London in 3 days - What to see in London in 3 days

1. Before Arriving in London
2. How to get to London - Getting to London by plane, train, bus or car
3. Public Transport in London - Getting around London
4. Cost of Living in London
5. Save Money in London - Tips for Living in London on a Student Budget
6. London neighborhoods - The most important districts of London
7. London Nightlife - A guide to nightclubs and going out in London
8. Where to eat in London - British Cuisine and British Gastronomy Restaurants
9. Top London Attractions - The best things to do in London (1st part)
10. Top London Attractions - The best things to do in London (2nd part)
11. Top London Attractions - The best things to do in London (3rd part)
12. Top London Attractions - The best things to do in London (4th part)
13. Day Trips from London - Places to visit and excursions around London
14. Festivals in London - Festivities and celebrations calendar
15. London in 3 days - What to see in London in 3 days

Unfortunately, it’s not always possible to stay in London for more than just a few days, either due to budget or other commitments you may have. As London is a pretty big city, it wouldn’t be possible to see everything there is to see within 3 days, but you can definitely give it a good try to get around some of the most important monuments and tourist attractions in the capital city!

Day 1

It’ll be hard to contain your excitement on your first day with there being so much to see and do for all sorts of tastes, so something like this may be a good way to get the most out of your first day.

Morning

First things first, you can’t start your day without charging up your batteries at breakfast. As there are Wetherspoons literally all over the place, it would be advisable to go to the closest one and enjoy one of their cheap but very tasty breakfasts. Perhaps you’d like to try a full English breakfast for your first day in London? You should try and aim to finish breakfast at around 10:30/11am to continue to your next destination.

As it’s your first day, let’s try and get all the important monuments out of the way, especially as they’re all situated fairly close to one another. So, the first monument on your list should be St Paul’s Cathedral (St. Paul’s underground station/Monument House station) where you can enter for free if you have a London Pass (for prices for adults/students please see the ‘top attractions in London’ section) and take a 90 minute tour of the breathtaking decor and architecture of the cathedral whilst learning a little history about the cathedral.

Afternoon

By now, it should be around 12 midday, so once you’re done with your tour of the cathedral, walk to Mansion House station and catch the District line going towards Wimbledon and be sure to get off at Westminster station. It should be no surprise what the next monument is going to be… Westminster Abbey/Westminster Palace! Of course, it’s completely up to you what you’d like to, but in order to be time efficient, it would be advisable to do a tour of either the Palace of Westminster or Westminster Abbey as the tours last about 90 minutes each. If you’d like to save some money, then the tour of Westminster Abbey is slightly cheaper than the one in the Palace of Westminster, nevertheless, perhaps you may prefer to see something other than a church as you would have already seen St. Paul’s Cathedral - but the decision is completely up to you!

If you fancy seeing Buckingham Palace, it’s only a 15 minute walk away from Westminster Palace/Westminster Abbey, so you could always go and admire the grandeur of the famous house of the Royal Family. After picking one of the tours, you should be finished by 13:45 which means it’s lunchtime! From Westminster Abbey or Palace, you could cross the iconic Westminster Bridge (once you get to the other side of the river, you’ll be able to have a view of the well-known scene with Westminster Bridge and Big Ben next to the Houses of Parliament in the background), so make sure to snap that! From the other side of the bridge, you should walk past the London Eye, towards the South Bank centre food market. If it’s a hot day, you could take advantage of one of the food stalls with their outdoor seating areas, if not, there are plenty of restaurants on the bank of the Thames in South Bank, so why not dine with a view of the famous river?

Aim to finish lunch by 3/3:30pm and from the South Bank, carry on walking away from Westminster and in no time you’ll come to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre where you can have a 30/40 minute tour of the replica theatre (see ‘top attractions in London’ section to find out more about the theatre). From the Globe Theatre, you’ll be able to see the Millennium Bridge. Before you cross it, you’ll be able to see another famous view of St. Paul’s Cathedral from the end of the bridge - take a picture of it! It’ll get you a lot of likes on Instagram.

