London

Where to Stay in London

London is huge, so where you base yourself can make the difference between using public transport all the time or being able to walk everywhere. Here are the areas we'd recommend, including those we've stayed ourselves, as well as some hotel recommendations to suit different budgets. Every area below has its own Tube station, so wherever you choose, getting around Central London is easy.

Covent Garden, Leicester Square & Westminster

This is our favourite area to stay in London. It's central and walkable, sitting right between the West End, Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament, so you can cover most of the big sights on foot without having to catch the Tube. It's a good base whether it's your first trip or your fifteenth.

Best for:

• Families
• Couples
• Friends
• First-time visitors

Where to stay:

• Hub by Premier Inn, St James's, small rooms but high-tech, and it's central and often affordable.
• Premier Inn Holborn, also a really good central location.
• Hotel Indigo, near Leicester Square, quirkier than the rest, though it can get a little noisy.

Kensington

Kensington is one of our favourite areas to just walk around. It's home to beautiful whitewashed period buildings, and it's a more high-end part of London, with boutique shops and plenty of independently run cafes and restaurants. It's also home to the Royal Albert Hall, and Kensington Palace, the Natural History Museum, Science Museum and Hyde Park are all close by. We always love having a walk around Hyde Park when we're in the area. The nearest train station is Paddington, which will also get you to some really cool cities across the UK, from Oxford to Bath, both with beautiful historic city centres.

Best for:

• Families
• Couples
• Museum lovers

Where to stay:

• 100 Queen's Gate Hotel, we've stayed here a couple of times, it's modern and within walking distance of the museums and Hyde Park.

Canary Wharf & Greenwich

Canary Wharf has a completely different feel to central London. It's the city's business district, but don't let that put you off, it's got a nice vibe along the water, with restaurants lining the Thames and experiences like the Hunger Games: Gauntlet. Hop on an Uber Boat along the river, one of our favourite ways to get around and great value, and you can easily continue on to Greenwich. Greenwich has beautiful architecture, and climbing the hill up to the Royal Observatory gets you gorgeous views across the Thames and Central London. It's also got a lovely high street with a brilliant food market and plenty of boutique cafes and restaurants.

Best for:

• Business trips
• Couples
• Families
• History seekers

Where to stay:

• InterContinental London - The O2, our favourite in this area. A five-star hotel that's one of the more affordable you'll find in London, with modern, large rooms and a spa included in the room rate.

Soho

Soho is the one for anyone who wants to be right in the middle of London's food and nightlife scene. Narrow streets packed with restaurants, bars and theatres, and everything within walking distance of Oxford Circus and Regent Street, and close by to Covent Garden.

Best for:

• Friends
• Couples
• Nightlife lovers

Where to stay:

• The Resident Soho, unique and fun decor, our favourite in this area.
• Premier Inns, plenty around this area if you want something consistent.
• Montcalm Piccadilly Townhouse, modern, nice rooms, and the service was excellent. We even got a welcome drink when we arrived, which was a nice touch. Just ask for a non-road-facing room if you're sensitive to noise.

Notting Hill

Notting Hill is famous all around the world for the film Notting Hill, where you'll find loads of market stalls throughout the week along with cool, quirky, high-end streets lined with boutique, unique and antique shops. It's a neighbourhood which is really cool as a day trip just to wander around if you don't plan on staying near here. We have stayed here on one of our trips.

Best for:

• Couples
• Families
• Market lovers

Where to stay:

• Ruby Zoe Hotel & Bar, sits right on Notting Hill Gate, a five minute walk from the station and close to Portobello Road Market and Kensington Gardens.
• Mason & Fifth, Westbourne Park, we stayed one night. It's got a secret cinema room, which is excellent, and if you're after a hotel with loads of amenities, this is it. There's also a lounge with gorgeous views over the canal, a great spot to get some work done if you need to. Watch our Mason & Fifth Westbourne Park hotel review →

Tower of London & Tower Hill

Tower Hill puts you right by the Tower of London, with Bank and Liverpool Street close by too. We tend to only stay here if we're spending time on that side of the City, since it can be twenty to thirty minutes on the Tube to reach Covent Garden and Leicester Square. We love staying near Tower Hill because you can walk along the Thames, and there's incredible architecture all around, so if you're going to be spending a lot of time around this area, it's worth staying here or nearby. There's also an Uber Boat stop here, which can get you into Westminster and is more fun than catching the Tube.

Best for:

• Business trips
• Friends
• Couples
• History seekers

Where to stay:

• The Gate London City, a great apartment hotel, around a fifteen minute walk from the Tower of London, with a proper kitchenette if you want to self-cater. It's also got really great lounges to spend time chilling out in. Watch our The Gate London City hotel review →
• The Ned, if you're looking for something a bit more special. An incredible building, an old bank where you can actually visit some of the original vaults inside. We've had plenty of business meetings here, and even if you just pop in for lunch, the architecture alone is worth seeing.

