Museum · 09:30–12:45 (3h15m)
Tower of London
Crown Jewels, the walls and a Yeoman Warder tour.
An indoor and outdoor museum in London.
PaidIndoors & out
- Café on site
- Toilets
Photo: [Duncan] from Nottingham, UK
Gory Yeoman Warder stories and the Crown Jewels, a graze around London's best-known food market, a walk through the Waterloo tunnel where street artists repaint the walls daily, and a late-afternoon London Eye ride for the skyline.
One dayTeensCost £££09:30–16:154 stops
The plan
- 09:301
- 13:002
13:00–14:00 (1h)
Borough Market
Hot food stalls under the railway arches; weekdays are calmer than Saturdays.
London's best-known food market, under the railway arches by London Bridge, with hot food stalls, bakeries and fruit and cheese traders. Go early on a weekday with small children, as Saturdays get very crowded.
FreeIndoors & out- Café on site
- Toilets
- Accessibility
- Parking
Photo: Øyvind Holmstad
- 14:203
Art & crafts · 14:20–14:45 (25m)
Leake Street Arches
300 m of constantly changing murals; you may catch artists at work.
A 300-metre road tunnel under Waterloo station where painting the walls is allowed, so the murals change constantly. Older children and teens can watch artists at work and take photos. Some of the venues inside are bars, so it suits a daytime walk-through rather than an evening visit.
FreeIndoors- Café on site
- Good on a rainy day
Photo: leakestreetarches.london
- 15:004
Landmark · 15:00–16:15 (1h15m)
London Eye
About 30 minutes per rotation plus boarding; book a timed slot.
The 135-metre observation wheel on the South Bank, with 32 glass capsules that take about half an hour to make one slow turn. On a clear day you can pick out Parliament, St Paul's and the parks. Booking online is noticeably cheaper than paying on the day.
PaidIndoors- Accessibility
Photo: Khamtran
More days out in London
LondonThree free museums on Exhibition Road
South Kensington
Dinosaurs in the morning, a garden picnic at lunchtime and hands-on science in the afternoon, all within a five-minute walk of each other and all free to enter. Because everything is indoors except the V&A garden, it holds up in any weather.
The Natural History Museum → Victoria and Albert Museum → Science Museum
One dayAll agesFree- London
Dinosaurs, rowing boats and a pirate ship
South Kensington / Hyde Park
A morning with the dinosaurs, then a walk up into Hyde Park for lunch by the Serpentine, half an hour in a rowing boat or pedalo, and an afternoon on the pirate galleon in Kensington Gardens. A good shape for a dry day with under-8s who need to burn energy after a museum.
The Natural History Museum → Serpentine Bar & Kitchen → Hyde Park Boating on the Serpentine → Diana Memorial Playground
One dayAges 3–7Sunny dayCost ££ 
LondonGreenwich: tea clipper, market and the hilltop
Greenwich
Walk beneath the copper hull of a Victorian tea clipper, graze the street-food stalls at the covered market, peek up the spiral stairs of the Queen's House and finish by climbing Greenwich Park for the view across to Canary Wharf. Everything is in one compact riverside town centre.
Cutty Sark Clipper Ship → Greenwich Market → Queen's House → Greenwich Park
One dayAll agesCost ££