Whether a sunny and hot day or a refreshingly crisp one, it might be nice to see the most famous park in London - Hyde Park! After crossing the bridge, go to Blackfriars tube station and catch the District line towards Ealing and get off at South Kensington, then change to the Piccadilly line going in the direction of Cockfosters and get off at Hyde Park Corner. By this time, it should be around 5pm, so why not take a nice late-afternoon stroll or hire a bike out to explore the park? You can go to the Serpentine and hire out a pedal-boat or go to speakers’ corner to see if there’s anyone performing.

Evening

After seeing the park, it’ll be around 6:30/7pm, maybe some time for some retail therapy and souvenir shopping? If you make your way to the Marble Arch entrance to the park, you’ll come out to the iconic Oxford Street. All the shops there stay open until 9/9:30pm, so you’ll have plenty of time to browse what there is on offer. Whilst you’re browsing Oxford Street, make your way to the other end of it where you’ll come to Tottenham Court Road station.

You’re probably quite tired from all the walking and tube-hopping by now, so here’s some good news! The Escapologist is less than a 10 minute walk away from Tottenham Court Road station, so spend a bit of time relaxing with some cocktails before dinner. In addition to the Escapologist, Covent Garden and Soho are also nearby, so you could always go to some bars in those areas. Finally, for dinner, you will undoubtedly have a load of options no matter where you are, so have a look around and choose one which stands out to you. If you’re in Soho, Chinatown will be extremely nearby, so you should definitely check out the restaurants there.

Day 2

By the second day, you will have seen plenty of monuments, attractions and iconic landmarks which London has to offer, so for a change of scenery, you could dedicate your second day to markets and museums.

Morning

Try to have breakfast around 9am and then make your way to Camden Market. It’s the market where you’ll see the biggest variety of things and it’s really pleasant to stroll around on a nice day. To get to the market, you’ll have to get the Northern line to Camden Town station from wherever you decide to have breakfast. Don’t rush your time in Camden too much, if you take the time to stroll through leisurely and look at what’s on offer, sometimes you can find some really cool stuff and some really good deals!

Have a quick read of this Erasmusu article to see how an Erasmus student spent his time in Camden Market!

Afternoon

Camden Market is a great place to get some mouth-watering street food from all sorts of countries! You can either sit in the designated seating areas which are dotted around the market or sit by the canal if it’s a nice day. After your visit to Camden Market, make your way back to Camden Town station and catch the Northern line going towards Morden and get off at Tottenham Court Road, from there it’s approximately a 10 minute walk to the British Museum!

If you want to see all the collections in the famous museum and maybe some of the exhibits too (which you have to pay for), you should probably reserve around 2.5-3 hours. To see what’s on offer at the British Museum and for any advice on what you shouldn’t miss etc., please see this article on Erasmusu. It is also available in other languages. After your visit to the museum, perhaps you’d like to end your day by relaxing in one of the many beautiful parks. Regent’s Park is the closest to the museum; it’s home to London’s biggest Rose garden (Queen Mary’s Gardens) and the beautifully tranquil Avenue Gardens. If you’d prefer to be active, London Zoo is also located within the park!

Day 3

For your last day, it might be nice to see something completely different from central London. Well there’s good news, because there are a few places which can be reached so easily from London that you could actually spend just half your day there!

Morning

Rise and shine! It’s your last day, so we have to make the most of it! Get yourself up nice and early (hopefully by now you know your favourite spot to have breakfast) and take yourself to London Victoria station to catch a train to Brighton - it takes less than an hour so it’s definitely a worthwhile trip to make! Make sure your bring a towel because you’re going to one of the most popular seaside towns in England! To see what there is to do in Brighton, please see the ‘day trips from London’ section.

Afternoon

Should you choose to come back to London during the afternoon, then I think it would be good to get an impressive picture of the London skyline, so to do that, you’d need to book tickets to The Shard! All information about booking tickets online and prices can be found under the section ‘top attractions in London’. Have a look at this article on Erasmusu to read someone’s experience with The Shard.

Evening

You definitely deserve a chilled out evening after all that sightseeing, walking around and having to deal with the tube! Have some free time; I’d recommend wandering the streets as you’re bound to find something that interests you (‘something’ referring to bars, pubs and cocktail bars as well!). After enjoying your relaxed day, it’s probably time to get your things together and prepare to say goodbye to London the next morning!

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