Last Updated on January 16, 2026 by Home in the World
I wasn’t quite sure how to go about setting up my ‘travel memories’ blog post on London. Having taken 4 trips there in the 18-month period between 2015 and 2017 (part work, part play), I have a lot of photos and information to share. So I’ve decided to split it into three separate posts: One on the classic things to see in London, one on alternative London sights, and one on the city’s vibrant street art.
Clichéd opinion or not, I do believe London is the greatest city on earth. In terms of history, architecture, entertainment & dining, the arts, nature, photogenic nooks, iconic landmarks, multiculturalism and overall vibe, I genuinely think it is the complete package – yes, even with its less-than-ideal weather. I am by no means saying it would necessarily be an easy place to live, but for tourists at least, it really is the ultimate city destination.
Given the above, it should come as no surprise that London is one of the most visited cities on earth. In fact, at the time of writing, it ranked third after Bangkok and Paris. And those who have not yet managed to make it to the British capital will still undoubtedly be familiar with its most famous sights.
So I’m not going to bore you with too much text in this particular post, which centres on London’s main landmarks. They’ve all been covered to death, and I wasn’t even going to blog about them at all, but since I have quite a few pictures, I figured I may as well share some.
In no particular order, then, here is my collection of snaps taking in major attractions and icons that are unmistakably ‘classic London’.
Buckingham Palace
The London residence and administrative headquarters of the United Kingdom’s monarch. For a few weeks during the summer, it is open for tours (I did this on another trip back in the ’90s).
And even when you can’t go inside, you can still watch the changing of the guard every day at 11am, and admire the ornate and imposing wrought-iron gates. The palace itself is surprisingly quite stark, but the fact that it is surrounded on three sides by parkland – Green Park, St James’s Park and Buckingham Palace Gardens – more than makes up for this fact.
Big Ben & the Houses of Parliament (the Palace of Westminster)
If you had to encapsulate London in one picture – an instantly recognisable scene that could not possibly be anywhere else – I would say there’s a fair chance that picture would be of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. While Buckingham Palace is apparently the city’s top-rated attraction, it does look pretty similar to many other palaces you see across Europe.
Elizabeth Tower (that’s Big Ben’s official name) and the Palace of Westminster, on the other hand, glinting gold on the banks of the River Thames, are the very essence of London, where the nation’s parliamentary decisions are made, and where the distinctive chime of the Great Bell has been marking the hour and every fifteen minutes thereof since 1859.
My tip: Avoid hanging around the nearby Westminster tube station at peak hour, when the usual crush of tourists and traffic is further compounded by a surge of bustling commuters.
The Tower of London
The one and only time I visited the Tower of London was as a child in the early ’90s. And I remember it gave me nightmares about ghosts, ravens and executions that night. So, rightly or wrongly, I have never actually gone back there on any subsequent trip! But it is another of London’s most popular attractions, and is also home to the dazzling Crown Jewels.
Built by William the Conqueror, it has stood on the banks of the Thames east of the City for nearly 1000 years. As such, you can also get good views of it from cruise boats, while walking along South Bank or crossing Tower Bridge, or from high-rise vantage points like the nearby Sky Garden (more on that in my post on lesser-known London attractions). Tickets to visit the Tower may be booked here.
Westminster Abbey
The Gothic abbey church in London’s City of Westminster was originally founded in AD 960, though its present-day form dates back to the 13th century. Since then, it has played host to a number of coronations, weddings and funerals of national significance, some of the most recent prominent ceremonies being Princess Diana’s funeral in 1997 and the royal wedding of William and Kate in 2011.
It is also the burial site of numerous celebrated figures, including Isaac Newton, Charles Dickens, and seventeen British monarchs, as evidenced by elaborate (often marble) tombs and plaques.
I am honoured to be able to say that one of these is actually that of my paternal ancestor, Roger Townshend, and my family and I were actually able to get free entry into the abbey on this basis after we contacted them beforehand.
The plaque was much larger than I expected it to be; even the man showing us around commented, in an ever so British manner, that it was a ‘cracking plaque’!
It was truly a privilege to be able to see, in person, this plaque I had heard so much about from my Dad’s family – positioned prominently in one of the world’s greatest abbey churches no less! For the rest, ticket prices and entry times can be found here.
St Paul’s Cathedral
Sir Christopher Wren’s imposing domed cathedral was founded in 1675, and sits at the highest point of the City of London. And while it is impressive enough on the outside, its interior is even more breath-taking. For some reason, I couldn’t find any pictures I had taken of the inside, which makes me think perhaps photography was prohibited when I was there. In any case, it’s a good excuse to see it for yourself! Or at least explore it online here.
