Residents in Notting Hill have become so sick of hordes of TikTok and Instagram ‘influencers’ taking pictures and videos of their colourful homes that a few have painted their properties black.
And at Hampstead Heath Ponds in north London, swarms of swimmers – following social media tip-offs – have descended… leading to much local grumbling.
Meanwhile, some regulars at The Churchill Arms pub in Kensington are at the end of their tether as so many TikTok and Instagram users are dropping by to take selfies in front of its charming exterior, which is decked with seasonal flowers. The viewing floor at The Shard is often jam-packed with influencers, too – as are the alleys and lanes around the stalls of nearby Borough Market.
More than 20 million tourists pour into London each year, spending roughly more than £9bn. And this means that avoiding the crowds isn’t easy, requiring both planning – and good timing.
However, as a registered Blue Badge Tourist Guide of many years standing (sophiecampbell.london/guide), I have led hundreds of tours and know the city back to front – including some of the most interesting places that are not ‘tourist traps’ yet are brilliant to visit.
Here’s my top 11 off-the-beaten-track spots – plus a few pitfalls to avoid when visiting the capital.
A collection of sarcophaguses at the Petrie Museum of Egyptian and Sudanese Archaeology
1. The Petrie Museum, WC1
The Petrie Museum of Egyptian and Sudanese Archaeology is one of four fine museums owned by University College London – the others cover zoology, pathology and art – and makes a perfect alternative to the packed Egyptian Galleries in the British Museum. It’s small, mysterious and full of extraordinary items, including the Tarkhan Dress, made of 5,000-year-old linen; a pyramid text from Saqqara and mummy portraits painted on wood. Staff are friendly, knowledgeable and always happy to chat and explain.
Details: Tuesday to Saturday. Free (ucl.ac.uk/museums-collections/petrie-museum-egyptian-and-sudanese-archaeology).
The Siberian pine track was built for London’s 2012 Olympics
2. Velodrome taster sessions at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, E20
It seems incredible that anyone aged 12 and over can ride on the hallowed Siberian pine track built for London’s 2012 Olympics and still used by elite cyclists today. Its home, nicknamed ‘The Pringle’ for its curvy timber roof, was the first, and arguably most elegant, building completed in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, on time and under budget. Riding the track is both thrilling and humbling; thrilling because you feel just like Jason or Laura, humbling because you are so, so not. Over-sevens can do BMX tasters (£17.50).
Details: Minimum age 12, height 4ft 9ins. £46 for 60 minutes (better.org.uk/leisure-centre/lee-valley/velopark/taster).
This London Model is built to scale and shows different periods of London’s architecture
3. The New London Model, EC2
The London Centre, tucked into the west wing of the Guildhall Library since 2023, is home to New London Architecture, a membership organisation for those involved in the capital’s built environment. Two of its magnificent models – one of central London as a whole and one of the City of London – are on show, with tons of research information and regular guided tours. They are built to scale and show different periods of London’s architecture, including the future – mesmerising for Londoners and non-Londoners alike.
Details: Tuesday to Saturday. Free (nla.london/exhibitions/the-new-london-model).
The Frameless immersive art experience features four loosely themed galleries
4. Frameless, W1
I thought this would be awful but it’s mesmerising: a dark site next to one of London’s busiest traffic junctions, transformed into four loosely themed galleries of interactive art. Ceilings, floors and walls are covered with colours and shapes from over 40 gigantically upscaled masterpieces by the likes of Canaletto, Monet and Rembrandt. Children roll around on the floor, adults sit and gaze. It’s chilled (literally – another plus is the air conditioning), fun and great in hot or wet weather. Some more female artists might be nice.
Details: Discounted online price from £28 for adults, £18 for children aged three to 15 (frameless.com).
