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 love getting on the uber boats to places like Battersea power station the south bank or the city

I like going on the free guided tours they do at the National and National Portrait Gallery. I’ve been in those galleries loads of times but you always learn something new from the fantastically knowledgeable guides, and they often just focus on a few pictures to discuss a theme which feels manageable.

I also love it when you cross the river in central London at night, whether by bus or on foot. Everything lit up and it feels like the most beautiful city

The late at the Tate events are good - haven’t been for awhile but they usually have DJs and you can get a drink too

I also love it when you cross the river in central London at night, whether by bus or on foot. Everything lit up and it feels like the most beautiful city

When I come out of Charing X, Blackfriars or Cannon St on a train, I always try to be on the right side to see St Paul's as we cross the river.

While we've got all the London lovers here, what's the ultimate London song? Probably a generational thing, but I'd like to hear what others think before I reveal my own ideas.

Gotta be London Calling?

@HonoriaBulstrode Waterloo sunset

Being near to lots of interesting places.
Being around a broad mix of people from different backgrounds.
The Georgian and Victorian architecture.
The park.
Lots of different food and drink.

I remember why I felt sick is about the level of personal theft in London. Phone snatchings, car thefts and bike thefts

Watching IG reels of these fill me with just a bad feeling in my stomach. It's not happened to me, but happened to a friend and I feel sick. I just saw another IG reel about a phone snatching and everyone just looks along helplessly and nothing is done.

Pulp, Common People?

I mean I love London (mostly) but it certainly captures the inequality.

I choke up every time I cross Waterloo Bridge at night, it’s so beautiful.

I’m doing sections of the Capital Ring walk at weekends. The signposting is generally good but having the maps & directions definitely helps, & since they’re through popular areas there are usually other people around. I’ve done from Osterley Lock to Hendon Park so far & absolutely love it - it’s a completely different view of London.

www.innerlondonramblers.org.uk/ideasforwalks/capital-ring-guides.html

When I lived in South-East London I used to love catching the last train back from Charing Cross & going over Hungerford Bridge - and another amazing thing to do is to catch a boat from Greenwich into the centre at night, especially if you can sit outside.

With kindness, stop watching this stuff on IG. You are feeding the algorithm. The more you watch, the more examples it will give you. It’s not helpful, it’s not accurate and it makes you anxious.

Next time you feel worried, remind yourself that in 2025 there are nearly 10m living in London. All those people, living in close proximity… and yet the crime rate is remarkably low given the density of the population. Remind yourself of the goodness you see with your own eyes on the streets, on the tube, in shops, cafes, restaurants every day. If you must be on IG, retrain it to show you every day examples of Londoners being brilliant. In all sorts of situations, big and small.

Then go and sit at the top of the hill next to Alexandra Palace with a picnic and a trusted friend and admire and celebrate this wonderful city and the many good humans who live here.

Take a lunchtime stroll to London Wall and sit in the garden there and contemplate the incredible layers of history in the wall, and imagine all the millions of Londoners through the ages who have passed through. Some of whom lived through plague, fire, and The Blitz.

And then enjoy ticking off all the brilliant suggestions made by posters above… HAVE FUN!

Just back from latest trip with DS. I love coming out of a theatre at night and walking back to Southbank. I come from an increasingly run down northern city and the post theatre experience there is to get back to the car ASAP avoiding trouble in half-empty streets. I love how alive the centre of London is - families milling about, tourists taking evening photos, shops and cafes still open. I feel far safer in central London at night than I do at home.

Ride the tube
Go to a show on the west end

Fabulous, @EmpressaurusKitty — are you planning on doing the whole thing? I was obsessed with Iain Sinclair’s London Orbital, but only walked bits when we lived in London.

i love st dunstans in the east.

And also the Canary Wharf rooftop garden where there are machines that will print you out a short story.

The bar at the top of the Gherkin is fun too.

Get on an uber boat from the O2 back up the river around sunset.

I just feel like crap seeing the videos of constant robberies.

I love an urban hike.
Central to Hampstead heath, Turkish food in green lanes & finish with a dip in the pond.
Along the Thames from Kew bridge to either Richmond for shopping/food or Ham for history
Paddington to central through Hyde, green & st James park, end in a gallery.
Boat trip to Greenwich and walk over to black heath.
All stretches of the Thames are good. I love living in London.
I also love all the museums and galleries and Kew gardens. A mooch around Camden or Portobello road is always fun too.

I love the galleries - big and small, I love the quirky museums like Dennis Severs and John Soane. I love just milling around Central London finding brilliant coffee shops and good, cheap restaurants like Eat Tokyo, or going to gigs in small venues. I love strolling through St James with the pelicans wandering along beside me. Not done it for years but used to love swimming on Hampstead Heath and concerts at Kenwood. I love that there are still things I want to do and haven't yet got around to doing because there is so much in London.

I love London, the variety and energy. Generally I get there maybe once a year if that. When I do it is museums, art exhibitions (Frameless was excellent) and art galleries - not just the big ones. Try the Serpentine for something different.

I've actually been up a few times quite recently. I went to HMS Belfast for the first time, and walked from Liverpool Street, via Brick Lane, over Tower Bridge, which opened whilst I was on it and a Spanish Galleon sailed through! Pure luck!

I've also been to Hackney a few times recently too visiting someone in the hospital. Hop off the train wander towards the town and right by a church tower there's giant sculptures of avocados (or other veg) and the best falafel stall where you can buy a huge wrap and three lamb samosas for a tenner.

I can't get any of these delights in rural Suffolk!

as a pp said… stop watching them. It’s not helping you and it won’t change anything. People were getting their phones snatched outside Streatham ice rink 25 years ago; it is literally no different to now. The only thing that has changed is your access to videos of it happening.

This thread made me feel better. An IG reel came up and I felt like crap again.

Oh yes Hampstead ladies pond and Spitalfields Market are also some of my faves.

What videos?
i haven’t seen any.