The Ultimate 3-day Itinerary for London, England

In May 2022, my boyfriend and I started our month-long trip around Europe in London. It was our first time in London and we had an amazing time! Since there’s so much to do in London, here’s our ultimate 3-day itinerary for London, England!

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Day 1 in London

• Kensington Palace & Princess Diana’s Memorial Garden
• Piccadilly Circus
• Trafalgar Square
• St James Park
• Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben)
• Westminster Abbey

Kensington Palace & The Princess Diana’s Memorial Garden

When visiting London, you must visit Kensington Palace, which has been a royal residence since the 17th century. Nearby, you’ll also fine The Princess Diana’s Memorial Garden, which is located to the right of Kensington Palace. It’s a very lovely area to walk around, with large pedestrian roads and lots of greenery.

You can visit the grounds of Kensington Palace and the garden for free. You can also visit inside Kensington Palace to see the state rooms and public areas of the palace for a fee. We decided not to go inside the palace as there was other things we wanted to visit that day.

Piccadilly Circus

Piccadilly Circus is often referred to as a smaller New York Time Square, due to the bright billboards. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any pictures of the billboards because they were doing construction on them but there’s still lots to see in this area. There’s lots of stores, restaurants and souvenirs shops in the area. Something I’ve been doing for a few years now, is buying a keychain in every new city I travel to and there was a huge selection here for souvenirs. If you’re looking to buy a souvenir for yourself or someone, I’d recommend looking at Piccadilly Circus.

Trafalgar Square

Located in central London, we have Trafalgar Square. Here you’ll find Nelson’s Column, The Landseer Lions, The Fountains, and The National Gallery. You can visit The National Gallery for free. We didn’t visit it since there were other spots in the city, we wanted to visit that day, but if you decide to go visit the museum, keep it mind that it can take 2-3 hours to see it all, so remember that when planning your day.

The Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben)

A must-see in London is The Elizabeth Tower / Big Ben.  If you’re coming from Trafalgar Square, we recommend you go through St Jame’s Park to get to Big Ben, which took us about 20 minutes. It takes you a little longer than if you go directly there but it’s totally worth it. The street near the park is lined with gorgeous tall trees, which makes for a lovely walk.

The Elizabeth Tower, also known as Big Ben, recently finished its 5-year restoration and all I can say is WOW. I found out a couple of days before we left for London that it was going to be uncovered and I was so excited to see it. Let me tell you, it didn’t disappoint! Also pictures don’t do it justice so make sure you go check it out yourself!

Westminster Abbey

Another must-see attraction in London is Westminster Abbey. This church is famous for holding coronations and royal weddings for the English and British monarchs, including the wedding of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.

We went around 8 pm and there wasn’t a person in sight. Strange for a tourist attraction, right?! But it’s perfect if you’re someone that likes to take pictures, like me! I think it was a coincidence and we got lucky, but you never know, hopefully, there won’t be a lot of people when you go too!

Day 2 in London

• Terry’s Cafe (English breakfast)
•  Borough Market
• Tower Bridge
• Buckingham Palace & Garden
• SOHO area
• Covent Garden
• Westfield London Mall

Terry’s Cafe (English breakfast)

At some point during your trip to London, you need to go to a cafe to have a full English Breakfast. We went to Terry’s Cafe and let’s just say we weren’t disappointed. We went around 9 am and barely got a table. It’s a small restaurant so make sure you go earlier if you don’t want to wait in line. They also have a coffee shop right next door so you can get drinks and a pastry if you need to wait. I highly recommend going, while you’re in London. If you can’t go to Terry’s, still make sure to try a full English breakfast. Side note, I will say I was not a fan of blood sausage at all lol. But you always need to try new foods when you’re traveling so I hope you give it a try!

Borough Market

Borough Market is one of the largest and oldest food markets in London! In the past, it was essentially a wholesale market. Today it’s mainly known for selling speciality foods. Since we had just eaten breakfast, we didn’t buy anything to eat here but there were lots of stands. There’s something for everyone here.

Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge is another iconic tourist attraction in London. Not to get it confused with London Bridge, which is just up the river. You can even go up the Towers and walk across the walkway, which has a glass floor. The entrance for an adult is 11.40 pounds and 5.40 pounds for a child.

What we did and that we recommend you do, is start at the London Bridge, then make your way to Tower Bridge. When you’re on top of the London Bridge, there are going to be stairs on your right-hand side to go down to the river. I recommend you walk along the river to get to Tower Bridge, as it’s nice to get off the busy roads sometimes. Plus, you can get some awesome pictures of the Shard and the Bridges, along the water.