It famously hosted the wedding of Prince Charles and Princess Diana in 1981, which provides some indication as to the fact that not just anyone can get married here. I did, however, notice several bridal parties taking photographs on the steps leading up to its main entrance in what was probably a decent compromise. Walking the perimeter of the cathedral through some of the small gardens is a great way to admire the building from all angles.
Trafalgar Square
Commemorating the Battle of Trafalgar, a naval battle in which the British defeated the combined French and Spanish fleets during the Napoleonic Wars in 1805, Trafalgar Square is probably London’s most famous public square.
In a city of many focal points, this is perhaps the most central of them all; a place where people come to protest, celebrate, make art & music, and simply take in the sights and sounds unfolding all around them. And there are plenty – the square is a major traffic hub, with red double-decker buses and black cabs constantly thundering past.
Lining its perimeter and surrounding streets are also several buildings of note, including the National Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery, St-Martin-in-the-Fields church (which hosts classical music events and also has a very cosy café in its basement), and a number of foreign embassies. At its centre, stands the 52-m-tall (171 ft) Nelson’s Column commemorating Admiral Horatio Nelson, who died in the Battle of Trafalgar.
Surrounding the base of the column are four large bronze lions, known as the ‘Landseer Lions’, who, legend has it, will come to life if Big Ben chimes thirteen times. This I cannot confirm. What I can say is that I have spent many pleasant afternoons at Trafalgar Square, enjoying buskers, street art and cooling off by its fountains on unusually warm days. For me, this is definitely a ‘so very London’ spot.
The Tube (the London underground)
The London underground, affectionately known as the Tube, is the subterranean lifeblood of this metropolis. It is undoubtedly the most effective, albeit not always the most glamorous, way of getting from A to B. Some of the sights you will see on there, particularly on the Piccadilly line, are quite amusing.
Yet even the most outlandish of passengers will not draw so much as a glance from the ever-indifferent Londoners. They’ve seen it all before. For tourists, I would recommend using the Oyster Card, which has served me well on all my trips, and can be easily topped up whenever you need to.
Where possible, be sure to avoid rush hour. One evening I stupidly found myself catching the Tube home at precisely this time – travelling along the Central line and changing to the Piccadilly line, of all routes – and it was not fun, unless you enjoy getting swept along in a surge of harassed commuters, who don’t give hopeless tourists a second to try and get their bearings and work out which way they’re supposed to be going. Otherwise, enjoy your ride on one of the world’s most iconic subway systems – oh, and be sure to ‘mind the gap.’
Bridges
London straddles both sides of the River Thames, and is consequently home to no less than thirty three bridges. Some are fairly nondescript, while others are more interesting, and others in turn are downright magnificent. Below are a couple I have managed to snap during my stays in London.
The London Eye
The London Eye observation wheel has become a massive tourist magnet since it officially opened to the public in 2000 (it is hence also known as the Millennium Wheel), as evidenced by the crowds that are almost constantly congregated at its base on South Bank.
I have not actually ridden it myself, as I think there are equally good (and much cheaper – indeed free) ways to see aerial views of London). But for those that are interested, you can find all the information you need here.
Traditional high-end department stores
When it comes to thinking about upscale department stores synonymous with London (and indeed some of the most famous department stores in the world), it’s pretty hard to go past the two mainstays of Harrods and Fortnum & Mason.
The former is housed in a striking heritage building on Brompton Road in the prestigious district of Knightsbridge. Despite having started out in 1849 as a humble shop with two employees, it is now reported to be worth an astonishing 2 billion British pounds, and is owned by the Qatar Investment Authority.
There’s even a dress code to get in! (But it’s not that strict, so don’t worry). It sells virtually everything. If there’s something you need, Harrods will probably have it; but don’t expect it to be cheap.
Fortnum & Mason, meanwhile, is located on Piccadilly, where it was established in 1707 by William Fortnum and Hugh Mason. It specialises in hampers, teas, general gourmet food and homewares, and has been the royal grocery store for some 150 years.
The way they present all their wares is an attraction in itself – plus you may even be able to snag a few free chocolate samples! I’ve been seduced into buying several of their teas, biscuits and sweets – if nothing else because I wanted the cute tins!
Piccadilly
I mentioned above that Fortnum & Mason was located on Piccadilly – a major thoroughfare running from Hyde Park Corner to Piccadilly Circus, the heart of London’s West End entertainment district. The street is lined with shops, bars, restaurants, embassies and hotels, including the legendary Ritz. It also backs onto Green Park for part of the way, and in fact the Green Park tube station is a great place to get off if you want to explore this bustling street.
