3 PERFECT DAYS IN LONDON: MUST-SEE attractions, SECRET spots & food you CAN’T miss!

Welcome to London. This vibrant city is the capital of the UK and is now home to over 8 million people. Bustling, busy and ever-changing, the city is best known for its many parks, its beautiful museums, its amazing culinary scene and much much more. In this video we're going to show you how to spend three amazing days in London including where to eat, the best hidden gems and the top things to see and do. This is day one of our London Suggestions and today's itinerary will be focused on the must-see attractions you have to see. We're starting off in the beautiful St. James's Park. It's currently early spring and all of the daffodils are in bloom and we're about to go and see Buckingham Palace. St. James's Park is named for the medieval hospital of St. James and the actual park began life in the 1530s as an enclosed deer park for Henry VIII. By 1603 the park had been transformed into a royal one. Crocodiles, camels, elephants, all kinds of wild exotic animals were imported here to the space and several decades after that Charles II, inspired during his exile to France, created a really beautiful landscape space which we can now enjoy today. A pelican colony was also introduced in the 17th century and they're still here to this day. Let's go and check out the birds. St. James's Park is actually the oldest royal park in London and is bordered by no fewer than three royal palaces. It also boasts some surprisingly beautiful views including onto the London Eye. The site where Buckingham Palace now stands actually began as a medieval manor At that time it was surrounded by swampy marshland. Today it's of course a royal residence and also the administrative heart of the British monarchy. The way you can tell if a monarch is home is actually if it's flying the royal standard. Today it's just flying a union jack which means that there's no one home. It's actually where you'll find 775 rooms and you can even visit on a guided tour during certain times of the year but it does cost 32 pounds per adult and we don't have a lot of time in this London itinerary so we'll just admire it from the exterior. During certain times of the week you can even come here and watch the changing of the guard which is an official ceremony involving horses and soldiers. Like a lot of countries in Europe the UK actually got rid of the British family for a brief period in the 1700s however they were obviously reinstated. The public though still maintains somewhat of a complicated relationship with these people who are obviously born into extreme wealth and privilege and so actually the UK is now governed by the British Parliament which we're going to go and see now. The Mall is a special route which connects Buckingham Palace on one end to Trafalgar Square on the other. It's often home to ceremonies, processions including coronations and on Sundays it's actually closed to traffic so the public can just walk along it like today. This area is really really touristic but to be honest is really worth visiting and is a great introduction to London. For example right now you can see the London Eye right behind me. This area is also home to the Churchill War Museum and as well the House Cavalry Museum. Sentries still guard the Horse Guards building to this day. The two most iconic ones are probably the two mounted sentries right at the front of the building. They're in position from 10am to 4pm on a daily basis and are changed out hourly. Trafalgar Square is one of the most iconic squares in London. It's named for the Battle of Trafalgar in which the British beat the French in a historic victory. There's actually Nelson's Column in the middle of the square representing Admiral Nelson who led that victory. The square is also home to the National Gallery which houses some of the most beautiful artworks in the UK. Whitehall leads from Trafalgar Square to the Houses of Parliament and just off it you'll find Turn Downing Street which is where famously the Prime Minister of the UK lives. This area is also home to the Cenotaph and quite often such as today there are protests taking place here. Parliament Square was laid out in the 19th century and it's one of the most iconic squares in the UK because it faces the Houses of Parliament. It's also home to the Supreme Court and lots of statues from famous figures from across the world. This square also leads onto Westminster Abbey which has been the site of all British monarch coronations since 1066. Unfortunately the Abbey you do have to pay to visit and you're not allowed to film inside but it's very beautiful and worth it if you get a chance to go in. Rather shamefully no women were actually represented here in Parliament Square until less than a decade ago. All of that changed when some women's rights groups put pressure on the UK government to install a statue of a woman because all of the other statues are men and so they decided to erect a statue of Millicent Fawcett. Now she was a really really famous suffragist which means that she campaigned for the right to vote for women here in the UK. To be honest this area doesn't have a huge amount of merit and so I would only stop here for a photo opportunity with the tower that houses Big Ben. Other than that you'll be queuing, you'll be in throngs of tourists and there's not much to see other than the Houses of Parliament. Now it's time to get some lunch so let's hop on the tube and go to our next destination. London Bridge was actually the only bridge in the city until the 18th