I'm going to London next weekend to visit a friend who is working over there on a business trip--I arrive from Ireland on Thursday night, and have all of Friday to myself to explore while she's at the office! I've been to London once before (for a week, three years ago), and hit all the major sites and museums--Tate Modern, St. Paul's, Westminster/Parliament, Nat'l Gallery, Tower of London, British Museum, Buckingham Palace...this time I'm looking for some quirkier, off the beaten path type things to do on my own--I love architecture, art, food, and shopping, if that helps--any suggestions??

Well, I've been to London over a dozen times, and only the last trip I decided to visit some of the "less popular" sights.

Anyway, places I went last time included:
Queen's Gallery
Apsley House
British Library
Kenwood House (in Hampstead)
John Soane's Museum
Courtauld Gallery
Churchill Museum/Cabinet War Rooms
Imperial War Museum
Royal Academy of Arts
Wallace Collection


Here's my trip report:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35064483

You can also visit the Tate Museum - lots of Turner.

check out Camden Lock Market (Camden town tube stop) it has hours worth of quirky vendors and great food to explore. I think there is a website if you google it.

I used to live in London circa 1986 and in Surrey for many years so when I get there next week there are a few quirky and off the beaten path activities on my to do list.

Check this out for architecture...


www.mandir.org

Here's a previous thread of recommendations for returning visitors to London. Included is a priceless response from Ben Haines "Second and Third Visits."

sorry, the link is:
http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34868001

take some of the walking tours. you dont need to prebook--just show up which is a real help if the weather doesnt cooperate(wow, in London??). also, the Museum of Design which is almost under the tower bridge on the opposite side of the thames from the Tower. We saw a great special event on Porshe once when we were there.

How about Banksy? There's a google map of Banky locations:

http://www.zeemaps.com/map.do?group=1571

I'll add Highgate to the list. On a trip to London at the beginning of March we also tried to go to some less well-trod places. We managed to do:
Borough Market
Southwark Cathedral
Highgate Village and East and West Cemetery – and walking down to catch the bus I saw a Banksy (thanks for that last post Apres!)
Isle of Dogs
Wallace Collection

And we tred some of our usual haunts – all in all a great weekend

The Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons (34-43 Lincoln's Inn Fields) in London is excellent (and quirky/off-the-beaten-path).

It's also completely free and across the street from a very nice park (grab a sandwich and have lunch outdoors if it's nice).

Check Time Out after you are in London. There will be listings of festivals, lectures, quirky museums, walks etc. Go to some fringe theatre - also listed in Time Out or at londontheatre.co.uk

But w/ just a week last time, you still have a lot of "on the beaten path" places left - a week can only barely scratch the surface.

No need to buy Time Out - see this site:

http://www.timeout.com/london/

After visiting Borough Market, you might like to get on the DLR at Bank tube station, and go through Docklands and Canary Wharf to Greenwich (get off at Cutty Sark station). You need a zone 1&2 travelcard or equivalent on your Oystercard.

Greenwich has lots of pubs and restaurants (eg the Yatch or the Cutty Sark pubs along the river) a market, the Royal Observatory, the National Maritime Museum, the Queen's House, Greenwich Park, and the fabulous architecture of the old Royal Naval College.

On your return trip you could walk under the river (through the old foot tunnel) to see the view from Island Gardens, then get on the DLR at Island Gardens. If you get off at West India Quay DLR, you can visit the Museum in Docklands (£5).

some things we've done in London that are not on your list (not sure if they qualify as "quirky" but all are interesting)
Inns of Court and the Old Bailey
Hampstead village and Heath including
Kenwood House (a magnificant house with a great art collection)
Hampton Court

This is all super helpful--exactly the type of stuff I was looking for! I will have to research all these fun sounding places and figure out what I want to do...

You might find this helpful:

http://www.slowtrav.com/gmaps/viewmap.asp?map=49

Wow, PatrickLondon's link to a map is a great one; this looks like a great source for major and off the beaten path sights! We're trying to do both on our 2-week trip in July, and this will be a great checklist for me (I think all our ideas for stops, sights, and walks are on here except for Little Venice canal trip)

wanderluster--Someone made a suggestion about traveling to Greenwich which we plan to try: Travel on DLR TO Greenwich--getting off and walking under Thames if we want--and then catch one of the boat tours AWAY from Greenwich.--The reasoning was the incredible photo ops--Getting off DLR on other side of Thames afforded shots of Greenwich and it seemed this person thought boat tour shots going back toward the Tower and Westminster were better coming from Greenwich. If you're not "into" photos (how could you not be in London, though!), then it won't matter which way you travel. The market there is supposed to be a good one on Saturday.

Sure, there is no need to buy a Time Out - but I buy one for every week I'm in London. Internet access is not always where you want when you want, and even when I take my own laptop - I don't usually have a printer. So having a real magazine you can dog ear, or tear out pages is a big help.

And printing out the entries at home from last week's TO won't help much w/ this week's entries. TO doesn't cost much . . . . .

Brompton Cemetery for something weird - some famous films have used the tipping old stones and huge graveyard as a set

in Hammersmith

Cemetery i think is in Fulham not Hammersmith proper - anyway right behind the Chelsea Football Club modern stadium

PQ: Brompton Cemetery is practically across the street from Earls' Court Exhibition centre. Right at the West Brompton tube station but also a very short walk from Earl's Court tube. Not what I'd call Fulham - though it isn't far from Fulham Broadway tube stn.