Visiting London if you live in the UK is essentially a rite of passage for any person living in Britain, even if you live in the beautiful capital of England there are still plenty of places to visit and explore within the city. Travelling to London is relatively simple from anywhere within the UK despite the varying lengths of time it can take to arrive at different areas which means it is the perfect place to visit on a road trip, you could get a tow bar fitted and bring a caravan for a big city holiday to save the ease of finding a hotel with somewhere to stay, it’s the perfect way to travel the city; it’s fun, cheaper than the train and gives you freedom to stop where you want and when you want. The first time visiting London will either make you fall in love with the city and lead to booking multiple other trips to visit or it will make you appreciate how much less busy your hometown is and view London as the place to visit when you need excitement.

Now of course when in London you of course have to go on the London Eye, it is the biggest tourist attraction and allows you to see the whole city from up high. It offers a constantly change 360 degree of London which cannot be found anywhere else, the London Eye is situated right in the heart of central London directly opposite the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey allowing each person to view the major London landmarks without all of the foot work it would ordinarily take.

Little Venice is one of the relatively unknown, if you could call it that, hidden gems of London. It is exactly what it sounds like it should be; London’s nod to the famous Italian city. It runs down the canal and is home to various waterside cafes, restaurants and bars. This small area of London has a lot to offer with regular canal cruises in the summer months and plays host to puppet shows amongst other free entertainment to keep the little ones entertained. Little Venice easily reachable from Paddington train station within 10 minutes walk and 5 minutes from Warwick avenue tube station.

Buckingham Palace is without a doubt the largest tourist attraction in all of England; people visit London from all over the globe for the sole purpose of visiting the palace and hoping to catch a glimpse of the Queen. If you’re hoping to visit all the main attractions from monopoly then Buckingham Palace is definitely one of the must-see locations, it is at the top of Pall Mall next to the famous St James’ Park. If you simply want to visit the palace and view it in all its splendour then it is a free activity for the day from outside the gates, however you can book a tour for the palace and pretend to live like royalty all day.

The Shard is the tallest building in the UK, standing at 309.7 metres tall it towers above every landmark in the big city of London. It is actually the fourth tallest building in Europe, when it was built in 2012 it was not well received and many critics argues that it ruined the skyline, however the view from the Shard was one that was widely received, it has a ticketed viewing platform at 800 feet high which boasts a 360 degree view across the capital. The Shard is situated just two minutes from London Bridge Station.

If you like to witness a piece of history then you have to visit The Tower of London, it was founded in 1066 and the castle used to be a prison from 1100 until 1952. The Crown Jewels are on show here as an exhibition and can be viewed by members of the public there is also a free tour which sets off just inside the gates every half hour when the weather allows it. These tours are hosted by the Yeoman Warders who work and live in the Tower and tell the history of the tower in an amazingly engaging way. Visiting the tower is a brilliant way to get the children interested in history, it is a historic piece of Britain and has endless ways to learn about things that really happened in the tower in an interactive way.

Whether you’re visiting London because you live locally, travelling from abroad on the plane or taking a taking a road trip with your trailer in tow; London is a brilliant city to visit and there is lots to do, as long as you remember that you are visiting the UK and the chance of rain or cloudy weather is relatively high then you will thoroughly enjoy your journey and experience a slice of British culture. There are endless activities and sights to see so this is not exhaustive, but it’s enough to get you on your way. If you visit any of these places be sure to follow the top tips for travelling in our previous post here

Happy Travels!