Tentatively planning a trip to London next year, tips/advice

Check out Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, off the South Coast

www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/osborne/

It was used by Queen Victoria for decades.

The link has "how to get here" directions, there is a hovercraft option from Portsmouth. Portsmouth is a naval city which was the birth place of Charles Dickens.

Just so you know, the tours of the inside of Buckingham palace are only in the summer, July and August.

we stayed at the astorias belgravia hotel.. a small hotel 1 block victoria station.. very centrally located.. it is a small place.. the rooms were tiny, the bathrooms remodeled and large.. and a big back patio (both inside and outside) for breakfast. many business people there and good value. lots of places to eat in immediate area. it was not noisy.. though just off a main street. In old row houses.

I would cut down the places you want to see to 3-4, then maybe one day trip. going overseas you are going to be jet lagged. 3-4 hours at the v and a, or the british museum... maybe go visit one grand house in the country. we loved the museum at greenwich and the nautical museum there.

if you want a quiet but fab art museum, check out the Courtauld Gallery at Sommerset house (on the thames). it covers 400 yrs, is a small place, lovely tea available..and not so overwhelming.

If you like royals, you could put Hampton Court Palace on your list -- that gets you out of the crowds a bit without a particularly long trip.

I like to do the super crowded stuff (Tower of London and Westminster Abbey, eg) first thing in the AM when they open -- they are still crowded, but it gets worse mid-day. Then I go to places that I like but that are more walking-around places (like parks) or a little less popular (like the cabinet war rooms) later on.

Does your husband like soccer (football)? One thing I did with my twins last year (who are soccer fanatics) was take them on some stadium tours, which was fun (we did Chelsea and Arsenal, and saw a game at London Stadium, which is in the Olympic Park -- the Olympic Park is also cool to walk around). I only mention it because those were also pretty low-key and not at all crowded, even though we were there in May and the city generally was mobbed.

I posted this in response to someone else after we got back in Dec. We have been many times, so very little of my list hits the big touristy things. However, many of those things are very cool and not crowded. We did stay in Airbnbs. One in South Kensington and one in Hammersmith. Both were great, but very different from each other. We also wanted to be able to chill at the end of the day, so these worked.

Sky Garden in the walkie talkie bldg - tickets are free a week in advance, or you can reserve a bar reservation for a cocktail, or even dinner in one of the 3 restaurants and have access to the Sky Garden. I recommend going while it is still light out and staying thru sunset into darkness. You won't regret the views from up there. Two things nearby are The Monument to the Great Fire, which you can climb the 100+ steps to the top of, and the smallest statue in London - I'll leave you to discover it.

Madison - it is on the top (6th, I think) floor of a shopping center right near St Paul's Cathedral. On your way up to the rooftop bar on the elevator, you have a full glass elevator with the most gorgeous view of St Paul's Cathedral. Definitely a dusk into night thing. We did the Queen's Walk along the southbank, it ends at St Paul's Cathedral.

Columbia Road Flower Market - if you are there on a Sunday 8am - 2pm. Its truly a delight. A pleasant walk from Old Street station will get you there in about 20 min. There are other stations that are also about a 20 min walk. Bethnal Green is one and maybe Liverpool Street. You can also take the overground to Hoxton and have a 7 min walk.

If you are looking for an outstanding fish dinner, I cannot recommend strongly enough Fish Central! I love fish, all fish, I've lived near the ocean for most of my life, BEST FISH DINNER EVER. Closest underground is Old Street.

Covent Garden is a fancier market, and has a bunch of high end stores and nice restaurants.

Old Spitalfields has all kinds of vendors and a lot of food carts with loads of yummy food choices.

Borough Market is a classic, but I strongly recommend you avoid Saturday. It's just crazy packed. If you do go to the market, it's worth standing in line inside for the paella and outside, by the seating bleachers, for the pork sandwiches.

Chez Abir Restaurant is a Lebanese restaurant that is outstanding, and we've eaten a lot of Lebanese food in London. It is on the far west side of Kensington/Earl Court area. Can't remember nearest underground, but it is a 10 min walk from it.

Somerset House has an incredibly amazing collection of art, in a former estate, that is magnificently set up so that you see each piece with informative descriptions of the art and the house. Nearest underground is Holborn.

John Soane's Museum is a treat! The guy was an architect that gives us that very broad arch you will see in the bridges crossing the Thames as well as at the top of the red telephone boxes. His house is full of curiosities, I mean every surface full, but the guy had money, so it's massively cool stuff. If you go, ask the docents you come across for their favourite thing in the house. They are very knowledgeable.

If you go out Portobello Road way, stop in at Biscuiteers. They have the cutest biscuits ever! A biscuit for my Peaps!

Hope this helps!

Here is the airbnb we stayed in over the summer: www.airbnb.com/rooms/49974752?source_impression_id=p3_1707785218_RwBoeEutsBiUVSy5

It was quiet but super convenient to hop on public transit to get everywhere we wanted to go. We also did a day in Canterbury and I wish we had stayed longer. We used VRBO there and found another cute place to stay.

Follow secret.london and PrettyLittleLondon on IG, good recos.

On our first trip we stayed the Premiere Inn Southwark. It's across the river with wonderful views, it was very reasonable at the time, and there's a historic pub attached where we had a drink on the river each night. It's close to a tube station so you can get anywhere quickly. DH worked there so we had an apartment. Since then, we've usually stayed in Air BnBs.

Our favorite thing to do is Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club. We like "Ray Gelato and his Giants of Jive" who plays there a lot. It's a historic, old school club with lamps on the tables and you feel like the Rat Pack might come strolling in. A lot of bands have recorded albums there and When Charlie Watts died, the Stones gave a concert there called "Watts at Scotts."

Favorite tourist things are Westminster Abbey and the Tower of London.