Unexpected day on own in London

[thesafetydancer]

Posted here for traffic- and advice please?
DH is going to London on business and we thought it'd be a quick meeting however it's now going to take all day, so I'm going to be on my own and have no idea what to do? Ive only been to London a couple times but always with others who sort of took the lead iykwim, and always had plans pre booked.
Would love to go shopping but only know Oxford Street. Thought of a spa day but zero idea on where to start. It's overwhelming looking online/trip advisor.
Am not confident doing anything on my own recently (due to pregnancy loss) and have relied on DH for everything so am really hoping to embrace this experience and not panic like I am now!
So please any suggestions on what to do and also on how to be brave? I really want to do this and not cancel last minute which is what I'm worried I'll do and then regret.

Where are you staying/where's the meeting?

Yes sorry! Richmond.

If you like shoppping pick an area then just have a mooch round: Oxford Street, Covent Garden, Chinatown, Carnaby Street would all be good. If you fancy something more interesting then Tate, V&A or British Museum are fantastic. If I had a spare day I'd go to the British Museum, see the special exhibition on Troy, take my time over coffee/cake in the beautiful middle section. No idea on spas though.

I loved going to the museums on my own. It meant that I could view the exhibits at my own pace. Lots of people do the museums solo so you won't stand out.

Sorry! just seen you are in Richmond. You could take the District Line from Richmond and go to Kew Gardens. Or take the overground and go to Waterloo Station, then on the tube to wherever you fancy in London.

shopping on oxford street, then wander over to carnaby street. swing by liberties department store and have a cup if tea there.

from there you can walk to the national portrait gallery which is wonderful.

This is brilliant thank you. Especially the directions!!

Richmond is easy it has nice shops so I would shop there rather than oxford street. I’d then get district line from Richmond to south Kensington as no changes and go to v&a and go to the tea room there after having a mooch. Then come back to Richmond in the same way and go for a drink or some tapas next to the station. Easy and fun.

Quite like a rummage in a charity shop... are there any in Richmond? Would love to go to Liberty's too!

Unless you know what you want to buy, I always find Oxford St over whelming and rather depressing. So if you’re feeling a bit vulnerable I’d give shopping a miss.

Do like art, museums, or want to see a show? Museums, galleries and theatres are much nicer places to be.

Libertys is lovely! It’s just off Oxford St, so you could always have a mooch on Oxford St and then escape to Libertys when you’ve had enough.

I totally understand that the prospect of a day alone in London is daunting.

• How about finding a matinee? No idea how easy this would be but there must be a show somewhere with a few odd seats.
• lots of Museums
• check out which markets are on for the day you are there
• visit Kew Gardens

www.google.com/search?q=what+to+do+alone+in+london&oq=what+to+do+alone+in+london&aqs=chrome..69i57.10853j0j7&client=tablet-android-samsung&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8

You could get a matinee ticket?

Book of Mormon you can get amazing last minute tickets.

Then that's a few hours taken care of and entertained.

I was in London for a conference in November and I went down a couple of days early to enjoy a weekend by myself. I love mooching around Covent Garden - I went early to avoid the crowds and spent a fortune in the Moomins shop

You could also go to the TKTS booth in Leicester Square to see if there are any cheap shows that take your fancy.

If you are determined to go shopping then go to Peter Jones and then the Kings Road in Chelsea (get off at Sloane Square tube on the District line, very easy from Richmond). Which is much less overwhelming than Oxford Street. You are also pretty close to Harrods and Harvey Nicholls here (take a bus along Sloane Street). The back streets of Chelsea and Belgravia are amazing to walk around and gawp at all the multi million pound properties.

Great suggestions here, have a lovely day op.
I'd avoid Oxford Street.

I like to go to galleries on my own. There are plenty of free ones.

Oxford Street is mainly just chains isn't it, which is fine albeit busy and a bit boring unless you want something specific. How do you feel about travelling alone on the tube? Happy to do it alot or would you rather stay in one area which offers a variety of things to do? I lived in London for a good few years and was often alone at weekends due to my DPs work, so happy to suggest things!

Start at Waterloo. Exit towards London eye then walk east along Thames past southbank etc towards Tate modern. (Really easy to find Just follow the crowds )
Have coffee.
Leave Tate and cross over bridge to St. Paul’s You can’t miss it . Look at that. Then Get the tube, really easy to do just use your contactless card, from Saint Pauls tube station down to Oxford Circus. At Oxford Circus then you’ve got the full range of Oxford Street but more importantly Regent Street which is much nicer.
For lunch go down to Carnaby Street, it’s much nicer than it used to be cute shops etc and there on kingly street and all around there you have flat iron for wonderful steak or dishoom for curry, or polppo for Italian tapas (!)

Whenever I’m exploring a new place are use Google Maps and if you play around with it there is something called bookmarks and you can add places you want to see into our favourites folder. If I can manage to do it and you really can!!
Wear trainers -no one wears heels in London

I'd go to Kew Gardens and shop in Richmond. www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attractions-g191301-Activities-Richmond_upon_Thames_Greater_London_England.html

I did this last year, I went to the Tate, had a walk along the south bank, massive gin and tonic sat in the sun on the south bank, food market on south bank Harrods and Hyde park. It was fab.

After lunch, then you’re literally five or 10 minutes away from liberty.

Depends what kind of shopping but Kings Road is nice and there's Peter Jones (John Lewis) at the top, by Sloane Square. Also lots of nice places for coffee/lunch. From there it's not far to the west end if you wanted to see a show. There's also Westfield at white city.

If I had a whole day to myself in London (I live here so I do these things quite often) I would:
Start the day at a food market such as borough
Head to Covent Garden and shop
See a film at the Curzon Soho
Eat in Chinatown
Drink lots of coffee all through the day

you Can see a film anywhere.

Tickets to shows easy to buy last minute in any of the shops in Leicester Square.