The Triforium Tour gives you bird’s eye views of the nave, and opens up parts of the cathedral previously hidden from the public
5. The Triforium Tour, St Paul’s Cathedral, EC4
For £15 on top of your ticket price, you can tour the behind-the-scenes cathedral, far above the tourists holding their phones aloft, with bird’s eye views of the nave. The tour also covers the 1709 library, with its dark wooden shelves and tables piled high with enormous books; the top of the famous cantilevered geometric staircase; and, key to the building’s history, Wren’s ‘Great Model’, built in 1673 to persuade the King to allow him to rebuild the cathedral in classical style after the Great Fire of London. It worked.
Details: Book online. It ideally suits over-12s; adult entry tickets cost £26 and children £10, plus £15 extra for the tour (stpauls.co.uk/guided-and-self-guided-tours).
Cabmen’s shelters were built to provide refuge for off-duty cab drivers, and these are still the only people allowed in
6. English breakfast from a cabmen’s shelter, various locations
In the early 20th century, 61 of these charming emerald-green timber huts were dotted around the capital, built from 1875 to provide a cafe/refuge for London’s off-duty cab drivers – still the only people allowed in. There are 13 left and, from a visitor’s point of view, their superpower is the little hatch at one end, from which are dispensed the most authentic English breakfasts you can get, complete with doorstop sandwiches and strong tea. Yum.
Details: Usually open from 8am to 4pm; it’s about £6 for a bacon sandwich and tea (heritagecalling.com/2024/04/09/a-brief-introduction-to-cabmens-shelters).
The Leake Street Arches are a great open-air gallery and provided a fantastic background for photos
7. Leake Street Arches, SE1
Gloomy Leake Street is a handy cut-through from York Road to the food stalls and bars of Lower Marsh. It’s part of the vast undercroft beneath Waterloo Station, which raised the platforms above south London’s swampy ground and provided storage for everything from train parts to coffins. Now it’s a graffiti tunnel, safely neutered by the adjoining art/cafe spaces and graffiti classes, but still a great open-air art gallery and background for photos.
Details: Access is free; graffiti workshops from £40 (leakestreetarches.london).
Crossness Pumping Station has magnificently over-the-top decor, and one engine has been restored to working condition
8. Steaming Days, Crossness Pumping Station, SE2
One of London’s two mighty Victorian sewage pumping stations, built by the doughty duo of Charles Driver (architect) and Joseph Bazalgette (engineer) with magnificently over-the-top decor. One of its four pumping engines is restored, painted and working. On Steaming Days, visitors climb onto a venerable Routemaster bus at Abbey Wood (now on the Elizabeth Line) and, once at the riverside site, chunter along to the pumping station on a scaled-down train restored and staffed by volunteers. There’s a great exhibition, mad loo collection and cafe. The jolliest day out in London.
Details: Adult £22.50, children £8, including the bus and railway (crossness.org.uk).
Back of Beyond Adventures has a trailer full of leisure craft that rolls up at Petersham
9. Canoeing, kayaking and stand-up paddleboarding, Richmond, TW10
Back of Beyond Adventures has a trailer full of leisure craft that rolls up at pretty Petersham, just upstream of Richmond, launching you onto the Thames at slack tide, making it super-safe and good for learning. Paddle up to the White Swan pub for a pint on the slipway, or picnic on one of the tiny beaches. Children too small for a kayak can paddle with adults in a family-sized canoe. Also see the Chelsea Kayak Club nearer town and Moo Canoes in the east.
Details: From £42.50 for two-and-a-half hours (backofbeyonduk.com/self-guided-paddle-adventures).
The London Mithraeum, which sits under the Bloomberg building, hosts this display of Roman artefacts
10. London Mithraeum, EC4
In 1954, archaeologists on a construction site in the City of London found a carved head of Mithras, figurehead of a macho Roman cult for around 300 years. This was his temple – one of a handful left in the world. Today the business and finance information giant Bloomberg occupies the site and has funded the restoration of the temple remains to their historic depth. There’s an art gallery, exhibition, sound and light show, and display of archaeology found during the build (children love using the iPads provided for information).
Details: Open Tuesday to Sunday. Free, booking required (londonmithraeum.com).
