Places to visit when your family visits you in London

🏙 LONDON · A MONTH-LONG ITINERARY

This post is specially for people living in London who are frequently visited by their family from all over the world. When we host our guests, it's a big challenge and a great responsibility to make them feel comfortable and see to it that they get the bang for their buck in their trip. Here is a small list of places for a month's tour.

Day trips outside London

Ideal month
September
Route
Leeds Castle
Seven Sisters
Seven Sisters Cliff — you can visit the Seven Sisters Sussex by booking your train to Brighton. If you want to drive, you can rent your car, but check the parking charges — we rented from Green Motion Cars, Edgware, and liked the service and the vehicle. Spend half a day in Brighton (we included Palace Pier), then straight to the bus stop — take the 12, 12A or 13X from Churchill Square, about an hour to the walking route. The Seven Sisters Country Park is 280 hectares of chalk cliffs, meandering river valley, and open chalk grassland. We hiked from the visitor centre to Birling Gap, a 4-mile round trip up and down the cliffs.
Leeds Castle — check the website first to get a sense of the place; tickets can be bought on arrival. We booked our train to Bearsted station from London, then a shuttle from the station to the castle for £5 each. Good fun with kids — visit the falconry, wildlife, and the garden around the castle.
Cambridge
Cambridge — the Greater Anglia train from Liverpool Street gets you there. One of the most beautiful places in England, home to some of the UK's best universities. A free walking tour by Footprints is worth doing first — register online, or just join at their starting point; tours run daily. Check the universities are open before you go, and aim for a Saturday in case buildings are closed on Sundays. What we covered:
  • Mediterranean merguez pita
  • The much believed apple tree of Sir Isaac Newton
  • Mathematical Bridge
  • Bridge of Sighs
  • River Cam
  • The King's College
  • Fitzwilliam Museum
  • A turn at punting
  • Botanic Garden
Cambridge
Cambridge
Lulworth Cove & Durdle Door — a road trip, with one night in Bournemouth at Hotel Fairmount. Since most of us were vegetarian, we packed parathas, sandwiches, and dry Indian snacks along with us. We visited Old Harry Rocks the day we arrived; the promenade walk is refreshing in the late evening, and if you're an animal lover, spend some time feeding peanuts to the local squirrels in the parks. From Bournemouth, do Lulworth Cove and Durdle Door the next day — step out of the car and walk the countryside roads past beautiful houses. Follow the maps for parking at each point, and expect a walk to the cliffs everywhere — not wheelchair-accessible, the paths are rocky or steep.
Lulworth
Lulworth

Around London, day by day

  • Day 1 — Bank, Liverpool Street, London Bridge
  • Day 2 — Oxford Street for shopping, Regent Street, Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, the M&M shop, London Eye
  • Day 3 — Columbia Road Flower Market, Petticoat Lane Market, Brick Lane street food and graffiti
  • Day 4 — Tower Bridge (check opening times)
  • Day 5 — Buckingham Palace, Westminster, Parliament, Hyde Park
  • Day 6 — Sky Gardens
  • Day 7 — Greenwich Park, Observatory, Cutty Sark, Thames underwater tunnel, Canary Wharf
  • Day 8 — St Paul's
  • Day 9 — Enjoy the fish and chips
  • Day 10 — Craving Indian food? East Ham for South Indian, Southall for North Indian, plus the Mahalaxmi Temple in East Ham
  • Day 11 — Regent's Canal walk, British Museum, Tate Modern
  • Day 12 — Cycling, ice skating, or kayaking along the canals

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