Recommendations / favorites in London after seeing the main sites?

Have you looked for temporary exhibits? For example, the National Archives has a MI5 exhibit

Have you already visited the Courtauld Gallery? It's wonderful.

Well, definitely see the Treasure Room in the British Library.

Bletchley is definitely worth the effort. I thought I’d spend 2 hours there. Spent 4. Very well done!

Have you seen the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs?

Toured Wimbledon?

The Hunterian Museum is interesting and afterwards be sure to visit the Seven Star pub. 5 minute walk.
Cozy pub, fab pub cat and tasty pasta dishes.

Walking along the Thames River Path is enjoyable. So is strolling along the Regents Canal Path. Watching the narrow boats, dog walkers…

If you want to get out of London proper there’s the Parkland Trail. I enjoyed a meander on it from Finsbury Park to Crouch End.

Enjoying the massive Richmond Park and seeing the fallow deer is a great excursion if weather is good. Then buy cheese at Teddington Cheese if you exit the park by where the Royal Star and Garter Home is located. If timing is right u could have a pint at the Victorian Inn ( no food there) and or go into the pleasant Books on The Rise. 15 -20 minute walk to Richmond Station to board an Underground train or SW train back to Covent Garden. Allot 60 minutes.

Definitely search out street markets. Brick Lane, Columbia Road Flower Market, Broadway Market in Hackney, and Maltby Market.

Must say check out Spitalfields. Depending when in the Fall you are traveling ( I go in November ) you can find Xmas ornaments, stocking stuffers and boxes of Xmas cards.

If LP lovers or if you know an afficiado and your dates coincide; https://oldspitalfieldsmarket.com/events/vinyl-market

Been going to London since Nixon was President. Never fails to provide new sites to explore and enjoy.

Enjoy.

I don't know your interests or what you've seen.

Richmond, Kew Gardens, Ham House, Strawberry Hill House, Hampton Court Palace.

Lots of good suggestions- let me add Sir John Soane's Museum - Sir John Soane's Museum (an amazing collection in a single home) and Spencer House.

We loved spending time in London’s parks. St. James, The Regent’s Park (my fave), Hyde Park. If the weather is nice, pick one or two to spend some time in. There are paddle boats in Hyde Park on the Serpentine.

https://www.royalparks.org.uk/visit/parks/hyde-park/boating-serpentine

Hampstead Village (and Hampstead Heath) is a short bus ride from London. Two really cool places that make you feel like London is a million miles away. Parliament Hill (in Hampstead Heath) is a lovely place to have a picnic and see the London skyline.

Speaking of picnic possibilities, if you’ve watched the series One Day on Netflix, you may have seen Primrose Hill. It offers a spectacular view of London on a nice day. It’s also in The Regent’s Park.

So many possibilities! Have fun together!

Like the poster above, I enjoyed Hampstead and the Heath in March. I decided to make a day of it on a Sunday. I took the tube to Hampstead and joined the London Walks' Hampstead Village and Heath Walk, booked a 1:30 table for Sunday roast at The Spaniards, then walked over to Kenwood House to view the art collection. Afterwards I walked back to the Village through the Heath and stopped in at The Holly Bush for a cool drink before heading back to central London. A lovely day. Felt like I was in the country, but never left London.

Another afternoon spent walking along the South Bank of the Thames from Westminster Bridge to Tower Bridge. Lots to see along the way and a few stops at historic pubs with views. Only the overcrowded Borough Market was disappointing.

How old is your daughter? Interests?

The V&A has a Young V&A and V&A East if you have never been. The Kensington location has a couple of temporary exhibitions - Cartier and Marie Antoinette Style - which may be of interest.

Design Museum.

I also enjoyed the Photograghers' Gallery very much.

If you are interested in walking and history, you may be interesting in "collecting" blue plaques.

Have a fabulous trip!

Thank you all so much! Wonderful suggestions. I love the idea of making good weather and bad weather lists, and you've given me so many good ideas for both. Very few things on here we've done and most I haven't heard of! My daughter is 19 and our trip is probably end of October, so weather may or may not be good for parks but I love the idea of a picnic in the park with a view of London's skyline, and am excited to check out many of these museums we haven't been to. What a wonderful resource this community is!

The Courtauld Gallery is definitely now on the list, I don't know how we've not put it on the list before. It is going to be hard to pick among the house choices, although based on just a quick look, Spencer House might be it!

I'm too squeamish for the Hunterian museum, I think. Spitalfields was on the list although don't collect LPs. My daughter is in charge of finding new food markets as we don't need to repeat Borough Market!

Do you recommend a good source for temporary exhibitions? I always forget to check for that. We will unfortunately miss the MI5 exhibit, I would have enjoyed seeing that.

Thank you all again!

Have you been to the Wallace Collection?

I don't see Greenwich and the Royal Observatory there being mentioned yet. We enjoyed it immensely, and it's easy to get to.

Denisek, having the good and bad weather options is a great idea. We went the first into the second week of October last fall and had some really nice days: sunny, just a long sleeve shirt, light jacket, to cloudy/rainy ones where we needed a sweater, scarf and gloves. What makes London such a great place to visit us the potential for doing so many different things! Enjoy your trip!

