Premier Inn London County Hall
Why we like it: Two minutes from the London Eye and eight from Westminster. With one adult paying for breakfast, up to two children eat breakfast free.
Duration2 to 5 days, to suit you
BaseStudio with kitchen in Holborn
Getting aroundOn foot, tube and boat
Book aheadSky Garden, theatre, Saturday dinner
Best timeApril – May · September – October
For two, London is best enjoyed on foot. Both banks of the Thames between Westminster and the Tower can be walked in an afternoon, and what gives the trip its rhythm is a handful of fixed moments: the hour at the Sky Garden, the Saturday table, the theatre seat. Everything else can stay loose. This plan gives you those moments, grouped so you can choose according to the days and the weather, and a split for four lengths of stay.
Both banks on foot
Start on the South Bank, the pedestrian promenade on the south side, and follow the river east. Past the Globe theatre, the Millennium Bridge crosses to the dome of St Paul's; if you would rather stay on the south side, Borough Market is five minutes away, open Tuesday to Sunday, for eating on the go among the stalls. On the north bank, the City leads to the Tower of London, £38 per person, with the Crown Jewels and the White Tower. A walk like this asks for nothing more than comfortable shoes and a day without rain.
London from above
The Sky Garden, at the top of the City's Walkie-Talkie, is an indoor garden with views over the whole river, free with a booked ticket. Tickets are released three weeks ahead and give you an hour up there; at weekends you can go up until 21:00, with the city already lit up. If you want to stay longer, the restaurants and the bar upstairs stay open until midnight from Sunday to Thursday and until 1:00 on Friday and Saturday, with their own reservations.
A day down the river
The Uber Boat is the Thames's scheduled river service: it leaves from Westminster or the London Eye, passes under Tower Bridge and drops you in Greenwich. The Old Royal Naval College has its colonnaded courtyards open from 8:00 to 23:00 at no charge, and the Painted Hall, the great painted dining hall, costs £19. The Queen's House, free, and Greenwich Park round off the day; at the very top, the brick façade of Ranger's House, the Bridgerton house in the series. The Royal Observatory is closed for works, but from the hill in the park you still see the City in the distance.
A palace half an hour away
Hampton Court is Henry VIII's palace, about 35 minutes by train from Waterloo: Tudor halls, kitchens, riverside gardens and the maze. An adult ticket starts at around £30 in low season. In winter it closes at 16:00, so go in the morning, and from 28 November 2026 to 3 January 2027 it is dressed as the Winter Palace. It is the quietest day of the trip.
The evenings
Museums open late. On Fridays the National Gallery is open until 21:00, and Tate Modern, on Fridays and Saturdays, is also open until 21:00. A late visit, with fewer people, and dinner afterwards.
A booked dinner. Dishoom Covent Garden, Bombay cooking, takes bookings for two only before 18:00; after that, you queue. A table at 17:30 leaves the evening free for the theatre or for walking to the river.
A show. In the West End, the only play with its own page on our site is Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, at the Palace Theatre: 2h 55 with an interval, for those who know the saga. If that is not you, Shaftesbury Avenue and Covent Garden are where the theatres cluster: buy on each theatre's own website.
Split it like this
Two days. First, both banks on foot with lunch at Borough and the Sky Garden at sunset. Second, the boat to Greenwich and dinner in Covent Garden.
Three days. Add Hampton Court, on the day with the best weather.
Four days. Add the Tower in the morning and a museum open late on Friday.
Five days. Add a theatre show and a morning with no plan around Covent Garden and Soho.
Where to sleep for two
The base we suggest is the Citadines Holborn-Covent Garden, on High Holborn: 25 m² studios for two with a kitchen, two minutes from Holborn tube and a stroll from the theatres, so you can walk back after dinner. If you want the river on your doorstep, the Premier Inn County Hall is next to the London Eye, an eight-minute walk from Waterloo, the station for trains to Hampton Court. And if you fancy a different kind of night, the Georgian House Hotel, in Pimlico, has wizard rooms hidden behind a bookcase.