King's Cross

If you're arriving by Eurostar into St Pancras, or catching a train onward, King's Cross is an excellent base to start or end your trip. King's Cross station is home to the Harry Potter Shop and the famous Platform 9¾ photo spot, and there's frequently an outdoor market with food stalls too.

Best for:

• Business trips
• Friends
• Families

Where to stay:

• Pullman London St Pancras, right by the station and offers modern rooms.
• The St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, also worth a special mention just for the building alone, an incredible Gothic building, and the moment you walk in you'll see exactly why people want to stay here. There's a lovely spa inside too.

If you want to push the boat out

For a real treat, London has no shortage of legendary hotels. Expect a minimum of £400 to £500 a night for any of these, often more.

• Shangri-La The Shard, the one we'd want to stay in, with panoramic views across the Thames and Central London, and an infinity pool overlooking the Thames.
• The Ritz, well known all around the world for being glamorous. They also host an afternoon tea, though it's not our favourite.
• The Langham, on Regent Street, with an excellent spa and free-flowing champagne and cocktails in their club lounge.
• The Savoy, on the Strand, one of London's most famous hotels, known for its Art Deco glamour and the American Bar, one of the oldest cocktail bars in the world.
• Claridge's, in Mayfair, close to Buckingham Palace and St James's, known for its Art Deco interiors and the famous Christmas tree it unveils every year, designed by a different fashion house.

Serviced apartments

If you're staying in London a little longer, or you'd rather have your own kitchen, these are worth a look.

• Wilde Aparthotels, a good few locations across London, with good quality apartments which includes Smeg branded appliances.
• The Gate London City, our favourite near Tower Hill, with excellent room sizes and a stay that feels more like a hotel.
Watch our The Gate London City hotel review →

For something completely different

If you want one night in London you'll talk about for years, stay at London Zoo itself. The lodges sit inside Land of the Lions, close enough that you fall asleep to actual lions roaring.

Things You Cannot Miss in London

London has so much history and there's so much to see, you could spend a lifetime exploring and still not cover it all. It's one of our favourite cities for architecture alone. These are our top recommendations of things to see in London.

Our favourite free walking route

Before you do anything else in London, walk it. A free walking tour is the best way to get your bearings and hear the history behind everything you'll see over the following days. We've filmed our own favourite route across the city, taking in most of the highlights above.

Observation Decks in London

London has so many observation options over the city, so these are our top three that we would recommend.

The London Eye

The most iconic of the three, and the one most first-time visitors head to. The views along the Thames are gorgeous, especially at sunset, but each rotation takes around thirty minutes and the pods do get busy in peak season. We recommend booking in advance for a sunset slot.

Sky Garden

The best value option by far, it's completely free to enter, and it feels like a proper garden in the sky, packed with plants, with views across the City and the Thames that are gorgeous. The catch is availability, tickets are released three weeks ahead and go fast, so this only works if you can plan in advance. More on booking in our money-saving tips below.

The Shard

The highest of the three, and the one to pick if you want London laid out beneath you rather than at eye level. We've been up The Shard and the views stretch right across London on a clear day. You can even get right up to the very top of the building, where you can see the glass shards pointing up close, a really cool moment from the observation deck. It's not cheap, so we recommend booking in advance and checking the weather forecast first, a clear day makes a big difference here.

Restaurants to Try

London's food scene is one of the best in the world, and it's easy to plan an entire trip around meals alone. These are the spots we always go back to.

Dishoom

Dishoom is an iconic London spot, and our favourite for breakfast, their bacon naan roll is legendary for a reason. Lunch and dinner turns into a completely different experience, an incredible Indian dining experience different to what you'll have had before. We'd highly recommend booking in advance.

Pizza Pilgrims

For proper Neapolitan-style pizza, Pizza Pilgrims is our go-to. Simple, delicious and consistently good wherever you catch one of their sites across the city.

Japes, Soho

For something completely different, Japes in Soho does a proper Chicago deep pan pizza. Not what you'd expect to find in the middle of London, but it's somewhere we go to often because the food is delicious and fresh.

Big Mamma Group

If you want a big night out with huge portions, dramatic interiors and even more dramatic desserts, book one of the Big Mamma Group restaurants. Expect velvet booths, theatrical decor and delicious Italian food. We recommend booking in advance, tables are hard to come by.

Buns From Home

For a naughty treat between sightseeing, Buns From Home does exactly what it says. Their Dubai chocolate bun is incredible. It does feel a little dirty as you're eating it, but it's a hundred percent worth the calories.

Honest Burger

Our pick for the best burger in London. Simple menu, quality ingredients and consistently one of the best burgers we've had anywhere.

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