If you and your daughter are in relatively good shape, the London Monument is a nice quick attraction. Built to commemorate the Great Fire, you can climb up the 300+ stairs to get a view of London. Plus you get a paper award showing you climbed up the stairs and survived. :)

https://www.themonument.org.uk

We love history and walking tours

If your trip is in October, you may still be able to visit the free, outdoor Saving St Paul's exhibition outside the Cathedral.

www.stpauls.co.uk/whats-on/exhibition-saving-st-pauls-watch-and-second-world-war

Courtesy of the forum, I'm pairing that with London Walks The Blitz, on Thursdays.

https://www.walks.com/our-walks/the-blitz-london-turned-crimson/

We went to both the British Library and the Museum of the Home on our recent trip. We loved both. The Museum of the Home was really well done, had a great garden in the back, and was a nice break from all of the crowds at other sites. We were a little disappointed with the treasures room at the British Library as it seems like they're in the middle of some maintenance work so many of the exhibits were empty. But we loved the audio exhibit in the lower floor where you can listed to all sorts of stories about British life, linguistics examples of accents, books read by famous authors, etc.

Two places that just missed the cut for us were the Foundling Museum and Novelty Automation, both will be near the top for our next visit.

The Old Bailey. London’s criminal court. We spent two hours there watching British Barristers ply their trade. Spellbinding. Even better than Witness for the Prosecution.. And you have a window into another side of British life.

Staff suggested the most interesting trials to attend.

You can bring no backpack, no large purse, no cell phone and no camera. For info see https://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/about-us/law-historic-governance/central-criminal-court

(Edited to add - We were in the public galleries, rather than on a tour that the website also mentions)

Others have mentioned Sir John Soane’s House, the Wallace Collection and the V&A, all of which we enjoyed very much.

I had my 19-year-old with me last time I was in London in 2019. She really enjoyed Hamstead. The itinerary above sounds amazing! It's a darling village and the Heath is a great walk. -- "tube to Hampstead and joined the London Walks' Hampstead Village and Heath Walk, booked a 1:30 table for Sunday roast at The Spaniards, then walked over to Kenwood House to view the art collection. Afterwards I walked back to the Village through the Heath and stopped in at The Holly Bush for a cool drink before heading back to central London."

The Wallace Collection might be my favorite (although I have much more to see in London!). They have a lovely restaurant and you can go for a cream tea: https://www.wallacecollection.org/documents/1131/The_Wallace_CAFE_FESTIVE_1.pdf

Last, my daughters LOVE the Brick Lane Vintage Market.

I referenced the vinyl market at Spitalfields only if you had an interest.

Definitely visit Spitalfields though. Lots of interesting vendors. Food, art, clothes, antiques, etc. Truly think you’d enjoy it.

As far as food markets: Maltby, Broadway, Brixton Village, Hoxton and the Mercato Mayfair. The latter is housed in an unused church.

I second the suggestions of Hampton Court and the Wallace Collection. Both were highlights of my trip in April 2024. Also, if you like music, there’s the Handel/Hendrix House. It’s a small museum in the house where both musicians lived. I really enjoyed it and it’s not too far from the Wallace Collection.

More wonderful recommendations, thank you all! We went to both the Wallace Collection and Hampton Court on our last trip, and really enjoyed both. We were there during an intense heatwave, I think it was 95 degrees the day we went to the Wallace!

Assuming the weather cooperates, I think Hampstead Heath walk (on our own or with London Walks) is now at the top of the list, with Greenwich not far behind.

Claudia I really appreciate the list of food markets, saves me from trying to figure that out! Something we really enjoy and mixes it up from museums!

@denisek, I hope you enjoy Hampstead and the Heath. I found the village to be about as pretentious a place as I've ever visited. The Heath is a nice park, though. Especially good if you're traveling with a dog.

Temple Church was built by the Knights Templar and is located near Fleet Street and the Thames.

OP a day out to consider is the visiting the Greenwich Market, grabbing items for a picnic and then making the trek up to the Observatory. On the way back down plenty of spots to enjoy your meal and great view of the city.

jphbucks LOL regarding your take on Hampstead.

I’ve always thought it like Beverly Hills or even Hancock Park and appreciated that the ethnically diverse Belsize Park neighborhood was close by.
Personally I never liked the neighborhood after the gentrification of the original Old White Bear pub in the 90’s. Turned it into a gastro pub. May or may not still be in business. Could care less.

Change just like__it happens. Can be great or truly awful.

I recall when some idiot decided to chop down the ficus trees in Larchmont Village when Blockbuster arrived. Didn’t get permission, just did it. Humans can’t be trusted!

If we're talking enclaves for the super rich, I'd have Hampstead over Knightsbridge, Chelsea or Kensington any day. North London has a bit more of a homely (in the British English sense of the word) feel than west London to me.

Homely means comfortable or cosy in British English btw.

We have especially enjoyed the Benjamin Franklin house. https://benjaminfranklinhouse.org/ He lived there nearly 16 years just before the Revolutionary War. Very centrally located between Charing Cross Station and the river. They do have quite limited hours but is very interesting history. I know your trip is later but for anyone in London this week at least in past years they do a little 4th of July party. You might phone and ask.

If you and/or your daughter like cats, there's a cat cafe called Lady Dinah's Cat Emporium on 152 Bethnal Grn Rd. They serve Cream Tea and let you interact with the cats. You have to book ahead. We had a great time. It is very near the Brick Lane Markets, so we did that the same day.

I think I could quite enjoy visiting a cat café in Bethnal Green now I read your recommendation Mary. My cat seems to have almost totally moved outdoors since the weather's been nice.