181 Best Sights in London, England

The London home of the Queen Mother for nearly 50 years until her death in 2002, Clarence House is one of the residences of King Charles III and his wife, Camilla, the Queen Consort (though since coming to the throne his official London residence is Buckingham Palace). The Regency mansion was built in 1828 by John Nash for the Duke of Clarence (later to become William IV) who considered next-door St. James's Palace to be too cramped for his liking, although postwar renovation work means that little remains of Nash's original. Since then it has remained a royal home for princesses, dukes, and duchesses, including Queen Elizabeth II, as a newlywed before her coronation.

The rooms have been sensitively preserved to reflect the Queen Mother's taste, with the addition of many works of art from the Royal Collection, including works by Winterhalter, Augustus John, and Sickert. The house is rarely open to visitors, and books out well in advance whenever it does, so check ahead of your visit. 

This is just one of several influential New York gallerists to open a London space in Mayfair in recent years, a trend that has revitalized an area that's been losing ground to edgier neighborhoods like Bethnal Green, Hackney, and Peckham. Zwirner's roster contains the likes of Bridget Riley and Jeff Koons, and modern masters such as Piet Mondrian are exhibited in this grand converted town house, too.

Located in the former Commonwealth Institute, this museum was the first in the United Kingdom to place everyday contemporary objects in a social and cultural context and to consider their role in the history of design. A free, permanent exhibition displays some 1,000 examples of 20th- and 21st-century design—from furniture, fashion, and domestic products to digital technology, architecture, and engineering. The temporary exhibitions may be focused on leading individual designers, such as Charles and Ray Eames, Isamu Noguchi, Terence Conran, or David Adjaye, on themes such as the global influence of Californian design, or on the role of design in related art forms, like an exhibition devoted to the work of film director Stanley Kubrick. There's also a design library and archive, two shops, a café, and a restaurant.

Were it not for the wrought-iron gates and armed guards that block the entrance, you'd probably miss this otherwise unassuming Georgian side street off Whitehall—but this is the location of the famous No. 10, London's modest equivalent of The White House. The Georgian entrance to the mid-17th-century mansion is deceptive; it's actually a huge complex of discreetly linked buildings. Since 1732 it has been the official home and office of the prime minister—the last private resident was the magnificently named Mr. Chicken (the current prime minister actually lives in the private apartments above No. 11, traditionally the residence of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the head of the Treasury). There are no public tours, but the famous black front door to No. 10 is clearly visible from Whitehall. Keep your eyes peeled for Larry the cat, whose official title is Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office.

Just south of Downing Street, in the middle of Whitehall, is the Cenotaph, a stark white monolith built to commemorate the 1918 armistice. On Remembrance Day (the Sunday nearest November 11), it's strewn with red poppy wreaths to honor the dead of both world wars and all British and Commonwealth soldiers killed in action since. A hundred yards farther, toward Parliament, is the Monument to the Women of World War II. The prominent black-marble sculpture uses a string of empty uniforms to symbolize the vital service of women in then-traditionally male jobs during the war, as well as in frontline roles, such as medics and auxiliary officers.

Built in 1700, this elegant Georgian residence, with its restored interiors, paneled rooms, and period furniture, is where Samuel Johnson lived between 1748 and 1759, compiling his landmark A Dictionary of the English Language in the garret as his health deteriorated. There's a research library with two early editions on view, along with other mementos of Johnson and his friend and biographer, James Boswell, one of literature's greatest diarists. After your visit, enjoy more 17th-century atmosphere around the corner in Wine Office Court at the venerable pub Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, once Johnson and Boswell's favorite watering hole.

West London's answer to Borough Market, this Saturday open-air market is in a pedestrian-only plaza off Duke of York Square, a chic shopping precinct. It hosts eight restaurants and 17 stalls purveying locally sourced food products. Like Borough Market, this is a grazer's paradise, giving you the chance to sample gourmet fish-and-chips and Chinese dumplings as well as delicious street food from countries ranging from Peru to Jamaica.

At this charming pedestrianized thoroughfare, trendy clothing boutiques, jewelers, beauty salons, gift shops, and even a tattoo parlor all jostle for space with Exmouth Market's excellent cafés and restaurants, many of which offer outdoor seating. At its southern end is the 19th-century Church of Our Most Holy Redeemer, the only Italian basilica–style church in London. There's also a vibrant food market on weekdays serving gourmet street food. Look out for the brilliantly named barber shop, Barber Streisand.

