What do you LOVE to do in London?

[Oesta]

I'm a Londoner and I've been feeling really down in the dumps reading about crime in London.

I need some cheering up to remember that this city is full of life and happiness and joy. What do you love to do?

I personally love the museums and want to start moving into art galleries next.

I'm with you on this. It's fascinating looking at faces. It feels very calm in there.

I go back and look at the same paintings over and over in the National Gallery. Will be returning to Mystic Nativity, the Wilton Diptych, and Surprised! And they have new exhibitions, paid and free. There was a great free Carravagio exhibition last year. Tate Modern has new exhibitions every few months.

Taking photographs at botanical gardens, capturing the beauty of various plants, flowers, and more.

Love going to the theatre, and discovering things can route from the station to the theatre.

Also loved people watching. You get all sorts in London- fascinating.

For those that like walks, there’s some free routes here which walk past the known, and less known sights in London.

https://www.londonforfree.net/walks/

Charity shopping on the King’s Road!

We don’t live in London but whenever we are there Harrods food hall and Fortnum & Mason are a must. As a tourist, I love the portrait museum and Tate; the walk down the Mall and the river bus up to Greenwich.

Walking. Walking. Walking. Especially in the city, Clerkenwell, Wapping, Rotherhithe. Just seeing the history and following alleys and odd little turnings and then happening on some lovely church or square or garden. Can't beat London. It's had everything.

I love walking down Kings Rd. it’s not like it was in the 1980s (when I was in my 20s), but it somehow always makes me happy. I think it’s partially nostalgia for that carefree time in my life, when I was just starting out and life was all before me. I used to stop in at Peter Jones for a tea and cake before they redesigned it too.

THE PG is my favourite - usually a lot less crowded than the NG, too. And there’s a really nice bar/restaurant in the basement, with a lovely open air section in summer.

There’s so many smaller galleries, museums and gardens. I’ve recently discovered The Garden Museum and the Chelsea Physic Garden. I also like the Fashion and Textile Museum, the White Cube Gallery and the Saachi Gallery.

The river
The fact that it is a collection of villages, each distinct from the other: Westminster, Pimlico, Chelsea, Fulham, Hampstead, etc.
Hidden gems like the Chelsea Physic Garden and St James's Park
The Opera and Ballet and numerous theatres.
Museums and galleries
And on a more shallow note, the shops: Liberty, Harvey Nicks, M&S the Pantheon, Fortnums and a walk from Piccadilly up Bond Street/Burlington Arcade to Marylebone High Street.

Art galleries. Theatre. Some of the best restaurants in the world. I love London.

There’s quite a few people on Insta who showcase loads of quirky or less well known places and facts. I love Look up London.

Picnic in a park on a sunny day. Nowhere does it like London. Our parks are always so full of joy in the summer.

I spent my first 40 years in London, and still go back regularly. I love:
Uber boats
Kew Gardens
Richmond Park
The Japanese Garden
Postmans Park
The Brand Museum
Horniman Museum
Parliament Hill
Walking along the river
People watching

I think it’s easy to get dragged down into thinking London is all crime and crowds, but there’s so much peace and beauty too.

Yes, we lived across the road from a big park, and, like most people locally, had no outside space of our own, so essentially used it as a garden in summer. We would take dinner and a blanket and eat it in the park surrounded by people doing similar — big, multi-generational groups with elaborate food, people playing instruments, doing yoga, tightrope walking between two trees, sunbathing, playing chess.

It was a real shock when we moved out of London to a village to suddenly live in a world where people drove home from work, disappeared into their front doors and were never seen again till they left again for work next morning. I hadn’t really thought before in terms of just how much private gardens and high car ownership privatise lives.

I love just walking about, especially in the posher areas. Always looking up! The things me and little one have spotted! She’s decided that she’s going to earn enough to buy a property that has a big enough balcony for a tree!

Definitely! DH and I had a countryside day out recently and laid a picnic blanket out in a large, public park, but I was actually quite embarrassed when I looked around and realised that everyone else was just walking past and smiling at us sweetly! If people did sit, it was for a few moments on a nearby bench whereas we had planned a whole day there!

Go on a pub crawl of all my old haunts in Holborn, Bloomsbury and the City.

The River/ Southbank
Wander down the canals in East / West London
Borough Market
Primrose Hill
Greenwich Park
Hampstead Heath
Richmond ParKew Gardens
Chelsea Physic Garden
Camden Market
Covent Garden
The Zoo
The Aquarium
Hyde Park
Portobello Rd Market
Amazing restaurants from all over the world
Theatre
Museums
Art Galleries

I often run to work and running over Tower Bridge in the morning never fails to make me happier.

I also love to stand at the top of One Tree Hill or next to the Observatory in Greenwich Park and look at the view

I love that it's always changing. And has been for centuries and centuries.

I love to get on the Piccadilly Line heading eastbound and watching the people, the tourists, who've just come from Heathrow and imagining what they will make of London and what they'll choose to do.

I love to ride up and down the river on an uber boat. (As long as it's not one of those ones that runs on sewage 😷)

I love it all year round.

I love living here in London. Only criticism is it closes much earlier than it used to pre pandemic.

No longer live in London, I do miss living so central!
Start in Vauxhall, walk down Albert Embankment and there’s an old Dutch barge moored just before Lambeth Bridge which is a lovely spot for a cold beer. A little further on Lambeth Palace Gardens. Then the Thames Path all along the Southbank, so vibrant. Another good spot for a cold beer is the Founders Arms by Tate Modern. From there a further stroll to Borough, or over the bridge to St Paul’s. Lovely!

apparently there are 190 museums in London and approx 250 galleries, so I doubt it! And even if you did see them all, by the time you'd finished they'd have new exhibitions and displays. It always amazes me when you see the size of the big museums that that's only a small % of their holdings - I see someone has already recommended the new V&A east. I'm looking forward to the new Museum of London site when it opens too.

Have you tried all the free viewing platforms like Skygarden, 120 Fenchurch, Horizon 22, the Lookout, cross rail place roof garden, one new change, etc? If you've done them in the day, try at sunset etc.

I love all the really ancient pubs. Also loved mudlarking as a pp has recommended. And the silver vaults and tours of the old cemeteries.