Lifting of Covid border restrictions puts Britain within reach
With the announcement that international borders are opening again, Britain’s buzzing capital awaits. London, here we come!
You’re never short of things to do in London. It’s the sheer breadth of activities, events and cultural institutions on offer that makes it so exciting. The fact some of the best are free (or involve grazing your way through inexpensive markets) just adds to the buzz. Of course, London can be breathtakingly glitzy too. The trick is to flit effortlessly between the two worlds, so pack your glad rags as well as your trainers. With Qantas now planning to resume flights to the city on November 14, that heady mix of glitter and grime, culture and commerce, cocktails and craft beer, is waiting for you.
1 Cross the Millennium Bridge
Start with a fanfare and tune into London in all its giddy, haphazard glory by taking a walk from St Paul’s Cathedral to the Tate Modern art gallery. It starts well enough, as you emerge from the Tube, beneath Sir Christopher Wren’s stately dome. But things get properly eye-popping as you soar above the Thames on one of Europe’s loveliest river crossings: the Millennium Bridge. From here the twin peaks of London’s recent revival are obvious. Behind and to your left, rear the office blocks of the City of London, the scene of what was one of the world’s great gold rushes. Meanwhile, straight ahead, the Tate and Shakespeare’s Globe beckon.
2 Tour Tate Modern
Once you’ve crossed the Thames, keep going, straight into Tate Modern. Entry is free, but it’s worth paying for a timed slot at one of its temporary exhibitions; pick a 10am, midweek window for the best chance of elbow room. These shows tend to focus on one of the greats of late-19th and 20th-century art, and are usually peppered with masterpieces. Allow time for all the gorgeous public spaces. Cafes, bookshops, places to sit and think – the Tate is full of them, topped off by the magnificent Turbine Hall.
3 Shakespeare in the round
At the Globe Theatre, a copy of the Elizabethan original, the Bard’s wit and creativity fly at you across four centuries, with all the immediacy of an arrow. Book not just a tour, but a performance of one of the summer-season plays (usually from April to October) and, if your legs are up to it, see it while standing in the Yard, immediately in front of the stage.
4 Snack your way through Borough Market
Southwark’s other big draw is Borough Market. It’s open all week, but Saturday is the main event, and in any normal year it’s heaving by 11.30am. Skip breakfast, get there by 8am, and spend the whole morning tasting strong coffee, flaky pastries, fresh oysters, ripe stilton and street-food flavours from across the world.
5 Sup a pint at The George
You have one more appointment before you leave Southwark. Just down the road from Borough Market, at 77 Borough High Street, lies The George, London’s only surviving galleried coaching inn. It may be owned by the National Trust, and fronted by wonky, 17th-century balustrades, but don’t imagine a sanitised cafe slathered in heritage paint. This is a proper boozer, with soccer on the telly.
6 Book a table at the top-floor bar in Searcys Helix restaurant
Sure, the Shard is higher. But as any Londoner will tell you, the office block at 30 St Mary Axe – universally known as the Gherkin – is far lovelier. There’s an added buzz that comes from being right in the thick of the City of London. Book a table at the top-floor bar in the Helix restaurant, set beneath a soaring glass ceiling, and get ready to sip your cocktails amid the high-flyers of London’s financial hub.
7 Hear Evensong at Westminster Abbey
It doesn’t matter what your religious beliefs are, Evensong at this English cathedral – a choral tradition fine-tuned by successive generations of composers and choir masters since 1549 – is one of the most ravishing experiences these islands can muster. The pace is steady and thoughtful, and the polyphonic music profoundly comforting. Better still, it’s free. Congregations of 500 routinely gather at the abbey to hear the weekday service at 5pm, so arrive by 4.30pm for a seat.
8 Explore the British Museum
Yes, it’s filled with imperial loot, and the Elgin Marbles should probably be sent back to Athens, but don’t let that put you off. The 50,000 objects on display at the British Museum are the cream of an eight million-item collection, and if you have any interest in human history almost every one will give you goosebumps. The artistry of the makers is jaw-dropping, whether it’s the rippling, muscular relief of an Assyrian lion hunt, carved around 645BC, or the extraordinary bronze sculptures from 16th-century Benin, west Africa.
9 Book a Blue Badge walking tour
It takes two years to train as one of London’s Blue Badge guides, who set the gold standard in walking tours. Everything from street art in Shoreditch to a straightforward, four-hour introduction to London’s highlights is on offer. Should your budget allow, a private guide will tailor a tour to your tastes and interests. Either way, expect erudition, levity and cliche-busting details, with a price tag to match. Private tours usually cost about £300 ($565) a day.
10 Search for Harry Potter
Any muggle who’s serious about Harry Potter should head to Watford’s Warner Bros Studio Tour. This dazzling collection of film sets and props includes the original Gringotts Bank, Diagon Alley and the Great Hall of Hogwarts. If you don’t have time for a day trip to Watford (20 minutes by train to Watford Junction plus 15 minutes on a shuttle bus), there are lots of central London stop-offs to compensate. King’s Cross Station, Piccadilly Circus, Australia House, Lambeth Bridge have all featured in the films.