century. Today it's home to a really really important train station which links most of the rest of the city. It's also where you'll find Borough Cathedral and the iconic Borough Market which is the oldest food market in all of London. Borough Market itself claims to have existed since 1014 when records show that traders were selling grain, fish and other produce in the local area. It wasn't until 1276 however that the first actual mention of a market appeared. In the centuries that followed the market ended up being so popular that it was actually shut down by an act of parliament in 1756. Luckily for us the community fought to bring it back and despite the rise of supermarkets and other problems the market is now a thriving hot spot of cuisine from all over the world making a perfect place to grab lunch. While you're in the London Bridge area it's really worth coming onto the bridge itself because here you get amazing views onto iconic London landmarks such as St Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge which is the iconic two tower bridge, the HMS Belfast and lots of other London attractions. The City of London lies just across the river from Borough Market and is a great place to end your day because it's one of the most important parts of London's history. You see around 2,000 years ago the Romans settled here and they named the city Londinium. Most of the ruins of that city lie under the modern city however you might be thinking to yourself if this part is so old why is everything so new? And that's because the City of London was actually destroyed twice in its history. The first time was largely during the Great Fire of London in 1666 and the second time was during the Blitz of World War II. On the 2nd of September 1666 a fire broke out at a bakery on Pudding Lane. This fire would go on to consume over 400 streets and 13,000 homes. It left London in devastation and it actually took years to rebuild the city. Just a few years later it was decided there should be a monument to remember this horrible event and that's why the Monument to the Great Fire of London was built around 200 feet away from where it had allegedly broke out because now a lot of scholars aren't actually sure if it actually broke out in the bakery or happened for another reason. Nevertheless the Monument to the Great Fire of London stands tall to this day and you can actually go up for a smoothie. One of the best things about exploring the City of London is getting to experience this unique blend of old meets new and nowhere is this more apparent than at St Dunstan in the East. You see this was actually a really really beautiful church designed by Sir Christopher Wren but unfortunately it suffered heavy bombardment during the Blitz of World War II and was largely destroyed. All that was left was the tower and then after the war the City of London was deciding what to do with a lot of these bombed out churches and the decision was actually taken to transform this church into a beautiful space for all Londoners to enjoy which we're going to do now. Today the City of London is a financial district, a banking district and to be honest this area during the week time so from Monday to Friday is so busy but it means that in the weekends there's hardly anyone else here and you can often find yourself to be the only person strolling along the streets which can be quite enjoyable after some of the rush of other areas of London. Because the City of London is so full of skyscrapers one of the best ways to get a view onto it is by going up one of the buildings. There are a few options, obviously there's the Sky Garden but you have to book tickets for that several weeks in advance. There's also the Garden at 120 yet again it's very very busy only this time you don't actually have to book tickets in advance but unfortunately the queues can be up to an hour because everyone knows about it now and it's free to visit. Leaden Hall Market is a beautiful covered market hall filled with shops, boutiques and eateries. It's really really lovely because of all of the intricate details but don't be fooled by the fact that it's very quiet today because during the week it is so busy with people all of the pubs are spilling out onto the street and it's really loud, lively and a really convivial atmosphere here. Salters Garden was opened in the 1980s as a contemporary garden. It's actually sunk below street level as the southern boundary is the old Roman wall of London which once encircled Londinium when it was called that. Today it's a really nice peaceful place and you can even see the ruins of an old church over there. The original church of St Alban on Wood Street was destroyed during the Great Fire of London in 1666 and then rebuilt under the direction of Sir Christopher Wren. Unfortunately it was once more bombed and destroyed during World War II and today only the tower remains. This is really really common in the City of London where lots of churches were completely bombed out and then left just in little pieces for the generations to come. St Paul's Cathedral is one of the most iconic landmarks of London. It was completed in 1710 on designs by architect Sir Christopher Wren. You see there had actually been a previous medieval church on site but this was actually destroyed during the Great Fire of London. Today you have to pay a fee to go inside the church itself but there are several viewpoints around it which are completely free to access and totally beautiful. For dinner we went which serves up delicious Mexican cuisine. They had several vegetarian