London Highlights
A curated tour of London's most iconic landmarks, from royal palaces and medieval fortresses to world-class museums and stunning viewpoints.
Trip Stops
- 1
A UNESCO World Heritage Site and Gothic masterpiece, Westminster Abbey has hosted every English and British coronation since William the Conqueror in 1066 — that's 40 coronations in total. Over 3,300 people are buried or commemorated here, including Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, and Charles Dickens. The building you see today was largely rebuilt by King Henry III from 1245 onwards.
📍 London, England, United Kingdom
- 2
The official London residence of the British monarch since 1837, Buckingham Palace has 775 rooms — including 19 state rooms, 52 royal and guest bedrooms, 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices, and 78 bathrooms. The Changing of the Guard ceremony, one of London's most popular spectacles, has taken place at the palace since 1660. The building started life as a townhouse for the Duke of Buckingham in 1703.
📍 London, England, United Kingdom
- 3
"Big Ben" is actually the nickname for the Great Bell inside the Elizabeth Tower — the tower itself stands 96 metres (315 ft) tall and leans slightly northwest by about 230 mm, similar to (but far less dramatically than) the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The clock's timekeeping is regulated by adding or removing old penny coins on top of the pendulum. Each of the four clock faces is 7 metres in diameter, and the minute hands are 4.2 metres long.
📍 London, England, United Kingdom
- 4
Built to commemorate the Battle of Trafalgar (1805), this iconic public square is the traditional geographic centre of London — all distances on road signs across the UK are measured from Charing Cross at the square's southern edge. At the centre stands Nelson's Column, rising 51.6 metres and flanked by four bronze lions cast from cannons captured from enemy ships. The square hosts New Year's Eve celebrations, political rallies, and cultural festivals year-round.
📍 London, England, United Kingdom
- 5
Founded in 1753, the British Museum was the world's first public national museum and now holds over 8 million objects spanning two million years of human history. Among its most famous treasures are the Rosetta Stone — the key to deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphics — and the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon in Athens. Remarkably, entry to the permanent collection is completely free.
📍 London, England, United Kingdom
- 6
Sir Christopher Wren's baroque masterpiece took 35 years to build (1675–1710) and its dome, at 111 metres high, was the tallest building in London for over 250 years. The Whispering Gallery inside the dome has a remarkable acoustic quirk — a whisper on one side can be heard clearly on the opposite side, 34 metres away. Notable figures buried in its crypt include Admiral Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, and Wren himself.
📍 London, England, United Kingdom
- 7
Founded by William the Conqueror in 1066, the Tower of London has served as a royal palace, a treasury, an armoury, a menagerie, and one of history's most infamous prisons. It is home to the British Crown Jewels, including the Cullinan I diamond — the largest clear cut diamond in the world. Ravens have been kept at the Tower for centuries; legend holds that if they ever leave, both the Tower and the Kingdom will fall. Today, six ravens (plus two spares) are maintained by an official Ravenmaster.
📍 London, England, United Kingdom
- 8
Completed in 1894, Tower Bridge is often mistakenly called "London Bridge" by visitors. It took 8 years, 5 major contractors, and 432 construction workers to build. The bridge's twin towers contain a high-level glass-floored walkway offering panoramic views of the Thames, and the Victorian engine rooms that once powered the bascules (the lifting sections) are now a museum. The bridge still opens around 800 times a year for tall river traffic.
📍 London, England, United Kingdom
- 9
One of London's oldest and largest food markets, Borough Market has been trading on or near its current site for over 1,000 years — references to a market here date back to 1014. Today it hosts over 100 stalls selling artisan produce from around the world and is a favourite haunt of top London chefs. The market's Victorian iron-and-glass structure is a landmark in itself, and the area beneath the railway arches has been a trading hub since the Victorian era. It's the perfect spot to grab a gourmet lunch before crossing the Millennium Bridge.
📍 London, England, United Kingdom
- 10
Housed in a converted Bankside Power Station on the South Bank, Tate Modern is the world's most visited modern art museum, welcoming around 6 million visitors a year — and entry to the permanent collection is free. The building's vast Turbine Hall, 35 metres high and 152 metres long, hosts spectacular large-scale art installations. The original power station was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, who also designed the iconic British red telephone box. A glass extension called the Blavatnik Building opened in 2016, adding further gallery space and a free rooftop viewing platform with panoramic views of St Paul's and the Thames.
📍 London, England, United Kingdom
- 11
When it opened in 2000, the London Eye was the world's tallest Ferris wheel at 135 metres (443 ft). It rotates at 0.26 metres per second — slow enough that it doesn't need to stop for passengers to board. One full rotation takes approximately 30 minutes and offers views stretching up to 40 km on a clear day, including Windsor Castle to the west. Its 32 capsules are numbered 1–33, skipping 13 for superstitious reasons.
📍 London, England, United Kingdom
- 12
One of London's eight Royal Parks, Hyde Park covers 142 hectares (350 acres) and has been a public space since 1637. It is home to the Serpentine Lake, created in 1730, and the famous Speakers' Corner — a tradition of open-air free speech dating back to 1872. The park has hosted some of the world's largest concerts, including a free Rolling Stones concert in 1969 that drew an estimated 500,000 people. During WWII, much of the park was turned into allotments and anti-aircraft gun emplacements.
📍 London, England, United Kingdom
- 13
One of the world's greatest museums of natural history, the Natural History Museum holds over 80 million specimens spanning 4.5 billion years of Earth's history. Its Romanesque building, designed by Alfred Waterhouse and completed in 1881, features terracotta detailing with animals and plants intricately carved throughout its facade. The famous blue whale skeleton suspended in the main hall, called Hope, is 25.2 metres long and serves as a symbol of humanity's responsibility to protect the natural world.
📍 London, England, United Kingdom
- 14
Once London's main fruit, vegetable and flower market (immortalised in My Fair Lady), Covent Garden's Victorian market building now hosts boutique shops, restaurants, and year-round street performers. The Piazza was London's first planned square, designed by Inigo Jones in 1630. The Royal Opera House — home to the Royal Ballet and Royal Opera — is located here and is one of the most prestigious opera venues in the world.
📍 London, England, United Kingdom
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