London - Off the Beaten Path

Think you might enjoy this neat place for lunch adjacent to Trafalgar Square. Great food, ambience and price. You might want to catch some live music at St Martin in the Fields as well. I go every time I am in London.

http://www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/cafe-in-the-crypt/

Camden Market is also worth a couple of hours for the shiops, food and folks.

http://www.camdenlock.net/

Check out the LondonWalks website. They've got several walks that seem to fit your interests, have great guides and are reasonably priced. One suggestion would be to choose and take a walk early in your stay in case the guide takes you somewhere or says something that further piques your interest about checking out or needing more of your time. For instance we hurriedly went through the Burroughs Market on a tour we took last month and we were so curious about it that we went back another day on our own to explore.

Thank you both for the suggestions. Orv, I just visited the website and the Cafe in the Crypt looks amazing, we will stop by there for sure!

On a trip to London in the prior century I visited the Silver Vaults -- don't know what they are like now, but interesting.

Where to begin... in addition to sites you've already mentioned -

Hampton Court is fantastic

Borough Market is a lot of fun - try the Goats Milk Ice Cream

Twinings Tea on The Strand - they now offer tastings

Covent Garden

The Fan Museum in Greenwich, and they serve a very nice tea

Museum of London - just about London's history

National Portrait Gallery - practically next door to St. Martin in the Fields

My husband and I are looking forward to being back in London very soon.

Check out the website of The London Walks Company. They do walks, with a guide, around neighborhoods in London, themed walks, and day trips out of town to Bath, the Cotswolds, Oxford, Cambridge, Stonehenge, Stratford-Upon-Avon. Browse their website here:
www.walks.com

You might want to visit Sir John Soane's Museum on Lincoln's Inn Fields. An eclectic collection packed into a small house. I see that there are tours of some newly opened rooms.

Another place I enjoyed is the Wallace Collection in Marylebone.

And the Museum of London as someone else recommended.

As mentioned a couple of times above London Walks is a really good resource for visitors to London (and for those of us who currently live here). www.walks.com. They do all sorts of two hour walks throughout the day and evening (including evening pub walks). No booking in advance, so you can change your mind without cost. They also do about 15-20 different day trips from London to various locations (although in March when you are here they will be on their winter programme which is quite a bit thinner than their summer offerings).

One of their 2-hour walks that I have recently really enjoyed was the "street art walk" - which was so unexpected.

Hi Jysais, You say dark but will grisly do? Look up the Hunterian Museum in Russell Square, medical history museum with specimens…rather gruesome but interesting. Dark, taken literally, check out Ye Olde Cheshire Cat, which is a 17th(?) century pub. Notice the first step, so worn and lovely, IMO. Even tho this pub is in the tourist area, we always stopped by when in the area, and we found locals go there after work, etc. If you can find a 17th century history of drinking/pubs and society tour, go for it, if they have any…we had a private tour of that nature…which covered politics, crime, prostitution, etc. Wray

Hi Jason:

This is my suggestion for off the beaten path sites of London: Check out the following meetup group:

http://www.meetup.com/LondonCultureseekers/

This group is intended mainly for residents of the greater London area who have already seen the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace..... and who are looking for less well known but interesting sites in the area. Scroll through all of Robert's (he is the head of this group which has 18,000 members) current and past events. You might find some ideas that strike your fancy and which you can pursue on your own. I found the following recent meetups to be intriguing:

Museum of the Order of St. Johns (the Hospitallers of the Crusades)
Shakespeare and His London guided walking tour
Kelvedon Hatch (Secret) Nuclear Bunker
Day Trip to Bletchley Park
Boat Trip from Westminster to Hampton Court

When visiting London in 2012 I participated in his visit to the free Science Museum (near the V&A Museum) and the pub visit afterwards where I had an interesting conversation with locals over pint. In 2014 I did his day trip to Bletchley Park, and had interesting conversations with group members on the train ride to and from that site. If you are lucky you might be in London when he is leading a trip that strikes your fancy. In most instances he does not charge for his meetup events though you will pay any costs for admission, transportation, tour guide.....

Have a good one. I will be in London this November for about 14 days which is in addition to the 16 days in 2012 and 18 days in 2014 so I, too, am seeing unusual sites/sights. I am mentally preparing myself for a meal at a traditional pie and mash restaurant which might serve jellied eel on the side. That off the beaten path for even Londoners.

Geor(ge)

I really enjoyed the Old Operating Theatre and Herb Garret, which I saw after a Victorian walking tour by London Walks; I'm interested in medical history and found it fascinating.

