A day and a half in London

When our family landed in London, the circumstances couldn’t have been much worse. 

We’d just spent five dreamy days in Spain celebrating a family wedding and wanted to cap off our whirlwind overseas trip with a quick visit to London before heading back to Austin for a couple of reasons. One, our kids had never been to London, and I knew from previous trips that, despite its vastness, it’s a fantastic city to explore –– even at a fast pace. And two, London is one of the few European destinations with a direct connection to Austin, and we had a tight late-May travel window sandwiched between AP exams and spring finals. 

Get a view from the top on the London Eye. Photo by Mauri Elbel

But when we touched down in London around midnight, one of our kids had gotten sick. To make a bad situation worse, we soon discovered the accommodations my husband booked on Expedia had been (very) falsely advertised. 

As we exited the Uber and made our way to the entrance of the building, we were greeted with London’s signature cool, rainy weather. Cold droplets pelted our faces as we shivered outside the building waiting to be let in by a greeter my husband messaged on the app.  

We were led up to the fourth floor, where we encountered the antithesis of what the online photos depicted. Instead of opening the door to the bright and airy 3-bedroom family flat we were expecting, we found ourselves tiptoeing through an active construction zone. Lights flickered in the hallway outside the apartment, revealing exposed walls and ceilings, construction materials and debris. Inside, construction dust blanketed furniture and floors and exposed wires draped from the ceiling. Our sick kiddo made a beeline for the bathroom, and upon flushing the toilet, the kitchen sink began violently gurgling and spewing.  

I glared across the room at my husband, already frantically searching for alternative accommodations on his phone. And a half-hour and £1,000 later, we were rolling our luggage down the road in the pouring rain and climbing into cozy beds at a 4-star Hilton around the corner. 

But leave it to London, a city cloaked in history and culture and dripping with British royalty and traditions, to transform a less-than-ideal beginning into a wonderfully memorable whirlwind of a trip we will all cherish forever.  

With only 36 hours in the UK’s metropolitan capital, we were able to check an impressive number of world-famous sites and experiences off our list. If you find yourself in London without much time to explore, here’s how our family made the most of our day and a half in this history-laden city. 

Afternoon tea bookings can be made the British Museum’s Great Court Restaurant. Photo by Mauri Elbel

10 a.m. Explore the British Museum 

Following an exhausting night, we slept in later than planned but awoke to surprisingly sunny skies and (even more surprisingly) three healthy kids ready for adventure.  

As the fog over London lifted, we hopped on the Tube (London Underground) just across the street from our hotel and made our way to the British Museum. At this world-renowned museum, you can explore around two million years of human history and culture without spending a dime. Wander through the fascinating Egyptian sculpture gallery to see ancient mummies and famous treasures like the Rosetta Stone. Peruse the Roman Empire gallery illustrating the rise of Rome from a small town to an imperial capital. And marvel at 2,500-year-old Parthenon Sculpture marble masterpieces. If you only have an hour, follow this British Museum trail guide. 

Afternoon tea is a beloved British tradition. Photo by Mauri Elbel

11:30 a.m. Experience traditional afternoon tea  

At the very top of our daughter’s London bucket list was experiencing a traditional afternoon tea. All throughout London, you’ll find varied versions of this not-to-miss British tradition, spanning fancy, over-the-top high tea poured inside opulent hotels to Alice in Wonderland-themed experiences at elegant tea salons. But afternoon tea served at the British Museum’s Great Court Restaurant is lovely, unpretentious and undeniably convenient. And at £43 per person for afternoon tea (£55 for champagne afternoon tea), it’s cheaper than most. 

I made a last-minute reservation for the first tea setting of the day (11:30 a.m.), so our afternoon tea actually served as our breakfast and lunch –– a perfect fit for our jam-packed travel day. Inside the elegant upstairs dining space, we sat beneath the British Museum’s beautiful, latticed glass roof, taking in sweeping views of the museum’s surrounding architecture as we sipped Earl Grey and English Breakfast teas served with raisin scones piled with Cornish clotted cream and strawberry jam. We nibbled finger sandwiches like Wiltshire pulled ham with sweet pickle and English mustard and Isle of Skye smoked salmon with wild rocket and seaweed crème fraiche. Then we polished off the experience with a colorful procession of delicate desserts including lemon drizzle loaf with Buckingham Palace gin and raspberry icing and Guinness red velvet with dark chocolate ganache, strawberry and rose petals.  

Standing outside the gates of Buckingham Palace. Photo by Mauri Elbel

1 p.m. Walk past London’s sites en route to Buckingham Palace 

There’s really no better time of year to walk through this nearly 2,000-year-old city, so we set out on a leisurely mile-and-a-half route from the British Museum to Buckingham Palace. London’s weather is brilliant in late spring and early summer, when longer days charm travelers with crisp breezes blowing through its bustling boroughs, sunlight splashing across its cobblestone streets, and fragrant lavender-hued wisteria spilling from historic residences.  

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Our unhurried walk led us past countless London landmarks, spanning bright red telephone booths to double-decker busses, perfect for poses. We wandered beneath the traditional Chinese gates and hanging red lanterns strewn above the vibrant streets of Chinatown, fringed with buzzing Asian markets and restaurants. We strolled past the Victorian redbrick Palace Theatre, now playing Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and meandered through bustling Piccadilly Circus in London’s West End before reaching Buckingham Palace.  

During our late-May trip, we were only able to explore the regal exterior of Buckingham Palace, the King’s official London residence and a working royal palace, and wander through its sprawling, meticulously maintained 16-hectare palace garden. But each summer from mid-July to September, when His Majesty is on summer vacation, Buckingham Palace’s 19 lavishly furnished State Rooms are open to visitors. This summer, they are open July 9 through September 27 (but book tickets in advance). The rest of the year, Buckingham Palace only opens on selected dates for small-group guided tours. 

