Adventurous Things to do in London

UPDATED JULY 2024
By Dom Bewley
adventurous things to do in london

Calling all daredevils among you! Are you tired of boring, normal activities? Are you sitting at home right now, staring at walls? Are you on your slog of a commute hoping a ninja will jump out and start doing ninja stuff? You sound like the sort that yearns for that sweet adrenaline. Well, never fear, because London has plenty of white knuckle adventures to sate your hunger. But where are they? Well, here. In this handy list, we made just for you. The stars have aligned, and adventure is nigh! These are the best adventurous things to do in London!

Featuring:

  • ArcelorMittal Orbit
  • Sherlock Holmes: The Game
  • The Crystal Maze Live Experience
  • Helicopter Tours
  • Thames Rockets
  • and more!
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ArcelorMittal Orbit

Instead of sliding into some unsuspecting person's DMs, put down the phone and try a real slide. Built during the 2012 Olympic Games, ArcelorMittal Orbit is a towering structure. Looming over the Olympic Park, it stands at a whopping 114.5m tall, it's quite the sight. If you have the stomach to climb the hundreds of stairs it takes to reach one of the viewing platforms, you'll be able to see the whole city. But why not take it one step further - step inside the world's tallest slide, and ride it all the way down to the bottom? Its twists and turns are sure to delight all the daredevils out there. Just, maybe leave lunch until after you're done. No one wants to clean up that.

Sherlock: The Official Live Game

Dare you tangle with the maniacal mastermind Moriarty himself? Well, you can now, at Sherlock: The Official Live Game! Part escape room, part immersive Sherlock experience, and part bar, this thrill ride will pit your team's wits against Sherlock's nemesis. Featuring real props and recreated environments from the BBC TV show, as well as exclusive clips from the cast, use key detective work and problem-solving to crack the case. Sherlock's busy, doing Sherlock things like being unnecessarily arrogant, so you're on your own this time! But don't dally; you only have 100 minutes to complete the tasks. If you don't, you die! Okay, probably not. But you will bring great shame to your house.

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Crystal Maze Experience

Take a trip back to the bizarre but unique Nineties, replete with leopard print jackets, at the Crystal Maze Experience! Bring some friends and take on challenges in four unique zones. Use every ounce of mental and physical strength to complete challenges and get the crystals! Take too long, and you'll be locked inside forever! Or until your team gets you out. Whichever happens first. Then, you'll enter the crystal dome and flail about pathetically as you attempt to grab as many notes as possible. The winner, well, you'll have to find out what the victors win when you try it for yourself!

Go Ape

Do you ever wonder what life was like before, when our ancestors lived in the trees? Yes, evolution is real. Probably. And yes, you can relive your ancestral heritage at Go Ape! Suspended in safety, thanks to a key harness, you'll be free to tight-rope walk across a daring assault course in the sky. Then, when you've assaulted the course completely, ride down to terra firma in style on an exhilarating zip line! Feel the primal roar inside you grow. Know what it was like to live in trees. Maybe move into a treehouse with central heating. All this and more is waiting for you at the three Go Ape centres across London. Definitely one of the best things to do in London for the adventurous of you!

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Helicopter Tour

Yes, there are even more adventurous things to do in London! If trees aren't high enough, how about you try a few hundred metres higher? Hop on a helicopter and take a tour of the city! See all the city's sights from a new angle. Get a bird's eye view of legendary London landmarks like Big Ben, St Paul's Cathedral, the London Eye, and many more! Just like a bird! It might just be the best way to see the city you love. Or, at least, the city you tolerate.

Bungee Jump at the O2

Have you ever jumped off a building and lived? Probably not. But what if I told you you could jump off an entire arena and survive. Well, that's exactly what you can do at the O2 Arena! Climb to the top, suit up, and plunge nearly 50m down! Feel the wind rush past your face. See the city rush towards you. But don't worry, you'll be safe. And you will love it.

