE Modern

View from 10th floor!

This is my favourite museum!
1. It's modern art
2. The view from the 10th floor is spectacular!

The shard!

For children they do run some workshops (for a fee) but many times i've peaked and they look like a lot of fun.

Tate is located in a MUST-DO walk between Tower of London and Big Ben so stop by and check out the view!

For more info: https://www.tate.org.uk

V&A Museum of Childhood

This museum is not really close to any big attractions but it was fun to stop by.

The museum displays toys that take you down memory lane! Their collections of dolls, teddies, and old toys is pretty amazing.

Before visiting check out their events as they usually have story time and free daily activities!

https://www.vam.ac.uk/moc/

Chinese New Year performance on the day I visited!

British Museum

When I went to Greece I was a little disappointed about how little was left in there for us to learn more about the Greeks.... Well, I found all the missing pieces a 20 minute bus ride from home in London at the British Museum!!!!!

https://www.britishmuseum.org

Natural History Museum

To be honest I've never been BUT I've heard is a lot of fun!!!

http://www.nhm.ac.uk

Somerset House

The perfect spot for a stop on a sunny and sweaty day in London!
Children can have fun splashing in the fountain!
Also, a lot of great exhibitions!

There are so many more museums and I'll keep updating the list as I become more knowledgeable about museums in London!

Parks

London has SO MANY parks so going to park and bringing a picnic is always an option as long as the weather is not rainy and muddy!

Hyde park

Super central and very big. I would think the best way to explore it is by grabbing a bike and riding around it! You can get the red rental bikes all over London, most of them with a Santander sign on them!

If you are not a fan of the bike then just walk around the park!
If the weather is nice there will be tons of people and chairs set up for you to sit.
Just FYI... all the royal parks charge £1.80 per hour to sit on one of those comfy looking chairs. There is usually one person charging for the chairs per zone and most of the time no signage about the chairs costing any money. The person in charge will have a card reader to charge you for it and will also accept cash! haha

Princess Diana Fountain

Kensington Palace

On one end of Hyde Park is Kensington Palace house of Prince William and Kate, and Prince Harry and Meghan... you never know who might find when you are strolling the beautiful gardens!

Although the Palace is not free, walking around the grounds is!

Holland Park

Right by Kensington Palace (well, a 15 min walk) is the small but beautiful Holland Park!
In here there is a tiny Japanese garden with Koi fish worth the little detour. While in the park look around for the giant chess board and give it a go!

Hampstead Heath

Picture from my friend Cata

If you feel like walking in the woods then Hampstead Heath is the place to be!

Located a stone throw away from where I live makes it (for me) the perfect place for a walk when I'm missing trees and muddy paths!

Another one from Cata!

Kids have a lot of fun climbing and playing in Nature!!!!

See... nature IS FUN!

Every Saturday the heath has a free 5k run that goes along the heath and is good for all paces and all ages!

The only thing you have to do is to register: http://www.parkrun.org.uk/hampsteadheath/

Greenwich

Greenwich is a beautiful park overlooking the Thames River. It is farther than the other parks but worth the visit. The Thames River cruise drop off point is in Greenwich which makes it convenient to not only visit the park but also the Greenwich market, Cutty Sack, and the Royal Observatory with the very exciting "Meridian Line" or longitude zero (0° 0' 0").

Thames Walk by Greenwich

Alexandra Palace

Alexandra Palace is a great park with nice view of the city located in Zone 3!

The best part about Alexandra Palace is that it offers a lot of activities for the children such
as a lake, playground, skate park, ice-skating rink (extra fee), and an obstacle course/ zip lining adventure activity(extra fee)!

Ice skating rink: https://alexandrapalaceevents.seetickets.com/tour/the-alexandra-palace-ice-rink/calendar

Go ape!: https://goape.co.uk

Sky Garden

One of my favourite things to do but you have to book weeks in advance! OR come during walk-in hours on week days 2pm-4pm!

The view from here is even better than Tate Modern and the kids love the jungle feeling of it!

Lunch with my friend Yvonne at the Sky Garden!

Som taking in the view!

How cool?!?!

Prim Rose Hill

Primrose hill is located near Regent's Park and of course a great spot for a walk and a picnic on a sunny day with an amazing view of London!

Mudchute Farm

Google image

Apparently a super fun activity for the family... A farm in the middle of London!

https://www.mudchute.org

Markets

Hands down one of my favourite things to do in London is going to markets, specially those with lots of foods to try! Perfect for pit stops with hungry children- and adults!

Borough Market

Back in 2015!

Well, this one is just a MUST!
The location near Tower of London makes it the perfect tourist attraction. Here you can find delicious food from around the world, fresh fruit and vegetables at reasonable prices, and most importantly... luscious desserts!!!!!!!!

Every time I go I must have a donut from Bread Ahead!

Camden Market

Camden is a mix of markets, funky street, and food stalls. In a way it reminds me of Haight street in San Francisco with the second hand stores and the weird shops.

Located near Regent's park and Primrose Hill is perfect to do all of them the same day and you could even visit the small city zoo in Regent's park or walk on the outer circle and look at the giraffes and zebras as you walk along the street!

Inside Camden Market there is a shop called: "Cereal Killer" that is sugary cereal heaven for children!

Columbia Flower Market

If you like Flowers and don't mind the crowds then this is the place to be on a Sunday morning!

The amount of people can be overwhelming but the excitement of approaching the market builds up a couple of blocks before you arrive as people walk by you carrying all sorts of beautiful flowers. As we walked Somerset and I peaked at everybody's flowers to get an idea of what we wanted to take home!

Portobello Road Market

Portobello Road Market

This is probably one of London's most famous markets located in Notting Hill.
It is apparently the world's biggest antique market and perfect for buying old useless stuff 😜
The market runs every day except Sunday, Saturday being the busiest!

Greenwich Market

Ok... Nothing spectacular about this market but if you have time to kill and you are in the area is a nice market to visit with some good food options.

Covent Garden

Covent Garden is a must for tourists, it is full of shops, restaurants, and great street performances.

Other free activities

Buckingham Palace

Go get a photo of the funny guards or stop by at 11am to see the change of guards (timing changes depending on season, check:https://changing-guard.com/dates-buckingham-palace.html )

Those hats!!!!

Trafalgar Square

Back in 2015 with Becca and Jude!

Another MUST is Trafalgar Square with its beautiful and gigantic lions. This square commemorates the victory in the battle of Trafalgar and sits right by the National Gallery (in case you are feeling like visiting a museum), and across the street from The Admiralty, a pub in case you are tired of sightseeing and need a beer (or a bathroom break for the kids!)

Tower Bridge

Last but definitely not least, is one of my favourite: Tower Bridge!
Nothing says London like Tower Bridge (well... maybe except Big Ben or the London Eye! haha) but whatever the season, walking by the city hall overlooking Tower Bridge is simply amazing!

This is usually my starting point for the "must do" Thames walk all the way to Big Ben!

Beautiful Summer day in London!

Nice and chilly winter afternoon!

This is it for now but more to come on part 2!

About Post Author

Andrea

Hi! It's me... Andrea! In 2016 I decided to drop everything and take a year to enrich my life and travel around the world. It turns out the world is just too big for 12 months! Still on the road and sharing my experience as a solo female traveler around the globe!

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