The bright yellow-and-pink museum (it's hard to miss) designed by Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta features changing exhibitions devoted to developments in fashion design, textiles, and jewelry from the end of World War II to the present. Founded by designer Zandra Rhodes, and now owned by Newham College, the FTM is a favorite with anyone interested in the history of style. There are weekday fashion-based workshops and lectures on design and aspects of fashion history; the excellent gift shop sells books on fashion and one-of-a-kind pieces by local designers. After your visit, check out the many restaurants, cafés, and boutiques that have blossomed on Bermondsey Street.

This handsome 17th-century merchant's home, Hampstead's oldest surviving house, has fine collections of ceramics, early keyboard instruments, and 17th-century needlework. The 2-acre walled garden, with its rose plantings and 32 varieties of apples and pears in the orchard, has remained virtually unchanged for 300 years. Booking tickets in advance for a visit to the house is required as entry is by timed ticket only; you can stop by and visit the garden without booking in advance.

Compact, highly visual, and engaging, this museum on the grounds of St. Thomas's Hospital is dedicated to Florence Nightingale, who founded the first school of nursing and played a major role in establishing modern standards of health care. Exhibits are divided into three areas: one is devoted to Nightingale's Victorian childhood, the others to her work tending soldiers during the Crimean War (1854–56) and her subsequent health-care reforms, including a display on how she developed a program for training nurses. The museum incorporates Nightingale's own books, her famous lamp, and even her pet owl Athena (now stuffed), as well as interactive displays of medical instruments and medicinal herbs. There are temporary exhibitions and a shop with unexpectedly amusing gifts like syringe-shaped highlighters.

A great place to buy Hogarth prints is at Fosters Bookshop, based in Chiswick's oldest shop building. The shop has its original Georgian frontage, creaking floorboards, and a glorious number of original Victorian novels and essays.

The father of psychoanalysis lived here with his family for a year, between his escape from Nazi persecution in his native Vienna in 1938 and his death in 1939. His daughter Anna (herself a pioneer of child psychoanalysis) remained in the house until her own death in 1982, bequeathing it as a museum to honor her father. The centerpiece is Freud's unchanged study, containing his remarkable collection of antiquities and his library. Also on display is the family's Biedermeier furniture—and, of course, the couch. As well, there are lectures, study groups, and themed exhibitions, in addition to a psychoanalysis-related archive and research library. Looking for a unique souvenir? The gift shop here sells "Freudian Slippers." Admission is by prebooked time slot only.

This celebration of one of England's favorite hobbies was created in the mid-1970s after two gardening enthusiasts came upon a medieval church, which, they were horrified to discover, was about to be bulldozed. The churchyard contained the tombs of two adventurous 17th-century plant collectors, a father and son both called John Tradescant, who introduced many new species to England, as well as the tombs of William Bligh, captain of the Bounty, several members of the Boleyn family, and quite a few archbishops of Canterbury.

Inspired to action, the gardeners rescued the church and created the museum now inside it. Here you'll find one of the largest collections of historic garden tools, artifacts, and curiosities in Britain, plus photographs, paintings, and films—virtually all donated by individuals. An extension houses temporary exhibitions on subjects ranging from noted garden designers like Charles Jencks to the contemporary Guerrilla Gardening movement (cultivating neglected public land). There's also a green-thumb gift shop, a glass-fronted café, and, of course, the museum's own four beautiful gardens that are maintained year-round by dedicated volunteers.

Not everyone thinks graffiti can be a bonus to the urban landscape, but those who do should head for this leading gallery of contemporary street art. The big name here is Banksy, but there are works for sale by several other artists in the same vein, such as TRUST.iCON and Code FC, who are more concerned with social commentary than tagging. Private two-hour master classes are available during the week upon request, with less-expensive public workshops running Saturdays and Sundays at 1:15 pm (be sure to book at least a week in advance).

Now the heart of King's Cross, Granary Square is one of London's liveliest open spaces. Pride of place is given to the ever-changing 1,000-strong fountain display, which is even more spectacular by night when lights accompany the choreography. It's also home to The Outside Project (essentially a permanent alfresco art space) as well as the immense, six-story granary building—designed in 1852 to store wheat for London's bakers—that now houses University of the Arts London, plus a small selection of excellent bars and eateries. The square's south-facing steps double as an amphitheater for site-specific art events.

