First Timer’s Guide to London Neighborhoods
London is one of those places we’ve dreamed about for most of your lives. We decided (on our honeymoon) that we wanted to spend our first wedding anniversary in London and Paris, so we did it! Exploring the London neighborhoods was everything we could have dreamed of and more.
As a first-timer in London, it’s safe to say we were a little overwhelmed (who isn’t?). There is just just so stinkin’ much to do in all of the London neighborhoods and we didn’t want to miss a thing! We did our research (as always), talked with some of our awesome friends who live in and around London and managed to hit almost all of the neighborhoods in London that we wanted to see. We’re sharing a quick guide to the London neighborhoods, perfect for the first-timer or someone who wants to explore more of London!
Borough Market
The holy Mecca of street food markets! This spot technically isn’t one of the London neighborhoods, but it’s close enough. Full of whatever kind of foods you want, including local cheeses, wine, seafood, all types of bread and more. If you like street food, Borough Market is for you. This might be the most famous market in London, so give yourself lots of time. You can read more about Borough Market and the other cool markets in London In our recent post.
City of London
Tower Bridge
The London bridge is falling down, falling down, falling…. jk wrong bridge. This fascinating bridge in London is actually known as the Tower Bridge though it is often mistaken for the London Bridge.
We were walking over the Tower Bridge with our friends Hayley and Richard (more friends we met while on our honeymoon in Antigua that live in England) and we actually got to the see the bridge go up so a ship could pass through. This is much bigger news than we first thought – this doesn’t happen very often maybe once a day, if that. Seeing this made the experience even more special. It’s definitely up there with the Golden Gate Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge!
Covent Garden
We were told Covent Garden was one of the best London neighborhoods to stay in for first timers… So we booked our cute little AirBnB in the heart of Covent Garden….. and then, 5 minutes before our flight took off from the US, we got a note that our reservation was cancelled… Cue the panic. Thankfully, we secured a new AirBnB just a short walk away, so we weren’t far but still super bummed we didn’t get the chance to stay in Covent Garden!
Covent Garden Market
Known for its huge apple market over the years, Covent Garden Market is an awesome change of pace during a visit to the high end shops and dining in Covent Garden, one of the most beautiful of London neighborhoods. Whether you’re going to Covent Garden to visit Apple, Tiffany’s or anywhere else, make sure to take time stop in at the market.
London Transport Museum
The London Underground, or the tube as it is called, is the best metro system we’ve ever experienced. Everything is so easy and connected. You can get anywhere in the city on an underground train, double decker bus or overground train. It is remarkable how convenient and smooth it is. The London Transport Museum in Covent Garden is all about the metro history and how it is helping London grow. We ran out of time and didn’t get to visit it but it’s on our must do’s for next time. Mind the gap!
Maison Bab
Last year on our honeymoon we met some awesome couples… One of those couples was Kate and Oscar. We were fortunate enough to meet up with them on our first night in London for dinner at Maison Bab and this spot definitely did not disappoint!
Piccadilly
Fortnum & Mason
London has so many cool stores that are special to the city. Fortnum & Mason definitely fits the bill. Incredible tea’s, a massive food hall and lots of other goodies to shop for at this huge department store. We could spend all day here and at Harrod’s. The biggest difference between Fortnum and Mason and Harrods is everything at Fortnum & Mason is their own brand, meaning you wont find any major designers, dealers or goods from any brand but their own. AND their shopping bags are Tiffany Blue, a color we both adore! Look for the tea’s in the US in William Sonoma!
Cath Kidston flagship
We aren’t sure what it is about this store… Maybe it’s because we don’t have Cath Kidston in the US…. But something about this brand draws us in. This fabulous shop (which we’d call a cross between Kate Spade and Vera Bradley) has everything from housewares to tennis shoes, all in their adorable patterns.
While Cath Kidston locations are everywhere in London, the flagship store is in Piccadilly and it’s totally worth a visit!
Piccadilly Circus
Similar to Time Square, Piccadilly Circus is a giant area filled with lit up billboards, street performers and everything in between.
Tiffany & Co.
Trafalgar Square
Perfectly located in the heart of the city to take it all in. Trafalgar Square was also one of our favorite places to take pictures. Nelson’s Column Monument and the fountains provide the perfect backdrop. We absolutely loved spending sunset in London here.
Leicester Square
Lego Store – Leicester Square
The LEGO Store in Leicester Square is the largest LEGO store in the world! It’s two floors of Lego mania including a 21ft Big Ben, a red telephone booth, a 637,903 brick London Underground train car, a London Underground map and so much more, all made out of Legos.
We decided while in London we are going to start collecting Lego sets from cities we visit and then build them with our kids (some day far, far in the future), so we started the collection with a London guard Lego character and a Lego double decker mini bus! The London Guard Lego set is actually not sold at the Lego Store in London. It’s exclusively sold at Hamley’s, one of the largest and oldest toy manufacturers in the world!
Westminster
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace is closed is on October, so we didn’t get to go in and see it. Changing of the guard still happens when the queen is in. You can tell if she is in by checking to see if the Royal Standard flag is flying. If it’s flying above the Palace then you know she is in.
Coca Cola London Eye
The iconic London Eye! 🎡 We’ve all seen it in a movie, postcard or in our dreams. When in London near the Thames, you can’t miss it. It’s almost 500 feet tall and it see’s over 3.75 million visitors annually. This was the first big thing we did when we got in to London since Buckingham Palace was closed and the changing of the guard didn’t happen that day. Both of us love riding ferris wheels and this one has been on our bucket list for a long time. We really enjoyed the views of London, doing a timelapse and crossing another item off our bucket list.
