We've all been there - one (or both) of your parents are visiting and you're under (probably self-imposed) pressure to deliver the optimum itinerary that showcases the city you call home, without making it too cliché... After a recent, last minute request from my very own Mum to pop down to London for a daytrip, I quickly got to work on planning just how much we might achieve in the space of a measly 10 hours. Thus, if you find yourself in a similar predicament, hopefully this guide can provide you with the quick tips needed to tick off as much as possible, for minimum spend and maximum son/daughter points.
Illustrated map of Central London by Olivia Brotheridge: https://www.oliviadesign.uk/illustrated-maps/london-map
With national train strike dates successfully navigated and one sibling bribed to travel down from Manchester ("please come to London to spend the day with Mum & me, I'll get all of your pints and sandwiches"), I set about planning a tour of Central London. The goal: Cover as much as possible, in just a day, without breaking the bank.
Welcome to London
With our Mum arriving into Liverpool Street Train Station at 10:18am on a rainy Wednesday, my sister and I jumped onto the Elizabeth Line from my home borough of Ealing, which catapulted us across to the east of London in a speedy and efficient 28 minutes.
With just the day together and a train back to the countryside (Suffolk) a mere 9 hours and 42 minutes after arrival for Mum, we had a lot to fit in.
Factoring in an element of semi-snail pace, and of course the fact that it might be "nice" to enjoy London slowly, I designed an itinerary heavy on short-walking distances between fun "stuff", with plenty of Prets en route (we'll talk about the wonder that is Pret-A-Manger later), and with the backup of the London Underground or the Uber Boats by Thames Clipper to whisk us to the slightly further-afield expanses. And so, the day commenced... First things first, coffee!
10:30am: Get Coffee, See Gherkin
Anyone arriving into Liverpool Street as their London terminus will be familiar with the somewhat overbearing feeling of being towered over. This is one of the central business districts in London and you are surrounded by high rise buildings on exiting the station. However, to the uninitiated: Do not be put off - us Londoners don't just jump on the tube at every opportunity (honest, guv!). London is actually a great city for walking, even on a slightly grey day, and Liverpool Street itself is perfectly positioned to get to many nearby tourist spots, coffee shops, bars, restaurants and city views. What with it still being closer to wake-up time than lunchtime, we decided to hold off the restaurants and bars (for now...) and embarked on our first wander (definition: a mixture between an amble and a purposeful walk).
Left to Right: Elizabeth Line escalators at Liverpool Street; Trademark family "chin selfie" with Pret coffees by the Gherkin; the Gherkin itself (difficult to fit it all in - that's what she said, etc, etc)...
First objective: Coffee. Now, I know many of you are going to scream out at me when I tell you where our first pit stop was. With the multitude of independent, good-for-the-environment, unique beans, w*nky (?) coffee shops in London, I completely understand why you might question my decision to head straight to Pret-A-Manger (for those of you that don't know, Pret is a sandwich and snack heaven, never far from an office block or shopping boulevard, where you can grab yourself a coffee in seconds for around £3). However, I don't know about you but both of my parents aren't really into the "finer" drinks, cuisines or general snacks in life, so a £4.75, 25ml, Americano, using the finest "Columbian Coffee Beans Against Deforestation" (not a registered trademark...) would be slightly wasted in this scenario.
On the flip side, a Latte from a Pret adjacent to the world famous Gherkin, and a less-than-five-minutes-from-Liverpool-Street walk away - which we could stand alongside in the light rain, crane our necks up to check-out, whilst concurrently observing the suited city workers / waste disposal operatives (read: bin men) going about their business - was just the ticket.
Pret is also handy from a completely selfish point of view owing to my being a subscriber to their monthly membership, whereby for £25, you can purchase up to five (!) coffees per day using a unique QR code. Sadly, you have to wait a minimum of 30 minutes between each purchase *but* it did mean that any coffees purchased in London on this parent-daughter-son-sister-brother adventure were at 3 for the price of 2 (Answer: Yes, we visited Pret more than once...).