Although the least architecturally interesting of the four Inns of Court and the one most heavily damaged by German bombs in the 1940s, Gray's still has romantic associations. In 1594 Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors was performed for the first time in the hall, which was restored after World War II and has a fine Elizabethan screen of carved oak. You must make advance arrangements to view the hall, but the secluded and spacious gardens, first planted by Francis Bacon in 1597, are open to the public every weekday afternoon.

Pronounced "Grove-na," this leafy square was laid out in 1721–31 and is as desirable an address today as it was then. Americans have certainly always thought so—from John Adams, the second president, who as ambassador lived at No. 38, to Dwight D. Eisenhower, whose wartime headquarters was at No. 20. The entire west side of the square was home to the U.S. Embassy for more than 50 years until its relocation south of the river. In the square itself stand memorials to Franklin D. Roosevelt and those who died on September 11, 2001. Grosvenor Chapel, completed in 1730 and used by Eisenhower's men during World War II, stands a couple of blocks south of the square on South Audley Street, with the entrance to pretty St. George's Gardens to its left.

For centuries, this building has been the administrative and ceremonial base of the Corporation of London, the world's oldest continuously elected municipal governing authority (the Corporation still oversees The City's civic administration but now in a more modern building). Built between 1411 and 1440, it is The City's only surviving secular medieval building, and although it lost roofs to both the Great Fire of 1666 and the Blitz of 1940, its Gothic Great Hall has remained intact. Adding to the Hall's period atmosphere are the colorful coats of arms and banners of the 110 city livery companies, descendants of medieval trade guilds, which still officially elect the Lord Mayor of London. These range from older companies originally formed by trades of yesteryear to new ones representing modern activities like information technology, along with several that remain eternally relevant (e.g., carpenters, upholsterers, and fishmongers).

The Hall has been the site of several historic trials, including that of the "Nine Days Queen" Lady Jane Grey in 1553 and the landmark Zong case (1783), which helped end Britain's involvement in the slave trade. Even more ancient are the 11th-century East and West Crypts, survivors of the original Saxon Hall and the largest remaining medieval crypts in London.

To the right of Guildhall Yard is the Guildhall Art Gallery, which includes portraits of notables, cityscapes, and a slightly cloying pre-Raphaelite section. The construction of the gallery in the 1980s led to the exciting discovery of London's only Roman amphitheater, which had lain undisturbed for more than 1,800 years. Visitors can walk through the excavation, although most of the artifacts are now at the Museum of London. There are monthly 75-minute guided tours on select Thursdays when the city council meets at 10:45 am (advance booking required); check the website for dates.

To the west of Richmond Park, overlooking the Thames and nearly opposite the memorably named Eel Pie Island, Ham House was built in 1610 and remodeled 60 years later. It's one of the most complete examples in Europe of a lavish 17th-century house, and as such you can get a clear sense of how the English aristocracy really lived during that period (in short: comfortably). The beautiful formal gardens, with their distinctive spherical and conical topiary, have become an influential source for other palaces and grand villas seeking to restore their gardens to how they were in their heyday. The original decorations in the Great Hall, Round Gallery, and Great Staircase have been replicated, and most of the furniture and fittings are on permanent loan from the Victoria & Albert Museum.

Note that from January to March, visits are by guided tour only, lasting around 30 minutes (no need to book). A tranquil and scenic way to reach the house is on foot, which takes about 30 minutes, along the eastern riverbank south from Richmond Bridge.

This fascinating museum celebrates the lives of not one, but two musical geniuses: classical composer George Frideric Handel and rock guitar legend Jimi Hendrix. Comprising two adjoining buildings, the bulk of the museum centers on the life and works of Handel, who lived at No. 25 for more than 30 years until his death in 1759. In rooms decorated in fine Georgian style, you can linger over original manuscripts and gaze at portraits. Some of the composer's most famous pieces were created here, including Messiah and Music for the Royal Fireworks. Fast-forward 200 years or so, and the apartment on the upper floors of No. 23 housed one of rock's great innovators, Jimi Hendrix, for a short but creative period in the late 1960s. The apartment has been lovingly restored, complete with replica furniture, fixtures, and fittings from Hendrix's heyday.

