London Itinerary - 3 Days in London for First Timers

By Katie Sagal
Published: July 18, 2024

Only have three days in London or just looking for a streamlined list of fun things to do in London during your upcoming trip? Follow our 3 Days in London Itinerary to see all the major highlights and experience the essential top attractions in London, England. This itinerary includes:

  • Coca-Cola London Eye
  • Big Bus London Hop-On Hop-Off Tour
  • Planet Hollywood & Piccadilly Circus
  • Trafalgar Square, National Gallery, & National Portrait Gallery
  • St. Paul's Cathedral
  • Wembley Stadium Tour
  • Photo Opp at Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, & Parliament
  • Hyde Park & the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain

Spending less time in London? Check out our one day in London or weekend in London 2 day itinerary for other fun ways to plan your trip.

Save on Attraction Admission

Many of the popular attractions in this itinerary are available on the London Explorer Pass. Visit the available attractions outlined here and save up to 35% off combined admission vs. paying at the gate. Remember, this 3 days in London itinerary is just one of many ways to experience the area. The London Explorer Pass gives you the flexibility to create your own itinerary, so you can choose over a dozen top attractions and create a vacation tailored to your interests.

Day 1

Stop #1 - Coca-Cola London Eye

Head to the Coca-Cola London Eye right at 10:00 am to beat some of the crowds and take advantage of prime daytime lighting for your photos of and from one of London's top landmarks. Take the 30-minute spin around the eye to get 360-degree panoramic views from your observation pod. At its highest point, you'll be 443-meters above ground with one of the best views of the city of London. Each observation pod features interactive touch screens with detailed maps and historic information to give context to the sights you'll see from your pod. You'll be able to identify stand-out buildings, historic sites, parks, and more as you look out around you. Your admission to the London Eye includes admission to the Coca-Cola London Eye 4D Experience, too, a fun, multi-sensory city experience. Some of the sights you'll see include: Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Parliament, Royal Albert Hall, Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly Circus, the British Museum, St. Paul's Cathedral, Tower of London, the Shard, the River Thames, and more. Getting In: Coco-Cola London Eye tickets are available as an option on the London Explorer Pass.

Stop #2 - Big Bus London Hop-On Hop-Off Tour

This hop-on hop-off bus tour is the easiest way to get acquainted with London and see all the top attractions and London landmarks--the perfect way to start out your short stay in London. Hop-on or off at your leisure at any of the 50+ stops along the way (such as the ones outlined in this 3 Days in London Itinerary) or stay on the bus for the full tour loop. After riding the Coca-Cola London Eye, hop on the Underground and head to Victoria Station to get your Big Bus London tickets. You'll start your sightseeing tour at stop # 27 of the red or blue line: "VICTORIA STATION" to start your tour. Awarded a Certificate of Excellence from TripAdvisor in 2013, 2014, and 2015, their informative guides will make you feel like you experienced all the highlights of London with their comprehensive commentary and extensive list of stops along the way. Be sure to bring your camera! To pickup your Big Bus London tickets, simply present your London Explorer Pass at any of the three bus stop locations below:

  • Piccadilly – between Green Park underground station and The Ritz Hotel
  • Victoria Station – on the forecourt in front of the railway station
  • Baker Street – at the Big Bus kiosk between the exit of Baker Street underground and Madame Tussauds

Getting In: Hop-On Hop-Off Big Bus London tickets are available as an option on the London Explorer Pass.

Stop #3 - Lunch at Planet Hollywood & Piccadilly Circus

Hop-off your bus tour at stop #8: "PICCADILLY CIRCUS - Stop G, Regent Street" Take a break and enjoy a fun lunch with a dose of Hollywood culture at Planet Hollywood. Dining in London can be expensive so take advantage of this on your London Explorer Pass to save a little cash, plus, you'll get to check off another Planet Hollywood location. After lunch, head to Piccadilly Circus for some sightseeing and shopping on the famous Regent Street where you can pop into Harrod's department store, a famous London landmark in itself. Getting In: Meal at Planet Hollywood Restaurant is available as an option on the London Explorer Pass.

