If you are only travelling to London for a weekend, it can be extremely challenging to know how best to spend your time. With such a wealth of sights, experiences and attractions, the key to enjoying the time you have is careful planning. Otherwise, you could easily leave the city feeling overwhelmed and like you haven’t really seen anything at all. To give you a helping hand, here is a guide to how you could spend your two days in the capital in the best way possible. Let’s get going!

Day one

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To get your bearings once you arrive, head straight for the city’s tallest point, the Shard. From the viewing deck, you will get a better idea of the scale of the metropolis that lies all around you. From here, you could take a stroll over to the trendy Borough Market area and perhaps grab a spot of lunch. Around this area, you can also take in sights like Shakespeare’s Globe and the Tate Modern. Another one of the city’s most iconic attractions, St Paul’s Cathedral is not too far away either. From St Paul’s, you could take a short bus ride over to the Tower of London, which is certainly worth exploring on the inside.  

In the evening, check out one of the top restaurants in London. With fine cuisine from all over the world, there is certainly no shortage of choice, so try whatever your heart desires! For entertainment, head over to the city’s famous West End to take in one of their award-winning shows. To cap off the night in style, there are plenty of world famous clubs that will keep you partying until the early hours!

Day two

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If you can rouse yourself early after the excesses of the previous night, head over to the trendy area of Camden to grab yourself a spot of brunch or visit the food market. From here, it is worth heading south over to Covent Garden where there are plenty of shopping opportunities or you can simply just wander around and soak up the atmosphere. Around here is the wonderful Transport Museum which is well worth a visit. A short walk away from here will bring you to Trafalgar Square which is another of London’s iconic attractions. If you are a fan of art, the National Portrait Gallery is another great stopping point.

What trip to London would be complete without a trip over to Buckingham Palace? From Trafalgar Square, you can take a stroll down the Mall to get here. You can get into the Queen’s Gallery all year round. Now is the time that early evening will be approaching, and a good place to spend this part of the day is the Southbank Centre where you could watch a movie, enjoy some live music, have a drink or sit down for dinner. If you didn’t catch a show the night before, you could see one at the National Theatre which is where many of the West End hits start out. Another classic form of London entertainment is stand-up comedy, and there is no better place to catch some than the legendary Comedy Store.

Extra attractions (if you have time)

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If you want to change up the itinerary that we have listed above, there are plenty of other attractions which you can squeeze into your time here. Instead of the Shard, the London Eye also provides you with stunning views over the city. One of the great things about London is that a huge proportion of the attractions are free, so you could take a trip over to the British Museum, Natural History Museum, Science Museum, and the Victoria and Albert Museum, to name but a few. London is also blessed with plenty of green space, so why not take a stroll around St James’ Park or Hyde Park? If you are looking for a budget area which is perfect for grabbing a bite to eat, Leather Lane has bustling stalls selling all types of food from burritos to falafels.

London really does have a huge amount to offer and 48 hours is always going to be an extremely short amount of time to spend in a city like this. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t squeeze every last drop of the time that you have. Hopefully, the guide above has given you a good rough idea of how your time can be spent while you are here. When you are going to a city as big and busy as London, planning in advance is always going to give you the best chance of enjoying every last minute.