21 Best Sights in London, England

There's been a market in Borough since 1014, and this latest incarnation, spread under the arches and railroad tracks leading to London Bridge Station, is where some of the city's best food producers sell their wares, with more than 100 stalls selling food from around the world. Fresh coffees, gorgeous cheeses, chocolates, and baked goods complement the organically farmed meats, fresh fish, condiments, fruits, and vegetables. The market is divided into three areas: one for larger producers and merchants, one for small specialist produce traders, and one for street food traders, all surrounded by above-average restaurants, bars, and shops.

Don't make any other lunch plans for the day; this is where celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's scallop man cooks them fresh at Shellseekers, and Ginger Pig's free-range rare-breed sausages sizzle on grills, while for the sweets lover, there are chocolates, preserves, and Whirld's handmade fudge. The Market Hall hosts workshops, tastings, and a demonstration kitchen, and even houses an orchard. The market is open Monday through Friday 10–5, Saturday 8–5, and Sunday 10--3, though not all traders operate on all days; check the website for more details.

On weekends, a separate, highly regarded market specializing in produce and street food operates on nearby Maltby Street. It was originally established by eight breakaway Borough Market traders. There you'll find some eight stalls specializing in gyoza, sausage and mash, Ethiopian dishes, duck frites, and Venezuelan street food, plus purveyors of brownies, craft beer, local gin, and more in the surrounding railway arches.

Designed by Sir John Soane, Dulwich (pronounced dull-ich) Picture Gallery was the world's first purpose-built art museum when it opened in 1811 (the recent extension was designed by Rick Mather). The permanent collection of more than 600 paintings includes landmark works by old masters such as Rembrandt, van Dyck, Rubens, Canaletto, and Gainsborough. The museum also hosts three or so major temporary exhibitions each year devoted to more-contemporary artists like Helen Frankenthaler. Check the website for its schedule of family activities; there's a 3-acre garden with a lovely café here, too.

While you're in the area, take a short wander and you'll find a handful of charming clothing and crafts stores and the well-manicured Dulwich Park, which has lakeside walks and a fine display of rhododendrons in late May. Development in Dulwich Village is tightly controlled, so it feels a bit like a time capsule, with old-fashioned street signs and handsome 18th-century houses on the main street.

Despite its name, the cultural venue formerly known as the Imperial War Museum (one of five IWM branches now around the country) does not glorify either Empire or bloodshed but emphasizes understanding through conveying the impact of 20th- and 21st-century warfare on citizens and soldiers alike. A dramatic six-story atrium at the main entrance encloses an impressive amount of hardware—including a Battle of Britain Spitfire, a German V2 rocket, the remains of a car blown up in post-invasion Iraq, tanks, guns, and submarines—along with accompanying interactive material and a café. The First World War galleries explore the wartime experience on both the home and fighting fronts, with the most comprehensive collection on the subject in the world—some 1,300 objects ranging from uniforms, equipment, and weapons to letters and diaries. The Second World War galleries shed light on that conflict through objects, film documentation, and eyewitness testimonies, as do the extensive and haunting Holocaust galleries (private tours are available for all three areas). Peace and Security 1945–2015 looks at more contemporary hostilities, including the Cold War, Iraq, and Afghanistan, right up to the current conflict in Ukraine. Other galleries are devoted to works relating to conflicts from World War I to the present day by painters, poets, documentary filmmakers, and photographers.

This spectacular theater is a replica of Shakespeare's open-roof, wood-and-thatch Globe Playhouse (built in 1599 and burned down in 1613), where most of the Bard's greatest works premiered. American actor and director Sam Wanamaker worked ceaselessly for several decades to raise funds for the theater's reconstruction 200 yards from its original site using authentic materials and techniques, a dream that was finally realized in 1997. "Groundlings" (patrons with £5 standing-only tickets) are not allowed to sit during the performance, but you get the best view of the stage and the most authentic viewing experience. Fortunately, you can reserve an actual seat on any one of the theater's three levels, but you will want to rent a cushion for £2 (or bring your own) to soften the backless wooden benches (cushions must be booked when you book your tickets). The show must go on, rain or shine, warm or chilly, so come prepared for anything. Umbrellas are banned, but you can bring a raincoat or buy a cheap Globe rain poncho, which doubles as a great souvenir. From October to April, and occasionally in the summer, the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, a 350-seat re-creation of an indoor Jacobean theater lighted by candles, offers plays and concerts in a less-exposed though still atmospheric setting. Some Wanamaker benches are backless, and there are fixed standing positions in the theater's upper gallery.