We always recommend doing big touristy things the first day you are somewhere for two reasons, one because they are a big part of why you’re there and two because you aren’t familiar with the area yet so hitting the places in the touristy areas allows for you to spend the later days in your trip exploring areas you’ll have become more familiar with.
Westminster Abbey
Does this majestic beauty really need an explanation? Take a stroll around the grounds or breeze though the gift shop – whichever you choose, remember you’re walking the same steps many royals before your time have!
Camden Town
Camden Market
Our favorite street market in London. There is something for everyone here. Food, clothes, music, a cafe all about cereal, Peaky Blinder’s hat’s and everything else! Plan to spend all day here.
Ray Ban Store
Ray Ban sunglasses have been our go to sunglasses ever since we began dating. This Ray Ban store in Camden Town has the coolest designed store we’ve ever seen. It’s a must to take a picture when you walk by!
King’s Cross
Platform 9 3/4
I (Thomas) have been a huge Harry Potter fan my whole life. I read all the books and saw all 8 movies at the midnight premiere (why aren’t these a thing anymore?). My have the times changed. Being such a huge fan of HP, it has always been on the bucket list to go Platform 9 3/4 at King’s Cross station and I finally accomplished it while we were in London. Got the awesome picture and will always smile knowing we got to go.
Shoreditch
Columbia Road Flower Market
The absolute best spot to get your flowers and house plants is on Sunday’s at Columbia Road Flower Market. Loads of vendors line the street with every type of blossom and bush you could possibly thing of. We talked a ton about the Columbia Road Flower Market in our post about all of the cool markets in London! 
Columbia Flower Market
Boxpark Shoreditch
Boxpark Shoreditch is an amazing little food park, made out of shipping containers. The shipping containers are stacked on top of each other to create a food and shopping mall. It’s impressive and the food is delicious. We went with mixed dumplings from Ugly Dumpling, the charcoal coconut soft serve from Soft Serve Society and the pink garlic mayo halloumi fries from Poptata. All of it was unique and oh so tasty.
LOVE murals
We love murals, duh! So of course we had to find a couple of them while in London. This one is a 3-in-1 mural with three different designs of the word love. It’s right across the street from Boxpark Shoreditch, so even better.
Emirates Air Line Gondola 🚡
We have an obsession with gondola’s and trams, so when we found out there was one in London that went over the Thames River, we were psyched! It’s located in North Greenwich, near the O2. The Emirates Air-Line is sponsored by Emirates Airline, hence the name. It goes back and forth over the river and gives each rider some incredible views. The Emirates Air-Line gondola totally reminds us of the Roosevelt Island Tramway in NYC. This was one of the best hidden gems in London that a lot of people don’t know about. If you’re looking for a unique way to see London, check out the Emirates Air-Line.
Notting Hill
Notting Hill and Portobello Road houses
If colored houses are your thing, Notting Hill is one of the best London neighborhoods for you. Streets lined with townhomes in every color and shade imaginable, it almost feels like a dream! This area became most known through the film “Notting Hill” with Hugh Grant. While there, we completely forgot to stop at the Notting Hill Bookstore, which was a total bummer, but it gives us a good reason to go back next time we’re in London.
Portobello Road Market
The biggest outdoor antique market happens every Friday and Saturday here. It is truly a can’t miss Street market in London.
Paddington
Paddington Station
If you’re a fan of that fuzzy little bear, hold on to your knickers because Paddington Station is all things Paddington Bear! The station itself is rather large and there are Paddington bear statues EVERYWHERE! A definite must-see for any PB fan!
Kensington
Town House at The Kensington
No trip to London is complete without a day spent having afternoon tea. Let us tell you… we hit the jackpot on afternoon tea at Town House at The Kensington Hotel. The two of us did tons of research on different spots for afternoon tea before our trip and saw the The Kensington had done a Beauty & The Beast themed afternoon tea and it looked like Disney did it themselves. We were so excited to find out the theme was London Landmarks!
We totally forgot to book a reservation before we left and could only fit afternoon tea in on our last full day… So, the day of, we went in around noon, when they opened, hoping for the best, but not expecting to get in… BUT they told us come back at 4pm and they’d squeeze us in! We showed up at 4 and they had a table ready for us! So nice and accommodating. The tea was spectacular but the sandwiches, scones and the desserts are a true show stopper. To top it all off, the skyline of treats is served on a London Eye- inspired tea stand. It was easily some of the best high tea in London!
Ski Mural
We stumbled upon this mural while walking through Kensington and had to snap a pic! As big skiers, seeing a ski mural in the middle of London was snowtacular. In 2019, we were going to be spending Christmas in Breckinridge and seeing this mural in October really had us excited for the trip.
Knightsbridge
Harrods
Ahh Harrods…. The mecca of all department stores! Cue all the heart eye emojis right now, y’all, because that’s exactly what we looked like walking through this store. The rooms and rooms filled with everyday department store goods and the most high-end, luxury goods one could possibly find, this place had it all. And don’t even get us started on the food hall that graced the bottom floor.
One of the big reasons why London has become our favorite city we’ve visited is how creative some things are. London is home to unique markets, food halls in department stores and food parks built out of shipping containers. It’s creative ideas like these that truly made us fall in love with the city. We crave uniqueness from cities when we travel and we really found it in all the London neighborhoods we visited, with stuff we had never seen before.