11 Cherry-pick the National Gallery’s collection
London’s big museums are not only world-class, they’re free, so there’s no pressure to view an entire collection in one visit. The National Gallery is a case in point. Packed with art treasures from the Middle Ages to the late-19th century, it’s indigestible if taken as a whole. Research online before you go and cherry-pick its masterpieces. Start, perhaps, with Bellini’s clear-eyed Portrait of the Doge Leonardo Loredan, followed by Leonardo’s ethereal Madonna of the Rocks, Caravaggio’s space-stretching Supper at Emmaus, and Rembrandt’s portrayal of Margaretha de Geer.
12 Swim at the London Aquatics Centre
The eastern hub of the 2012 London Games, now the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, paved the way for a new kind of public outdoor space. Go for a picnic in one of the quiet spaces near the Blossom Garden. Bring your bathers; the main 50m pool at the late Zaha Hadid’s curvaceous London Aquatics Centre is a thrilling place for a swim (book online). Imagine: Michael Phelps won four gold and two silver medals here, roared on by a crowd of 17,000.
13 Take tea at Claridge’s
Afternoon tea in one of London’s five-star hotels is an extravagant experience. Claridge’s in Mayfair serves one of best, with melt-in-the-mouth cakes and pastries, truffle-seasoned chicken sandwiches and a 20-plus choice of teas and infusions. The sense of occasion is enhanced by the pianist and the glittering, high-ceilinged room. Cancel all plans for dinner afterwards; you won’t have room for anything more than a rice cracker.
14 Sit at the Houses of Parliament
As political theatres go, the Palace of Westminster is hard to beat. For history, there’s Westminster Hall, heavy with 14th-century hammer beams and stories of show trials and coronation banquets. For visual drama, you’ve got Big Ben and all the neo-gothic exuberance of Charles Barry and Augustus Pugin’s architecture. And for high politics and low cunning you’ve got the House of Commons – its beating heart. Take a guided tour to better understand the context, and if possible book a free seat in the viewing gallery during prime minister’s questions.
15 Drool over the Crown Jewels
Entry to the Tower of London costs almost £30 but if you like a bit of sparkle and the whiff of royal pageantry, nothing beats a tour of the Crown Jewels – not even a trip to Buckingham Palace about 5km away. Together, the Sovereign Orb, St Edward’s Crown and Imperial State Crown (replete with 2868 diamonds) are the last word in bling, and they’re given extra impact by the armed guards and strong-room doors you have to pass to reach them.
16 Dig into the Natural History Museum
Where to start? Half of creation seems to be crammed into the Natural History Museum’s Victorian galleries. The easiest route to an overview is to book a private guided tour. Failing that, try one of the museum’s self-guided tours, or focus on one of its four coloured zones, having first paid your respects to the famous T. Rex animatronic. Then, at the end, visit the galleries devoted to human evolution, which explain how we got here and what defines us.
17 Taste the wine at Berry Bros
The district of St James is an eccentric place, full of charmingly single-minded shops. Shirts, cigars, cheese and antique suits of armour are all on sale here. Wine too, if you saunter down St James’s Street to the low doorway of Berry Bros & Rudd. The company can trace its origins back to 1698 and once specialised in coffee, but fine wines and spirits are its stock in trade now. The cellars have been modernised, and their vaulted, brick-lined tasting rooms play host to a busy program of evening tastings. Save up and book ahead to sample the greats – vintage champagnes, claret, burgundy, the super Tuscans.
18 Step on board the Cutty Sark
Britain made its fortune on the high seas. The Cutty Sark, a fast tea clipper built for trade with China, is crewed by a cast of actors, full of stories about life on board a square-rigger. A visit to the ship is a great excuse to ride one of the scheduled river-bus services or take a sightseeing cruise to Greenwich. Get more of Britain’s seafaring backstory at the National Maritime Museum nearby.
19 Picnic in a park
Picnics are a defining summer experience in London, and Hyde Park is the obvious venue. Give al fresco dining an up-to-the-minute vibe by heading to more fashionable East London. On Saturdays, Broadway Market in Hackney is packed with street-food vendors and gourmet stalls, which you can raid en route to London Fields. Even more convenient is the Sunday market held in the vast green space of Victoria Park. Grab fresh bread, charcuterie, cheese and cooked fare such as Mexican fried chicken or Filipino spare ribs, find the nearest patch of grass, and flop.
20 Rotate around the London Eye
The view from the giant South Bank ferris wheel is still one of London’s best for three simple reasons: first, it overlooks many of the city’s most arresting sights. Second, the view constantly changes as you make your stately 30-minute progress around its circumference. And finally, you don’t have to ride a lift or hike up stairs to get there.
21 Dance your way to Sadler’s Wells
Taking in a West End show is a must, especially one preceded by cocktails in Soho or Covent Garden. But if dance, rather than song, is your thing, book a show at Sadler’s Wells. At the southern tip of Islington, this state-of-the-art theatre attracts the world’s best choreographers and dance companies, and its program is ever-changing. Tickets are hard to come by, so book whatever’s on as soon as your travel dates are finalised.
THE TIMES