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London Bridge Experience

Feeling spooky? Do you thrive on horror movies? Are you the sort to look for the monster under your bed instead of cowering beneath the quilt? Well, have we got an experience for you. A London Bridge Experience! Dwelling beneath the eponymous bridge, you'll find spooky spectacle and daring delights alike. Revisit the city's ghoulish past, all 2000 years of it. The experience itself is an interactive theatre of pain and misery. Hear tales from London's residents throughout time. No, they're not paid actors; they're real historical people!

Listen as they transport you back to some of London's most haunted historical moments. Revisit the horrors of the Great Fire, relive Jack the Ripper's reign of terror, and also the Romans were bad! Or, if you dare, delve into the tombs beneath the bridge. Supposedly, real ghosts and demons prowl the lower levels. Not paid actors. Will you live to tell the tale? Or will you be scared to death! Alternatively, if you have little ones with you, there's the kid-friendly Guardian Angel Tour. Expect the same stories with less spook and makeup.

Thames Rockets

And finally, if you prefer your adrenaline sun and sea-soaked, where better to get your fix than on a speedboat? Head to the Thames, put on your best life jacket, and prepare for a wave-crashing thrill ride of thrillingness! All thrills, no spills. Take a day trip around the city's shoreline, or try an evening ride with a complimentary drink at the end. Kick your weekend of thrills off with a boat ride you won't soon forget.

And that's our list of the most adventurous things to do in London!

Dom Bewley
Go City Travel Expert

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Where to stay in London

London is increasingly becoming a 24-7 city. With the advent of the Night Tube and museums that don’t close on Mondays like in much of Europe, there’s always somewhere new to explore. At the same time, it’s a big place – with over 30 boroughs (neighborhoods). Each can then be subdivided into smaller districts, many packed with hotels and Airbnbs, making it even harder to decide where to stay in London. If you’re wondering which neighborhoods in London are popular to stay in, stay tuned for the only guide you’ll ever need! Best areas to stay in London If money’s no object, staying centrally can save a lot of travelling time, meaning greater opportunities to see and do all the things London is famous for – from its museums and historic palaces to its restaurants and nightlife. You probably haven’t come to London to listen to ‘mind the gap’ announcements on rotation on the Tube. The area around Covent Garden and the West End is the obvious pick, although there are a growing number of choices in Westminster, the South Bank and London Bridge too. That said, London’s mix of underground, trains, buses, black cabs, rental cycles, Ubers, Docklands Light Railway (DLR) and trams means you’re never going to be short of ways to get from attraction to attraction. A stay in east London’s Shoreditch and Hoxton neighborhoods will have you mixing with the capital’s trendsetters in no time. Look further afield if value is your main concern. Outer areas, particularly south of the River Thames such as Crystal Palace, are still only 20 minutes or so from the center of the city by train but are much kinder on the wallet. Top areas to stay for tourists in London For visitors keen to place themselves right at the heart of quintessential London scenes – red double decker buses, policemen with unnecessarily tall helmets and Union flags gently fluttering in the breeze – you can do a lot worse than Westminster. Stays here tend to be set back from the river by a block or two, and you’ll find more homestay-style apartments than