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

I’d strongly recommend London Walks. I live in London & have done many of these over the years. Really informative & they’re are lots to choose from, depending on your interests or location.
https://www.walks.com/

The Freud Museum and Design Museum may be worth a visit. Check opening times for both of them.

Enjoy.

One of my favourite walks these days is to start at Bond Street station (Davies Street entrance), have a stroll around Grosvenor Square (the gardens have recently been refurbished), then walk down to Burlington Arcade. When you come out the RA (Royal Academy of Arts) is to your left. There's usually a good exhibition and you can have a nice lunch/coffee in the cafe on the ground floor. Depending on how much you like walking, Green Park is opposite, you can walk down to Buckingham Palace and cross over to St James Park which is one of my favourites. There's St James cafe at the bottom, lakeside which has lovely food and you'll be at the other end of The Mall then (near Trafalgar square).

Hampton Court Palace is wonderful.

I didn't notice on what day @Emily3325 is going home. Someone may have already posted this information, but... lots of museums and galleries are not open on Mons and sometimes Tues. CHECK! However, if you are using King's Cross or St Pancras, you might like to go into the British Library near there. It shd be open The main display is continually 'refreshed', but generally has something of interest.

This. This. This!!!! https://smithsonianstarstruck.com/london/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=pfm&utm_campaign=662678_lon&utm_content=&utm_term=_&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=24066164109&gbraid=0AAAAADGO9U-uu7BAsPMxm962MUXr5YYHV&gclid=Cj0KCQjw5bjVBhCiARIsAJzMVnQRwXU0rmjG3NVIIh3FsdZvLqsj-SLFwCjiNxB6Qi1QWWymHRnSAvUaAkziEALw_wcB

I live between London and the west coast of Ireland and there’s barely an attraction I haven’t attended over the years. This was possibly my favourite thing ever! I did it with DDs (teens) and DSis over the summer and we were ALL blown away. I don’t understand why there aren’t queues around the block 😂

This walk is very good: https://www.walks.com/our-walks/the-monument-the-moon-and-malta-urban-geology-on-eastcheap/

I would say that the Jack the Ripper museum is very interesting as its focus is the women who were killed and what their (absolutely miserable) lives were like as streetwalkers. It’s not a ghoulish jokey experience.

I was told they refused to stock 'The Five' in their book shop because it was properly researched and revealed that not all his victims were prostitutes which went against their narrative, so I am surprised to hear it centres on the women not the mystery of who the murderer was.

If you fancy a riverside walk and you get OK weather (I know it will be Feb), get away from the tourist crowds and get the District Line to Putney Bridge tube. Go to the actual bridge (a few mins walk) and drop down onto the riverside walk at Bishops Park. Walk along the paved walk towards Hammersmith Bridge. Stop at the renovated Fulham football stadium for a coffee or there is a restaurant upstairs with stunning Thames views over the river and towards the London Wetlands centre across the river in Barnes. It really is a stunning part of the river. The stadium has nothing to do with football - as long as it's a non-match day! - it is a multi- purpose luxury development with cafes, restaurant, a hotel and spa. Then carry on to Riverside Studios by Hammersmith Bridge. Maybe see a film or there's lots of quaint pubs if you pass under the bridge (the Dove, is a nice cosy one). From here, you can head back into town from Hammersmith tube. Or, if you want to walk more, you can cross Hammersmith Bridge (now pedestrians and bikes only) and then walk back to Putney along the beautiful Barnes towpath on the south side of the Thames. Or go into Barnes maybe - it's like a village in London with a duck pond and vibe to match. Makes a change from the West End - see how people actually live. It's only Zone 2/3. From Barnes, use Hammersmith tube to get back into town, or get the mainline train from Barnes station or Barnes Bridge and it's 15 mins or so to Waterloo. From there, you can walk to theatre land etc for your show.

If London gets too Londony, try Strawberry Hill House - secret gothic castle and the whole area is stuffed with historic sights
https://www.strawberryhillhouse.org.uk/

There are some great guided walks out there. I’ve done Dickens Christmas Carol which was fantastic so if the others are anything to go by I’m sure you could find one to suit.

Another lovely 'winter wander' would be to go to Sloane Square and onto the Kings Rd. See the Duke of York Square - there's a posh food market on Saturdays, but also other restaurants and the Saatchi gallery if this might interest you. Then from the Kings Rd, take a left down Walpole Ave or Royal Square or any left basically onto St Leonard's Terrace then go right and wander down these streets in the area between the river and Kings Rd. It's a conservation area. The Chelsea Physic Gardens are around there which are interesting at all times of year, If you go, peep out over the Thames from Swan Walk to get a glimpse of the Buddhist pagoda in Battersea Park. Then head towards roads like Upper Cheyne Row and the atmosphere is truly like something from a Dickens novel. Lovely pub there called Cross Keys. Nip through Justice Walk (where they used to march criminals before they boarded ships bound for Australia) and onto Old Church Street. Then do a right back up onto Kings Rd and catch a movie at the Everyman cinema; get dinner at any number of places along the Kings Road - or some retail therapy!

Bank of England museum and The Old Operating Theatre (with lunch down the road at The George on Borough high street)

We wanted to do a tour when we were in London in the Spring but the timings/dates didn’t work well for any of the highly recommended ones

It ends before our trip as does the Ramesses exhibition 💔

Oh no. I’m sorry 🙁

Yes, V&A. Really lovely space to spend time in. The kind of place I’d while away an afternoon (I’m a Londoner)

On the untouristy side: if you don’t live in a big city, try a cuisine you don’t have locally (Georgian, Burmese, Afghan etc?); if timings work try a church service one of the churches from 4 weddings (Great st Bart’s), or Temple church; use the Thames clipper to travel; watch a case in the RCJ (I think Old Bailey is difficult as you can’t take bags in, and could also be depressing); check what’s on at the royal opera house (sometimes they have less expensive stuff on during the day) and then mooch around Covent Garden

I’d go for the oxo tower restaurant or brasserie. Lovely walk along the Thames from the London eye

London mithreum (Roman temple) in the basement of the Bloomberg building.

God's Own Junkyard at the weekend when the cafe is open, out in Walthamstow but worth the trip if it's your thing

Have you visited the London Dungeon? It's great fun