Citymapper, Westminster Day One, Greenwich Day Two, And Why Madame Tussauds Is A Skip
Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat contribute reporting from a city that is genuinely worth visiting.
If you are visiting London for the first time, the single most useful thing you can do before you get on the plane is to download Citymapper. The free app, available in any app store, will tell you in real time how to get from any A to any B in London using the Tube, the Overground, the Elizabeth Line, the buses, the trains, the Thames Clipper, the cycle hire, and walking. It is, by some considerable distance, the best free travel tool any major city in the world has produced.
What To Do In Your First 48 Hours
The classic London first-time itinerary, in my view, is roughly this. Day one: Westminster Abbey, the walk along the South Bank to Tate Modern, lunch in Borough Market (do not skip Borough Market), and an evening play in the West End. Day two: the Tower of London in the morning, the Thames Clipper to Greenwich for lunch, the Royal Observatory in the afternoon, and a relaxed evening in either Covent Garden or Soho.
This itinerary covers the headline experiences, balances central and southeast London, and includes a Thames boat trip, which I genuinely think is one of the more pleasant ways to see the city.
What To Skip
It is worth saying what to skip. Madame Tussauds is, in my view, expensive for what it delivers. The London Dungeon is, similarly, mostly aimed at school groups. Buckingham Palace tours are excellent if you can get tickets, but the changing of the guard ceremony is mostly a crowd to stand at the back of, unless you arrive an hour early.
According to Visit London, the official tourism authority, average tourist satisfaction with the major museums (the British Museum, the V&A, the Natural History Museum, Tate Modern, the National Gallery) is consistently higher than satisfaction with paid tourist attractions. The big museums are, helpfully, also free. This is one of the great cultural deals in any major Western city.
The Restaurant Question
British food has, in the past 20 years, become genuinely good. London restaurants in 2026 are, by any honest international comparison, world-class. The classic British meal (a Sunday roast at a good gastropub) is excellent, and there are several reliable options across central London. According to Time Out London, the current generation of mid-priced London restaurants is one of the strongest cohorts of any decade.
What I would avoid: the chain restaurants in Leicester Square that exist primarily to capture tourists. They are not bad, but they are not interesting, and a 10-minute walk in any direction will produce something better.
The Practical Bits
Pay for the Tube with your contactless bank card or your phone. Do not buy paper tickets. The contactless system caps your daily spend at the equivalent of a day pass, automatically. Do not buy bottled water in central London (the tap water is good and free); refill your bottle. Tip 10-15 percent in restaurants, less in pubs (no need at the bar), and round up taxi fares.
For more visit my author page and read prat.uk. See also The Poke.