Stop #4 - Trafalgar Square, The National Gallery, & National Portrait Gallery

By Diliff (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons

Walk around Trafalgar Square and get a photo with the famous lion statues guarding the base of Nelson's Column. Next, take advantage of the free admission at both The National Gallery, one of the largest art museums in the world with famous paintings from the 13th to 19th centuries, and The National Portrait Gallery, which houses over 200,000 portraits of historic figures from the 16th century to present day. Hop back on the Big Bus London tour at stop #10: "TRAFALGAR SQUARE - Stop Z, by the National Gallery" to and continue riding to complete your bus loop for the day.

Stop #5 - St. Paul's Cathedral

Hop-off your bus tour at stop # 16: "ST PAULS" St. Paul's Cathedral is one of the most iconic architectural landmarks in England and one of London's most visited attractions. With admission, you'll get access to the Cathedral floor, the crypt where tombs and memorials of many famous Britons are, and the three galleries in the dome where you can view lots of famous works of art and get sweeping views of the city. Plan to attend one of the four daily 90-minute guided tours (subject to availability) for a comprehensive, expert-led tour of the Cathedral. Or, go on a self-paced tour with one of the touch screen multimedia tablet guides provided, available in 9 languages. Hop-back on the bus at the same stop you exited and continue your guided bus tour of London. Getting In: St.Paul's Cathedral tickets are available as an option on the London Explorer Pass.

Day 2

Stop #1 - Wembley Stadium Tour

No trip to London, or Europe, is complete without an authentic football experience. There's such a strong culture surrounding the sport it's almost palpable, and definitely part of the complete London experience. Go on a guided tour of the iconic Wembley Stadium, home to the England national football team and home to the annual FA Cup Final. Your guide will walk you through some of the most historic and memorable moments in football history and you'll get to experience the stadium (without the crowds) and see areas not open to the general public, including the Player's Tunnel, Royal Box where you can hold a replica of the FA Cup, England changing rooms, press conference rooms, and more. Getting In: Wembley Stadium Tour tickets are available as an option on the London Explorer Pass.

Stop #2 - the London Designer Outlet

After your tour of the Wembley Stadium, head over to the London Designer Outlet right nearby for some prime London shopping and dining options. Grab a quick lunch at one of the popular restaurants to before hitting the shops (we love Handmade Burger Co, wagamama, or, Pret for a quick bite). You can get all of your London shopping in at this one-stop destination. The outlet has tons of name brand shops, including H&M, Jack Wills, L.K. Bennett London, Nike, Oakley, The North Face, and more.

Day 3

Stop #1 - Photo Opp at Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, & Parliament

By , [email protected] (Own work) [CC BY-SA 2.5], via Wikimedia Commons

Start your day in the middle of the iconic Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and Parliament and check them off your list. Try to re-create the classic tourist photo shot featuring one of the red London phone booths with Big Ben in the background (bonus points if you get a double decker bus in the frame, too). Westminster Abbey: this large, striking Gothic church has served as the official coronation location for monarchs since the coronation of William the Conqueror in the 11th century and hosted numerous other events such as William and Kate's royal wedding and Princess Diana's funeral. Inside you can find the burial sites and memorials for lots of famous historic figures, including Charles Darwin. Big Ben: actually the nickname of the bell inside the tower (the clock and tower is officially known as Elizabeth Tower), is one of the most iconic structures in London, often representing the city of London in films, TV, and more. Houses of Parliament: also known as Westminster Palace, is the meeting place for the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of Parliament of the United Kingdom. Please note: admission to these attractions is not included with the London Explorer Pass.

Stop #2 - Indian Curry for Lunch at Gymkhana

Lunch at Gymkhana will prove why London is famous for having some of the best Indian food in the world. Plates are made for sharing so adventurous choices are encouraged, they're known for their creative, contemporary takes on classic Indian cuisine.

