To ask for your not overly touristy London recommendations?

[Emily3325]

I've managed to snag Bayeux Tapestry tickets for myself and my husband for February. We only visit London maybe once a year and have done most of the tourist hotspots (London Eye, the Tower, etc.). We aren't big drinkers and love history. I'm looking online, and all I'm seeing are escape rooms and similar things. What are some underrated bits to get up to? We're in London for 3 days and will be going to watch a show on the West End on one of the evenings

If you like Medieval history specifically, Temple church and the British Library treasures gallery are both free - on the trail of magma carta. Charterhouse also nice. If you can be bothered traipsing all the way to zone 6, the Battle of Britain bunker near Uxbridge is great for that period of history with a newly renovated museum.

Oh and the Guildhall for medieval and ancient history in one place.

Following

The London docklands museum is really interesting! I prefer it over the maritime museum. It has a lot of character.

Really recommend the Tower of London and don’t miss the Beefeater tour ( included). Someone asked about St Peter ad Vincula. I’m afraid as it’s inside the Tower you would have to pay , unless you’re attending service. (If so, you’ll enter by Middle Drawbridge). However, All Hallows by the Tower ( bright green spire) is a fascinating visit , with Roman pavement etc in the crypt. The Mithraeum is also not far from here. My favourite fun thing to do is a rib boat ride down the Thames at top speed with the James Bond music blasting !.( Thames Rockets). If you take out HRP membership you could see the Tower, Kensington Palace ( have afternoon tea in the Orangery) and then Hampton Court Palace ( a 30 min train ride from Waterloo direct to Hampton Court). Also recommend a Thames Clipper ride to anywhere, ( eg: Greenwich or Canary Wharf) sipping a Prosecco. Lovely!

Not if your criterion is "not overly touristy."

How about Big Ben or the London Eye? 😬

If Roman appeals then within a few minutes walk of each other you have The Mithraeum under and brilliantly presented by,the Bloomberg building and then the Roman amphitheatre under Guildhall Yard (and part of the - free - Guildhall Art Gallery) The City at the weekend is superbly quiet!

The Churchill War Rooms is a good shout. My husband and I both really enjoyed it.

This thread is hilarious.

"Not overly touristy" recommendations include the Tower of London, St Paul's and Tate Modern.

WTF??!!

EDIT: "Boat trip on the Thames." Are you serious?

EDIT AGAIN: Shakespeare's Globe! Borough Market! The South Bank! Truly hidden gems!!

uber boat on Thames, nice to see lots of it from the river

The Wren churches - so much of interest and if you hit it right the guides are amazing.
Dennis sever's house, and Brick Lane for lunch.
A wander round Bloomsbury.
William Morris Society
Chelsea Physick Garden
G F Watts memorial wall

there are hundreds of specialist museums- pick a subject you are interested in and Google Museums- The Soane for architectural , florence nightingale/ welcome for health, Dickens for literary minded and so on.

Lunch at Borough Market then the Clink prison museum - underrated and very interesting - on the southbank not far from The Golden Hinde.

Jack the Ripper Tour, followed by a Brick Lane Curry
Tour of the Houses of Parliament
Old Bailey

If you like art, the Courtauld Gallery is also worth a visit.

Both really busy, you can't just wander peacefully about.

Boat trips are great, but only in good weather really. Maybe an all day boat ticket and get around between places that way?

If you love history, I recommend:

Sir John Soane Museum
Dennis Severs House - a candlelit weavers' home, left just as it might have been in Huguenot times. Spitalfields
Near Dennis Severs is the museum of Museum of the Home, which is living rooms from Tudor times to modern day. It's a wonderful trip down memory lane.
Mithraeum (it's a short visit but free)
Imperial War Museum
V&A (free)
Postal Musuem with a ride on the tiny underground train that used to carry mail around London

Hampton Court is lovely, but quite a long way out, so it depends if you want to do more things. I could happily spend a day there, they have audio guides which are really interesting.

If you want to avoid touristy crowds, don’t go to Borough Market, which is always heaving.

I love the Devonshire in soho but need to book well in advance

A tour about a man who murdered and mutilated women. Really?

We really enjoyed the Brunel Museum in Rotherhithe. About a 20 min walk from London Bridge.

Gordon Wine Bar - delicious cheese boards in romantic cellar setting

Look up London walking tours are fab, as is the gourmaze sweets trail, the hidden London trials and the amazing.co Greenwich mystery picnic.