24 hours in London by myself - what should I do?

[Ilearnitfromabook]

Hi everyone
On Saturday I am going to London to the Tate (tickets booked) and have decided to treat myself to an overnight stay. I will be in London from Sat - Sun lunchtime and any ideas of what I could do or where I could eat in the evening would be great. For context, I’m 43 and a lone parent - DD6 will be with her dad - and I don’t get much time to myself. I like art galleries, books, the outdoors, classical and jazz music and good food. Any ideas would be great!

And maybe pick up your DD a Hamleys teddy (regent st ☺️)

Just saw you’re a reader - if you are in Piccadilly - Maisonette Assouline has a beautiful cafe/bar, which would be lovely to sit surrounded by the stunning (and eye watering lot expensive) books, it’s right by Fortnum & Mason so very easy to get to.

Sorry Maison not Maisonette silly autocorrect!

Take an evening walk along the Thames either side, but I really like the Tower Bridge to London Bridge one on the South Bank takeaway cocktail in hand or an early morning one. Borough Market to sniff around the food stalls on Saturday (but will be crowded). Columbia Road for the flowers and theatre on Sunday? (Think it's opened up again)

I second the suggestion of taking the Thames Clipper - there’s a stop by the Tower and another one right by Tate Britain so it’s ideal. Plus you get a great view of everything in between
Might be worth to get a day pass which allows you to hop on/hop off. Could even venture as far as Greenwich if you fancy, which has a lovely park and great views.
Near the Tower you’re also not far from Wilton’s Music Hall which is worth a visit even if you just go for the bar. Haven’t been there since Covid so best check beforehand.
Food - Bermondsey Street is great and not too far out of the way, with a number of different restaurants. Or Sat during day time there’s Maltby street market.

Daunt Books in Marylebone (up from Oxford Street) is lovely dauntbooks.co.uk/shops/marylebone/, as is the whole area... and Marylebone Farmer's Market takes place on Sunday mornings. VERY strong recommend and you can nip into the Conran Shop afterwards or the Wallace Collection.

Snap Youngatheart

I've just seen you like music as well - the Wigmore Hall has Sunday morning concerts at the moment in Portman Square (also near Marylebone) wigmore-hall.org.uk/whats-on/beaten-track-ensemble-202105301100

If you like Sewing Bee you can visit the location Quay, you can get a boat from the 02. From your hotel you can get the boat to Greenwich, it's the craft market day on Saturday,the 02 and the Tate Britain. There is also a boat between Tate Britain and Tate Modern, you can look around The South Bank there is a market and fair on Saturdays, the Globe Theatre and the Swan Restaurant does lovely afternoon tea. Borough Market is nice to walk around, the weather forecast is good for the weekend.

Thank you so much to everyone who has posted - plenty for this weekend and a few in the future too! I am very grateful to you all for taking the time to share your thoughts with me

How about taking the River boat down to Greenwich on the Sunday?
You can visit the observatory (great views over London) and then browse the market