The 50-minute "Shakespeare's Globe Experience" is offered hourly and combines a guided tour of the Globe with an interactive exploration of how theater crafts bring the plays to life as well as a history of the theater (from £25). There are also special family-friendly tours on weekends and daily during school holidays for £46. Tours of the Wanamaker Playhouse are offered on an occasional basis and must be arranged directly with the theater; availability varies and is subject to change depending on performances and other events. From mid-February until October, you can also book a tour of the surrounding Bankside area, which emphasizes places Shakespeare would have frequented, including the archaeological remains of the nearby Rose Theatre, the oldest theater in Bankside. There are also themed tours such as famous crimes in the neighborhood (Shakespeare was called as a trial witness to three) and tours relating to current theater productions.

The public has never really warmed to the Southbank Centre's hulking concrete buildings (beloved by architecture aficionados), products of the Brutalist style popular when the Centre was built in the 1950s and '60s, but all the same they flock to the concerts, recitals, festivals, and exhibitions held here at Europe's largest arts center. The Royal Festival Hall is truly a People's Palace, with seats for 2,900 and a schedule that ranges from major symphony orchestras to pop stars (catch the annual summer Meltdown Festival, where artists like Patti Smith or David Byrne put together a personal selection of concerts by favorite performers). The smaller Queen Elizabeth Hall is more strictly classically oriented. It contains the smaller Purcell Room, which hosts lectures and chamber performances. For art, head to the Hayward Gallery, which hosts shows on top contemporary artists such as Anthony Gormley and Cy Twombly. (The terrace here has some restaurants worth a visit.) Not officially part of the Southbank Centre but moments away on the east side of Waterloo Bridge, the National Theatre is home to some of the best productions in London (several, such as War Horse, have become movies) at prices well below those in the West End. You can hear leading actors, directors, and writers discuss their work at the National Theatre's Platforms, a series of inexpensive early evening and afternoon talks. Meanwhile, film buffs will appreciate the BFI Southbank (formerly the National Film Theatre), which has a schedule that true cinema connoisseurs will relish. The Centre's riverside street level has a terrific assortment of restaurants and bars. The BFI's Benugo bar and the Wahaca restaurant at Queen Elizabeth Hall are particularly attractive. Note that the Hayward Gallery, Purcell Room, and Queen Elizabeth Hall have been closed for renovations but are due to open in late 2017.

This spectacular renovation of a mid-20th-century power station is one of the most-visited museums of modern art in the world. Its great permanent collection, which starts in 1900 and ranges from modernist masters like Matisse to the most cutting-edge contemporary artists, is arranged in eight areas by theme (for example, "Media Networks," about artists' responses to mass media) rather than by chronology. Its blockbuster temporary exhibitions have showcased the work of individual artists like Gauguin, Rauschenberg, Cezanne, Picasso, and O'Keefe, among others. Other major temporary exhibitions have a conceptual focus, like works created in response to the American Black Power movement or by Soviet and Russian artists between the Revolution and the death of Stalin.

The vast Turbine Hall is a dramatic entrance point used to showcase big audacious installations that tend to generate a lot of publicity. Past highlights include Olafur Eliasson's massive glowing sun, Ai Weiwei's porcelain "sunflower seeds," and Carsten Holler's huge metal slides.

On the ground floor of a 10-story addition, you'll find The Tanks, galleries devoted to various types of new art, including moving image, performance, soundscapes, and interactive works, while at the top is a roof terrace offering spectacular views of the London skyline. In between are three exhibition floors offering more room for large-scale installations, for art from outside Europe and North America, and for digital and interactive projects. The Start Display (Level 2) provides an introduction to the collection, highlighting art from various countries, cultures, and periods, all linked by color.