options on the menu but the only thing I would say that's a bit negative is that the food was definitely on the pricier side of things. It's day two of our London itinerary and we're currently in South Kensington. This is one of the most beautiful districts in the city and is famed for its many museums and music institutions. Now you might be watching this video and thinking but 12 hours ago it was meant to be really sunny and yes we did indeed film the first day itinerary yesterday it's just that London's weather can be really really mixed and so yesterday it was really warm and sunny and today it's kind of misty and cold so do be sure to prepare for that and pack accordingly. We began our day by heading to Brother Marcus. This is an eastern Mediterranean food chain and they have brunch options every day of the week which was perfect to fill us up before a day of exploring. When you're wandering around London you're sure to come across a muse street or two. These streets date back to a time when London was run on horsepower and there were no cars and so these streets were actually originally stables where horses would have lived. Today they're really quiet residential pockets and are some of the most exclusive addresses in London. South Kensington has a particularly large amount of these muse streets. This is Stanhope Muse East and the most agreeable part of visiting this particular muse street is that it's quite close to a few others which we're going to check out now. This is Stanhope Muse South and it's probably one of the prettiest muse streets in South Kensington. It's also here where the Kingsman Secret Service movie was filmed and that house at the end stood in for Colin Firth's house. We've actually just spoken to a local resident who lives on this street he was so friendly and he was telling us a bit about the history. It's really really beautiful but also interesting historically. This area has a particularly large French population and it's actually said that London has the sixth largest French city if you count the number of residents. Lots and lots of them actually live here in South Kensington as you'll find lots and lots of establishments which are French such as bakeries, boulangeries, cafes and Antoine feels right at home. London is home to over 200 museums but the good news is even though it's quite a pricey city many of the best ones are completely free. Some of these are located in South Kensington including the Natural History Museum. As its name suggests the Natural History Museum focuses on the natural world. It dates all the way back to the 1880s and today boasts over 80 million objects in its Road then you'll gain easy access to the two other main museums here in South Kensington and that's the Victoria and Albert Museum as well as the Science Museum. It is advisable even though they're all free to book a free ticket in advance of your visit in order to reduce waiting times and actually get into the museum when you want to go. This is especially true during the weekend and at school holidays. To be honest if you only have half a day in the area I recommend visiting one of the three museums and focusing on exploring that in more depth because otherwise you might feel rushed trying to get between all of the different museums and there's more to see later in the day anyway. If you want a quiet and calm museum experience I really recommend coming to the Victoria and Albert Museum. This is the largest museum of decorative arts in the whole world and has almost three million items in its collection. It was founded in 1852 and named for Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert. Today it's really calm even though the other museums are really really busy right now this is a really nice experience and the art is very beautiful. Are you ready for another museum? The final museum is the Science Museum. Now this is really really popular among families because there are a lot of interactive exhibitions and so if you're traveling with younger ones this is a great option but again it is very busy. Having now been to all three museums in the space of a few hours I would probably choose going to the V&A over the others especially because at the Science Museum now when you go in you have to give your name, your email, they ask for a donation straight away which isn't obligatory but it can be a bit awkward to go in because maybe you don't want to donate before you've visited the museum. We're now going to head to the very end of Exhibition Road in order to reach Hyde Park. This is Kensington Gardens and it actually runs right into Hyde Park and is separated in the middle by the Serpentine Lake which is a really popular boating spot among Londoners in the summer. The history of Hyde Park actually dates all the way back to 1536 and the dissolution of the monasteries. At this time Henry VIII basically confiscated land from the churches in this case Westminster Abbey and he basically took the lands for himself and then in 1637 Hyde Park was transformed into a beautiful public garden which Londoners have enjoyed ever since. Kensington Gardens themselves actually remain the private property of the monarchy until much later because Kensington Palace is actually in these gardens and we're going to go and see it now. A great way to have a really budget lunch in London is actually to grab a meal deal from a supermarket. They sell these at most supermarkets and they're around five to six pounds depending on which one you go to but my personal favourite has to be Marks and Spencer's. If there's one