1 day in London itinerary: all must-see places of the UK capital

Is it possible to see all the interesting places in London? Not really. But it’s quite possible to visit all the must-see London landmarks and sights within a day. My 1 day in London itinerary actually needs just about 8 hours.

London is a big city. With around 8 million inhabitants and 272 underground stations, it’s really impossible to see all of the city even in one week.

Good news is that the city centre is not so vast. Westminster is pretty much walkable or you just need to ride the Tube for 1 – 2 stops to get from one place to another.

1 day in London itinerary overview:

Itinerary route: (1half) Westminster station – Parliament Square – Westminster Abbey – Horse Guards – St James’ s Park – Buckingham Palace – Green Park – Piccadilly Circus – Chinatown – Leicester Square: 4 hours:

(2nd half) Lunch break -Trafalgar Square – St Pauls Cathedral – Tower and Tower Bridge: 4 hours (most of the journey on bus):

This is 1 day in London itinerary – one day means the whole day. Time needed is about 8 hours including lunch break for about 2 hrs, thus I recommend to start in the morning. But this actually depends on you and your schedule. I plan my itineraries for groups up to 20. If you are alone or just a family, you will probably do it faster. 

Start of the itinerary:

I prefer to begin a 1 day in London Tour at Westminster Tube Station. You will se most famous places straight at the beginning.

So let’s start: 

Westminster Station:  If you are a fan of Harry Potter, look closely at ticket gates here. They filmed one very famous scene exactly here.

1 day in London itinerary
The Parliament and famous Elizabeth Tower with Big Ben

When walking out through the closest exit, at first, look above you: there is Big Ben!

What you see is actually Elizabeth Tower. Big Ben is a bell, which is inside.

It is not possible to see it. As you don´t have much time, you´ll maybe appreciate seeing the London Eye. Go to the embankment behind the tower. LE is on the other side of the river Thames.

Return to Parliament Square from where you can see the whole building of parliament.

The Houses of Parliament are situated in neo – gothic palace. It looks like an old medieval palace built in the style of British perpendicular gothic style.

Actually, only one very old part of the building is the Great Hall, which you can see approximately in the middle and which differs a lot from the rest of the building.

Previous site burnt out in the 19th century and today’s building was built from scratch after that.

The Parliament seats The House of Commons (elected members of parliament) and The House of Lords. 

Interesting fact: The King is only allowed to visit The House of Lords. His majesty usually does it at least one time a year in May, when the new parliament session starts. He has to read a message prepared by the government of the UK.

On the southern side of Parliament Square, there is Westminster Abbey. Almost a thousand year old church which is really significant for the British monarchy.

All important royal ceremonies are held there:

  • Coronation (the Coronation of His Majesty The King will take place on Saturday 6th May, 2023)
  • Royal funerals
  • Weddings (with exception for e.g. Charles and Diana, Harry and Meghan)

Westminster Abbey is not a cathedral as the bishop of London is seated in St Paul´s. But it is one of the most important places for Britain and a masterpiece of medieval architecture.

Visit is paid and possible during opening hours. Booking tickets in advance is recommended.

Photo tip:

Several phone booths can be found on the north side of Parliament Square. Red booth is one of the symbols of Britain, so why not take a photo of them?

On this exact location, phone booths have a very scenic location. If you look at them from the sidewalk, you will see the Parliament just behind them.

Yes, here you can put a typical phone booth and Elizabeth Tower (Big Ben) in one picture.

You can just open the door, grab the phone and make a perfect photo for Instagram or other social profiles!

If you wait for a moment, you can even take a photo with a red doubledecker bus! 3 symbols of London in one photo.

Sometimes waiting for 5 – 10 minutes is required. Never seen anybody make a phone call from here, but everybody is taking photos. Of course, it’s free!

Whitehall, Downing street & Horse Guards 

Whitehall is the centre of the British government also called the Cabinet. It links Parliament Square with Trafalgar Square, comprising most of the government buildings on one street.

You can continue from Parliament Square straight to Buckingham Palace through St James’s Park.

