Best of London Regrets (?)

Would you fancy a fun hike in London? Late film critic and author Roger Ebert once wrote a book called The Perfect London Walk. Here's my post on it: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/books-movies/the-perfect-london-walk

I see from your other threads you are considering a food tour and a ghost walk.

Look at the other offerings from London Walks Company. They have many history walks (Roman London is a fav) and neighborhood walks (old neighborhoods that date back to medieval period or the Victorian era) that are all interesting. Go to www.walks.com to see if there are other walks that might be of interest to you.
They have a couple of Harry Potter Walks and a couple of Beatles Walks that are very good.

About the food tour you say you might take in your other topic you posted....you don't need it. The 2026 version of RS Best of London tour, the group goes on a food tour of the East End. Then another day, at lunchtime, they take you to Borough Market, where you can do your own food tour by wandering among the many food stalls and sampling different dishes. Free samples are also handed out at the cheese stands. So I would not add another food tour....just my opinion.

Your topic here is "Best of London Regrets (?)" so I will say, my only regret was not spending more time in museums. The tour goes to the British Museum one afternoon, but a couple of hours would not be enough for me. I would return to the British Museum on one of your days off, as there is enough in there to keep a person entertained for 3 to 4 days.

Two things I would add, that are not included in the tour's activities......
The Victoria And Albert Museum--the V&A.
Day trip to Hampton Court Palace--short trip easily done.

We did a Jack-the -Ripper Walk about ten years ago. Totally wasn't worth it. There's just no atmosphere as a guide walks you around modern buildings, and points out where several of the unfortunate victims were found. Skip it.

We will be on the tour April 26-May 2. I am curious what others who have taken the tour have to say about your questions, too, so I'm posting to follow along.

We are going a few days before the tour starts and staying in the Fulham area, my husband is hoping to get tickets if they have a game while we are there, the game dates should be posted in March, he is an avid Premier League fan, so it will be fun even if we just go to a pub where the local fans hang out.

We don't have much else planned in London, but I did make a list of some pubs that look interesting, and I want to go to the V&A Museum, even if my husband doesn't tag along for that. Sometimes just wandering around and getting lost can be fun too.

Cheers to you and happy travels!

Haven’t been on the tour but have been visiting and staying in London since Nixon was in office.

Thus offering these ideas to consider:

1.) Download the Tower Bridge lift schedule schedule
2.) Like animals? Visit Mudchute Farm
3.) The Battersea Power Station conversion is impressive
4.) Definitely see theatre. You can now order same day tickets online. Witness for The Prosecution, Operation Minemeat and Hamilton are stellar.
5.) Explore Richmond park to see the fallow deer
6.) research the London Walks website
(www.walks.com) to see if any are of interest
7.) pubs such as The Whitecross, Ye Ole Mitre and the Mayflower are interesting
9.) The Parkland Walk is a nice outting
10.) If a Doctor Who fan see if the replica of the Tardis still stands outside Earl’s Court Underground Station
11.) Visit Liberty
12.) Get lost in Selfridges
13.) Visit Harrod’s Food Hall
14.) The Huntarian Museum is interesting. Check opening days and times
15.) On the hour see if you can hear Big Ben tolling
16.) if weather clear Tube to Greenwich then walk up to the Observatory. Great POV of the city.
17.) Visit the tiny WW2 Museum that is in the basement of St Ermins Hotel in Westminster
18.) visit the Kings cafe at the British Library
19.) See all the street art in Shoreditch
20.) Tour the Wimbledon Museum

London is never boring.

I’ve been on 15 of Rick’s tours and I would say that the Best of London was crammed full of delights. More so than other tours and I’m not complaining about the others. There was just so much to do and see in London. A highlight was getting great same day seats for the Lion King. My only regret was not riding on the Eye! I never expected it to be as wonderful as it was.

We've done this tour twice, about 10 years apart, and enjoyed it both times. I do have one suggestion: the group does take a great tour of the Globe, but something special to do on your own is to see a play at the Globe, if possible. What a great experience! We enjoyed our first Globe production about 10 years ago, and have now made it a tradition that whenever we're in London, we book a show (or two!) at the Globe. There really is nothing like it.

If you enjoy military history, especially WW I and II the Imperial War Museum is a do not miss.

For the person going late April to early May, you likely will see the wisteria in bloom. Breathtaking. The best is on Kynance Mews near Gloucester Road tube station. Not far from Prince Albert Hall and the V and A.

Hey! Thanks for all of the awesome responses!

If you love bookstores…historic Hatchard’s (1797) is absolutely wonderful and located conveniently next to Fortnum and Mason where I had the best milkshake of my life.

Just finished the RS Best of London (21 Feb 26). I went to London 2 days before the tour & stayed at the Strand Palace for a ridiculous low (for London) low price. Perfect location for my Courtauld Gallery, Nat Gallery, Tate Britain, and Lairds Hatters goals. My passion is art.

I did not schedule any activities for my pre tour goals or for my numerous leave-the-group to be on my own & see/do on my trip.

From speaking to other RS tour members, I guess some may have had a flexible schedule (esp for shows), but others seemed to just make almost immediate in-the-day plans. I did what I always do on any trip--take advantage of the time/place in the moment and enjoy. RS London has so many sites & experiences, I suggest taking full advantage while looking for one's own interests.

In my opinion, as a seasoned ole man traveler, plan ahead only for the absolute necessary, like online tix for very special sites. You can't see everything, Take advantage of what you can. Otherwise--serendipity. ab

We took the tour 2023 and thoroughly enjoyed it. We stayed at the Hilton Garden inn the one at Hatton Cross train takes you there (next to Heathrow airport) the first 2 nights and learned how to take the tube on our own. Went into London exit Greenpark station, Walk through the park to the other side and see Buckingham Palace (which is not on the tour) Make an appt ahead of time for a tour..We regret missing the National Gallery, the British Library, (not on tour)Leave a couple of days after the tour to see things you missed. We took a water taxi Uber to the Maritime Museum loved it .We took a train south to Arundel and stayed a couple of days in the small town with a very big castle (loved it ) Wish we would have gone to Bath and York but then its in our next visit on our own. To me the Shakespeare Old Globe theatre is eh, but some people really enjoyed it. I think I would have paid the $65 each to take the big London eye and get the birds eye view of London but you have to book ahead for a time. Were not really pub people so for us older folks thats what we enjoyed. Burrough Market is great and the Tower of London is good and dont miss the Windsor Castle day , have lunch after the tour and walk around the town its a nice day trip by train.