Repeat London visits - where do you keep returning to?

I ALWAYS go to Evensong at Westminster Abbey. I love history & ritual and it is very relaxing for me. I also have a pint of bitter in a pub and tea with scones somewhere.

Here's my recent trip report for Leicester, London and Delft - https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/leicester-london-delft

At the end I wrote this:

Looking at these final days, it highlights a core thought I have on travel. I am not a fast traveler, I am not an absolute acolyte of slow travel, and I don't buy into trying to live like a local. I don't feel the need to occupy every moment with activity, I have no attachment to neighborhoods and no checklist to run through. For me, travel is the journey, but it is also the simple reality of just being there. To exist as a sort of observer. I am entirely content with the peace of walking around without an agenda, sitting on the balcony of my room, and watching daily life unfold. It is just the satisfaction of being present in a different space.

For me part of the draw of London is a certain comfortable familiarity. It's always there. At home the city is ever present in my work life and then I can return to it and still have new experiences.

After my accident the goal of going back was such a big part of my recovery. It was so far, so "foreign" and yet so familiar.

This time around I for the first time in my life I made restaurant reservations and dined at Rules, Hawksmoor, and Bread Street Kitchen. I went to Gerry Rafferty's pub. I found the John Smith statue. I finally went to Tate Britain & Greenwich. Everytime i find my way to Borough Market walking past the Golden Hinde.

This year Leicester was new. Last year Prague was new. But still a return to London.

I've been to London four times, and we'll be heading there for my fifth time next year. One stop is always Westminster Abbey, as I love visiting there. I could stay there for hours just wandering around.

I also always have a meal at Cafe in the Crypt at St Martin-in-the-Fields. The food is always very good, relatively inexpensive, and I love the atmosphere there. It's fun to eat while you're surrounded by tombstones and crypts. What more could you ask for? 😊

Another place I always head for St. Paul's Church aka the Actors' Church in Covent Garden. When I first went to London back in 1996, I got advice from Lynn Redgrave, who was doing a show at the theatre I worked at then. She gave me tons of tips on places to see, but one of the places she recommended I visit was the Actors' Church. She said her father's ashes are there, along with Dame Edith Evans, Dame Ellen Terry and Dudley Moore. It's a lovely and quiet church, designed by Inigo Jones, and with beautiful gardens outside. It's one of my favorite places to visit, and everytime I visit London, I always stop by.

I revisit favorite museums over and over, and there’s often a very interesting temporary exhibit to keep things fresh and different. That said, the British Museum is so massive that I’ve still not seen a lot of the regular collection, after countless visits.

I have favorite restaurants, too, and make sure to go to each one when time allows, but there’s also always a new (for me) place to discover.

Then there are classical music venues - old standbys and places we hadn’t been to before. Opera at Holland Park this past summer, complete with jet aircraft flying overhead in the middle of an aria, and Cadogan Hall this coming January.

Claudia, a regular poster on this Forum with an extensive knowledge of travel to London has summed up London as “Always Changing, Always the Same.” Exactly. The old standbys are comforting to return to, but there’s always something new and different. Regent’s Park has a new Queen Elizabeth II garden where previously, sort-of industrial greenhouses (now relocated) had been tucked away, and it’ll be interesting and delightful to see it develop.

Like you, I have been to London multiple times. Was "forced" to go there for a week every year or every other year for work for a while, also have been there on 3 or 4 personal trips.

I think nearly every time, whether alone, with my wife, or with newcomers joining me, I start out with a walk,. Starting at Big Ben, around Westminster, up Whitehall to Trafalgar square, past St Martins, into Covent Garden, along the Strand to St Pauls, across Millennium Bridge to Southwark, to Borough Market and even beyond. Of course there are pubs along the way, I am a beer guy, there is the Harp, the Lamb and Flag, Black Friars, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, and a half dozen more to consider, or a couple dozen more along the way to try.

I could return to the British Museum maybe a half dozen times more and still not see everything. There is at least one other museum that is new to me, or has been long enough since I visited that it seems new. There is always something new on the beer scene, pubs I haven't tried (though I have been in close to a hundred different ones), new micro-breweries to visit.

I also like getting into some of the non-central areas and exploring, find a new ethnic cuisine, head to a different market area.