Not to be missed in the original building are displays devoted to Gerhard Richter (both on Level 2), Antony Gormley, Jenny Holzer, the Guerrilla Girls, and video pioneer Nam June Paik (Level 4); and a room-size installation by Yinka Shonibare (Level 2).

Head to the restaurant on Level 9, the café on Level 1, or the Espresso Bar on Level 3 for stunning vistas of the Thames. The view of St. Paul's from the Espresso Bar's balcony is one of the best in London. Near the café you'll find the Drawing Bar, which lets you create work on one of several digital sketch pads and then project your result on the gallery wall.

You can join free 45-minute guided tours starting at noon, 1, and 2. If you plan to visit Tate Britain, take advantage of the Tate Boat, which takes visitors back and forth between the two Tates every 20 to 30 minutes.

To mark the start of the new millennium, architects David Marks and Julia Barfield devised this instant icon that allows Londoners and visitors alike to see the city from a completely new perspective. The giant Ferris wheel was the largest cantilevered observation wheel ever built at the time and remains one of the city's tallest structures. The 30-minute slow-motion ride inside one of the enclosed passenger capsules is so smooth you'd hardly know you were suspended over the Thames. On a clear day you can see up to 25 miles, with a bird's-eye view of London's most famous landmarks as you circle 360 degrees. If you're looking for a special place to celebrate, champagne can be arranged ahead of time.

Buy your ticket online to avoid the long lines and get a 15% discount. For an extra £10, you can save even more time with a Fast Track flight (check in 15 minutes before your "departure").

You can also buy a combination ticket for The Eye and other London attractions (check online for details) or combine with a river cruise for a 40-minute sightseeing voyage on the Thames. In December, there's a scenic ice rink just below the wheel.

Two artistic societies—the Royal Society of Painter–Printmakers and the Royal Watercolour Society—have their headquarters in this gallery next to Tate Modern. Together they mount exhibitions of current members' work, which is usually for sale, along with art books, making this a great place for finding that unique, not too expensive gift. There are also regular themed exhibitions.

The bright yellow-and-pink museum (it's hard to miss) designed by Mexican architect Ricardo Legorreta features changing exhibitions devoted to developments in fashion design, textiles, and jewelry from the end of World War II to the present. Founded by designer Zandra Rhodes, and now owned by Newham College, the FTM is a favorite with anyone interested in the history of style. There are weekday fashion-based workshops and lectures on design and aspects of fashion history; the excellent gift shop sells books on fashion and one-of-a-kind pieces by local designers. After your visit, check out the many restaurants, cafés, and boutiques that have blossomed on Bermondsey Street.

Compact, highly visual, and engaging, this museum on the grounds of St. Thomas's Hospital is dedicated to Florence Nightingale, who founded the first school of nursing and played a major role in establishing modern standards of health care. Exhibits are divided into three areas: one is devoted to Nightingale's Victorian childhood, the others to her work tending soldiers during the Crimean War (1854–56) and her subsequent health-care reforms, including a display on how she developed a program for training nurses. The museum incorporates Nightingale's own books, her famous lamp, and even her pet owl Athena (now stuffed), as well as interactive displays of medical instruments and medicinal herbs. There are temporary exhibitions and a shop with unexpectedly amusing gifts like syringe-shaped highlighters.

This celebration of one of England's favorite hobbies was created in the mid-1970s after two gardening enthusiasts came upon a medieval church, which, they were horrified to discover, was about to be bulldozed. The churchyard contained the tombs of two adventurous 17th-century plant collectors, a father and son both called John Tradescant, who introduced many new species to England, as well as the tombs of William Bligh, captain of the Bounty, several members of the Boleyn family, and quite a few archbishops of Canterbury.

Inspired to action, the gardeners rescued the church and created the museum now inside it. Here you'll find one of the largest collections of historic garden tools, artifacts, and curiosities in Britain, plus photographs, paintings, and films—virtually all donated by individuals. An extension houses temporary exhibitions on subjects ranging from noted garden designers like Charles Jencks to the contemporary Guerrilla Gardening movement (cultivating neglected public land). There's also a green-thumb gift shop, a glass-fronted café, and, of course, the museum's own four beautiful gardens that are maintained year-round by dedicated volunteers.