One little hidden gem I happened upon while walking down Piccadilly was the small but eclectic Piccadilly Market in the churchyard around St James’s Piccadilly. It is open every day except Sundays, and sells unique homewares, food, antiques and clothing from around the world. I ended up buying a striking vase from a Swedish guy whose company, La Galeria Design, makes blown-glass ornaments out of recycled glass using Mexican crafting techniques.
Covent Garden
No visit to the West End would be complete without an amble around the cobbled streets of Covent Garden, a retail and entertainment precinct centred around a refreshingly car-free piazza and the traditional undercover Covent Garden Market.
Beneath the arches of the Apple Market, for instance, you can find all sorts of handmade crafts, unique antiques, art and jewellery – and, if you’re there during the cooler months, you may also enjoy the aroma of roasting chestnuts tantalising your nostrils.
But the greater Covent Garden is also home to Leicester Square and its plethora of theatres, the London Transport Museum, a number of global brand boutiques, and, on the Strand nearby, the iconic Savoy Hotel. If you want a taste of central London’s ‘creative arts’ vibe, then this is the place to be.
The British Museum
There is certainly no dearth of museums in London, and I have only scratched the surface of them. I will mention a couple more in my post on alternative London attractions but I figured if there’s one that most people will try and head to during a stay in London, it will very likely be the British Museum.
It is, after all, London’s largest and most visited museum. What I find particularly wonderful about this city is the fact that so many of its amazing galleries and museums are totally free.
It almost seems obscene to be able to walk into such world-class establishments and marvel at their priceless (we’re talking Ancient-Egypt-level) treasures without having to pay a cent. But that is very often the case, and the British Museum is no different.
Take the Tube to Holborn, which is just a short walk away, and enjoy losing yourself in the labyrinth of galleries and exhibits dedicated to all corners of the globe and numerous key periods of history.
Whitehall
Whitehall is a street that runs from Trafalgar Square to the Houses of Parliament in Westminster. But even if the name doesn’t ring much of a bell, I’m sure you will be familiar with Downing Street, specifically building No. 10 where the British prime minister resides. This runs directly off Whitehall, as does Horse Guards Parade, the ceremonial parade ground where the
Trooping of the Colour is held every June, and where you can also witness a normal guard-changing ceremony every day at 11am (or 10am on Sundays). Lined with so many grand stone buildings, a number of which are government offices, Whitehall makes for an impressive stroll indeed. Take the Tube to Westminster and walk north towards Trafalgar Square to soak up its splendour.
Red telephone boxes, double-decker buses & black cabs
In an age when landline phones could almost be relegated to exhibits at the British Museum, it is pleasing to see London has still kept many of its iconic red telephone boxes, despite the fact that some don’t even have telephones in them any more. Their striking colour provides an eye-catching contrast in what can sometimes be quite a grey city.
The same can be said of the traditional double-decker buses, which, unlike the phones, are still very much in use. Their designs have become more modern since the first time I saw them in the early ’90s, but the enjoyment of riding one (especially if you can get a front seat on the upper level) endures.
Equally iconic, if less striking, are London’s famed black cabs. Yes, the tube and, increasingly, Ubers are cheaper, but everyone surely needs to take at least one short ride in one of these. On a couple of separate business trips, I ended up taking one every day from my hotel to the conference venue, as there was no tube line along that route, and every single time, without fail, I had a super friendly driver with a glorious Cockney accent.
The London cabbies are famed for their detailed knowledge of the city’s complex maze of streets (no sat nav aids for them), and I, for one, hope their industry never dies out. They are a national treasure.
Kensington Gardens & Hyde Park
Kensington Gardens were once the private gardens of Kensington Palace (a royal residence currently home to the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge), but are today open to the public, and are directly adjacent to London’s most famous park, Hyde Park. They in fact used to be part of Hyde Park, and the Serpentine recreational lake these days serves as the proxy border between them.
Hyde Park is perhaps best known for Speakers’ Corner, located at its north-eastern end near Marble Arch. While a number of curious characters are still to be found there, airing all manner of grievances atop their soapboxes, I personally didn’t find it to be as interesting and popular as I had remembered it from previous visits in the ’90s. I guess these days people are taking to online platforms like Twitter to make their cases heard.
Hyde Park and, by extension, Kensington Gardens, is the London equivalent of New York’s Central Park. Green lungs providing a tranquil refuge in the heart of a vast metropolis. The Serpentine Galleries, Princess Diana Memorial Fountain, Albert Memorial and Italian Gardens are just a few of the highlights you can encounter as you walk, jog or cycle through the combined 615 acres (259 ha) of parkland in one the most upscale parts of London.
