London, free museums, riverside neighbourhoods and a Tube with a daily cap.

London is not something you see: it is something you choose. It is an enormous city, but what almost everyone visits fits into a strip along the Thames, from South Kensington to the Tower. The first time it is worth covering that whole strip; the second, stay in two or three neighbourhoods and go into what you walked past. Either way it helps to know two things from the start: the big national museums charge no admission, and transport is paid for with the same bank card you use to pay for your coffee.

The neighbourhoods, from west to east

South Kensington is the museum district: the Natural History Museum and the Science Museum are side by side, free, and Hyde Park begins ten minutes away on foot. Westminster brings together Parliament, Big Ben and the abbey; you can see it from the outside in a morning. Across the bridge, the South Bank is a pedestrian riverside promenade from the London Eye to the Tate Modern, the Globe theatre and Borough Market. Covent Garden and Soho are the West End: theatres, restaurants and nightlife, a stroll from Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery. Bloomsbury, to the north, is home to the British Museum. The City is the financial district: skyscrapers, Wren churches, the Sky Garden and, on its eastern edge, the Tower of London. Beyond the centre, Camden lives off its market by the canal and Greenwich, downriver, is a day in itself, with a boat ride included.

If it is your first trip, cover the strip in order and don't cross the city twice in the same day. If you are returning, choose by theme: film locations, the palaces on the outskirts such as Hampton Court, weekend markets or a neighbourhood you only passed through.

Getting around: one card per person and a daily cap

On the Tube, buses, Elizabeth line, DLR and Overground you pay by tapping your contactless card or phone on the reader, on entering and on leaving, always with the same card or device. You don't need to buy anything beforehand. Each traveller needs their own card: two people cannot tap in with the same one. TfL adds up the day's journeys and stops charging once you reach the daily cap, which in 2026 is £8.90 in zones 1 and 2, where almost everything you will see is. A single journey in zone 1 costs £3.10 at peak times and £3 off-peak. That is why the paper Day Travelcard, at £16.60, is not worth it for almost anyone.

The bus costs £1.85 from 1 November 2026, with free changes for an hour and a cap of £5.55 a day if you only use buses. It is slower than the Tube, but from the top deck you see the city, and many Tube stations have only stairs.

With cards issued outside the United Kingdom, your bank may charge a fee on every payment: check yours before you leave. The alternative is the Oyster, a rechargeable card with the same cap. Children under 11 travel free accompanied by a paying adult, and 11- to 15-year-olds pay half with the Young Visitor discount on an Oyster: it is all in the contactless and Oyster sheet.

From Heathrow, the Piccadilly line of the Tube costs £5.90 to Piccadilly Circus and takes about 50 minutes; the Elizabeth line, £14.60 to Paddington; the Heathrow Express, £26 with contactless in 15 minutes, and it does not count towards the cap. For Gatwick and Stansted, see their trains.

What you pay for and what you don't

What is expensive in London is sleeping. Seeing the city is far less so. The British Museum (10:00 to 17:00, Fridays until 20:30), the National Gallery (10:00 to 18:00, Fridays until 21:00), the Tate Modern, the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich and the Sky Garden are all free. At almost all of them you can book a free timed ticket: it is not compulsory everywhere, but at weekends it lets you skip the queue.

What does cost: the Tower of London, £38 for an adult and £19 for ages 5 to 15; the Harry Potter Studio Tour, £58.50 for an adult in 2026 and £61 in 2027; the Cutty Sark in Greenwich, £22. With one paid admission a day and the transport cap, your daily spending outside the hotel and meals is predictable.

When to go and how many days

April, May, September and October have long days without the summer queues. July and August coincide with the English school holidays, as do the mid-term half-term weeks: the free museums get crowded. December has lights and markets, but it gets dark around four.

With three days you can see the river strip: the South Kensington museums, Westminster and the South Bank, the City with the Tower. With four you add Greenwich or Camden. With five, a day out: the Studio Tour, Hampton Court or Oxford by train.

Where to sleep, by neighbourhood

South Bank, to have everything within walking distance: the Premier Inn County Hall is next to the London Eye and eight minutes from Waterloo station, with family rooms. Holborn and Covent Garden, for dinner and walking back from the theatre: the Citadines Holborn apartments have kitchens and the one-bedroom ones take up to four people. Fitzrovia, next to Oxford Street, for spending little: the YHA London Central is a hostel with private rooms with bathroom and a kitchen for guests. Pimlico, quiet and close to Victoria: the Georgian House Hotel, with its wizard-themed rooms.

Plans to organise your days

If you are travelling with children, London for families groups museums, a boat ride, a castle and hotels so you can build two to five days. For a group, London with friends is about markets, viewpoints and nights in the West End. For two, London for couples combines riverside walks, views and a palace. For fans, there are two three-night routes: Harry Potter, from the studio to Oxford and The Bridgertons, from Greenwich to Bath.