London on my own for an afternoon - what shall I do?

[TR888]

For the first time in ages I’ll have a whole afternoon all to myself when I go to London next week. I’m looking forward to it but don’t want to “waste” my time there just walking around looking at the the shops. What shall I do? I was thinking of going to the Tutankhamun exhibition as I thought it was already on, but it doesn’t start until November.

It doesn’t have to be an exhibition though! What would you do? I’ll be staying inBlackfriars, if that helps.

Really need ideas!

If it was a matinee day I would be straight to the theatre.

Chelsea physically Garden
Walk round libertys
Christmas shopping
Go to a show

Theatre? You might be lucky getting a good seat, seeing as you'll be alone.

Oooh, the Chelsea Physic Garden sounds lovely... I’d never heard of it!

Liberty's

But Liberty's just a shopping centre at the end of the day. I was thinking something different...

I'll also look into theatre plays, I think.

I'd probably go to the v&a or another museum and maybe a decent bookshop if theres time for both

Sky Garden for coffee/lunch?

I'd go for a walk in Hyde Park then over to the Anthony Gormley at the Royal Academy. Followed by afternoon tea at Fortnum & Mason.

Tate modern then
Walk along river
V and a

Yes, V&A Museum. Or Tate Britain / National Gallery / National Portrait Gallery.

I love the natural history museum and could spend hours there. Last time I went I visited the Gallery on Trafalgar Square (can't remember what it's called) and saw the Monet exhibition. It was glorious!
I'd also go to Borough Market for food.

Walk the City, love the old and new buildings, Bank of England museum, Sky Gardens, Leadenhall market. Cross the river at London Bridge, Tate Modern, people watch, London Eye, Festival Gardens, up to Hungerford Bridge, cross over and back to Blackfriars along the Embankment. If you are not a local cross over at Westminster Bridge for Houses of Parliament etc. I love walking in London ❤️

You may be lucky with theatre (my mum has on a couple of occasions, was very pleased to see Billy Elliott). If not, I would suggest the Willam Blake exhibition at Tate Britain or Anthony Gormley at the Royal Academy.

Since you are at blackfriars I would stay quite local, and since you only have an afternoon I would keep it small.

I would go the the Textile Museum in Bermondsey, easy ish walk from Blackfriars station, they usually have interesting and quite small exhibitions there, I think they are doing a Zandra Rhodes retrospective this Autumn but not sure when it starts. I would then go to Borough Market, making sure I went to the neals yard cheese shop . There is a lovely French florist near there called Chez Michelle, used to be in the market but has now moved but is close, they do beautiful little posies, and I might treat myself to one of those . Finish off by walking back along South Bank enjoying the sights, one of my favourite places in London.

If you do go to Chelsea Physic then I advise you to have lunch in the cafe at the Army Museum close by, the Chelsea physic caterers changed this year and not for the better, but the army museum cafe is lovely and very reasonably priced, especially considering the area. The army museum is worth a visit in its own right, they have a great exhibition on at the moment about the man who was responsible for many of the propaganda posters in the war, you will recognise them as soon as you see them, they are so iconic, and the story behind them is really interesting.

@soontobesixty

National Gallery.

Zandra Rhodes opened this week .And they have a Norman Hartnell bit on as well. Must get down there!

Leonardo da Vinci exhibition at Buckingham palace?

My first choice would be a show, but if not then a visit to the planetarium in Greenwich.

I also quite like the Brass Rubbing Centre in St. Martin in the Fields church just off Trafalgar Square.

My go to is The Wallace Collection, roughly behind Selfridges.
And the National Gallery.

Southbank centre. Always loads going on in the complex. The Koestler exhibition is free and always good although I haven’t been to this years yet. There’s also free stuff in the Hayward Gallery this week. There’s at least one free performance a week. And theres a decent size book shop there too.

So many ideas! Thanks xxxx

I live in London so here's what I would do. From Blackfriars it's a lovely walk along the station bridge to Borough Market (yum!) Southwark Cathedral and Tate Modern. If time after all that, continue down the river past the Oxo tower which has gorgeous artisan studios to the National Theatre and/or the BFI where you could catch a play or a classic film.