Michele, That's a very interesting question. I am looking forward to reading other responses too.

All my life, including in childhood, I read a lot of books set in the UK and London, and I always wanted to visit. In my 20s, I had a few hours layover and I managed to get a HOHO bus and just see all the sights from outside...this made the itch worse than ever, but it was still a few decades before I could return. About 12 years ago, I had a bad back accident and all through rigorous physical therapy that took years, my husband dangled the carrot of travel to London....which I finally was able to plan for 2020...and we all know what happened then.

It was finally 2022 before I could visit London, and I am happy to say that it was the first of seven visits so far, the latest being 10 days this past September. London, which, quoting Claudia is "always changing, always the same" - has so many things to do, that I still feel like I am on a path of discovery but you are right, there are still some familiar activities, like the axial points of a rotating world.

Always love seeing my first sight of the Elizabeth tower and hear Big Ben, always like to visit the Serpentine lake in Hyde Park, love buying tea, eating fish-n-chips, cream teas in parks, theatre. My attention span is about two hours, so I revisit museums often to concentrate on particular galleries or special exhibitions. I also explore neighborhoods one at a time - Fulham, Chelsea and Rotherhithe were the latest ones. As I get more familiar with London, I have been venturing out more beyond Zone 1 and 2. I also have been enjoying day trips. A new joy we discovered on our last trip were the BBC Proms. I can see us returning for more of those.

My first visit to London was in 1973! I went a lot in the 80’s as my Aunt was a journalist posted there so I could stay at her flat.

I return to the British Museum often because as above there are still rooms I haven’t seen. I wont let the V&A defeat me but I always get lost in there, lol. Since it looks like you are from Seattle they have a massive Chihuly sculpture in the entrance. The National Gallery is a must as I love some particular pieces they have in there including Constable’s The Hay Wain.

I also see lots of snippets on FB reels and other venues pointing out neat stuff. On my ever evolving “to-do” list are the Mithraeum in the bottom of the Bloomberg building, All Hallows in the Tower, a handful of other churches that are open to visitors when they have someone to monitor activity thru the Church Watchers group.

https://www.fotcc.org.uk/watchers-days/

I have zero interest in pubs so no recommendations for them.

I do love the London Walks and they have taken me to some interesting neighborhoods. I have also done DIY walks from the blog A Lady in London.

What I love about returning is that it is familiar. To myself I am always saying wow…London (and Paris) feel familiar to me! I recognize things, I know my way and just hug to myself that the gal from Idaho is in her element in an international setting!

Enjoy your trip!

When I was five, in 1968, my family lived in London for a while and my mom took me to the British Museum. I fell in love with a Mesopotamian artifact called the Standard of Ur. Whenever I’ve been in London since and visited the British Museum, I always visit the Mesopotamian rooms and pay my respects to the Standard of Ur. I’ll be there again next month, and managed to get Bayeux Tapestry tix so will go to the BM, and of course, the Standard of Ur.

I have 2 trips planned and they will be my 9th and 10th I think. The National Gallery is a favourite and this time I will go for the Renoir exhibit. I have a few places I go to routinely such as Borough Market (on a quieter day), various favourite neighbourhoods and restaurants, often Westminster Abbey and usually a few, new to me, spots. Richmond has become an enjoyable spot for the day or longer. Last year, we went to see the newly refurbished Battery Park.
I am going on a garden tour in May and fingers crossed that I get a ticket tomorrow morning for the Chelsea Garden show when members’ tickets become available. London and Paris are the two cities I never tire of visiting.

London repeats:

Number one - Victoria and Albert Museum. I’ve been known to return a second time on the same trip. The fashion exhibits are exquisite, the cafe is gorgeous and they have the best museum gift shop in London.

Liberty of London for the sensory experience of touching and examining bolts and bolts of beautiful fabric. And always buying a few meters as a souvenir.

The National Gallery has Van Gogh’s Sunflowers for me and usually has a special exhibit of interest.

Can’t leave London without seeing a West End show for cheap. I always return to the TKTS Official London Theatre Ticket Booth for discounted theater tickets (or use the TKTS app). I get a thrill knowing I paid £42 for a £70 seat.

And it sounds touristy, but I take as many rides on double decker buses as I can — sitting on the upper level at the front window, of course. : )