A view of the backstage area of the National Theatre, where staff work to make props and scenery
11. Sherling Backstage Walkway, SE1
The Dorfman is the smallest of the three theatres in the concrete behemoth that is the National Theatre, tucked away halfway down the east side of the building. On Wednesday and Saturday afternoons you can climb the stairs to walk along an elevated walkway with views of the backstage of the giant Olivier Theatre and the busy departments making props and scenery. There are notes on current productions on the wall. It’s short but great for anyone interested in theatre. Go on Wednesday to be sure of seeing staff at work.
Details: Wednesdays and Saturdays, 12pm to 6pm. Free (nationaltheatre.org.uk/your-visit/things-to-do).
Insider tips for visiting LondonI have always found January to March and November the quietest months.Thanks to remote working, Fridays and Mondays are now relatively quiet on public transport so are good days for getting around (though note that smaller galleries/museums may be closed on Mondays).In-house tours offer great behind-the-scenes access (see St Paul’s, above): Westminster Abbey, the Royal Opera House and the Royal Albert Hall do great private tours, and the London Transport Museum arranges Discover Hidden London walks to disused Tube stations (book the minute they become available – there are many fans).Desperate to get into a sold-out blockbuster exhibition? Buying annual membership for you and your family may be the only way.Turn up to theatres/concert halls – especially on your own – an hour or so before fully booked performances to see if there are any returns.Shop around for afternoon tea to avoid spending a fortune: The Parlour at Fortnum and Mason offers a Sweet Treat Tea for £22.50, and Peter Jones offers a simple tea with scones, jam and cream. What to avoid in London First entry to busy sights such as the British Museum or the National Gallery, which can be extremely crowded then (aim for the middle of the day or an hour before closing).Older Tube lines in hot weather: the 125-year-old Central Line, for instance, where compact trains reach sauna-like temperatures.Booking an £850 private pod on the London Eye (two to 25 people) if expecting to be cosseted: ‘VIP check-in’ is negligible and you queue with all the Fast Track passengers to get into your pod. If you want more love, order champagne and snacks (costing extra, obviously).The first part of the Changing of the Guard during peak season when it’s usually very crowded. Instead, watch the 11am mounted guard change at Horse Guards Parade, then walk to the southwest corner of St James’s Park. At 11.30am the Old Guard, with band, will march past on their way back to Wellington Barracks. You get great views and it’s quieter.Don’t depend on online Uber Boat timetables too much; they rarely seem to correspond with reality. And choose your pier carefully: if you try to get on at the Tower on a busy day, you may wait for an hour…. And the tourist traps to swerve! Madame Tussauds – Expect long queues, high prices (tickets are £29 if bought in advance, or £39 for walk-ups) and rooms full of strange creations that almost look like real people.The London Eye – Rotations last about 30 minutes and ticket prices are £29 (bought in advance) or £39 for walk-ups… so roughly a pound a minute. Go to the free Sky Garden on the 43rd floor of the ‘Walkie Talkie’ building on Fenchurch Street for great views instead (skygarden.london).London Dungeon – Advance tickets cost £27, or £35 on the day, but the experience lacks real thrills and scares and you often find yourself waiting in queues in dingy rooms.M&M’s London – Sometimes referred to as M&M’s World, this is effectively a shop selling and promoting M&M’s chocolates in ‘the world’s largest candy store’ at Leicester Square.The Sherlock Holmes Museum – At 221B Baker Street, this attraction milks Sherlock Holmes for all he’s worth. Bear in mind that he was a fictional character and did not actually live there.Oxford Street – We’re not saying don’t go at all, but be very careful: pickpockets and mobile phone thieves are rampant (and the police don’t seem to be on top of things).Borough Market – Avoid peak times at weekends, as it can be overrun and difficult to move about.Abbey Road – Tourists flock to the zebra crossing in the north London neighbourhood of St John’s Wood, where the Beatles were pictured on an album cover, but it’s just like any other zebra crossing.Buckingham Palace – A controversial inclusion, but it’s really just a big, fairly architecturally plain stone building that’s often crowded outside and you can only visit the state rooms on selected dates each summer.
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