But it’s worth it to take a little longer journey through Whitehall.

Close to Parliament Square, there is the Cenotaph. Memorial of British soldiers killed in action during war. It was built after WWI. So the day of remembrance is on 11 of November, when WWI ended.

Additionally, every year there is a ceremony of laying on Remembrance Sunday at 11 AM.

Wreaths are laid by the King, heir to the throne (Prince of Wales) and senior politicians including the Prime Minister.

The seat of the Prime Minister is straight ahead of our journey. Famous Downing street is behind the black iron gate. You can’t really miss it because of the number of policemen with rifles standing at the gate.

Downing street is closed after terrorist attack in 1991. Nevertheless, you can see building No. 10 through gates. It is the dark building on the right hand side.

Orange brick house behind it is No. 11. belongs to the Chancellor of the Exchequer which means the minister of finance.

In the past, you could walk through Downing street to the park and see the well-known doors with No. 10 on them.

Due to security reasons, public access is not allowed and you have to continue forwards along Whitehall.

There is another memorial on our way, which commemorates women of WWII who worked in heavy industry to replace fighting British men in their jobs. On the other side of the street, several statues stand before a huge building.

It´ s the Ministry of Defence. The statue on the right is Bernard Montgomery, famous british general of WWII.

Horse Guards and Horse Guards Parade

If you walk a few minutes more, you will get to Horse Guards.

This military unit serves ceremonial occasions for the King. You can even see two mounted guards on horses by the gate if you come during the opening times of the guard’s museum.

Whitehall continues to Trafalgar Square, which is pretty close. I usually prefer to go another way.

Go through the Horse Guards gate and foot tunnel in the building. 

Horse Guards parade is a place used for training and by tradition, the Queens and Kings celebrate their birthday here.

Ceremony is called Trooping the Colour and takes place usually in June. It does not really matter when the King has his birthday.

Queen Elizabeth II had birthday in April. Trooping the Colour took place in June, because of warmer weather.

Don’t have an idea how the Royal birthday party looks like? It is actually a huge military parade with soldiers in red uniforms, wearing typical bearskin hats!

St James´s Park and The Mall

Most famous royal park in London is full of animals, including very popular squirrels.

Locals love to have picnics on the lawns. In the park you can buy a coffee, ice – cream and find public toilets (paid, you can use contactless payment).

Along the Park, there is a wide road called The Mall. This road leads straight to Buckingham Palace which is situated at the end of the Park. 

Close to Buckingham Palace, there is a St James’s Palace, where King Charles III used to live for the last decades and yet continue to use this place as his residence.

But it is the Buckingham Palace which is the official residence of the King. 

Look at the flag above the Palace:

  • UK flag – the King is not at the palace
  • Royal standard – the King is in the Buckingham Palace right now

Changing of the guard? Not every day!

You can see a balcony, where the Royal family gather on important occasions.

Foot Guards are present in front of the Palace 24 hrs/7 days a week. But the ceremony of changing the Guards takes place only once, at 11 AM.

Check the dates here. Changing of the Guards is not an everyday ceremony.

It takes about 45 minutes and if you can’t get a place close to the fence, you probably will see only the arrival and departure of the troops at the beginning and the end of the ceremony.

I prefer to watch only the beginning or the end and not stay for the whole ceremony. You can’t really see much while standing deep in the crowd during the changing.

Buckingham Palace is rarely open to the public. Available dates are usually in summer, which can change in the near future because of the reign of the new Monarch.

During open season, advance booking is needed. The tour inside takes ať least 2:30 hours.

Piccadilly Circus, Chinatown and Leicester Square

If you started during the morning, it is high time to take a break and enjoy lunch.

From Buckingham Palace, continue to Green Park.

We need to get to Piccadilly Circus. Take 1 stop by Tube on Piccadilly Line or use a map and walk for 10 minutes.

Piccadilly Circus is one of the busiest places in London. Most famous landmark there is a building with advertisements called café Monico and the statue of Eros.

