Fly the Eye and choose what’s next
Kick off with a flight on the Eye and choose what’s next from the top. Big Ben? Houses of Parliament? The Tower? Or just pop next door to the British Museum for two million years of human history. Get pampered at the Bloomsbury Hotel. Catch the latest Lloyd-Webber blockbuster. Or just raid the goodies on Regent Street and Oxford Street.
Kids in the capital
There’s a ticklist of top landmarks it’d be rude not to see. So kick off with a flight on the London Eye and choose what’s next from the vista 135 metres below. Maybe a tour of the Houses of Parliament, a trip to see Big Ben, or to catch the Crown Jewels and the ravens at the Tower of London.
Just yards from the door, the British Museum offers two million years of human history and culture, including artefacts such as the Rosetta Stone and the Parthenon Sculptures. Keep the culture coming at the National Gallery or Tate Britain, with exhibitions of British art dating back to the sixteenth century.
Animals more your thing? Meet everything from okapi to otters and llamas to lions at London Zoo. On your way out, maybe catch a show in Regent’s Park. For penguins, sea turtles, sharks, jellyfish and more, head to the Sea Life Centre London Aquarium. Or meet chickens, sheep and goats at Hackney City Farm. Refuel in the Italian café.
Theme parks in London? Of course. Just inside the M25, you’ll find Thorpe Park, where you can hit 60mph on The Swarm, brave Derren Brown’s Ghost Train, and swoop around 50mph curves of twisted steel on Nemesis Inferno. Slow the pace on the Trafalgar Square Treasure Hunt Trail. Or cool off in Hyde Park’s Serpentine Lido.
For the grown ups
There’s plenty to see and do. Tackle the travel by tube or on a Boris Bike. Or just rent bikes and head to Hyde Park. Swim in the Serpentine, potter around Regents Park, or walk the Grand Union Canal. There’s pay-and-play tennis at Lincoln’s Inn Fields and golf at Greenwich Peninsula, and the chance to Go Ape at Battersea.
Get pampered at the Bloomsbury Hotel. Hit Regent Street for high-end department stores, quirky individual boutiques and top tech, or Selfridges, House of Fraser, and Marks and Spencer’s flagship store on Oxford Street. Or head to West One between Mayfair and Oxford Street to discover the gateway to great brands.
Enjoy events? Pick your dates carefully and stay somewhere lovely for the Wimbledon Tennis Championships. Wrap up your summer days with strawberries and cream on the terrace. Come in August and join Europe’s biggest street festival at Notting Hill. Or potter the planting in late spring with a trip to the Chelsea Flower Show.
Catch the latest Lloyd-Webber blockbuster in the West End. See The Marriage of Figaro, The Sleeping Beauty and other world-class opera and ballet at the Royal Opera House. Visit the Buckingham Palace State Rooms, or watch the Changing of the Guard. Or fly the London Eye and get a bird’s view of London’s leading landmarks.