Map
The stops, in order
What to do
Eat
88 €Stay
Services
Plan the trip
London, step by step
Each choice narrows the next: the season shapes how best to travel, and how you travel decides where you stay and where you eat.
When to go
When to go to London
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Best timeGood timeLow season
How you travel
The same break, your way
The plan stays the same. What changes is where you sleep, how you get there and how much you spend.
Direct flight, then a train or the Tube to the centre
London has direct flights from almost all Spanish airports, in a little over two hours from Madrid or Barcelona, to four main airports. None is in the centre, but all have a fast train. In the city you do not need a car: transport is paid for with a contactless card or your phone, and for day trips (Oxford, Cambridge, Bath, Windsor, Brighton) the train leaves from the central stations.
- Getting thereHeathrow (LHR), to the west…
- Getting aroundTube and bus with a…
- Where to sleepPremier Inn County Hall, next…
- ServicesFrom Heathrow to the centre
Getting there
- Heathrow (LHR), to the west: Heathrow Express to Paddington in 15 minutes, the Elizabeth line or the Piccadilly line on the Tube, the cheapest
- Gatwick (LGW), to the south: Gatwick Express to Victoria; Brighton is on the same line
- Stansted (STN), to the north-east: Stansted Express to Liverpool Street; the closest to Cambridge
- Luton (LTN), to the north, with a shuttle to the station and a train to the centre
Getting around
- Tube and bus with a contactless or Oyster card, with a daily cap
- Trains to Oxford and Bath from Paddington, to Cambridge from King's Cross, to Brighton from Victoria
- To the Harry Potter studio, train from Euston to Watford Junction
Where to sleep
- Premier Inn County Hall, next to the London Eye, for the first night with children
- Citadines Holborn, apartments with a kitchen in the centre
Services
- From Heathrow to the centre
- From Gatwick and Stansted
- Oyster and contactless
Where to stay
Where to stay if you're flying
We show you what suits the way you travel.Change how you travel
Hostel
YHA London Central
Why we like it: A hostel with private family rooms, with bunk beds. The cheapest option in the centre: there are few and they sell out early.
Apartment
Citadines Holborn-Covent Garden
Why we like it: An apartment with a bedroom and a sofa bed, ten minutes' walk from Covent Garden. Being able to eat dinner in saves a lot in London.
Georgian House Hotel
Why we like it: A hotel in a nineteenth-century house in Pimlico with themed rooms: the Wizard Chambers, on the ground floor, reached along a corridor with portraits and candlelight. They have stone walls, stained glass, four-poster beds and cauldrons…
Services for this trip
Where to eat
Where to eat in London
Dishoom Covent Garden
What to order: a dal and a grill dish to share.
Book before 18:00; after that only groups of 6 or more can book, and the other tables are walk-in: expect a queue
Burgers
Honest Burgers
What to order: a burger with its rosemary chips; children's menu with a drink.
Children's menu with a side and a drink · branches in the centre and next to several stations
Halfway round the Studio Tour
Backlot Café
What to order: a burger, wings or a hot dog, and a non-alcoholic butterbeer at the Butterbeer Bar.
Only with a Studio Tour ticket
Takeaway and markets
Borough Market, Southwark
Tips
Worth knowing first
Local tip
Time the Sky Garden with sunset: in November and December it gets dark before five, so a mid-afternoon ticket is enough; in June it is not dark until after nine, when there are no free slots left, and the thing to do is book at the bar.
We'd skip it
The London Eye at sunset, if views are what you are after: the Sky Garden gives them free and without a shared capsule.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
What can couples do in London?
Walk the river between Westminster and the Tower, go up the Sky Garden, take a boat to Greenwich and spend a day at Hampton Court. In the evening, a museum open late, a dinner and a show.
How many days do you need?
With two you see the banks and Greenwich; with three or four, Hampton Court fits in without rushing.
What should you book?
The Sky Garden, three weeks ahead; Saturday dinner if it is somewhere that takes bookings; and the theatre tickets.
Where should you sleep to walk everywhere?
In Holborn or Covent Garden, near the theatres, or on the South Bank, by the river.