Chinatown and Leicester square

There are restaurants and fast foods everywhere around you. I personally love Chinese food in China Town.

You can get there by walking towards Leicester Square (5 mins).

Chinatown is located close to the northwest corner of Leicester Square (watch for Lego, M&M and totem-like bell clock with Swiss flags).

Some Chinese restaurants do not accept cards, so watch for signs “Cash only” by the entrance.

It is possible to withdraw cash from ATMs around the place.

If you are not a fan of asian cuisine, you can always choose something else. Here you’ll find generally everything from McDonald’s to Angus steak house.

There are also a lot of (quite pricey) souvenir shops between Piccadilly and Leicester Square.

Trafalgar Square and doubledecker ride 

Most important square in London. Generally speaking, it takes about 3 minutes walk from Leicester Square. 

Main building is the National gallery with free entrance for everybody. Don’t forget to take a photo of the Nelson column.

The name of the square comes from the Battle of Trafalgar (1805). 

1 day in london itinerary by bus
The view from doubledecker bus

Admiral Nelson died during the battle and was transported to London in the barrel full of brandy.

Then was buried in St Paul’s cathedral, where we continue by bus.

Yes! Now we are about to board the famous red doubledecker bus.

How to get from Trafalgar Square to St Paul´s by a doubledecker bus

Find the bus stop at the corner of Trafalgar Square and Strand.

Take bus 11 or 15 eastbound to St Paul’s cathedral. (You can get off at Ludgate Hill stop, just in front of the cathedral).

Ride length depends on traffic, usually between 15-30 minutes of slow ride through Strand, Aldwych and Fleet Street.

Pay your fare by the driver or tap the card at the or use the Travelcard day ticket. Pay as you go with debit or credit card is usually the easiest and cheapest variant.

On the bus: No standing allowed at the upper deck, hence you have to stay at lower deck if the bus is full. Don’t forget to push the red button before you come to a stop. All stops are made by request by passengers and are announced before by the information system on a bus.

st pauls cathedral
St Paul´s cathedral from the south side

St Paul’s Cathedral and the Millennium bridge

Iconic symbol of London City. The Baroque cathedral by Christopher Wren is 111 meters high.

But the building is so huge that you actually are not able to see its dome from the front. Go along the road on the south side, The dome is visible from the path to Millenium Bridge. Very good photo could be taken from the bridge, a 5 minute walk from the cathedral.

There is also a nice view of London City skyscrapers, The Shard and you´ll see Tower Bridge further away. If you still have plenty of time, you can cross the Millenium Bridge and walk to Tower Bridge on the South Bank of Thames river (2 km).

Otherwise, get back to St Paul´s and take another short ride on bus No. 15 to the Tower of London.

Tower of London and Tower Bridge.

Tower of London is a 1000 years old fortress built after William the Conqueror invasion to Britain. He needed to secure himself and his rule in the British Isles and built the Tower of London and Windsor Castle.

Tower of London was a residence for monarchs until the 1500s and it still keeps the Crown Jewels here. Tower is open for public everyday, but the visit could take up to 3 hours, so make sure you have enough time. 

If you have 1 day in London, you probably won´t manage to see the Tower from inside. But you can walk around and enjoy nice views of Tower and Tower Bridge.

Tower bridge

Access to the bridge is free of charge. If you have about 90+ minutes, you can visit bridges from the inside. There are two walkways in the upper part of the bridge, about 40 meters high. Spectacular view is guaranteed.

Tip: check the bridge lift times on the day of your visit

Moreover, there are even small windows that can be opened for your camera to take photos without glass in front of you.

Entrance tickets are sold online or in the northern tower of Tower Bridge. Tickets allow you to visit walkways and the engine room on the southern side.

Eventually, we got to the end of our trip. At this point, you´ve visited probably all must-see landmarks and spent 1 day in London with an itinerary that I use for my groups. 

I am pretty sure that some people can manage it much faster than 8 hours, but somebody may need more time. Especially, when you decide to see some attraction from inside.

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