Stop #3 - Buckingham Palace

By Diliff (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons

Walk off lunch by heading to Buckingham Palace to see if Her Majesty the Queen is home. If you see the Royal Standard flag, not the Union Jack flag, flying above Buckingham Palace, that means that the HM the Queen is home. If you see the Union Flag, it means she is away. Take a classic tourist picture with one of the guards outside of the palace and see if you can make one of them laugh! Please note: admission to tour Buckingham Palace is not included with the London Explorer Pass.

Stop #4 - Hyde Park & Princess Diana Memorial Fountain

www.CGPGrey.com [CC BY 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Take a stroll beyond Buckingham Palace towards the famous Hyde Park where you can walk along The Serpentine water feature and visit the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain.

Let's Recap

Whether you're looking for the most comprehensive 3 days in London itinerary or want to experience a smaller selection of top attractions at your leisure throughout the whole week, this popular 3 Days in London Itinerary covers some of the most iconic and fun London attractions, ensuring you get in all of the top landmarks. From sightseeing tours to museums and top restaurants, you'll be able to enjoy it all, even with a limited amount of time for sightseeing! With the recent drop of the British pound attraction admission, hotels, and more are now likely more affordable for Americans and the US dollar. Check out our budget friendly post for visiting London with tips and more. Remember, with a London Explorer Pass you can save up to 35% off combined admission to many of these attractions vs paying separately at the gates.

Katie Sagal
Go City Travel Expert

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Things to do in London for couples

Whether you’ve been together six months or 60 years, there’s a wide array of things to do in London for couples. Strolling hand in hand through the grounds of palaces and stately homes, taking in views of the River Thames’ meandering path or soaking up some culture are just some of the experiences that await. Share in London’s historic wonders After six weddings and two beheadings, Henry VIII’s record as a husband may come into question, but it’s hard not to admire his taste in homes. Riverside Hampton Court Palace was his favorite residence, and the only Tudor royal palace in London welcoming the public. Having wondered at the Great Hall and historic kitchens, save some time for tackling the famous maze together – like couples have been doing since it was first planted in the 1680s. Continuing the theme of important London homes is Hampstead’s Keats House. The 19th-century romantic poet John Keats lived in the building for less than two years. However, as visitors will discover, in this time he not only wrote Ode to a Nightingale beneath one of the garden’s plum trees, but also fell madly in love with neighbor Fanny Brawne. And all before dying of tuberculosis at the age of 25. The magic figure at St Paul’s Cathedral is 259, the number of steps leading to the Whispering Gallery. Forming part of the 65,000 ton dome, it has the intriguing property of amplifying even the slightest sound around its walls. Couples who make here also get a close up with the focal point of Sir Christopher Wren’s original 17th-century structure. Check out London’s food scene Couples in London looking for a foodie treat are well catered for. The capital’s list of places to be wined and dined is a long one, meeting all tastes, budgets and dietary requirements. Though there may be more shared benches than tables for two, one of the newest kids on the block is Maltby Street Market in Bermondsey. A short walk from Tower Bridge, Venezuelan arepa share the space with Ethiopian wat and Chinese gyoza in a celebration of world cuisine. More traditional dining experiences