With an encyclopedic assortment of luxury brands, this Knightsbridge institution, currently owned by the Qatar Investment Authority, has more than 300 departments and 25 eating and drinking options, all spread over 1 million square feet on a 4½-acre site. Now populated more by window-shopping tourists and superrich visitors from abroad than by the bling-averse natives, Harrods is best approached as the world's largest, most upscale, and most expensive mall. The dining hall offers on-site dining options ranging from a Pasta Evangelists' Italian offering to fish-and-chips by noted chef Tom Kerridge, a traditional Grill, Michelin-starred Indian food, a sushi bar, and a wine bar with more than a hundred wines by the glass and food by Caviar House and Prunier, in addition to the new Moet et Chandon champagne bar, while downstairs there's a new restaurant from Michelin-starred chef Jason Atherton. There's also a giant coffee-roasting station, ceiling-high shelves of fresh bread at the Bakery, and a new Chocolate Hall. The Beauty Hall offers cult brands, innovative "Magic Mirrors" that allow shoppers to instantly see a new makeup look via digital technology, an in-house "hair doctor," and more than 46,000 different lipsticks, as well as 13 treatment rooms where you can try on makeup in private. Brands such as Louis Vuitton, Chanel, and Hèrmes have opened new in-store stand-alone boutiques, but even this temple to money-is-no-object shopping has embraced sustainability: there's a new Restory, where you can get your designer shoes and handbags cleaned and repaired.

At 613½ feet, this large light-cruiser is one of the last remaining big-gun armored warships from World War II, in which it played an important role in protecting the Arctic convoys and supporting the D-Day landings in Normandy; the ship later saw action during the Korean War. This floating museum has been moored in the Thames as a maritime branch of IWM London since 1971. A tour of all nine decks—including an engine room 15 feet below sea level, the admiral's quarters, mess decks, bakery, punishment cells, operations room, and more—gives a vivid picture of life on board the ship. A riveting gun-turret experience with immersive sound puts you in the middle of the D-Day landings, while life aboard is explored through archive film and veterans' recorded reminiscences.

The satirist and painter William Hogarth (1697–1764), little known in the rest of the world, is hugely famous in Britain. His witty, acerbic engravings, which railed against the harsh injustices of the time, may be called the visual equivalent of the satires of Jonathan Swift and were no less influential in their time. Unfortunately his beloved house has had an appalling streak of bad luck; as if the decision, in the 1960s, to route one of the nation's busiest highways outside the front gates wasn't ignoble enough, the house was closed after a fire in 2009.

Now fully restored, the rooms contain absorbing exhibitions, featuring many of Hogarth's 18th-century prints, together with replica furniture of the period. Look out for the 300-year-old mulberry tree outside; Hogarth and his wife used its fruit to bake pies for destitute children. The original copies of some of Hogarth's most famous works can be seen elsewhere in the city: A Rake's Progress at Sir John Soane's Museum; Marriage A-la-Mode at the National Gallery; and Gin Lane at the British Museum. His tomb is in the cemetery of St. Nicholas's Church on nearby Chiswick Mall.

Formerly the grounds of a 17th-century aristocrat's manor house and open to the public only since 1952, Holland Park is an often-overlooked gem in the heart of London. The northern "Wilderness" end offers woodland walks among native and exotic trees first planted in the early 18th century. Foxes, rabbits, and hedgehogs are among the residents. The central part of the park is given over to the manicured lawns—still stalked by raucous peacocks—one would expect at a stately home, although Holland House itself, originally built by James I's chancellor and later the site of a 19th-century salon frequented by Byron, Dickens, and Disraeli, was largely destroyed by German bombs in 1940. The east wing was reconstructed and has been incorporated into a youth hostel, while the remains of the front terrace provide an atmospheric backdrop for the open-air performances of the April–September Holland Park Opera Festival ( www.operahollandpark.com). The glass-walled Orangery garden ballroom now hosts events and art exhibitions, as does the Ice House, while an adjoining former granary has become the upscale Belvedere restaurant. In spring and summer, the air is fragrant with aromas from a rose garden, great banks of rhododendrons, and an azalea walk. Garden enthusiasts will also not want to miss the tranquil, traditional Kyoto Garden with its pretty waterfall, a legacy of London's 1991 Japan Festival.