There are of course many other coffee shops in the vicinity if you're of a higher-brow-bean persuasion. OK, it's only 10:45am and we've hours to fill - let's head to the first activity for some great views of London!
11:00am: City Views & Horticulture in the "Clouds" [smog?]
Free admission at the Sky Garden, Fenchurch Street - London's Highest Garden.
A further 5 minutes' walk from the Gherkin brought us to our first tourist activity of the day. The Fenchurch Building (colloquially referred to as the "Walkie-Talkie" due to its unique shape) on Fenchurch Street (see what they did there) is home to the Sky Garden, which - it self-proclaims - is London's Highest Public Garden. Aside from the obvious benefits of getting views of London, surrounded by plant life, from an up-high vantage point, visits to the Sky Garden are completely free! Disclaimer: You need to book a ticket in advance and it isn't always easy but it being a middle-of-the-week school day, it was straightforward to secure tickets for an 11am entry just a couple of weeks beforehand.
There is the option to risk it and turn up on the day for entry but (a) you'll likely be waiting much longer than ticket holders to get to the elevator and; (b) on the day we visited, there was a sign for all to see saying "no unticketed admissions available". So, you know what to do if you want to avoid that ever-so-familiar feeling of having a parent not be upset, just disappointed.
There's a bit of a queue to get in the door, and you need to go through the usual airport-style security checks, but 10 minutes and a failed-attempt-by-my-sister-to-dispose-of-her-coffee-cup-into-a-bin-which-turned-out-to-be-an-umbrella-rack later, we were in the elevator and going up the 43 floors for London panoramas in the foliage-filled atrium.
Sky Garden picture gallery:
As you can see from the pictures, there are many vantage points to take in the city, with an outdoor section looking south, over the Thames and directly towards London Bridge Station / The Shard. A head-turn to the left (i.e. the East), gets you a good sight of Tower Bridge, and looking in the other direction (i.e. to the West), you can just make out Westminster and Big Ben. If you are not au fait with the familiar sights of London and where they might sit in your brain compass, you can go back into the warmth of the indoors viewing area, walk up, down and around the garden, where you'll find that the key sites have been handily plotted on the glass in front of you. Much squinting and murmurs of "oh yes, there it is" later, you've completed your visit of the Fenchurch Street Sky Garden.
For those without vertigo or wanting a longer stay, there is the option to grab a coffee (not a Pret mind...) or a snack from the public bar area, or you can even pre-book a table in the restaurant for a probably-overpriced meal. Notably, this place has plenty of public seating so you can also just grab a chair and chill out for a bit, before joining another queue (it is Great Britain after all) to get the elevator back down to ground level.
11:45am: Tower Bridge Photo Opps
With the Sky Garden ticked off in under 30 minutes, we made the short walk towards Tower Bridge - via Pret for a coffee top-up of course (did I mention the Pret subscription already...?) - for a quick, classic tourist, photo opportunity. Much to stereotype, and as you can see from the gallery below, there's plenty of ground and now much bridge in the photo taken of my Sister and me by my Mum but to be fair, it was quite an achievement for us to get this picture at all, so, with kudos on parental photography skills shared, we moved on to our next mini adventure starting point - Tower Millennium Pier for our water-based transportation up the River Thames.
Family pics by Tower Bridge, which you can (kind of see) in the background ;-) .
11:55am: Thames Tour on an Uber Boat from Tower Pier
With little time to spare, and tourist photo shoot completed, we skipped back to Tower Millennium Pier and waited just under ten minutes for the next westbound Uber Boat. Not only did this enable a chance for a pit stop (it's nice to sit down), but we only needed to arch our heads to left or right to capture a number of famous London sights. Below you can see my Mum and Sis enjoying the views as we passed through Westminster, past Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.
Mid-Thames by the Houses of Parliament, Westminster.
We hopped on the RB2 in order to take advantage of the full Central Zone route - the schedule indicates that this takes 34 minutes but on a chilly, Wednesday lunchtime, it was a little quicker. Due to the to the lack of people wanting to embark/disembark, we bypassed a couple of stops. However, it meant that we overshot our end destination of Battersea Power Station, got a quick glimpse of the Pagoda in Battersea Park, before undertaking a classic three-point turn mid-river, and floating back up to the Power Station from a westerly direction.