still don’t have to cost the Earth. Home of the capital’s Bengali community, Brick Lane is the cherry on top of the cake of London’s love-affair with curry. Even so, prices are a fraction of those charged by celebrity chefs and London’s 60 or so Michelin-starred restaurants. If you abide by the idea that couples which drink together stay together, look no further than a cocktail-making class. Guided by the skilled hands of a professional mixologist, you’ll get to create a perfectly-balanced Old Fashioned, Dark and Stormy or Cosmopolitan. Alternatively, you could go one step better and take a tour of the Beefeater gin distillery, revealing just some of what goes into making the spirit so popular with bartenders across the city. Enjoy views of the Thames Even dirty old rivers – to steal a phrase from The Kinks’ 1960s classic Waterloo Sunset – have a certain innate romance. Take to its banks pretty much anywhere along its 215 mile course, and you’ll have to agree the Thames is no different. Actually one of the cleanest rivers in the world, it’s further reaches are home to otters, dolphins and seals in addition to landmarks known the world over. What’s more, there are several ways for couples in London to enjoy the majesty of the Thames. The classic way is to take to its waters, with river cruises slipping up and down stream between Westminster and Greenwich. When it comes to timing, sunset is difficult to beat, and is known as the golden hour for taking in the city’s panoramas. Boarding a Thames cruiser isn’t the only way to fully-appreciate the capital’s lifeblood. A completely different perspective is offered from a gondola of London’s first cable car, the Emirates Air Line, connecting the two sides of the river via a journey which takes in the entire Greenwich Peninsula. At dusk the journey is extended, so you have even more time to admire the panoply of sights below you. Climb the O2 Arena and the only thing immediately beneath your feet will be its white canopy. However, to either side of the walkway hanging 50 meters above the ground, the river unravels in all its glory in either direction. Take in a show William Shakespeare’s words have echoed through the centuries. Where better to relive the romance of Romeo and Juliet or Anthony and Cleopatra, or the bromance of Prince Hal and Falstaff in Henry IV than Shakespeare’s Globe? Outside of performances, tours detail some of the theater’s most captivating tales, such as the time an audience member’s breeches burst into flames alongside the original playhouse. Meanwhile, the velvet-clad seats of Covent Garden’s Royal Opera House is the foremost destination for opera and ballet. The West End has shows to suit any couple, with contemporary playwriting, musicals and classic plays all fighting for attention. When it comes to foot-tapping fun, there are venues large and small where it’s possible to let your hair down. They include the likes of the Sky Garden, hosting regular concerts to continue the traditions of the capital’s legendary music industry, which has given voice to everyone from David Bowie to Amy Winehouse. London’s Madame Tussauds – the first wax works to hold the name – is a great option for couples in need of a rainy-day activity. It’s array of famous faces from British history and worldwide popular culture are one way to get close to your idols. Movie lovers also have the option of taking in a multitude of sites forming backdrops to some of the silver screen’s best-known scenes including the James Bond franchise, Paddington and Bridget Jones’s Diary. Save on things to do in London for couples Reserve your hard-earned cash for spoiling your significant other by saving on London attraction admission and exploring more with Go City. Check out @GoCity on Instagram and Facebook for the latest top tips and attraction info.
Ian Packham
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The top free things to do in London