At 613½ feet, this large light-cruiser is one of the last remaining big-gun armored warships from World War II, in which it played an important role in protecting the Arctic convoys and supporting the D-Day landings in Normandy; the ship later saw action during the Korean War. This floating museum has been moored in the Thames as a maritime branch of IWM London since 1971. A tour of all nine decks—including an engine room 15 feet below sea level, the admiral's quarters, mess decks, bakery, punishment cells, operations room, and more—gives a vivid picture of life on board the ship. A riveting gun-turret experience with immersive sound puts you in the middle of the D-Day landings, while life aboard is explored through archive film and veterans' recorded reminiscences.

Set amid 16 acres of gardens, this eclectic museum is considered something of a well-kept secret by the residents of south London—perhaps because of its out-of-the-way location. You can explore world cultures, natural history, and a fine collection of some 1,300 musical instruments (including a giant tuba) here. The emphasis is on fun and a wide range of activities (many hands-on), including London's oldest nature trail, which features domesticated creatures, such as sheep, chickens, and alpacas, a butterfly house, and an aquarium stocked with endangered species. It's also home to a comically overstuffed, taxidermied walrus who serves as the museum's unofficial mascot. It's a 15-minute bus ride from here to Dulwich Picture Gallery; Bus P4, heading toward Brixton, takes you from door to door.

The curved, colonnaded, neoclassical former County Hall that once housed London's municipal government is now home to a superb three-level aquarium where you can walk above sharks and stingrays and view more than 600 other aquatic species, both common and rare. There are also hands-on displays. It's not the biggest aquarium you've ever seen, but the educational exhibits are particularly well arranged, with themed zones devoted to a stunning coral reef, a "jellyfish experience," and rainforest aquatic life. Admission at peak periods is by 15-minute timed entry slot, but for an additional £16 you can purchase flexible priority-entry tickets that also avoid the long lines.

Pronounced suth-uck, this is the oldest Gothic church in London, parts of it dating back to the 12th century. It remains off the beaten track, despite being the site of some remarkable memorials and a concert program that offers free half-hour organ recitals at 1:10 pm every Monday (except in August and December) and classical music at 3:15 pm every Tuesday during the school year. Originally the priory church of St. Mary Overie (as in "over the water" on the south side of the Thames), it became a palace church under Henry VIII (when it became known as St. Saviour's) until some merchant parishioners bought it from James I in 1611. It was only promoted to cathedral status in 1905.

Look for the vivid 15th-century roof bosses (small ornamental wood carvings); the gaudily renovated 1408 tomb of John Gower, Richard II's poet laureate and a friend of Chaucer's; and the Harvard Chapel, where John Harvard, a local butcher's son who went on to found the American university, was baptized. Another notable buried here (between the choir stalls) is Edmund Shakespeare, brother of William. You might also see the cathedral's resident cat, Hodge, named after Dr. Samuel Johnson's famous feline companion. Free drop-in 45-minute tours are offered depending on the church's services and events.

This attraction devoted to shedding light on life in a medieval prison is built on the site of the original "Clink," the oldest of Southwark's five prisons and the reason why "the clink" is now slang for jail (the original medieval building was burned to the ground in 1780). Owned by the bishops of Winchester from 1144 to 1780, it was the first prison to detain women, many for prostitution. Because of the bishops' relaxed attitude toward the endemic trade—they decided to license prostitution rather than ban it—the area within their jurisdiction was known as "the Liberty of the Clink." Subsequent prisoners included Puritans who would later sail on the Mayflower to find more religious freedom. Inside, you'll discover how grisly a Tudor prison could be, operating on a code of cruelty, deprivation, and corruption. The prison was only a small part of Winchester Palace, a huge complex that was the bishops' London residence. You can still see the remains of the early 13th-century Great Hall, with its famous rose window, next to Southwark Cathedral.

