London visit advice please

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I've never spent any time in London. I fancy going but don't know where to start so I have decided to have several long weekends there next year so I can cover an area.
Can anyone help me come up with a plan.
My interests are modern art and popular culture, activities that are a little bit different, outdoors and science.
I'd like to see the Natural History museum at some point.

Has anyone got any ideas for an itinerary so that I can plan my time wisel. I will probabably be coming by myself but hoping DP can come on at least some of the trip as well.

First of all, which direction are you coming from and are you driving or getting the train ? Ideally you’d want to stay on that side of the city.

I would say for your first trip pick a handful of classic galleries and museums - Tate Britain, Tate Modern, the V&A, the National Gallery, maybe the Saatchi or the Whitechapel Gallery or the Hayward if you like modern art. Most of those are free so you can be quite flexible about your visits. The Natural History Museum gets hideously swamped with families on weekends and holidays so if you go, plan to get there for opening time or before that as there may even be a queue to get in then ! Or if you’re there for a long weekend plan to visit on a weekday instead when it’s slightly less busy. I would still try and avoid the middle of the day though as it will be mobbed by tourists.

I think you might like the area around Carnaby St and Soho, so plan a walk and a couple of meals in that area. The South Bank is really nice for a walk too. Browse the booksellers under Waterloo Bridge. Maybe go see a film at the BFI. Lots of places to eat around here too.

You can use contactless on the Tube and buses so it’s really easy to get around.

If you like popular culture, I'd suggest a look at the Museum of London - they look at London history but often have contemporary displays too. They have a good Suffragette display currently. It's near the Barbican centre too so you could visit that for some modern art too.

One of my favourite things in London is walking over the bridge from Embankment to the South Bank when everything is lit up at night so I’d recommend doing that and combining with a play/film or even just going for a drink. There’s lots of outdoor stuff going on as well in the summer.
Not specific to your interests but Greenwich is lovely. It’s good to explore in Central London off the beaten track of Oxford Street / Leicester Square etc. - you can buy a book of walks or just print some off the internet.

Southbank and South Kensington would cover a lot of that. Stay in/near one, visit the other.

Depending on what the weather's like you could catch a boat from Tower Bridge to Greenwich. It's especially good at night when everything's lit up.

Tube to Aldgate East for Whitechapel Gallery, walk up Brick lane for hipster happenings and atmosphere. Seventeenth century houses, try Denis Severs House to visit. Spitalfields Market then Liverpool st Station.

For science:

Wellcome Collection - free exhibitions and displays. And check out the Reading Room (not the library). It's on the main road near Euston station.
wellcomecollection.org/whats-on

Then do a little detour to North Gower Street to see where they did the external filming for 221b Baker Street in BBC's Sherlock.

There's the newly opened science/art gallery near London Bridge station.
www.kingsvenues.com/Science-Gallery-London/index.aspx

Yes to what a PP said about Whitechapel Art Gallery and then up to Spitalfields and Denis Severs house. There's a particularly intact street of original Georgian houses - Princelet Street.

Art:

Almost next to Tate Modern is Bankside Gallery. It has exhibitions of contemporary (with a small c) art of different categories, eg watercolour, printmaking etc. It's free but they welcome donations.

You could check out some of the commercial galleries in the Piccadilly area (plus a visit to Fortnum & Mason, if only to see the windows and ground floor food area). The galleries are to the north, around Cork Street, and to the south (can't remember the name of the road but Google White Cube Masons Yard and it's that area). Probably best to look on Google map and identify the galleries that way. Bear in mind some are only open Mon-Fri.

I think PPs mentioned the Hayward Gallery and Barbican for temporary exhibitions. There's the ICA on the Mall (Contemporary with a giant C) and nearby are the Mall Galleries (similar exhibitions to Bankside Gallery) but sometimes paid entry. That's between Trafalgar Square and Buckingham Palace so worth having a look if you're doing some mainstream sightseeing in that area.

Thank you for your replies.
I will be getting the train and coming down from near Preston.
It's funny that I have been to cities all over Europe but have always been intimated by London.
I'm looking forward to coming down soon.