London’s reputation for being expensive (just check out the house prices), doesn’t mean vacations in the British capital have to break the bank. Many major museums are free to enter, whilst parks, markets and even some concerts will cost you absolutely nothing, leaving you free to spend your cash on other things. The list of free things to do in London is a long one, so here are a select few that will leave you quids in. Explore London’s museum collections Starting out with just 38 paintings in 1834, The National Gallery on the northern side of Trafalgar Square now has close to 2,500 artworks hanging from its cloth-lined walls. Concentrating on a mere 700 years of European art roughly corresponding with the years 1250 to 1900, some of its most famous works include da Vinci’s Virgin of the Rocks, van Gogh’s Sunflowers and Turner’s The Fighting Temeraire. Cross the Thames at Hungerford and Golden Jubilee Bridges and you’ll be perfectly located to continue your tour of free things to do in London at Leake Street Arches, the capital’s foremost space for graffiti and street artists. The freedom to spray means it never looks the same for long, and now also plays host to a Polish kitchen and board game café. Food sadly isn’t welcome at the British Library’s Sir John Ritblat Gallery, whose free permanent exhibition space includes some of the most important documents in British history. These include Magna Carta, a symbol of liberty and law to this day, and handwritten manuscripts by everyone from author Charlotte Brontë to Beatle Paul McCartney. Picnic in the park Nearly as many trees as residents, 14,000 species of wildlife and 3,000 parks – it’s no wonder London became the world’s first National Park City in 2019. Its public green spaces have acted as shared backyards, in some cases, for centuries. Its largest is Epping Forest, an area of woodland untouched since the time of William the Conqueror in 1066. Mountain biking and walking are popular pastimes here, with multiple short walks allowing visitors to soak up the spirit of the place and catch sight of its wild deer. Hampstead Health’s Parliament Hill also has a small population of muntjac deer, although it’s far better known for its panoramic views of central London, spanning from The Shard to Canary Wharf. For a sense of what you might expect at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew without the entrance cost and tube journey, there’s the Barbican Conservatory. An oasis of greenery, it’s London’s second-largest indoor garden, containing some 2,000 plants erupting from every surface. Pull back the leaves and you’ll also find a hidden pond filled with koi carp and terrapins. Take part in ancient traditions Things to do in London for free aren’t limited to the capital’s static attractions. Head to Buckingham Palace for mid-morning and you’ll be able to admire the pageantry of the marching bands involved in the Changing of the Guard. The full ceremony lasts 45 minutes, with the changeover between guard battalions taking place at 11AM. The best viewing spots go early, but Hyde Park’s southern boundary offers a crowd-free space to watch the mounted troops arrive and depart from Wellington Barracks. Whilst it’s not possible to enter the palace during the ceremony, it is usually possible to enter the neogothic splendor of the Houses of Parliament a short distance away. Members of the public are able to see the goings-on of the House of Commons (the green-benched lower house) from the perch of the Strangers Gallery. Along the way you can grab a glimpse of Westminster Hall, the oldest part of the complex and where royals lie in state. No pre-booking is required to visit Pugin’s pre-Raphaelite artworks or parliament’s central halls, although the Strangers Gallery fills up quickly for Wednesday’s Prime Ministers Questions. Less confrontational in nature are the free concerts taking place in churches and auditoriums across the capital. Often used as rehearsals to later paid events, classical works can be heard at a number of locations, including the bright interior of St-Martins-in-the-Fields off Trafalgar Square, Morley College’s Waterloo Center and Regent Hall on Oxford Street. Visit London’s top markets All walks of London life buy and sell at its plethora of markets, with voices from all over the world demonstrating why London is known as a city where everyone is welcome. When it comes to color and Instagram posts, make a beeline for Sunday’s Columbia Road Flower Market, which is packed full of blooms. The shadow of Waterloo Bridge plays host to the Southbank Centre’s daily book market, whose row after row of secondhand tomes are sure to include that out-of-print classic you’ve been searching for, in addition to a select pick of artworks old and new. The nearby space behind Royal Festival Hall also hosts a Friday – Sunday pop-up street food market, with aromas that drift towards the Thames sightseeing cruises mooring up at Westminster Pier. Back in east London, the stalls of Old Spitalfields Market sit beneath Victorian ironwork dating to 1876, though its history stretches back to the 1600s. Once a fruit and vegetable wholesale market, today’s stalls are a trendy blend of soul food spots, homeware and boutique fashions, with antiques taking over each Thursday. Take a stroll Getting out into fresh air is relatively easy, and as well as its parks and green spaces, London has numerous walks. The obvious place to start is the Jubilee Walkway, unveiled to mark 25 years of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign in 1977. Connecting many of London’s major landmarks, it runs for 15 miles, with the most popular stretch lining the south bank of the Thames from Lambeth Palace to Tower Bridge. Meanwhile, Regent’s Canal provides a place to wander without the crowds, taking in Paddington Basin, Little Venice, the howls of ZSL London Zoo’s wolf pack and popular Victoria Park along the way to its terminus on the Thames at Limehouse. You certainly won’t be disturbed by the residents of Brompton Cemetery, a grade I listed space containing around 35,000 memorials dating back to the 1830s. Among them you’ll find the graves of suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst and the scientist who discovered the cause of cholera, John Snow. Other ways to save in London There are a huge number of free things to do in London. But they’re not the only way to save when visiting the British capital. The Explorer Pass from Go City saves on admission at many of London’s top visitor attractions without you having to make any decisions on what to do beforehand. What’s more, all you need is your phone to get started!
Ian Packham

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