Welcome to London. If you are planning a trip to London and thinking Where are the main attractions in London or what should you not miss, you have landed to the right blog. In this post, I have listed the top and must see places in London. Depending on your interest, there are multiple things to do in London and you can spend weeks to explore it. Below are some of the iconic places that are must see for any tourist.
If you are in London for few days, you can see many other interesting places to visit beyond this Top 10 list. If you are visiting with kids, you must read about Top places to go with kids.
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace is the Queen’s official residence. You can imagine how big the palace is as there are 775 rooms, including 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices, 78 bathrooms, 52 principal bedrooms, and 19 state rooms. What you can see there:
- Take Selfies outside the palace
- Famous standing royal guards
- Inside Tour of Buckingham Palace
- Change of Royal Guards (on specific days)
- Upto 3 Garden Parties during Summer
Read our guide for Buckingham Palace to find out the scheduled days for change of guards, summer parties and discounted offers on entry ticket.
Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge is one of the most famous structure in the world. It was built 125 years ago. One of the interesting fact is that the bridge / moveable road that gets lifted to allow big ships to pass through. Sometimes this Tower Bridge is confused with “London Bridge”. What you should see there:
- Take Selfies with the Bridge (The best place to take selfies is from near the entrance of Tower of London)
- Don’t miss the magic of Bridge “lift” (at specific timing during week)
- See the Bridge from inside (Engine rooms)
- Go to top of the bridge structure – High-level Walkways and Glass Floors
Read our guide for Tower Bridge to find out the scheduled days and times for Bridge lifting and discounted offers on entry tickets.
House of Parliament / Westminster Palace / Big Ben / Westminster Abbey
The Palace of Westminster is now commonly known as House of Parliament as both houses of parliament meets here. Next to the palace, you can see Big Ben (also called as Clock Tower or Elizabeth Tower). You can also see there – Westminster Abbey – a large Gothic abbey church in the City of Westminster.
- Take Selfie with the The palace of Westminster (best place is from the Westminster Bridge)
- Visit inside the palace – can have guided tour on Saturdays or watch debates
- Go inside the Westminster Abbey Church
Read our guide for Westminster Palace to find out how you can enter free in the UK parliament and get a free entry to Westminster Abbey.
St Paul’s Cathedral
St Paul’s Cathedral is one of the most magnificent attraction in London with its world-famous dome. It is a working church and also open for tourists
Read our guide for St Paul’s cathedral to find out how you can enter free in the church / get discounted tickets.
Tower of London
Tower of London – a castle – a secure fortress, royal palace and infamous prison. It was popular as the most secured places as the Royal Family began storing its most precious jewels and possessions. It has also famously been the site of many high-profile executions, the chopping block for which still stands on the grounds to this day.
- Crown Jewels (including famous Indian Kohinoor diamond)
- The White Tower
- The history of Royal mint
- Ravens
- Inside Tours (included in ticket prices)
Read our guide for Tower of London to find out more details on opening timings, what you must see, how to get discounted entry.
London Eye
The London Eye is centrally located opposite the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, rotating over the River Thames. It is one of the London ‘s iconic structure and the world’s tallest (135 m) cantilevered observation wheel. The London Eye used to offer the highest public viewing point in London until it was superseded by the The Shard (245 m high observation deck on the 72nd floor) opened to the public in 2013.
Read our guide for London Eye find out the details around combination tickets (Merlin owns multiple attractions in London and offer discounted combination tickets).
Sky Garden
Sky Garden is an enlarged glass dome with observation decks, landscaped gardens and three restaurants. It is free to visit but need to book few weeks in advance. It gives 360-degree panoramic city views through viewing gallery at 43-floor with floor-to-ceiling glass windows.
Read our guide for Sky Garden and find out how you can book free advance tickets.
Emirates Airline – Cable Car at O2
Use Emirates Air Line cable car to glide above Thames. The cable car trip is approx 10 minutes, between Royal Docks and O2 Greenwich centre.
Read our guide for Emirates cable card and find out the best way to travel here and best mode of payment (e.g. Oyster card or paper ticket).
View from The Shard
Shard is the tallest building in the UK with 310m with three viewing platforms. You can also visit the restaurants in the Shard and enjoy the views.
Read our guide for The Shard and find out the restaurants you can visit to enjoy views (without paying the separate viewing platform).
Harrods
Harrods is one of the most luxurious department store in the UK and largest in Europe. I have included it in the list of attractions as it is worth giving a visit to feel the luxury. You can also visit the food hall within Harrods if you want to have a quick bite.
Read our guide for Harrods and find out what you can buy there.
Madame Tussauds, London
Madame Tussauds is one of the most popular attractions in London with with astonishingly lifelike waxworks of 300+ world celebrities. It has has a short 4D Marvel Super Heroes movie.
Read our guide for Madame Tussauds that gives full details of various ticketing options and available deals and offers upto 50% . Never pay the full price here.