Local time
Sun, 8:16 PM GMT+1Europe/LondonCityCapital
London
51.50° N, 0.12° W
- Population
- 8,567,000
- Natural Earth
- Population rank
- 1 of 46
- Rank by Natural Earth population among the 46 cities of United Kingdom in Terratlasia that have a population figure. Terratlasia does not list every city of United Kingdom, so this is not a national ranking.
- Time zone
- Europe/London
- Places
- 34
- editorial
- Districts
- 10
Traveler brief
Only what this atlas can source — no hours, prices, visas or safety advice.
Practical bearings for London, from the same records as the rest of this page.
City guide
Editorial selection — sources on every entry
Four ways in, then the places grouped by what you would actually go out to do.
First time in London 7
- ≈ 3 h
Tower of LondonCastle
A Norman fortress on the Thames that has been a royal palace, a prison and the strongroom of the Crown Jewels.
- ≈ 45 min
Tower BridgeLandmark
The bascule bridge beside the Tower, with a high walkway between its towers and the Victorian engine rooms below.
- ≈ 90 min
St Paul's CathedralChurch
Christopher Wren's domed cathedral, built after the Great Fire and climbable to galleries under and above the dome.
- ≈ 3 h
Tate ModernArt Museum
Modern and contemporary art in a former power station, with the Turbine Hall as its entrance and commission space.
- ≈ 60 min
London EyeViewpoint
An observation wheel on the South Bank that turns slowly over the river, facing Parliament across the water.
- ≈ 90 min
Palace of WestminsterLandmark
The home of Parliament, rebuilt after the 1834 fire; its clock tower holds the bell known as Big Ben.
- ≈ 2 h
Westminster AbbeyChurch
The church where English and British monarchs are crowned and many are buried, rebuilt in Gothic form from the 1240s.
One day, in order 6
- ≈ 2 h
Buckingham PalacePalace
The monarch's official London residence, with the changing of the guard outside and state rooms open in summer.
- ≈ 30 min
Trafalgar SquareLandmark
The square below the National Gallery, with Nelson's Column, the lion statues and a plinth that shows changing artworks.
- ≈ 3 h
National GalleryArt Museum
European painting from the 1200s to 1900 on Trafalgar Square, from Van Eyck and Piero to Turner and Van Gogh.
- ≈ 90 min
The old market square turned shopping arcade, with street performers under the glass roof and theaters all around.
- ≈ 3 h
British MuseumHistory Museum
A collection of world antiquities around a glass-roofed court, free to enter since it opened to the public.
- ≈ 90 min
A dense grid of bars, restaurants and theaters in the West End, long the city's night-time quarter.
Art and museums 6
- ≈ 3 h
National GalleryArt Museum
- ≈ 3 h
Tate ModernArt Museum
- ≈ 3 h
Victoria and Albert MuseumArt Museum
- ≈ 3 h
British MuseumHistory Museum
- ≈ 60 min
Sir John Soane's MuseumMuseum
- ≈ 90 min
Shakespeare's GlobeTheater
History 7
- ≈ 3 h
Tower of LondonCastle
- ≈ 2 h
Westminster AbbeyChurch
- ≈ 90 min
Palace of WestminsterLandmark
- ≈ 90 min
Churchill War RoomsHistory Museum
- ≈ 3 h
Imperial War Museum LondonHistory Museum
- ≈ 3 h
Hampton Court PalacePalace
- ≈ 60 min
Cutty SarkHistory Museum
Views and walking 8
- ≈ 90 min
Hyde ParkPark
- ≈ 90 min
Regent's ParkPark
- ≈ 2 h
Hampstead HeathNature
- ≈ 60 min
Greenwich ParkPark
- ≈ 3 h
Kew GardensPark
- ≈ 60 min
The ShardViewpoint
- ≈ 60 min
London EyeViewpoint
- ≈ 45 min
Tower BridgeLandmark
With children 6
- ≈ 3 h
Natural History MuseumScience Museum
- ≈ 3 h
Science MuseumScience Museum
- ≈ 90 min
Royal ObservatoryScience Museum
- ≈ 60 min
Cutty SarkHistory Museum
- ≈ 3 h
Kew GardensPark
- ≈ 60 min
London EyeViewpoint
Neighborhoods 6
- ≈ 90 min
- ≈ 90 min
- ≈ 2 h
- ≈ 90 min
- ≈ 90 min
- ≈ 60 min
Borough MarketMarket
Opening hours and admission prices are not shown: this atlas has no current, permissively licensed source for them. Each place links to its official site, where those are correct.