L-R: Big Ben, Tower Bridge, The Shard.
If the Uber Boat is something that sounds interesting to you, take a look at this very detailed post (I can't help it - succinctness isn't my forté...): Sightseeing in London on a Tight Schedule? Problem Solved with Uber Boat - for under a tenner!
12:30pm: Quick wander around Battersea Power Station
I'm a big fan of the new Battersea Power Station development, which you can also read about in this post: 5 Fun Things to do at Battersea Power Station - Days out in London. Thus, with military precision, we spent 45 minutes wandering inside and out, with the Power Station a stone's throw from the Uber Boat pier.
Inside the two Turbine Halls and outside with the chimneys at Battersea Power Station.
1:15pm: Taking the tube from the newest station on the network
Not one to miss an opportunity for a new experience on the tube [the London Underground], with Power Station desires satisfied, we sauntered on over to Battersea Power Station Underground Station, which is one of two stations on the brand new Northern Line extension - the other being Nine Elms. From here, safe in the knowledge that we would get a seat due to it being the start of the line, we were swiftly transported back into Central London, emerging from Leicester Square Underground Station, 6 stops and under 15 minutes later.
Tube Hack / Important Note: the Northern Line splits into two at Kennington (if travelling Northbound towards Camden), so make sure you get on the High Barnet via Charing Cross train, not the High Barnet via Bank Train. It's not a big deal if you get on the wrong train in error - just leave the train at Kennington and wait for the next "via Bank" service to come through. Easy.
1:45pm: Sarnie in Soho - we love Pret
As may already be apparent, I bloody love a Pret, the coffee and sandwich shop of dreams dotted conveniently across the capital (& beyond), ready to satisfy those pit stop needs for a handful of quids [read: British Pounds].
OK, so I may be exaggerating. Alas, over the years, and especially working in London, Pret has benefitted greatly from my bank account and - let's be honest - it's actually alright for the price you pay.
With a matinee performance in our sights and the price of London Theatre "snacks" substantially higher than your supermarket equivalent, this was a savvy stop on a day when we would be getting our "main fill" [i.e. substantial meal - remember when that was a thing during COVID?] later in the evening.
Here's my Sis "enjoying" a plant-based baguette outside Pret in Leciester Square (1 minute from the tube station).
2:30pm: Matinee performance of Phantom
Her Majesty's Theatre on Haymarket is an 8-10 minute stroll from Leicester Square and this was to be where our next activity commenced, with seats to the matinee performance of Phantom of the Opera. A musical that none of us had seen before and one that was high on the bucket list. So, following my usual steps when trying to get a deal on theatre tickets - namely, checking London Theatre Week offers and verifying the best return on spend views using SeatPlan (all of this is covered in a West End Nights Out in London blog post) - I bagsied us [read: obtained] Royal Circle seats (side view) for just under £40pp. Yes, we needed to lean a little to see some of the action but for the price and proximity to the stage, this was really good value.
A selection of shots from Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty's Theatre, Haymarket.
The musical is of course the brain child of Andrew Lloyd Webber and you really do get a lot of musical for your musical (note: I'm not a theatre show reviewer...) with every line sung and danced to. I thought it was OK - I'm glad we went to see it, and can tick it off the list, but there are other shows I've seen that were a lot more entertaining.
Alas, if all else, it provided a 2.5 hour respite from walking and talking, and ensured that hunger had successfully set in for our post-performance pizza...
5:15pm: Post-performance nosh at Pizza Pilgrims
One of my favourite pizza places in London and one that is fortunately included on Deliveroo, meaning a human on a moped will whisk one of their pizzas (OK, two of their pizzas) to my front door in half an hour. What a rare treat to actually sit inside one of their restaurants, order from a menu using spoken word rather than tapping away on an app, and not listen out for the sound of a motorcylce engine for cognitive assurance that eating is imminent.
The menu at Pizza Pilgrims is vast and the dough, plentiful!
