London

The capital and where most flights from India land (Heathrow, with Gatwick for Air India's Ahmedabad flight): Westminster Abbey (about £31) and the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace and the Changing of the Guard, the Tower of London and the Crown Jewels, Tower Bridge, St Paul's and the South Bank. The British Museum, the National Gallery, the V&A and the Natural History and Science Museums are free. Tap in and out on the Tube and buses with a contactless card or phone; fares cap each day. Indian London: Southall's Punjabi high street and the Sri Guru Singh Sabha gurdwara, Wembley and the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir at Neasden, Tooting and East Ham for South Indian food, Brick Lane for Bangladeshi curry. Trains leave from here for every part of Britain, and the Eurostar for Paris from St Pancras.

Highlights

• Tower of London and the Crown Jewels
• Westminster Abbey and Big Ben
• Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace
• British Museum (free)
• Natural History and Science Museums (free)
• A Thames boat to Greenwich
• West End musical
• BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Neasden
• Southall's Punjabi high street
• Borough Market and the South Bank

Things to do

• Tower of London, Crown Jewels and Tower BridgeMorning · 3h 30m
• Westminster Abbey, Parliament and the Changing of the GuardMorning · 4h
• British MuseumAfternoon · 3h
• South Bank walk, the London Eye and Borough MarketAfternoon · 3h
• Thames boat to Greenwich, Royal Observatory and the meridianMorning · 5h
• West End musicalEvening · 3h
• Neasden Temple and an evening in Southall or WembleyAfternoon · 4h
• Natural History Museum and the V&A, South Kensington (both free)Morning · 3h
• National Gallery and Trafalgar Square (free)Afternoon · 2h
• Tate Modern, the Millennium Bridge and St Paul's CathedralAfternoon · 3h
• Churchill War RoomsMorning · 2h
• Camden Market and the Regent's Canal towpath to Little VeniceAfternoon · 3h
• Kew Gardens and the Palm HouseMorning · 4h
• Sky Garden at dusk (free, book ahead)Evening · 1h

Tours & tickets

When to go

Best time: April – September

• Diwali on Trafalgar Square — The Mayor of London holds a free Diwali festival in Trafalgar Square on a weekend near Diwali, with music, dance and food stalls; Neasden's BAPS Mandir and the temples of Wembley and East Ham hold their own celebrations. The date is announced each autumn.
• Notting Hill Carnival — Europe's biggest street festival, led by London's Caribbean community, on the August bank holiday Sunday and Monday in west London: steel bands, sound systems and costume parades. Free, very crowded, and some Tube stations nearby close.
• Bonfire Night · 5 Nov — Fireworks across Britain around 5 November, remembering the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605; Lewes, near Brighton, holds the most famous night of torch-lit processions. Big displays are ticketed; book trains to Lewes early.
• Wimbledon — The tennis championships run for two weeks from late June to mid July. Tickets go by public ballot months ahead, or queue on the day (the Queue) for ground passes and some show-court seats.
• Trooping the Colour — The King's official birthday parade on a Saturday in June, from Buckingham Palace along the Mall to Horse Guards Parade, with a fly-past. Free to watch from the Mall; seats are balloted. Rehearsals run on the two Saturdays before.
• Vaisakhi — Vaisakhi in mid April brings nagar kirtan processions and fairs: Birmingham's in Handsworth Park is one of the biggest in Europe, and Southall's in London draws huge crowds. Free; expect road closures.
• Christmas markets and lights — From mid November to Christmas: Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, Edinburgh's market in Princes Street Gardens, Manchester's and Birmingham's German-style markets, and the markets in Bath and York. London's Oxford and Regent Street lights go up in November. Weekend crowds and higher hotel prices; most attractions close on 25 December, and trains don't run on Christmas Day.
• Six Nations rugby — International rugby on weekends from early February to mid March: Wales at Cardiff's Principality Stadium, Scotland at Murrayfield in Edinburgh, England at Twickenham. Match weekends fill hotels and trains in those cities.

Part of a longer route

London is a stop on a curated circuit through the United Kingdom.