Connections
Places 34
- British MuseumA collection of world antiquities around a glass-roofed court, free to enter since it opened to the public.History Museum
- Tower of LondonA Norman fortress on the Thames that has been a royal palace, a prison and the strongroom of the Crown Jewels.UNESCOCastle
- Palace of WestminsterThe home of Parliament, rebuilt after the 1834 fire; its clock tower holds the bell known as Big Ben.UNESCOLandmark
- Westminster AbbeyThe church where English and British monarchs are crowned and many are buried, rebuilt in Gothic form from the 1240s.UNESCOChurch
- Buckingham PalaceThe monarch's official London residence, with the changing of the guard outside and state rooms open in summer.Palace
- National GalleryEuropean painting from the 1200s to 1900 on Trafalgar Square, from Van Eyck and Piero to Turner and Van Gogh.Art Museum
- St Paul's CathedralChristopher Wren's domed cathedral, built after the Great Fire and climbable to galleries under and above the dome.Church
- Tower BridgeThe bascule bridge beside the Tower, with a high walkway between its towers and the Victorian engine rooms below.Landmark
- Natural History MuseumFossils, minerals and a blue whale skeleton in Alfred Waterhouse's terracotta halls in South Kensington.Science Museum
- Tate ModernModern and contemporary art in a former power station, with the Turbine Hall as its entrance and commission space.Art Museum
- Victoria and Albert MuseumDesign and decorative arts across cultures and centuries, from cast courts of copied monuments to fashion and ceramics.Art Museum
- Hyde ParkThe largest of the central royal parks, with the Serpentine lake, swimming and the soapbox corner for speakers.Park
- Trafalgar SquareThe square below the National Gallery, with Nelson's Column, the lion statues and a plinth that shows changing artworks.Landmark
- Kew GardensBotanic gardens on the Thames with Victorian glasshouses, a treetop walkway and the world's largest seed collections.UNESCOPark
- London EyeAn observation wheel on the South Bank that turns slowly over the river, facing Parliament across the water.Viewpoint
- Science MuseumEngines, spacecraft and computing history, with hands-on galleries for children on the lower floors.Science Museum
- The ShardThe tallest building in the city, with a viewing floor near the top looking down on the Thames and its bridges.Viewpoint
- Churchill War RoomsThe underground rooms where Britain's wartime government worked, left much as they were when the lights went out in 1945.History Museum
- Covent GardenThe old market square turned shopping arcade, with street performers under the glass roof and theaters all around.
- Hampton Court PalaceHenry VIII's riverside palace upstream from the city, half Tudor and half baroque, with a maze in the gardens.Palace
- Regent's ParkJohn Nash's park ringed by terraces, with a rose garden, an open-air theater and the zoo along its northern edge.Park
- Royal ObservatoryThe observatory on the hill above Greenwich where the prime meridian is drawn and time was kept for shipping.UNESCOScience Museum
- Imperial War Museum LondonHow war has been fought and lived through since 1914, from trench sections to a Holocaust gallery.History Museum
- Shakespeare's GlobeA timber and thatch reconstruction of the open-air playhouse Shakespeare wrote for, close to the original site.Theatre
- SohoA dense grid of bars, restaurants and theaters in the West End, long the city's night-time quarter.
- Borough MarketA produce and food market under railway arches by Southwark Cathedral, trading on this ground for centuries.Market
- Camden TownMarkets spread along the canal and lock, long tied to the city's music venues and second-hand trade.
- Greenwich ParkA hilltop royal park above the old naval buildings, with the city skyline framed from the observatory terrace.UNESCOPark
- Kensington PalaceA working royal residence in Kensington Gardens, with state apartments and court dress on show.Palace
- Cutty SarkA tea clipper of 1869 held in dry dock, with the hull raised so visitors can walk beneath it.History Museum
- Hampstead HeathRough parkland in north London with swimming ponds and the view over the city from Parliament Hill.Nature
- Notting HillPastel terraces west of the parks, with the Portobello Road antiques market and an August carnival.
- ShoreditchEast London streets of former warehouses, now painted with murals and lined with bars, studios and markets.
- Sir John Soane's MuseumThe architect's own house kept as he left it, crowded with casts, paintings and an Egyptian sarcophagus.Museum