thing you should know about the British monarchy before coming to the UK is that a reigning king can have a queen but a reigning queen can never have a king as her husband. Her husband is always known as the prince and that's why Queen Victoria's husband was known as Prince Albert and never as King Albert. Right behind me is the Prince Albert Hall. This was completed in 1871 and is one of the most famous venues for concerts in the world. However if you do want to come to a classical concert here you'll have to book your ticket way ahead of time and so if you are planning to come to London look into that way ahead of your trip. Just across from the Royal Albert Hall you'll find the Prince Albert Memorial. It's truly spectacular and is neo-gothic in its architecture. Prince Albert passed away from typhoid fever in 1861 and Queen Victoria would go on to live another 40 years without him. She was truly devastated as anyone would be but she wanted the world to know how much she had loved Prince Albert and so one of the most important things that she made after his death was this memorial. This would have cost over £10 million to build in today's money and as you can see it's truly a feat of residence of the Prince and Princess of Wales. Unfortunately it's currently under renovation so it's not looking its best but if you want you can visit as part of a guided tour during certain days of the week. However it is closed on Mondays which is today. We're now going to head out of the park to head to our final destination of the day which is the Notting Hill area. London has so many food options that it can sometimes feel overwhelming to choose something. We were a bit hungry so we stopped off for a quick bagel and a coffee at 101 West. Notting Hill is one of the most beautiful and picturesque areas of London thanks to its abundance of colourful houses. There's also lots of shops here and little boutiques so you could easily spend a few hours just wandering around snapping photos of the architecture, visiting the new streets and of course checking out the shops. Portobello Road is one of the busiest streets in all of Notting Hill and that's because it's home to the daily Portobello Road market where you'll find a huge selection of second-hand goods including vintage antiques. To be honest this is quite a touristy area but there are a few hidden gems if you know where to look and so we'll show them to you now. You may well recognise many locations around Notting Hill because they've been used as filming locations. For example this is a Notting Hill bookshop and it was used as inspiration for the film, well a bookshop on this site was used for inspiration for the Notting Hill film starring Hugh Grant and I can't remember who else. One thing you should know before coming to Notting Hill is it is really really touristy and the vintage shops are some of the priciest I've seen anywhere in London. With that being said if you look hard enough you can find these little pockets of car where there's no one and it's also worth noting that the market itself you can find some treasures but for the most part a lot of stalls are definitely overpriced and kind of more tacky tourist souvenirs. If you are looking for some really nice second-hand finds I recommend checking out one of the many charity shops in the area. St Luke's Muse is another of the muse streets of London and it's probably the prettiest street around Notting Hill. This road is filled with beautiful colourful houses and you may well recognise it because it was a filming location for Love Actually where one of the houses stood in for Keira Knightley's home. If you're not too tired after that huge itinerary I really recommend spending your evening in a pub. There are over 3,500 in London and many of them serve food, delicious food, but if you want to get an idea for which one you want to go to then I recommend looking at reviews in advance and booking in advance at the more popular places. If you're a cocktail lover then London has no shortage of options. I particularly enjoyed visiting Larry's which is actually nestled underneath the National Portrait Gallery and their cocktail menu is based on famous people. It was definitely an experience. It's our third and final day of this London itinerary. The weather is looking a bit mixed, it's rainy and sunny in patches but hopefully we'll still have a nice time. Piccadilly Circus Station is one of the only tube stations in London to be completely underground. Piccadilly Circus is one of the most iconic squares in London. It's famous for its neon billboard and its central fountain which is often mistaken to be Cupid. It's actually just a statue of an archer but it's very beautiful to look at nonetheless. The name itself comes from Circus, the Roman word for circle because this is a circular square and the other word is Piccadilly which comes from a 17th century word for a gentleman's collar. The square is really famous for the neon lights which are just behind me. They've actually been illuminated ever since 1949 almost continuously. They were only turned off for Winston Churchill's funeral, Princess Diana's funeral and a few other special occasions. They were completely turned off for the entirety of World War II but yeah ever since then they have had these continuous ads. One of the important streets leading off Piccadilly Circus is Regent Street. It's one of the most famous shopping streets and it leads onto Oxford Street but we're now going to go down Piccadilly itself. We're now going to explore the little side streets surrounding