The must-do highlights of London in three days

The Tower of London. Credit: iStock

This metropolis has more things to see and do that anyone could tick off in a lifetime. But if you're short of time, this 72-hour itinerary hits the quintessential spots.

DAY ONE

MORNING

Whether you've had a full English or avocado on toast, walk off breakfast with some sightseeing by the Thames. The ancient Romans sailed up this mighty river to establish Londinium in AD43, but it was the Normans, who invaded almost a millennia later, that built the formidable Tower of London (hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london). Arrive early at this UNESCO-listed riverside palace, fortress and one-time prison to dodge the biggest tourist crowds (opening times vary, but it's usually 9am or 10am). The entry fee (£29.90 or $A52 for adults, £14.90 for children aged 5-15) includes a tour with a Yeoman Warder, a traditionally-attired "Beefeater" guide. Check out the Tower's dazzling Crown Jewels, the resident ravens and the wildflower-tickled moat, where a new garden was planted for the late Queen's Platinum Jubilee.

MID-MORNING

Tower Bridge.Credit: VisitBritain/George Johnson

Board a Thames Clipper river bus from Tower pier (thamesclippers.com) and venture downstream, under Tower Bridge and past skyscraper-strewn Canary Wharf, to Greenwich, a UNESCO-feted borough steeped in maritime heritage (visitgreenwich.org.uk). Stop for a bite in a nautical-flavoured pub, like the Cutty Sark Tavern (cuttysarkse10.co.uk), or take a Clipper back to central London for lunch.

AFTERNOON

Some Clippers run all the way to Battersea and Putney, in west London, but you should alight at Bankside, next to Shakespeare's Globe, and wriggle through the cobbled back-streets, past old dockside warehouses, to Borough Market (boroughmarket.org.uk). Dozens of stalls, stores and street-food purveyors assail the senses, selling everything from Kentish cheeses and Persian mezze to Gurajati vegetarian snacks and Malaysian clay-pot cooking. Grab a coffee from a market trader like Monmouth or Flat Cap, then zip to the Tate Modern, where a bewildering array of art spans a converted power station (tate.org.uk). Works date from the early 1900s to the present day, with some galleries admission-free, others housing paid temporary exhibitions, like the one on Hilma af Klint and Piet Mondrian (April 20-September 3, 2023).

EVENING

Credit: Sea Containers

Stroll the Thames Path west of the Tate and stop for a drink at Sea Containers, a smart hotel in a shipping company's modernist former headquarters (seacontainerslondon.com). Choose from Lyaness, a lobby-side cocktail bar by Ryan Chetiyawardana (aka Mr Lyan, hailed as one of the world's best mixologists), or 12th Knot, a rooftop lounge-bar with a terrace overlooking the Thames. The views, especially of St Paul's Cathedral, are similarly beguiling from the next-door OXO Tower, a riverside staple since the mid-1990s, with a bar and brasserie, plus a fine-dining restaurant serving six-course tasting menus starring seasonal British ingredients (oxotowerrestaurant.com). Post-dinner, stretch your legs along Southbank, admiring illuminated icons like the London Eye and the Palace of Westminster while listening out for Big Ben's unmistakable bongs.

DAY TWO

MORNING

Ride the Tube to South Kensington, where a trio of fabulous, free-to-enter museums await. Pick one (or two) and take your time browsing. Families love the Science Museum (sciencemuseum.org.uk) and the Natural History Museum (nhm.ac.uk), both celebrating the wonders of the universe with a mix of interactive and antique exhibits (the latter is famed for its incredible dinosaur fossils). More than 2.8 million objects, covering 5000 years of global civilisation, make up the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum (vam.ac.uk). One hour you'll be perusing Chinese ceramics and Elizabethan costumes, the next Islamic art and Renaissance sculptures. All the museums offer refreshments, with the V&A's cafes exceedingly well-set; one in an opulent dining room, the other in an Italianate courtyard-garden.