hotels. But the trade off is your proximity to one of London’s four UNESCO World Heritage Sites – the Houses of Parliament – as well as Westminster Abbey, the National Gallery on Trafalgar Square and the riverside, with views across to the London Eye. Another smattering of attractions and even better transport links makes London Bridge and Bankside other options. Hotels span the spectrum, from the Premier Inn London Southwark to the Shangri-La a few stories below The View from The Shard. Nearby attractions range from the gourmet stalls of Borough Market to HMS Belfast and the Tower of London. Places to stay in London for a long weekend For a two or three day stay in London, Covent Garden and the West End have all you’re going to want and need. As well as being home to the big theaters of Drury Lane and Shaftesbury Avenue, there are also enough restaurants and bars to keep you entertained for every weekend of the year. On top of that, staying in Covent Garden puts you within a radius of a couple of kilometers of the British Museum, shopping on Oxford Street and the nightlife of Soho. There can also be some great deals in the hotels of Canary Wharf on the weekend, since most who stay here are on business, leaving hotels scrambling for guests on Friday and Saturday nights. The area is connected to central London by the swish Jubilee Line extension to the Underground network as well as the DLR. Cool places to stay in London If you’re not quite ready for the opera, east London has an edgier feel and some of the coolest spots in the city. The painfully trendy-not-trendy residents of the apartments around Old Street do their best to look unimpressed and nonchalant about the street art and themed bars which define Shoreditch and Hoxton. But they secretly know how great a place it is to live – and that’s much of the pleasure of staying in Shoreditch. You get to rub shoulders with real Londoners with real lives. Despite its local vibe, it’s a very welcoming neighborhood. Indeed, it’s one of the best neighborhoods for those who feel they don’t conform. Plus, there’s been plenty of money spent making the area’s hotels as attractive to stay in as those in Covent Garden and Westminster. The best place to stay in London for nightlife is probably Soho however. This is where you’ll find many of the big name clubs, including G-A-Y and Borderline, whilst Chinatown is just down the road for an authentic taste of the east. Places to stay in London with kids If Kensington is good enough for the latest generation of royals, you can bet your bottom dollar it’s good enough for your family too. Comprising quiet, traffic-free streets, Kensington has a suburban feel whilst being within a few Tube stops of Buckingham Palace and Covent Garden. And let’s face it, children are going to love the expanse of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens together with three of the best museums in the country – the Natural History, Science and Victoria and Albert museums. Named after the Great Exhibition of 1851, which moved from Hyde Park to a permanent home on Sydenham Hill, Crystal Palace has become orientated towards families with children. There’s a slew of cafés where you won’t be afraid of your kids becoming too noisy, a large park home to the earliest modern representations of dinosaurs in the world. It has some of London’s cheapest accommodation too. Discover London with Go City You now know where to stay in London. The next thing to consider is what to see and do in a city with more attractions than some countries. Travel with Go City and there’s incredible savings to be had on admission to many of London’s biggest attractions, leaving you cash to spend on, well, whatever you like!
Ian Packham
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Best time to visit London

