Jason Stanley 29/09/2025
Things to do in London are not, let’s be clear, confined to gawping at Big Ben or jostling through Piccadilly with a Pret sandwich and an existential crisis. No, the capital brims with things worth doing – experiences that taste of something real, feel of something proper, and smell faintly of cheese, cocktails, and rain-soaked pavement.
Start, naturally, with food – London’s preferred love language. You could feign sophistication with a Cheese Afternoon Tea for Two, where scones take a back seat to Stilton and the jam’s been politely replaced by chutney. Or perhaps go full Dionysian with a Deluxe Cheese and Wine Tasting, a tête-à-tête of tannins and tang that’ll rekindle your faith in both dairy and humanity.
Forget limp cucumber sandwiches and the oppressive scent of Earl Grey. London does afternoon tea like it does everything else – with imagination. Try the Japanese Afternoon Tea at Sanctum Soho for a zen twist on the tradition, or double down on the fromage at Funky Cheese & Shoreditch Day Date, because nothing says romance like a melted brie moment in East London.
This city has a way of wrapping you up in itself. One moment you're debating the merits of malbec vs merlot; the next you're fifty stories up, digesting steak and skyline at Marco Pierre White’s atop The Shard. For a date with a side of pancakes and a cocktail or three, Bankside Day Date offers sugar, spirits, and riverside charm that makes the Tube journey home feel almost romantic.
If you’d prefer your day out with a dash of patriotism and a Churchillian stomp, the Footsteps of Winston Churchill tour offers exactly that – a way to walk through the war-torn soul of the city without the usual dodgy reenactors and beige commentary. Or lose yourself in Borough’s heady mix of street food, stories, and proper produce on the London Bridge Food Tour.
There are things to do in London that are less about logistics and more about looking someone in the eye across a martini glass and saying, "This. This is the day we’ll talk about when we’re grey." Try Covent Garden with Indian Afternoon Tea for a story you can eat, or Back to the Future Themed Lunch for something gloriously daft and strangely touching.
These aren't just activities. They’re emotional bookmarks. That moment in the Soho hotel, biting into a matcha macaron. That pause on Waterloo Bridge at golden hour, stomach full and heart even fuller. That laugh you didn’t expect from the friend you’ve not seen since lockdown. These things to do in London aren’t forgettable, fleeting tourist tat. They’re the ones that stay with you – the ones that matter.
Because if you're going to look for things to do in London, they might as well be the ones that make you feel something.