The southern part of the park is devoted to sport and play: cricket and soccer pitches; a golf practice area; tennis courts; a well-supervised children's Adventure Playground (with a zipline!); and a giant outdoor chess set.

Set amid 16 acres of gardens, this eclectic museum is considered something of a well-kept secret by the residents of south London—perhaps because of its out-of-the-way location. You can explore world cultures, natural history, and a fine collection of some 1,300 musical instruments (including a giant tuba) here. The emphasis is on fun and a wide range of activities (many hands-on), including London's oldest nature trail, which features domesticated creatures, such as sheep, chickens, and alpacas, a butterfly house, and an aquarium stocked with endangered species. It's also home to a comically overstuffed, taxidermied walrus who serves as the museum's unofficial mascot. It's a 15-minute bus ride from here to Dulwich Picture Gallery; Bus P4, heading toward Brixton, takes you from door to door.

Once the tiltyard for jousting tournaments, Horse Guards Parade is best known for the annual Trooping the Colour ceremony, in which the King takes the salute on his official birthday, on a Saturday in June. (Though it's called a birthday, it's actually just a ceremonial event—his real birthday is November 14.) It's a must-see if you're around, with marching bands and throngs of onlookers. Throughout the rest of the year, the changing of two mounted sentries, known as the King's Life Guard, at the Whitehall facade of Horse Guards provides what may be London's most popular photo opportunity. The ceremony takes place daily from April to July, and on alternate days from August to March (usually odd-numbered days, but check the monthly schedule at  www.householddivision.org.uk/changing-the-guard-calendar). It starts at 10:30 am at St. James's Palace, where the guard begins its march to Buckingham Palace, and the new guards take up their posts in a ceremony at 11. (It's sometimes canceled in bad weather.)

At 4 pm daily is the dismounting ceremony, aka the 4 O'Clock Parade, during which sentries are posted and horses are returned to their stables. It began in 1894, when Queen Victoria discovered the guards on duty drinking and gambling. As a punishment she decreed that the regiment should be inspected every day at 4 pm for the next 100 years—by the time 1994 swung around, they decided to continue the tradition indefinitely.

Hang around Horse Guards for even a short time and you'll see a member of the Household Cavalry on guard, or trotting past on horseback, resplendent in a bright crimson uniform with polished brass armor. Made up of soldiers from the British Army's most senior regiments, the Life Guard and the Blues and Royals, membership is considered a great honor; they act as the King's official bodyguards and play a key role in state occasions (they also perform the famed Changing the Guard ceremony).

Housed in the cavalry's original 17th-century stables, the museum has displays of uniforms and weapons going back to 1661 as well as interactive exhibits on the regiments' current operational roles. In the tack room you can handle saddles and bridles, and try on a trooper's uniform, including a distinctive brass helmet with horsehair plume. You can also observe the working horses being tended to in their stable block behind a glass wall.

It may not have become the essential commuter route its makers envisioned, but this cable car, which connects Greenwich Peninsula with the Docklands across the Thames, offers spectacular views from nearly 300 feet up. The journey takes about 10 minutes each way and cable cars arrive every 30 seconds.

Overshadowed by the big-ticket attractions of Parliament to one side and Westminster Abbey to the other, this is the only significant portion of the Palace of Westminster complex to have survived intact from medieval times. Built in the 1360s to contain treasures belonging to Edward III, it once formed part of the palace's defensive walls—hence the fortresslike appearance. Check out the original ribbed stone ceiling on the ground floor; look up to see the carved stone images of men and beasts. The Jewel Tower was later used as a records office for the House of Lords, but hasn't served any official function since the rest of the old palace was destroyed by fire in 1834 and the ancient documents were moved to the greater safety of the Tower of London. Today it contains an exhibition on the history of the building. This is a great option for those looking for a slice of British political history on days Parliament tours are sold out.

Located on what was once one of the worst slum streets in London, this achingly contemporary gallery space (MacGarry's third in the East End—she's been here since 2002) has an excellent reputation for its shows of cutting-edge international artists like Chicks on Speed, Luke Rudolf, and Iain Forsythe & Jane Pollard, with a particular emphasis on conceptual works and video.