Britain’s capital is a captivating mix of history and culture year-round, and as such, there’s no best time to visit London. Caressed by the warming gulf stream, it experiences mild temperatures for its latitude – further north than Vancouver in Canada. Dodging a shower or two is a rite of passage for visitors to London, and even in the depths of winter daytime temperatures rarely fall below freezing. Each season shows another side to this constantly evolving metropolis of over nine million people. The crisp spring air brings out vast banks of flowering plants in the gardens of Kew and Hampton Court Palace, whilst summer is packed full of outdoor events. Fall’s changing weather makes a great excuse to explore London’s food scene, whilst winter encompasses Christmas, New Year and Valentine’s Day celebrations. What’s the weather like in London in spring? Roughly coinciding with the period from late March through to late May, spring in London sees a new found sense of momentum hit the capital’s streets. Temperatures may not have reached their peak, averaging 13 – 17°C, but the move to British Summer Time lengthens days and the city’s famed rainfall is no greater than at any other time of year. Things to do in London in spring London’s green spaces come back to life with a flourish in spring. Woodland bluebells and parkland daffodils erupt from the very beginning of March, with the cherry blossom of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and Greenwich Park following closely behind in April. May then sees the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea – a nursing home for military veterans – taken over by the show gardens of the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. The world’s most prestigious horticultural event, it’s visited by everyone who’s anyone, including the royals. Don’t despair if umbrellas are the order of the day, there’s always the covered Sky Garden at 20 Fenchurch Street, better known as the Walkie-Talkie building. When it comes to new life of the animal variety, look no further than ZSL London Zoo, the world’s oldest scientific zoo and a vital cog in active breeding programs for animals as diverse as gorillas to Galapagos tortoises. Typical weather in London in summer Historically, the summer months have been considered the best time to visit London as they give the greatest guarantee of good weather. This is the time of year when riverside restaurant terraces and rooftop bars come into their own. July is the hottest month of the year, with temperatures averaging a pleasant 22°C and headline writers going into overdrive should the mercury creep anywhere near 30°C. July is also a month of long, warm evenings doused in natural light until 10PM. The drawback is that humidity can become a factor, and you might want to swap the Tube for an open-top hop-on hop-off bus. Things to do in London in summer London in June, July and August is the time of outdoor festivals, from Trooping the Colour to the Notting Hill Carnival. The Queen’s official birthday celebrations, Trooping the Colour takes place on Horse Guards Parade in St James’ Park. Attended by the nation’s movers and shakers, it’s a Changing of the Guard on steroids, and sees the capital at its most majestic. Bridging the last days of June and first days of July, the leafy suburb of Wimbledon in southwest London takes center stage by playing host to possibly the world’s most coveted tennis competition. The Wimbledon Championships sees London go tennis crazy, with public screens popping up across the capital. But there’s nothing quite like being at the All England Club, whether with a grounds pass or on one of the show courts. Neatly wrapping up the London summer is the Notting Hill Carnival, spread across two days during the late summer public holiday. One of the world’s largest street carnivals, it traces its history back to the West Indian population that settled the area in the 1950s and 60s, and has become a much-loved part of the capital’s calendar. London weather in fall The steady fall in temperatures – to a daily average of 15°C in October and 10°C in November – means a warm coat is the order of the day. On the plus side, London’s thoroughfares adopt a mellower vibe with the steady fall of conkers from the capital’s horse chestnut trees. Stroll through Hyde Park, and as well as Wellington Arch and Kensington Palace you’ll find children and adults alike picking up particularly fine specimens of this inedible nut, since it holds a special place in the hearts of anyone who grew up in London. Things to do in London in fall The start of fall coincides with the Open House Festival, where usually private addresses are opened to the public. If you’ve ever wondered what goes on behind the black door of the Prime Minister’s official residence at 10 Downing Street, or want to see where Phileas Fogg set off to go around the world in 80 Days in the Jules Verne classic, then this is the London fall event you won’t want to miss. Whilst Halloween is making headway in the capital, it’s still Guy Fawkes’ Night (Bonfire Night) five days later that takes the fall crown. Marked by backyard bonfires and public firework displays equal to anything on Independence Day in the US, it commemorates the foiling of a plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament over 400 years ago. But Guy Fawkes’ Night isn’t even the oldest event to take place in London in fall. This honor goes to the Lord Mayor’s Show in the City of London, the historic ‘square mile’ bounded by the Tower of London, Temple Church (from Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code), the Barbican arts center, and the north bank of the River Thames. Riding in a glittering state coach the new Lord Mayor is welcomed to the city with a procession of cheerleaders, drummers, brass bands and costumed performers from around the world celebrating the capital’s diversity in an event dating to the 13th Century. London in winter Rarely does the London winter weather put too great a damper on the festive season. Temperatures generally hover around 3°C, so snow and any resulting disruption is rare. Outside of the Christmas period, winter is the cheapest time to visit London, although there’s still plenty to keep visitors enthralled and even now crowds aren’t unheard of. Things to do in winter in London Leading up to Christmas, major shopping areas like Oxford Street and Stratford’s Westfield shopping mall are filled with cheer. The city’s main roads are draped with Christmas lights, whilst stores do all they can to tempt shoppers through their doors with attractive window displays. A few short days later, London comes alive once more for its New Year’s Eve fireworks. Centered on the London Eye, the UK’s largest fireworks display contains some 12,000 individual fireworks in a display triggered by the ‘bongs’ of Big Ben. Needless to say, the revelry continues until the early hours. For those with romance in mind, the best month to visit London has to be February. The capital’s hotels and restaurants pull out all the stops to make any Valentine’s Day stay extra special, with a traditional British afternoon tea a great way to get things started. You then might consider taking in a show at the Southbank Centre, float along the Thames on a river cruise, or capture the sunset from The View from The Shard panoramic observation deck. Save on London attraction admission Admission to many of London’s top attractions can be enjoyed with Go City, combining flexibility with savings. Check out Go City on Instagram and Facebook for the latest.
Ian Packham
London Bridge Experience
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