Big Ben is located in the heart of Westminster. Photo by Mauri Elbel

3 p.m. Westminster Abbey and Big Ben  

We continued exploring London on foot beneath the city’s gorgeous blue and sunny skies, wandering past Big Ben and Westminster Abbey on our way to the London Eye. Iconic Big Ben, officially known as the Elizabeth Tower, is located in the heart of Westminster. You can book a tour to go inside, climbing 300-plus steps to stand behind the glowing clock faces. Or, when you’re short on time, simply admire its architecture and stick around to hear the Great Bell chime on the hour like we did.   

From Big Ben, you can easily explore Westminster Abbey, a working church that’s largely considered the finest example of Early English Gothic architecture, the Houses of Parliament and the River Thames. We marveled at one famed landmark after another as we made our way to the London Eye.  

Riding the slow-moving London Eye is a great way to get a view of London’s layout and famed attractions.

5 p.m. Soak in a bird’s-eye view of the city from the London Eye 

We booked London Eye admission tickets for 5 p.m. (standard tickets are £29 but you can book fast-track tickets for £44) to experience 360-degree views of London from the world’s tallest cantilevered observation wheel. Even though I’d visited London a handful of times before, this was my first time riding the London Eye. Touristy? Yes –– it’s London’s most visited landmark. But the slow-moving, half-hour spin is well worth it, especially if you’re short on time, because it’s an unrushed and relaxing way to capture unparalleled views of London’s skyline and some of its most iconic landmarks. Riding in one of the 32 high-tech pods that hovers above the city at a height of 135 meters (443 feet) gave us an aerial view of some of the sites we’d just explored, including Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, as well as a few we didn’t have time to visit. 

Futbol fans can see Chelsea in action at London’s Stamford Bridge stadium in Fulham. Photo by Fletcher Albrecht

7 p.m. Check off life goals watching a Chelsea match 

Somewhere between exploring the British Museum and Buckingham Palace, our soccer-obsessed son discovered that Chelsea, one of his all-time favorite teams, was serendipitously playing a match that very night at Stamford Bridge. He had already crossed a lifelong dream off his bucket list two days before, when we gifted him with tickets to watch his other all-time favorite team, Real Madrid, claim a victory in Sevilla. But “when in Rome” (or London), sometimes lifelong goals like this are worth the splurge. And in this case it was –– Chelsea beat Tottenham Hotspur in a hard-fought 2-1 derby victory with a goal and assist by Enzo Fernandez.  

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When Chelsea isn’t playing, football fans can still check out the Chelsea FC Museum and take an immersive stadium tour to walk in the footsteps of Stamford Bridge’s greatest legends. The museum houses an impressive array of memorabilia and charts the full sweep of Chelsea’s past and place in the global game, and the tour allows visitors to explore the players’ dressing rooms, stride through the tunnel, and pose with the FIFA Club World Cup 2025 trophy.  

8 p.m. Dig into London’s foodie scene 

Sure, fish and chips and meat pies might be considered London’s signature plates (and we enjoyed some of those, too), but when my husband took our sons to the Chelsea football match, my daughter and I decided to indulge in a fancy Italian dinner. At Tortello, a newish neighborhood restaurant in Bayswater, just steps from London’s Hyde Park, we shared creamy hand-pulled burrata swimming in a tomato gazpacho and drizzled with basil oil. Then we indulged in delicious fresh handmade pasta dishes, like the black truffle and ricotta tortelli for her, and the calamarata with prawns, clams, Dorset mussels in a tomato and white wine sauce for me. 

9 a.m. Tour Trafalgar Square and The National Gallery 

We packed up, scheduled a late check out at the Hilton, and were on the Tube by 9 a.m. with a goal of making the most of our half-day in London before heading to Heathrow and back home. Central London graced us with another brisk, blue-sky day as we toured through Trafalgar Square, gazing up at Nelson’s Column, erected in 1843, and posing with the giant bronze lion statues that stand guard around the monument. At 10 a.m., we popped into The National Gallery, where, like most of London’s museums, entry is completely free. Here, you can get a glimpse of more than 2,300 Western European masterpieces from famed artists spanning Vincent van Gogh to Leonardo da Vinci.  

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12 p.m. Shop and eat at Covent Garden  

Wander through the bustling markets of historic Covent Garden, bursting with colorful crafts, British-themed souvenirs, street performers and top restaurants and shops. We noshed on freshly baked croissants and sugar crepes as we weaved through countless shops and market stalls, filling our bags with everything from English Rose tea and British trinkets to a hand-made raspberry beret from Laird Hatters that our daughter had to have. 

Fish and chips in London is a quintessential British staple featuring deep-fried, battered white fish (like cod or haddock). Photo by Mauri Elbel

2 p.m. Fill up on fish and chips and meat pies 

There are plenty of pubs throughout London that claim to serve up the best traditional fish and chips and minced meat pies. But we were able to tuck into both classic British delights at Punch & Judy nestled in the heart of Covent Garden just before heading to the airport to make our way home. 

From royal landmarks to world-class museums, London has a way of captivating you the way no other city can. While a day and a half isn’t enough to see all that London has to offer, it was plenty of time for our kids to fall in love with the city and return home with reasons to go back again one day.  

We landed in London without rigid plans or a single pre-arranged tour, but that turned out to be part of the magic. In a city like London, with so much to do and see, you can wander and explore without any real agenda and still discover historic gems and cultural treasures around every corner. Just leave space in your itinerary for spontaneity, because as London reminded us, sometimes it’s the unplanned moments –– like a rescheduled Chelsea game or a conveniently located British afternoon tea –– that make the best travel memories.