AFTERNOON

London's most elegant afternoon tea.Credit: Harrods

Up for a splurge? Harrods, the esteemed department store, is up the road in Knightsbridge, a labyrinth of upmarket fashions, watches, jewellery, beauty products and delectable food and drink, including one of London's most elegant afternoon tea sessions (harrods.com). If the weather's fine, embrace the city's parklife. North of the V&A, past the Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gardens blends into Hyde Park, the pair joining neighbouring Green Park and St James' Park to form a verdant 300-hectare corridor (royalparks.org.uk). There are abundant tree-lined paths, picnic-friendly lawns, seasonal blooms, water features with ducks, swans and even pelicans, and royal retreats that occasionally let the paying public in for a peek (rct.uk). Buckingham Palace, the King's official London residence, opens its lavish state rooms each summer (July 13-September 24, 2023). Nearby Westminster Abbey, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is open year-round and has rich regal links, hosting numerous coronations, weddings and funerals, including those of Queen Elizabeth II. Tickets are £27 adults, £12 children aged 6-7 (westminster-abbey.org).

LATE-AFTERNOON AND EVENING

Hit the West End, London's playground, where crowds flood from Tube stations, black cabs and red double-decker buses for late-night shopping, drinking, feasting and entertainment. Away from the bright lights and bombast of Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square, you have the districts of Mayfair, Chinatown, Covent Garden and Soho, where narrow, inviting lanes hide an intoxicating range of watering holes and restaurants, from old-stagers like Lamb and Flag, a former haunt of Charles Dickens (lambandflagcoventgarden.co.uk), to snazzy newcomers inspired by Jules Verne yarns (mr-foggs.com). Consider dining early so you can catch a play. The West End rivals Broadway for the planet's unofficial theatre capital (officiallondontheatre.com). Options include Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap, the world's longest-running show (uk.the-mousetrap.co.uk), and Grease, which returns to London from June 2 to October 28, 2023 (greasemusical.co.uk).

DAY THREE

MORNING

Stroll past Portobello Road's pastel houses.Credit: iStock

How's the weather? If it's wet and you're not suffering from museum fatigue, the British Museum in Bloomsbury has an astonishing (free) permanent collection, headlined by the Parthenon Sculptures and the Rosetta Stone, along with special for-a-fee exhibitions (britishmuseum.org). If it's nice weather Tube it instead to Notting Hill, where the eponymous 1999 rom-com, starring Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts, was set (and which throngs with flamboyantly-clad carnival revellers on the last weekend in August). Mosey along Portobello Road, whose pastel houses, antiques shops and bookstores provide an Instagrammable backdrop to pop-up markets. Saturdays are liveliest, but stalls flaunting bric-a-brac, vintage clothes and cutting-edge fashions trade here throughout the week (portobelloroad.co.uk).

AFTERNOON

From Aussie brunch spots (thefarmgirl.co.uk) to Adele's old local (thedukeofwellingtonpub.com), Notting Hill has plentiful food options, but enticing alternatives dot Little Venice, a postcard-pretty neighbourhood located where two canals meet behind Paddington station (three stops on the Tube from Ladbroke Grove, close to Portobello Road). Both The Waterway (thewaterway.co.uk) and The Summerhouse (thesummerhouse.co) have canalside terraces and menus to please vegans, vegetarians, pescatarians and carnivores. Fancy going to Camden afterwards? Idyllic canal trips (londonwaterbus.com) connect Little Venice with this quirky north London district, which rocks day and night with eclectic markets, cosmopolitan food courts, street art, classic boozers and live venues where Madness, The Clash, Blur and Amy Winehouse made their mark (camdenmarket.com).

LATE-AFTERNOON AND EVENING

Join the queues at London's legendary 24-hour beigel shops.Credit: iStock

If Camden doesn't appeal, return to Paddington, where you can photograph the statue of a certain marmalade sandwich-loving bear (he's on platform 1), then delve underground to the Elizabeth Line (tfl.gov.uk). London's latest marvel of engineering, this glossy railway slashes journey times as it burrows east-west beneath the capital and out into suburbia (plus Heathrow airport). From Paddington, it takes just 11 minutes to reach Liverpool Street, where the buzz of the City of London merges into the East End quarters of Spitalfields, Shoreditch and Brick Lane. There's something for everyone in this increasingly-gentrified part of town: glammed-up markets (spitalfields.co.uk), trendy boutiques (boxpark.co.uk/shoreditch), Michelin-starred restaurants (lyleslondon.com), stalwart curryhouses (shebabricklane.com), hip hotel rooftops (onehundredshoreditch.com), spruced-up pubs (thegunlondon.com) and clammy dance floors (xoyo.co.uk). And if you're feeling peckish after a late one, join fellow tourists and Londoners queueing for the legendary 24-hour beigel shops (thebeigelshop.com and bricklanebeigel.co.uk).

Steve McKenna was a guest of Visit Britain (visitbritain.com)