This is a full-size reconstruction of the little galleon in which the famed Elizabethan explorer Sir Francis Drake circumnavigated the globe in 1577–80. Launched in 1973, the exact replica made one full and one partial round-the-world voyage, calling in at ports—many along the Pacific and Atlantic coasts of the United States—to serve as a maritime museum. Now berthed at the St. Mary Overie Dock, the ship continues its educational purpose, complete with a "crew" in period costumes and three decks of artifacts. Lessons in crew functions like how to haul anchor or get a cannon ready to fire are especially popular with younger visitors. There are also frequent musical evenings.

Saved by a keen sense of its own borderline ridiculousness, this gory attraction is full of over-the-top tableaux depicting the bloody demise of famous figures alongside the torture, murder, and ritual slaughter of lesser-known victims, all to a soundtrack of screaming, wailing, and agonized moaning. There are lively dramatizations about the Great Plague, Henry VIII, (the fictional) Sweeney Todd, and (the real) Jack the Ripper, just to name a few, with costumed characters leaping out of the gloom to bring the information to life and add to the fear and fun. Perhaps most shocking are the crowds of children baying to get in: most kids absolutely love this place, although those with more a sensitive disposition may find it too frightening (that goes for adults as well). Expect long lines on weekends and during school holidays. Adults-only evening tours also include drinks. Tickets bought online and in advance can be up to 30% less than walk-up prices.

The oldest surviving example of an operating theater in Europe, this spot dates back to 1822, when part of the large herb garret in the attic of the 17th-century St. Thomas's Church was converted for surgical use. The English baroque church was part of St. Thomas's Hospital, which was founded in the 12th century as a monastery that looked after the sick. In 1862, the hospital moved to its present Lambeth location and the operating theater was closed. It remained abandoned until 1956, when it was restored and turned into a medical museum.

Today you can see the artifacts of early-19th-century medical practice: the wooden operating table under a skylight; the box of sawdust underneath used for absorbing blood; and the surrounding banks of seats where students crowded in to observe operations. On Saturday at 10 am, there are demonstrations of pre-anesthetic surgical practices incorporating the knives, pliers, and handsaws that were the surgeons' tools back in the day (not for the fainthearted or small children). An extra charge applies and access is by a 52-step spiral staircase, although access by elevator is available by prior arrangement. Next door is a re-creation of the 17th-century Herb Garret, with displays of the medicinal herbs St. Thomas's apothecary would have used. 

At 800 feet, this addition to the London skyline currently offers the highest vantage point in western Europe. Designed by the noted architect Renzo Piano, it has attracted both admiration and disdain. Although the building itself is generally highly regarded, many felt it would have been better sited in Canary Wharf (or perhaps Dubai), as it spoils views of St. Paul's Cathedral from traditional vantage points such as Hampstead's Parliament Hill. No matter how you feel about the building, there's no denying that it offers a spectacular 360-degree vista over London (extending 40 miles on a clear day) from viewing platforms on Level 69 and the open-air skydeck on Level 72—almost twice as high as any other viewpoint in the city. Digital telescopes provide information about 200 points of interest.

A weather guarantee lets you return on a more clement day if visibility is seriously impeded, and various themed events like silent discos or early-morning yoga classes are offered at an extra charge. Admission is by timed ticket only. If you find the price as eye-wateringly high as the viewing platforms, a less dramatic but still very impressive (and free) view is from the lobby of the Shangri-La hotel on the 35th floor, or, in the evenings, the hotel's chic Gong bar on the 52nd floor (over-18s only).

When the United Kingdom's highest-profile commercial gallery moved to this huge converted 1970s-era warehouse on Bermondsey Street, it sealed the area's reputation as a rising art-scene hot spot. This is the home gallery of some of today's top contemporary artists, including Tracey Emin, Georg Baselitz, Antony Gormley, Isamu Noguchi, Gabriel Orozco, Harland Miller, Anselm Kiefer, and several other artists with international reputations. An antiseptic central cuboid gallery, the "white cube"—also called 9 x 9 x 9 (meters, that is)—rests between two other spaces that host smaller exhibitions. There is also a bookshop and auditorium.