I have to wonder why you are going to London at all. If you want to meet and mingle with the locals and don't particularly care for the usual tourist sites why not go elsewhere in the UK and visit small towns rather than stay in the city?

As a fellow lover of the Pompidou Centre, I can tell you I've never had any desire to see the inside of Buckingham Palace either. If you don't want to see it, then why waste your time and money? You can alway see it from the outside if you go to St James Park.

Everything I was going suggest has aleady been covered by other posters here- St James Park, Camden Market/Camden Lock, Borough Market, did anyone mention people watching at Trafalger Square? There is always something going on there.

I really enjoyed taking a tour of Highgate Cemetery. It's past a very nice park, and the walk down the hill back to the tube station is nice, and you can even see a piece by the graffiti artist Banksy on the way.

I also liked the Docklands area and the City which has some incredible modern architecture.

Hampstead Village/Hampstead Heath is very pleasant.

I can second Highgate Cemetery. Each time I've gone though I haven't been able to time it for the tours in the West Cemetery, as a consequence I've strolled through the east side a few times now. I was considering making the trek on this most recent trip but specifically for the west side and the timing was too iffy (especially for winter and such a short trip) so I decided to wait for a warmer month.

I really enjoy Greenwich. I wouldn't call it off the beaten path but I think it's not something first or second timers would gravitate to, unless they were on a longer trip. One nice way to check it out is to arrive via a Thames cruise - London Walks used to have a tour which started with the cruise. You can also take the DLR (convenient stop right at the Tower of London) or for that matter walk under the Thames - I've done that before too. You've got the Royal Observatory, Flamsteed House, the Queen's House, the Maritime Museum, a big outdoor (but covered, if I recall correctly) market, restaurants, and a really lovely view of London (and you can see the Millennium Dome/O2 from there too). Plus, you can straddle the Prime Meridian - how can you beat that? A foot in each hemisphere. All I've mentioned is in a fairly compact walking area. Before you go pick up a copy of Longitude by Dava Sobel for some history.

I'd really soak up the London Walks, were I you. One of my favorite things to do when I visit.

Too many more things to mention, especially for a 5 day trip!

Wow - thanks for a wonderful list of great ideas! To respond to a couple of comments - not that a response is necessary but maybe the comments were sincere? - we're going to London because we like cities. As someone already surmised, we are not averse to art. We don't spend a lot of time in museums in NY, and we are not inclined to do so when we travel - unless they have something of special interest to us. My daughter (18) just expressed an interest in the BM simply because it is a well-known institution and she'd like to be able to say she saw what it had to offer. So we'll go. We'll also go to the V&A because I love it. And of course we'll enjoy the arthitecture and ancient structures we we just don't go in NY where there are plenty of wonderful museums so we'd rath

Following up on flygirl's comment about London Walks. My brother and his wife love Paris but in general are <i>not</i> city people. They weren't really moved by London the first time they went. But he was telling me recently that they enjoyed it much more the second time <i>because</i> of the London Walks they did. If I hadn't already read so many good things about them here, that would've been recommendation enough for me!

BNMIB I can totally relate to your plans as that is how we travel. We were in London for 6 days in the fall enroute to Africa. We took the double decker bus tour for one afternoon so that we got an overview of the main "touristy" sites. Then spent the other days walking parks and neighborhoods to feel the vibe of the place. We stayed in the Nottinghill Area and enjoyed Portobello Market and the restaurants in the neighborhood.

Here's a post that has a great list my hubby put together for non-traditional things to do in London:

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...ings-to-do.cfm