London adults only

[Bennybannsider2]

Two adults, been to London many times but in the past 15 years only with kids. We will arrive late morning on Monday and leave late afternoon on Wednesday. We have a Tower of London tour on the Tues evening, and will visit Buckingham palace on Wed morning for the changing of the guard, and apart from that the world's our oyster.....

Any fun, slightly different ideas? We have never made it on the Emirates cable car so maybe that? We can walk miles. Also need to factor in nice food, ideally not expensive (ie under £40 pp) and some type of foreign cuisine we can't get at home (which is most.)

Well, what do you like doing? There’s no ‘standard’ London stuff that’s going to interest everyone. I’d be cramming in as many art exhibitions as possible and seeing if anything interesting was on at the ROH, the NT, the Royal Festival Hall or the Wigmore Hall, but unless you’re interested in art, theatre or classical music, that would probably bore you rigid! ‘Foreign cuisine’ covers a lot of ground — again, what do you like?

Sky garden? It's free but you have to book well in advance. Or the Shard. Or Battersea Power station. You can go up inside one of the chimneys. Not cheap though. Cn you tell I like heights?

St Pancras for the shops, Coal Drops Yard for shopping and food, British Library for the free 'Treasures' exhibition if you like books/maps/history (they have a copy of Magna Carta). Tapas at the Norfolk Arms, a short walk away.

The cable car is a bit of a trek if you are not in the area - we mainly went because we knew our small kids would like it. I wouldn't go especially as an adult.

We went to the National Portrait Gallery recently and that was fab.

I haven't been but the Marie Antionette exhibition at the V&A looks good.

If you are visiting the Tower of London I suggest Bermondsey street for food. Casse Croute is nice at will be in budget if you are not drinking. Jose is great for tapas - the next door restaurant Lolo is sit down but still quite casual.

Edited as I misread your OP.

Bump, as going soon too.

An uber boat along Thames

Battersea Power Station? It's a bit different - you can go up one of the iconic chimneys or views along the river and there are places to eat. I wouldn't do the cable car - It's out of the way.

If you’re going to do the cable car and I think it goes from there then do a Thames clipper Uber boat ride to Greenwich. Lots to do there.

Sky garden, it is near the tower so would be a good place to visit after.
We had food up there or you can just book to go up to the bit with a bar and have a drink

I like a look around the national gallery or Tate modern, both free so you can spend as long as you like there.

Can recommend the guided tour of Highgate Cemetery. All about the history, how it came to be and developed. Not a tour of the burial sites of the rich and famous, you can do that in your own time either before or after.

This is free and near Bank. Quite interesting.

https://www.londonmithraeum.com

The cable car is not the most exciting activity. It doesn’t go anywhere useful unless you are doing something in the O2, and the view isn’t of anything particular.

If you’re already going to the Tower of London, I would recommend the Guy Fawkes immersive experience next door to it, and lots of nice food in St Katherine’s Dock also next door but on the other side.

Also recommend one of the official London walks, you’ll learn all sorts of interesting trivia and see hidden nooks and crannies.

Head to Brick Lane for plenty of good Indian food, or a few streets away from there for Tayyabs - top recommendation. Or China Town for Chinese food.

A nice thing to do is just to walk along the Thames. Start at Westminster bridge for example and just wander all the way down to Tower Bridge. Or go wild and book a speedboat trip down the Thames.

Sky Garden, The Shard, Kew Gardens (wonderful)
Climbing the o2, V&A museum, Tate Britain and Tate Modern, go watch a theatre show. Go to China Town. National History Museum. Science Museum, Colombia Road Flower Market. Walk along South Bank or Regent’s Canal. Brick lane for a curry. Battersea power station (great for shopping). Sunset ride on the London Eye. Thames boat ride. Canal ride in Camden Lock. Buckingham palace. Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club.

Uber Boat to Greenwich from Westminster or London Eye. You see all the sights. Then around Cutty Sark, Queen's House, Maritime Museum, Royal Observatory, beautiful Greenwich park and market, Brunel's foot tunnel, cable car etc. So much to do around there.

A walk along South Bank past (or into )the Tate Modern, the Globe and the old Anchor pub to Borough Market where you can taste lots of incredible food and buy a picnic lunch to eat by the Thames is fun.

I'd go to the National or Portrait Gallery or British Museum for an hour or so to look at some highlights - it's free. Maybe see a show - London is best in the world - way better than New York – for a wide variety of shows from musicals, opera, ballet, comedy, to new and classical plays.

For food - there are some incredibly cheap Japanese places in and around Soho and Covent Garden, like Eat Tokyo - about £10-12 for a massive bento box. Chinatown is fun for dumplings, very cheap Chinese bakeries, trad Chinese food and Korean grills or hot pots you cook at the table.

Some quirky things:

Dennis Severs' Museum - a candlelit Huguenot house dressed as if a family has just walked out the door, with laundry hanging from the stairwell.
Postal Museum - ride in the tiny underground train that used to carry letters across London.
Mithraeum - free tiny museum showing the ruins of an old Roman temple, but they suddenly recreate its walls with mist and light - it's quite atmospheric.
Climb up Monument for a lovely view of London
St Paul's whispering gallery

Dover Street Market for state of the art modern fashion (and a nice top floor cafe); Liberty's for beautiful fabrics and stationery

I think Noodle Time is still in Greenwich, that’s cheap and good. Paul Rhodes Bakery is a cafe/bakery which is excellent. Nice pub but forget the name by side of Thames.

Book a table at Brasserie Zedel on Piccadilly Circus. It’s a wonderful French Brasserie. There is also an American Bar for cocktails. You could look and see what is on at Crazy Coqs in the same place. They have cabaret every evening.

ComViet is a great Vietnamese cafe / restaurant for lunch if you are near Covent Garden.

Near Oxford Circus try Pahli Hill for the lunchtime Canteen Thali - the original owner was a course winner on the Great British Menu and they are Michelin listed - the thali is good value and delicious and under £20.

At Battersea Power Station Roti King under the railway arches is a good casual lunch option - Malaysian / Singaporean

Battersea power station also has a cinema in case you want to see a film.

Thanks for the suggestions, will look these all up and decide.

We have been to Coal drops yard and Brick Lane for food but could return. We have got the boat to Greenwich, and seen the sights there, but probably won't do that again, and same for the South bank/ globe theatre area- just prefer to try new places. Might go back to sky garden, it was a nice spot to relax. I will check out some of the small museums mentioned here too.

Has anyone done a good fun walking or cycle tour? We do like a guided walking tour but haven't done one in London.

I wouldn’t do the cable car, nuisance to get to and nothing much to see

I'd second Bermondsey Street - and you could also visit the Fashion and Textile Museum or HMS Belfast depending on your interests.

River boat to Greenwich (Maritime Museum/Meridian Museum/Fan Museum/Queens House or Greenwich market whichever takes your fancy) and then walk up the Thames path to the cable car. Elizabeth Line back into town is quick (Custom House station by the Excel centre).

Houses of Parliament - free to go in.

Tower Bridge if you want to get up close with a really interesting London icon! You can walk across the high enclosed gallery between the towers which has sections of glass floor looking down to the river below and fantastic views across London in both directions. Very interesting engine rooms and historic displays too. It's very good value (about £10 pp). You need to book a slot online but there's lots of availability.