Everything you need to know before you visit London

Welcome to Guide-to-London.net

Guide-to-London.net is a travel guide with one purpose: to help you get the most out of a trip to London. Whether you are planning your very first visit or you have walked along the Thames many times before, you will find clear, practical answers here, from the big questions (where to stay, how many days you need, what it will all cost) to the small ones that can make or break a day (which exit to take at Westminster, or whether the museum you want to see is open on Mondays).

London is the capital of the United Kingdom and home to almost nine million people, which makes it one of the largest cities in Europe. It is also one of the most rewarding places in the world to visit, and one of the easiest to get wrong. The city is big, prices are high, and much of what you read online is out of date. We rebuilt this site to fix that: every guide is based on official sources, written in plain English and dated, so you know how fresh the information is.

A city that is more than its landmarks

Most first-time visitors arrive with a list that looks much the same: the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Tower Bridge and Westminster Abbey. They deserve their fame, and our guides tell you how to see them without wasting half a day in a queue. But London is at its best when you also leave the postcard route.

The city's great museums are a good example. Many of them are free to enter, and some of the world's most important collections sit behind their doors, from the British Museum to the Natural History Museum and Tate Modern. You could spend a week in London visiting nothing but free museums and still not see everything. Our guide to free museums in London explains which ones are free, which exhibitions cost money and how to avoid the busiest hours.

Then there are the neighbourhoods. London grew by swallowing dozens of villages, and many of them still feel like separate places, each with its own high street, markets and pubs. The street food and old warehouses of Borough and Bermondsey, the pastel houses and antiques of Notting Hill, the canal and music venues of Camden and the street art of Shoreditch are only a few Tube stops apart, yet they feel like different cities. Our neighbourhood guides help you decide which areas suit you, both for sightseeing and for choosing where to stay.

Getting around without stress or surprises

London's public transport is one of the best in the world, but it can seem confusing at first. You do not need to buy a ticket for most journeys: you can tap in and out with a contactless bank card or phone, and the system caps what you pay each day. Our guide to Oyster and contactless explains how that works, and the Underground guide covers lines, peak hours and the unwritten rules that help you blend in.

If you are flying in, the choice of airport matters more than many travellers realise. London has six international airports, some of them a long way from the centre, and the difference between the fastest and the cheapest transfer can be both time and money. Start with our guide to London's airports, or go straight to Heathrow if that is where you land. Thinking of driving? Read our guide to hiring a car in London first: for most visitors, a car in the city is more trouble than it is worth.

Plan with realistic expectations

London is not a cheap destination, but it does not have to be ruinous either. Many of the best experiences, from the Royal Parks to the free museums and the Changing of the Guard, cost nothing. Our guides to what a trip to London costs and London on a budget give realistic figures and show where it is worth spending money and where it is not.

Before you book, check the practical basics. Many visitors now need an Electronic Travel Authorisation to enter the United Kingdom, and the rules depend on your nationality. Our guide to UK entry requirements explains the system and links to the official application. You will also find guides to money and payments, healthcare for visitors and staying safe.

Not sure how long to stay or how to fill your days? Our itineraries take you through one day, three days or a whole week in London, arranged by area so you spend more time seeing the city and less time travelling across it.

Every season has its own London

There is no bad time to visit London, but each season is different. Spring brings blossom and long evenings, summer brings festivals, Wimbledon and crowds, autumn is quieter and often mild, and in winter the city fills with Christmas lights, markets and ice rinks. Our What's On section has a guide to every month of the year, as well as the big annual events such as the Notting Hill Carnival and the New Year's Eve fireworks.

And when you have seen enough of the city, some of England's finest places are an easy train ride away. Windsor, Oxford, Cambridge, Bath and the coast at Brighton all work as day trips from London.

How we work

Guide-to-London.net is published by Nordic Webinvest Ltd and edited by Terje Moy. We base our guides on the organisations that set the rules and the prices, such as Transport for London, GOV.UK, the NHS and the attractions themselves, and we update them when things change. You can read more about us and our editorial policy. If you spot something that has changed, please let us know. We hope you have a wonderful time in London.