48 hours in London | United Kingdom

London is a very big and exciting city and if you are planning a weekend break here, you are in for the experience of a life time.

With so many options in terms of what to see and do though, you may wish to put a bit of thought into planning London weekend breaks beforehand, so that you can maximise the time you have available.

One thing you may not wish to be doing as part of your whirlwind tour is to spend precious time queuing for tickets, so if you can buy these in advance, so much the better.

The London Eye by Trine Juel

The London Eye is emerging as one of the top tourist destination in the city. It’s on the south bank of the river and provides a panoramic view of the entire city and beyond. The Eye is close to the Tate Modern Art Gallery and not too far for the reconstruction of the Globe Theatre where Shakespeare’s plays were first performed.

On the other side of the river sits the City of London where you’ll find St Paul’s Cathedral. This magnificent building was designed by Christopher Wren in the years following the great fire of London (1666) and contains the graves of many famous people including Wellington, Nelson and Wren himself. It is a fair old climb to the top of the dome but worth it to experience the Whispering Gallery and of course the views.

East again into the city and you’ll find the Tower of London where you can immerse yourself in more than 900 years of history. The Beefeaters, famous ravens and of course the crown jewels all help to provide a fascinating insight into London’s sometimes gory past.

Tower Bridge London by Steve Wilson

The British Museum and the National Gallery must be on your list of places to visit in London if you are interested in history and art. With literally millions of exhibits and paintings from many of the world’s most famous artists, these two locations are truly awe-inspiring.

No weekend in London would be complete without the opportunity to do some shopping. Depending on your own personal tastes there are the famous markets at Camden Lock and Portobello Road. For more conventional shopping, there’s the world famous Harrods in Knightsbridge and of course the Oxford Street, Bond Street, Regent Street and Piccadilly.

After all that sightseeing you may need some well-earned refreshment and the one thing that London is not short of is a huge variety of restaurants and bars. You’ll find food from all corners of the world.

There is, of course, a huge variety of entertainment on offer and you may wish to include a visit to one of the fantastic west end shows to your itinerary.

With many of the famous tourist attractions all relatively near each other, you can obviously fit in a fair number in your 48 hours in London. You may have to be realistic though and acknowledge that you’re just going to have to come back again!

About the Author
Stella Jones is a freelance travel writer who has set herself the task of seeing every country in the world by the time she is fifty! Her articles cover all things travel and travel related, including Weekend breaks in London

Tags: camden lock, christopher wren, city of london, crown jewels, exciting city, fire of london, globe theatre, great fire of london, great fire of london 1666, London Eye, london weekend, modern art gallery, personal tastes, places to visit in london, planning london, tate modern, tower of london, whirlwind tour, whispering gallery

Category: Cities, Cities