London
Must Do’s
Dishoom - Great for brunch, lunch and dinner
The Churchill Museum in the Cabinet War Rooms (make a reservation!)
Regency Cafe for an amazing Full English
High Tea at The Wolseley
Walking along the South Bank
Recommended Itinerary (4 days)
Day 1 (Mayfair / Westminster / Knightsbridge)
arrive morning, shower, quick nap, then out into the sun as much as possible to stay awake
head straight over to Regency Cafe for the most authentic, delicious traditional English Breakfast
walk through Westminster to see the Abbey and Parliament
walk down the mall to Buckingham Palace and look through the gates near the roundabout - maybe catch a changing of the guard
wander through Green Park, see the Wellington Arch, then hang out in Hyde Park
walk up to Liberty London (between Mayfair and Soho) to do some shopping or window shopping (multi-story historic department store)
afternoon tea at The Wolseley
walk south to Harrods (another famous department store)
relax at hotel / Airbnb then head to dinner at Le Boudin Blanc (French) or La Porte des Indes (Indian)
have a drink (and hearty food) at Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese
wander across Blackfriar Bridge and head west along the river for a short walk past Waterloo, a cool skate park, the Eye of London, and back to the Knightsbridge area. Alternatively for a longer walk, head east along the river to walk past the Shakespeare Globe and the Tate Modern
Day 2 (Shoreditch, Brick Lane, Katharine's Docks, Tower of London)
Head to Dishoom Shoreditch for a long Indian breakfast (the chai and dipping bun maska are amazing)
wander around Old Street then head towards Spitalfields
check out Rough Trade (Record shop - also one in Brooklyn) and Caboose (Ken's favorite BBQ)
walk down Brick Lane
grab a pint at Crown & Shuttle pub (outdoor backyard is awesome)
for coffee at any point around Shoreditch check out: Association, Ozone, or Fix Coffee
If you want to explore further East (Bethnal Green) from Shoreditch, there's an awesome brunch place called Pavilion that's outdoor on a beautiful lake in Victoria Park
from Brick Lane, find your way to St Katharine's Docks and wander around there a bit
see the Tower of London (IMO, the best "touristy" thing to do in London and well worth spending a few hours there to see the dungeons, crown jewels, etc. There are free walking tours hourly at least)
Walk across Tower Bridge and head back west towards Borough Market - great place to wander and find a snack
if you're still up for it, keep walking west along the water and pass (or go in) The Tate Modern and Shakespeare's globe
you can then pass Waterloo station again during the day and cross Waterloo or Westminster Bridges
Day 3 (afternoon in Camden + live music)
Camden is best seen in the afternoon. If you want to head here earlier, you can always eat at Dishoom King's Cross to get a similar experience to that you could've gotten in Shoreditch. Go here to kill some time before wandering around Camden in the afternoon / evening when the real fun people watching starts
head up north to Camden for people watching and wandering
wander up Camden High Street and cross the bridge over the canal with locks - plenty of places to pop into
spend around an hour wandering around Camden Market - tons of stalls with shops, food, and random knick knacks (though there was recently a fire in July 2017 so some things may be closed)
definitely stop in at the store called Cyberdog for some crazy raver gear or window shopping (glitter guns, lots of neon, alien things, etc with loud techno music)
ultimately head to the Lock Tavern for delicious food, great pints, a nice backyard, and multi-stories of live music on weekend nights
for more live music, head back down Camden High Street towards Koko for a bigger venue
for super late night dance music, check out who's on at Fabric. This is a large club that's super famous and there are multiple rooms with different kinds of music (usually lots of types of techno, electro, and house). It can be a lot of fun and worth the expense for a late night out.
Day 4 (SoHo, Covent Garden, Chinatown, Mayfair, Notting Hill)
wander around the most touristy part of London where you'll find tons of shops, mediocre restaurants, and lots of (you guessed it) tourists
still, there are a couple of decent places for food! I recommend eating dumplings at Dupling's Legend in Chinatown. It'll be some of the best food around and is a fun experience. Busaba Eathai is also nearby and despite being a chain has some delicious and relatively inexpensive food. Kimchee is also a personal favorite with cheap and fast Korean food (kind of like a Korean Pret + Chipotle)
while in the area, Sketch is another weird place for afternoon tea. We've never been but it looks promising (filled with everything (literally everything) pink and lots of older Japanese women dressed in multi-thousand dollar suits and dresses)
then wander around Fitzrovia and Mayfair to see where the real wealth lives (for a few days of the year... it's mostly deserted because of all of the foreign real estate investment made by the Russians, Saudi, and Chinese)
you can also wander west through Hyde Park to check out Notting Hill. There are some cute flower markets and places to get food.
Things to see and do
Tower of London
Borough Market, walk around and eat all kinds of food!
Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, go down the stairs, turn right and head down another set of stairs to the basement. Order a cask beer and sit under an arch in the mid-level
Liberty department store, really fun to walk through the flower shop and interesting departments inside of an amazingly old building
Draughts board game cafe, built into the arches of the overground. Great atmosphere and game master, as well as good bites.
Ropewalk a small side street with micro-bars and food pop ups. A good spot to bar hop.
St Katharine's Docks
Tate Modern Museum / Victoria & Albert Museum
Waterloo
Soho
Buckingham Palace
Hyde Park