There are a growing number of Pizza Pilgrims restaurants in London. We opted for Leicester Square, what with it being relatively and just the right side of office closing hours. This place is walk-in only, so it can be a risk, but there were a few tables still available at 5:15pm, and service was quick and friendly. A pizza each along with a soft drink brought total pizza spend to just over £50 - really not bad at all for the amazing dough and interesting menu - take a look at the slide show to see the options available.
6:15pm: Digesting the slices with a 30-minute Soho Stroll followed by a Seven Dials "Swifty" [quick drink]
Into the final two hours of "Operation Mum Visit" and we didn't want to stray too far from her evacuation point of London Liverpool Street Station. So, being in the heart of theatreland, surrounded by Covent Garden Market, Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, Seven Dials and the multitude of tourist-saturated-yet-quaint-streets to explore, we had a short walk around the area. Some of the best architecture in London is in this vicinity, including a bulk of London Theatres, along with some interesting Passages (don't Urban Dictionary that word...) leading to hidden squares of shops, restaurants and bars.
Conduit Court Passage (next to TK Maxx) is an instagrammer's dream passage...
TK Maxx isn't usually worth a visit - unless you're in the market for some budget salopettes - but if you can navigate your way to the TK Maxx on Long Acre (which is the road between Covent Garden and Leicester Square Tube Stations) then you're in for a treat at Conduit Court Passage - see above. Opposite, you'll also find Slingsby Place leading into St Martin's Courtyard, which is almost like a small-scale Carnaby Street, with decorations in the air and shops/restaurants either side.
Central London stroll completed, we retired ourselves into a pub (plenty to choose from) for our first and also our final round of beers, to celebrate our excellent achievements of cramming as much of London into 10 hours as is - arguably - humanly possible.
7:30pm: Tottenham Court Road for the Lizzie Line
Would it even be a trip to London without getting a trip on the newest of new tube lines - the aptly named Elizabeth Line, with aesthetically pleasing, purple colour scheme? Answer: Nope. I mean, it helped that it was the quickest route back to Liverpool Street but at a mere 2 stops and 5 minutes (it takes as long to walk the platform as the journey itself...), and with Tottenham Court Road very close, this was a great way to conclude the trip for my Mum.
Note that if you haven't been to London for a while and are familiar with the sardine-esque tube journeys that give you carbon tube bogies [nose snot], then get yourself here and onto the Elizabeth Line asap. Apart from when there are strikes on of course, which, to be fair, there are a lot of at the moment so... just avoid the industrial action if you can please and thank you.
8:00pm: Liverpool Street Goodbyes - 10 hours well spent
Congratulations to us - we successfully navigated London for 10 hours as a family, and made it to the end. Congratulations also to you for making it all the way through this article!
Obviously, there are many activities to do in Central London, and we purposefully avoided museums or some of the more "cultural" activities because, well, we know what our Mum likes/dislikes. However, you could certainly add in a museum or gallery visit to this list, many of which are zero cost. Overall, it didn't feel too rushed and we managed to cover a lot of ground without breaking the bank and - if you're interested - you can see a list of the per person costs outlined below.
Until next time - happy London touristing!
Total Spend (per person)
Morning Coffee at Pret | £2.80 |
Sky Garden | FREE |
Tower Bridge Riverside | FREE |
Uber Boat - Central Zone One-Way | £8.30 |
Battersea to Leicester Square Off-Peak, Zone 1, Tube Journey | £2.70 |
Lunch - Pret Sandwich & Coffee | £5.75 |
Phantom of the Opera - Wednesday Matinee Performance | £38.95* |
Dinner - Pizza Pilgrims - Pizza & Drink (+12.5% service) | £17.40 |
Seven Dials Pint of Beer | £6.25 |
Tottenham Court Road to Liverpool Street Peak, Zone 1, Tube Journey | £2.80 |
Total "Mum Spend" | £84.95 |
*Theatre tickets, including for Phantom of the Opera, are available for as little as £18 depending upon time of booking and demand for particular show. Thus, budget can be saved here by planning accordingly and sitting higher up in the Theatre.