The Gherkin & Shard buildings
While London is one of the largest and most famous cities in earth, it has historically always been quite low-rise. Walk down any of its main streets and you will rarely find a building more than about 5 or 6 stories high. Manhattan it is not. But the modern age is prompting a shift in this respect, with glass high-rises springing up at an increasingly rapid rate.
This is perhaps most apparent in the secondary business district at Canary Wharf in the far east, though the City area of London itself, and specifically the East End (home to the famous Cockneys), is experiencing a similar change in townscape.
The most iconic new development here would have to be 30 St Mary Axe (informally but appropriately dubbed The Gherkin), a 41-floor glass office block completed in 2003, and whose cylindrical shape creates a twisting effect as it tapers at the top.
Just across the river from here is the 95-storey Shard, a jagged stalagmite of glass soaring up 310 m (1, 016 ft) – the tallest building in the United Kingdom and the sixth tallest building in Europe. 95% owned by the state of Qatar, it houses an office complex, three upscale restaurants, the five-star Shangri-la hotel, residential apartments, and a viewing gallery.
If you needed proof of London’s architectural shift into the 21st century, the Gherkin and Shard are very likely it, and have understandably become popular photograph sites for modern-day tourists.
The BBC building
Repeatedly ranked as one of the world’s most trustworthy news sources, the British Broadcasting Corporation, most commonly known as the BBC (and informally referred to simply as ‘the Beeb’ by many in Britain), is also the world’s oldest national broadcaster, and has been delivering news by radio, television and now online since 1922.
It is headquartered at Broadcasting House at Portland Place, not far from Oxford Circus, and while public tours are no longer offered, I was fortunate to know someone who worked there, who was able to give me a sneak peak behind the scenes and show me some of the recording studios, staff canteens and even the main floor area often seen in the background during television news bulletins. It was quite surreal!
Wimbledon
You don’t have to be a tennis fan to have heard of Wimbledon, and to know that it is pretty much considered the holy grail of the sport. Known simply as The Championships, it is the oldest tennis tournament in the world, and is held every June/July on the hallowed turf of the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club. Wimbledon, in south-west London (postcode SW19), is actually the name of the district in which the club is located.
While I have never made it to the actual tournament (despite watching it on TV every year since the early ’90s), the site is open all year round for tours, and the museum is well worth a look. If you do visit, whether for the tournament itself or out-of-season, it is worth noting that the closest Tube station is not Wimbledon (which you would expect) but rather Southfields, which is about a 15-minute walk from the facility.
Greenwich
And last but not least on this already excessively long list is Greenwich (pronounced ‘grennich’ – no green witches here!). Anyone who’s ever had to work with time differences will most likely have seen time zones stated in ‘GMT format’, that is to say, Greenwich Mean Time.
Where I live in Perth, for instance, is GMT+8, or 8 hours ahead of Greenwich. So technically you could say the world revolves around a small borough in south-east London. That is because it is home to the Royal Observatory where, in 1851, Sir George Airy established a meridian that most ships would very quickly end up using as their point of reference, and which would thus go on to become what we now refer to as the Prime Meridian, dividing the Eastern (+GMT) and Western Hemispheres (-GMT).
You can see the meridian for yourself at the Royal Observatory, which is open to the public. Please note that, if you wish to walk up to the Observatory, it is quite a long and steep hike!
Final words on classic things to see in London
So there ends my rather long list of classic London sights. I have endeavoured to cover most of what I consider to be typical but must-see sights on any trip to the British capital, based on photos I have taken in recent years. Don’t forget to check out my separate posts on the city’s alternative sights and colourful street art & doorways!
** This post, like everything else on this website, has been written entirely by me. No ChatGPT or any other AI tool has been used. It takes longer to create, but I value 100% human-generated content and I hope you do too! **
Trip facts
When I visited: Many occasions, but the photos in this blog post are from October 2015, April 2016, October 2016 and May 2017
Weather: Let’s be honest, London is never going to win any awards for having the world’s best climate, but it’s not always as grey and rainy as its reputation suggests. I have never actually been in peak summer, and have still managed to enjoy numerous mild, if not sunny, days – and nowhere near as much rain as I expected.
Based on the months I have visited on my most recent stays, April was the least pleasant (mostly grey and cold, about 10°C/50°F), October was reasonably mild and generally dry (about 17°C/63°F), and late May was beautifully sunny and warm (28°C/82°F). My advice would be to bring clothes for all weathers, regardless of the season – and never forget your trusty umbrella!
Where I stayed: On all of my most recent trips, I have stayed at the Marriott Kensington
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