If you're from the US, you might want to see Ben Franklin's home on Craven Street. He lived there for more than a decade before returning to Philadelphia in 1775, and I believe it's the only place he lived that is still standing.

As others have said, check out the London Walks schedules; we've always enjoyed their London tours and look forward to trying some of the day-long excursions on a future visit. I also want to spend more time at the Victoria and Albert; amazingly diverse collections!

You mention a day trip to Stonehenge, Bath, and Windsor Castle - is that all one day? You may be trying to cram too much in; I defer to others with more knowledge of Bath, but when I finally get there I plan to spend at least 2 days.

Happy planning, and have a great trip!

So I'll throw out the street market in Walthamstow - incredibly culturally diverse neighborhood in east London - longest street market in Europe with stalls containing goods and food from every culture you can imagine. It's best on a Saturday. One of my favorite places to see gritty London at it's best. Spent three weeks in that town a couple of summers ago and loved it! Definitely not on the traditional tourist agenda!

Portobello Road Antiques Market on Saturday. Even if you are not into antiques it is an interesting place to browse and observe. It gets very crowded so get there early if you can.

A short train ride will take you to Brighton on the south coast.
Leeds Castle in Kent.
Portsmouth Historic Dockyard
- The Mary Rose
- HMS Victory
- HMS M.33 with Dazzle camouflage
- Plus museum and other things to see

Wellcome Collection http://wellcomecollection.org, Sir John Sloane Museum http://www.soane.org,
try to see a court proceeding at the Old Bailey, http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/about-the-city/about-us/buildings-we-manage/Pages/central-criminal-court.aspx, go mud larking with London Walks, http://www.walks.com/Standalone/THAMES_BEACHCOMBING_–_MUDLARKING_ON_THE_THAMES/default.aspx, visit the Columbia Flower Market, visit Brixton Market, http://brixtonmarket.net, see what's on at the Wilton Music Hall or at least take a tour, http://www.wiltons.org.uk.

Personally for people who have never been to London I think a visit to the Museum of London is a great option. Gives a historical perspective about how the city evolved. I also love taking first timers to the British Library and visiting the Sir John C Ritblatt gallery (the Treasure Room).

I've been to London many times but for the very first time I'm taking a tour of Parliament on my next jaunt. VERY excited. Something to consider if they are in session. http://www.parliament.uk/visiting/

Great city. Have fun!

The open air theatre in Regent's Park... weather might be interesting in March, but late March it could be really nice.

https://openairtheatre.com/

Towards the end of this YouTube video (from about 7:47), they spend some time at the theatre, looks lovely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEaWyyYqKIk

** Update: seems they only run May to Sept. sorry. I'll leave this post up for others though.

Thank you to EVERYONE for the very thoughtful and detailed replies! I am so excited to introduce my wife to London and to see things I've never seen before in my previous three trips!

Here is just a few......

Neal's Yard
Postman Park
The Orangery at Kensington Palace for afternoon tea
Southwark Cathedral
Temple Gardens

A couple we have loved after a handful of visits not mentioned is Dennis Severs House and Spencer House. Denis Severs is hard to describe, but maybe a living museum? Great neighborhood. We followed it with a Sunday roast at the Hawksmoor. Awesome day. Spencer house is only open on Sundays but it was so off the tourist radar we walked right in. It was an interesting glimpse on what was left of the city homes of the aristocracy.

I also liked the Spencer House tour and the Churchill War Rooms. Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese in Fleet Street is a pub that dates back to the 17th century. Do take a couple of London Walks, they are excellent.

In between Central London and day trip sites, greater London has numerous village-like neighborhoods right on the Underground and/or rail system. Anita mentioned Walthamstow which I visited briefly. Great place. It's at the end of the Victoria tube line which is high-speed. Also, in Northwest London: Pinner, Harrow-On-The-Hill. North London: Hampstead. In NE London: Take the tube to East Finchley and go north, then east on Fortis Green to Muswell Hill. The Clissold Arms tavern where The Kinks played their 1st and last gigs is along here. Beautiful area. South London: Dulwich and the Dulwich Picture Gallery.

To see how Londoners live, try riding the Overground line between Richmond and Stratford (London) or the South London Tramlink from Beckenham to Wimbledon. Slow-moving perhaps but easier to see things that way. I first heard of this North London Line (Overground) from none other than the British neo-Renaissance man, Jonathan Miller, in a CBC book and TV series 'Cities.' That inspired me to visit London.

Check out the National Trust UK site for the list of properties in the Greater London area. They have an Overseas Visitors pass that can make multiple property visits worthwhile. Many of these have been mentioned by others. I especially enjoyed the Fenton House which has an antique stringed musical instrument collection including harpsicords etc.