(20 Experiences)

Held beneath the gilded chandeliers of the Palm Court, tea at The Ritz has been a London institution since 1906. A live pianist, a strict dress code, and the most photographed afternoon tea table in the country make booking months ahead standard. Piano notes drift over Louis XVI interiors; tea pours from polished silver. A waiter adjusts a linen napkin as scones arrive warm, still wrapped in their own embroidered towel. - • Afternoon tea served at The Ritz since 1906 - • The Palm Court is Grade II listed for its Louis XVI interior - • Frequently cited as London's most iconic tea experience

London's most visited royal residence sits at the end of The Mall, embodying nearly three centuries of monarchy and public spectacle. It is where state banquets unfold and the nation gathers for its milestone moments. Crowds press against black railings as guardsmen in bearskins march past. The clink of brass instruments and rhythmic stamp of boots fills the forecourt before the palace hush returns. - • Official residence and administrative headquarters of the British monarch - • State Rooms open to the public each summer and on select winter and spring dates - • Home to the Royal Collection, one of the world's largest private art collections - • The Changing of the Guard draws thousands to the forecourt year-round

William the Conqueror's riverside fortress has served as royal palace, prison, mint, menagerie and execution ground across nine centuries. It remains home to the Crown Jewels and the ravens whose presence, by legend, keeps the kingdom standing. Beefeaters in scarlet tunics relate Tudor beheadings with dry wit. Wet stone smells of the Thames; ravens croak from their keepers' blocks. Cobblestones and inner walls muffle the traffic beyond. - • UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1988 - • Home to the Crown Jewels, used in every coronation since the 17th century - • Consistently ranked among London's top three paid attractions - • One of the oldest continuously inhabited buildings in the UK

London's Victorian bascule bridge has split to let ships pass since 1894, its twin Gothic towers a counterpoint to the stone of the City. The crossing, the glass-floor walkways and the Engine Rooms form a single visitor route. Traffic rumbles beneath while the walkways sway almost imperceptibly at wind gusts. The glass floor sits 42 metres above churning river traffic — the view is vertiginous, the effect theatrical. - • One of London's most photographed landmarks, lit in changing colours at night - • Bascules still raise around 800 times a year for river traffic - • Original Victorian steam engines preserved in the Engine Rooms - • Frequent backdrop for films, royal processions and Olympic celebrations

Christopher Wren's Baroque masterpiece has crowned London's skyline for over three centuries, rebuilt after the Great Fire of 1666. It is where the nation marries, mourns and gives thanks — from royal weddings to Churchill's state funeral. Footsteps echo under the dome; light falls through high clerestory windows onto marble floors. Whispers carry across the Whispering Gallery. Outside, the City's modern glass reflects the pale stone. - • Christopher Wren's greatest surviving work, consecrated in 1697 - • Site of Prince Charles and Diana's wedding, Churchill's state funeral, and Queen Elizabeth II's Jubilees - • Survived the Blitz when the surrounding City was flattened — an iconic wartime photograph - • Listed among UNESCO's tentative World Heritage sites for central London

A wheel of 32 capsules lifts riders 135 metres above the Thames for a slow, 30-minute revolution. What opened as a 2000 Millennium landmark has become one of London's most distinctive silhouettes. Capsules glide silently upward as the city unrolls — Parliament to the north, Tower Bridge east, Wembley Arch on a clear day. Inside, glass from every angle; outside, wind off the river. - • Europe's tallest cantilevered observation wheel at 135 metres - • Opened for the Millennium celebrations in March 2000 - • Hosts around 3 million riders annually - • Ranked among the world's most popular paid attractions for two decades

Covering 350 acres in the heart of London, the largest central royal park has hosted royal hunts, Crystal Palace exhibitions, political rallies and rock concerts. It remains a defining green lung for Londoners and visitors alike. Open lawns stretch under plane trees; rowing boats circle the Serpentine. Saturdays bring joggers and horse riders on Rotten Row; Sundays bring speakers on soapboxes at the northeast corner. - • Largest of the four royal parks in central London at 350 acres - • Home to Speakers' Corner, where free speech has been practised since 1872 - • Site of the 1851 Great Exhibition that drew six million visitors - • Hosts BST Hyde Park summer concerts and Winter Wonderland each year

Founded in 1753 as the world's first national public museum, the British Museum holds 8 million objects from every continent and era of human civilisation. Entry is free to a collection rivalled only by the Louvre. Light floods through Norman Foster's glass Great Court; visitors pause to photograph the Rosetta Stone. Marble footsteps echo through Egyptian galleries; whispered group-tour commentary ripples between rooms. - • Founded in 1753 — the world's first national public museum - • Holds around 8 million objects spanning two million years of human history - • Free admission to permanent galleries, one of the world's largest free-entry museums - • The Great Court, designed by Norman Foster in 2000, is Europe's largest covered public square