Category · 48 spots
Sights, markets and hidden corners
Near Millwall
London's best food market. Over 1,000 years of history, dozens of traders selling everything from oysters to Ethiopian coffee.
Near Arsenal
A small park with the best free view of London's skyline. The hill takes 5 minutes to climb and the panorama is worth every step.
Near Brentford
UNESCO World Heritage botanic gardens, 300 acres of glasshouses, treetop walkways and the famous Palm House.
Near West Ham United
Every Sunday, this street transforms into a riot of flowers, plants, and traders shouting deals. The street's independent shops are brilliant too.
Near Charlton Athletic
The meridian line, the Cutty Sark, the Royal Observatory, and a village atmosphere that feels miles from central London.
Near Chelsea
London's oldest botanic garden, a four-acre walled time capsule of medicinal and rare plants founded in 1673.
Victorian park with the original 1854 dinosaur sculptures, the maze and the ruins of the original Crystal Palace.
Eccentric Victorian museum of anthropology, natural history and musical instruments. Famous overstuffed walrus and panoramic gardens.
Near Queens Park Rangers
Twenty-two-hectare park with peacocks, the Kyoto Garden, and woodland walks. Easily London's prettiest small park.
The Victorian bascule bridge with the glass-floored walkway high above the Thames. Iconic.
String of craft brewery taprooms in railway arches between London Bridge and South Bermondsey, Saturday only for most.
Near Leyton Orient
Europe's largest urban wetland nature reserve, reservoirs, birdlife and the Engine House cafe.
Near AFC Wimbledon
1140-acre common with the Windmill, woodland trails and views back over London. Home of the Wombles.
Near Barnet
Free English Heritage stately home on the edge of Hampstead Heath with a serious art collection, Rembrandt, Vermeer, Gainsborough.
The old Highbury, now flats, but the iconic Art Deco facade is still there. A pilgrimage for any Gunner.
A peaceful canal junction where the Grand Union and Regent's Canals meet. Houseboats, waterside cafes, and a completely different side of London.
Thames-side park wrapping around the back of Craven Cottage with rose gardens, a duck pond and the All Saints church.
The 2012 legacy park sprawling around the London Stadium, riverside paths, wildflower meadows and free playgrounds.
Near Fulham
Free historic house and walled garden right next to Craven Cottage, with 1300 years of bishops' history on the Thames.
Thames-side walk from Putney Bridge to Craven Cottage. Rowing clubs, the church and pubs spilling onto the river.
Quirky museum of self-playing instruments, pianolas, orchestrions and a working Mighty Wurlitzer cinema organ.
Free, vast museum telling Britain's seafaring history, Nelson's bullet-pierced uniform from Trafalgar is the headline.
The All England Club museum with Centre Court tours, trophies and an immersive history of the championships.
Near Sutton United
Vast historic parkland on the site of Henry VIII's lost Nonsuch Palace, with woodland walks and a mansion.
Free museum on a historic aerodrome with over 100 aircraft, including a Lancaster bomber and a Eurofighter.
Open green space where Arsenal fans gather before kick-off. The walk through here to the Emirates is part of the matchday ritual.
A tiny, colorful courtyard hidden in the middle of Covent Garden. Brightly painted buildings, a cheese shop, and a feeling of discovery.
The Duke of Northumberland's London estate with Robert Adam interiors and a Capability Brown landscape.
Modern landscaped park looking straight at the Thames Barrier's silver shells. Quiet even on busy weekends.
Boating lake and Epping Forest woodland on the edge of Leyton. Boats for hire on summer matchdays.
Ancient royal park with lakes, the Temple folly and Epping Forest woodland.
Working 1817 hollow-post windmill on Wimbledon Common with a small free museum and tea room.
Free local history museum in a chalk-stream-side Tudor house in Carshalton. Proper south London hidden gem.
Ancient woodland and heathland on the edge of north London with Iron Age earthworks and lake views.
Free contemporary art gallery in the old Duke of York's barracks, big, well-lit rooms and consistently good shows.
Near Tottenham Hotspur
Riverside park along the River Lea with a Victorian beam-engine museum tucked inside. Quiet even on matchdays.
Big community park with a model traffic area for kids, an environmental centre and a regular community cafe.
Community cafe and viewing platform built from shipping containers on the Greenway, looking right at the stadium.
Volunteer-run museum in the old engineering school, telling the story of the Great Exhibition palace that gave the area its name.
Bright pink Zandra Rhodes-founded museum on Bermondsey Street with constantly-changing fashion exhibitions.
Jacobean mansion just up the hill from the Valley with free gardens, a community cafe and original 1607 interiors.
500-year-old timber-framed house in Cheam Village with original Tudor features and free entry on event days.
Big green park at the top of the Piccadilly Line. Cafe, lake and a great spot to kill an hour before kick-off.
Free museum in a 16th-century manor house in the middle of Bruce Castle Park, local history, Robert the Bruce ancestry and rolling lawns.
Anish Kapoor's twisted 114-metre observation tower with the world's longest tunnel slide on the way down.
Open public park next to the famous private club, with cricket pitches, big lawns and quiet matchday vibes.
One of Europe's biggest shopping centres, with a serious food hall, a cinema and the world's first Lego store.
Long-running street market under the Hammersmith & City line, fabrics, Caribbean food, vinyl and cheap eats.