Buckingham Palace & Garden

You can’t visit London without visiting the famous Buckingham Palace. The palace is a London royal residence to the monarch of the United Kingdom. During the summer and select dates throughout the year, you can tour Buckingham Palace.

The palace is a little far from other attractions so I recommend you take the underground to get there like we did. Honestly, the underground, also known as the tube in London, is super well organized and easy to use. I’ll link a blog post about getting around in London, once I have it posted!

The change of the guards happens at 11 am. There are typically large crowds, so make sure you get there early if you don’t want to miss it!

After seeing Buckingham Palace, you can walk a few minutes over to the Buckingham Palace Garden. The Garden is beautiful with lots of trees and flowers. It’s a nice place to just sit and relax. We spent a good hour sitting in the grass to give our legs a break from walking and to relax. Often there are kids playing around and people having picnics in the garden.

SOHO Area

The SOHO area is perfect for grabbing a bite to eat as there are so many restaurants and pubs in the area. We decided to get some Fish & Chips, as it’s a classic English meal, so obviously, we had to try it! I will admit that I was disappointed with the meal and think this is a bit of a tourist trap. It was extremely busy, overpriced and honestly, the food wasn’t great. We wish we would’ve had more time in England, to go to the coast and try some Fish and Chips there, as locals say that’s the best place to get them!

Covent Garden

Covent Garden is only a short 15-minute walk from the SOHO area. Here you’ll find lots of different stalls and stores. You’ll find restaurants, craft stalls, souvenir shops, etc. While we were there, this lovely lady was singing opera in the restaurant below, and you could hear her voice echo in the building, and it sounded lovely.

Westfield London Mall

The Westfield London Mall is located in Shepard’s Bush, which is a little further out, so I would recommend taking the underground to get there. The Westfield Mall is huge and the architecture in it is amazing. There’s also a store for literally anything you’re looking for!

In my hometown, we don’t have a big mall so to me this was exciting, but if you’re from a big city and have a huge mall, this could be something to skip.

Day 3 in London

• Portobello Road Market
• British Museum
• Leicester Square

Portobello Road Market

Day 3 of your ultimate London itinerary starts with Portobello Road Market. Since we were in London on the weekend, it was a no-brainer that we go to Portobello Road Market. The market is open all day Saturday. If you’re in London on a Saturday, you need to go! I’d recommend going early to beat the crowds because it gets really busy. You’ll find vintage goods, souvenirs, clothing, and amazing food. I’d recommend going on an empty stomach because let me tell you, there is so much you’re gonna want to try! We had some Greek, Indian, Iranian, and Jamaican food. We spent a couple of hours at the market, however, you could easily spend more time here.

Portobello Road Market is in Notting Hill and there are so many colorful buildings and houses in this area. It’s really something unique and I recommend walking around the area once you’re done with the market. While walking around I kept imagining what it would be like to live in one of these houses!

British Museum

The one museums you won’t want to miss is the British Museum. When you’re going from one attraction to another, I recommend just walking there, if you’re able to because it lets you see parts of the city you wouldn’t have seen otherwise. We walked from the Portobello Market to the British Museum. It was a 1h30 walk, which is quite far but along the way, we came across a gentleman selling fresh lemonade, so for us, little things like that make walking worth it lol.

The British Museum is free to enter for everyone, however, you can book a guided tour. Keep in mind that you do need to book a timed entry in advance. Truthfully, when we went nobody checked or even asked for our tickets so I think this might be something that’s more used during peak seasons like the summer. Honestly, I can’t believe this museum is free because there’s so much to see inside. We were there for about 1 hour and went through it quickly, but you can easily spend 2-3 hours here.

Leicester Square

One thing I really love about Leicester Square is that there are street performers everywhere and it’s really interesting to see. In the area, you’ll find Chinatown, pubs, restaurants, or a theater. London has so many great plays. You’ll often see them advertised while going up and down the escalators in nearby underground stations. If we had known, we would’ve probably bought tickets for a play but only found this area during our last night in London. We spent a couple of hours in the area. 

That concludes your ultimate 3-day itinerary for London! Keep in mind that this itinerary is pretty full, so if you have a couple extra days you can stretch it out, or if you enjoy a slower paced travel, I’d recommend removing a couple stops. Enjoy your trip!