Piccadilly Circus because I have two particularly beautiful arcades I want to show you. Burlington Arcade was created in 1819 and it dubs itself the world's first ever shopping mall because the idea of having several different independent shops all under one roof was quite revolutionary at the time. It was actually the first of these shopping malls to be opened in Europe as they were found all over the continent including in Paris. Piccadilly leads off of Piccadilly Circus and there are a few shops of note here including Hatchards which is the oldest bookshop in the UK. It was founded all the way back in 1797 and it's the official bookshop to the royal household. Fortnum and Mason dates all the way back to the early 18th century and is alleged to have been the favourite grocery shop of the Queen. Just across from Fortnum and Mason you'll find Burlington House. Now this is home to several historic institutions including the Geological Society but the most famous one of all is probably the Royal Academy of Art. This was founded back in the 18th century and is now a registered charity. They have several exhibition spaces which are often free to visit, a cafe, a postgraduate art school and also the oldest library of fine arts in the UK. We're now going to cross back across Regent Street to get to our next destination. Regent Street dates all the way back to the 19th century and is London's first purpose shopping street. It leads directly off of Piccadilly Circus and it leads onto Oxford Street but I don't necessarily recommend you go and explore Oxford Street because there's not a lot suggest it serves up BOW. They actually have a set menu during the weeks which is more affordable as it's £15 per person and you get a few different dishes included in this. It's honestly very tasty and a great quick place to eat. Soho is a really cool and vibrant district just off of Regent Street. It's known for its nightlife, its rich culinary scene and its LGBTQ history. Kingley Street is a particularly popular pedestrian street in the area and if you want to get amazing food I highly recommend checking out Dishoom. They have several branches across London but because this area is so full of nightlife I recommend coming to this one. Carnaby Street is yet another shopping street in this area. It's filled with lots of independent boutiques and it's unfortunately best known for an 1854 cholera epidemic. However today it's completely been revitalized and this area is known for all of its bars, cafes and eateries. Now as I mentioned in 1854 there was a huge cholera outbreak in the Soho area and there was actually an epidemiologist called John Snow working in the area. He had worked on different projects tracing the cause of the outbreaks and he traced this specific one in the 1850s back to this pump. This is not actually the original pump as the original one was destroyed and removed when the cause was discovered but this one was reinstated in 2018 in order to remember John Snow's contributions to society. Now John Snow is not only remembered for this pump but also the pub behind me which is called the John Snow. Liberty of London is one of the most iconic and beautiful department stores in London. It's actually housed within a mock Tudor building and is particularly known for selling luxury printed fabrics though nowadays they sell a bit of everything. Just across the street from Oxford Street you'll find the district of Marleyburn. Now lots of people actually say this wrong because it's spelt Mary Lebone and now I'm going to take you to one of my favourite museums in this area. If there's one museum that's definitely worth having a look at while in London it's the Wallace Collection. The permanent collections are free to visit though donations are obviously always appreciated and are housed within the former townhouse of the Seymour family. The collection largely consists of fine and decorative arts from the 15th to 19th centuries including a particularly large collection of French 18th century paintings. Set over several floors you could easily spend hours taking it all in and the best thing about this museum is that even though it's really close to Oxford Street it remains a bit of a hidden gem meaning that you're often the only person in each room you visit. If you're looking for a quick snack or a bite to eat then they also have this really really gorgeous cafe where you can get hot drinks cold drinks and food. Despite the fact that most churches in England are protestant one particularly beautiful example of a catholic church can be found in the form of St James at Spanish Place. This church is in London is Baker Street and it was made famous by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle who obviously wrote the really famous Sherlock Holmes novels. Today you can visit the Sherlock Holmes Museum at 221B Baker Street which is where the famous detective actually lived and worked. Ironically at the time that Conan Doyle actually wrote the novels this address didn't even exist. Now there's a statue Baker Street you'll get into the Regent's Park which is so cool because it was designed in 1811 by John Nash for the Prince Regent. Obviously three days in the city is only enough to just begin to scratch the surface of this amazing place and so if you're interested in more London videos and areas I recommend checking out our guides to Camden, Greenwich, East London and Covent Garden. Thank you so much for watching and don't forget to like and subscribe because if you like this London video then you'll probably like this one too!