Day out in London - any gems of wisdom?

[Chocolatecoin]

My friend and I have a day to spend in London, we have theatre tickets for the evening but I’d love some ideas of places to go that are a little different. We’ve seen the obvious places already, so thinking along the lines of parks, river, canal etc. We love walking, wandering, exploring, coffee shops, small town high streets. Really looking forward to our day but hoping people who know London better than me can recommend anything lovely? Thank you!

Primrose hill? Beautiful park with views over London. Nice high street with chi chi shops. You could walk to Camden if you fancy it. Or buy a guide to an alternative walk in London - they used to have loads for sale in the British library. You could do the medical walk, the siffragette’s walk, etc etc. They lead you all around town and give you some history

A wander up/down Marylebone High Street stopping for tea at the Wallace Collection would be lovely (Regent's Park is at one end and Bond Street the other). Lots of bookshops, coffee shops, delis etc. Or Lamb's Conduit Street is another dreamy little high street in Bloomsbury, off the beaten track but full of delights (Persephone Books, cafes, blue plaques, historic pubs).

I’d start at Regents Park - wander around and have tea at the lovely cafe by the lake, then walk down to Marylebone High Street - lots of lovely shops/delis/restaurants and flower stalls. Lunch at the Orrery if you’re feeling flush or Pain Quotidien if you’re not! Wander down through St Christopher’s Place - again lots of little shops. You can then hit Oxford St or get straight on the tube at Bond Street and go somewhere else for the afternoon, such as central line to East London and wander Brick Lane/Truman Brewery area. Enjoy

Will it be a weekday or Saturday or Sunday?

What kind of things do you want? Shopping? Museums? Art galleries? More parks?

I'd do a tour of Highgate cemetery. It's fascinating.

highgatecemetery.org/visit/cemetery/west

Thank you, will have a look at all of these. It will be a Saturday, I love the sound of Marylebone high street, that sounds perfect. Also primrose hill sounds exactly my thing and the cemetery sounds really interesting. Definitely looking for places a little less crowded, and smaller shops and high streets rather than oxford street.

There are some good ideas in the London topic www.mumsnet.com/Talk/london for adult days out - although you'll probably have to trawl through a few of the threads!

Highgate Cemetery is indeed fascinating. From there it's an easy walk to Hampstead Heath (walk through the Holly Lodge Estate). Make sure you go via the Parliament Hill viewpoint for views of central London. Then you can walk on to Hampstead Village, which is very pleasant in a similar way to Primrose Hill.

That would fill a day at a civilised sort of pace.

Berwick Street
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berwick_Street

Kingly Court off Carnaby St for restaurants

www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/place/924587-kingly-court

Brompton Cross
www.bromptoncross.london/

Also Portobello market - personally I hate it with a passion but plenty of people will disagree.

Thank you so much for all your ideas. I think I have the beginnings of a plan - a walk along Regents canal through Regent’s Park, a look around primrose hill, a bit of Marylebone high street and ending in Camden. As long as we have a reasonably dry day I think that sounds perfect. Lots of stops for tea and cake too. Getting very excited now! Thank you!