OZU /UNITED KINGDOM /LONDON /GUIDE
London in a weekend
48 h route4 stopsBest: Sunday is market day: don’t waste it sleepingUpdated July 2026
London is one of the few European capitals where Sunday is the best day of the week rather than the worst. While half of Europe shuts, here the markets that exist only that day open: Columbia Road fills with flowers, Brick Lane overflows and Broadway Market takes over the whole street. Planning the weekend without accounting for that throws away half of it.
The formula: Saturday of river and museums, on the classic west-to-east line. Sunday of markets and neighbourhoods, in the east. And a money note that changes the budget: the great museums are free, so the real spending of this weekend is on the bed and the beer, not on tickets.
The route, stop by stop
4 STOPS- 01
Friday night: the pub
The first night goes to the pub, and it’s worth knowing how it works, because it isn’t a Spanish bar. There’s no table service: you order at the bar, pay there and then, and carry it yourself. Don’t wait for anyone, because nobody is coming. And you don’t tip at the bar: it isn’t the custom and it confuses people.
The other thing: they close early by our standards, many at eleven, and there’s a moment when a bell rings and they shout “last orders”. Miss it and you’re done.
The good pubs aren’t in the tourist centre but in the neighbourhoods: Hampstead, Hackney, Southwark. Look for worn carpet and no television.
- 02
Saturday: the river and the museums
The classic day and it works: Westminster with Parliament and the abbey, Whitehall up to Trafalgar, the National Gallery (free, go in for an hour) the south bank to Tate Modern, also free, the Millennium Bridge to St Paul’s and the river to the Tower and Tower Bridge. All on foot following the water, without crossing town or backtracking. If it looks like rain, the plan holds: half the stops are indoors and cost nothing.
- 03
Sunday: the markets in the east
The best Sunday in Europe happens on foot. Start early at Columbia Road, which only opens that day: a narrow Victorian street turned into a wall of flowers and plants, with sellers shouting prices that drop as the morning goes on. Go first thing to see it or last thing to buy cheap.
From there, on foot, to Brick Lane (market, second-hand clothes, curry) and to Spitalfields, which is covered. If you still have energy, Broadway Market in Hackney, by the canal. It all runs in a line, about two hours of walking with stops.
It’s the day London shows itself unfiltered.
- 04
Sunday afternoon: the roast
Close the weekend the way it’s closed here: with a Sunday roast in a pub. Roast meat (beef, lamb, pork or chicken) potatoes roasted in fat, vegetables, gravy and a Yorkshire pudding, a batter that bakes up hollow and exists to catch the gravy. It’s a midday, Sunday dish, and good pubs run out: book or go early. It’s the most British thing you’ll eat and it demolishes this country’s culinary reputation in one sitting. Not the tourist centre: a neighbourhood pub with a kitchen.
Frequently asked
What can you do in London on a Sunday?
The markets: it’s the best day of the week here. Columbia Road, which only opens that day and is an entire street of flowers, Brick Lane and Spitalfields, all walkable in the east. And a Sunday roast in a neighbourhood pub. The national museums open too, and they’re free.
How do you order in an English pub?
At the bar: there’s no table service, you pay there and then and carry your own drink. You don’t tip at the bar. And they close early, many at eleven, with a “last orders” call before.
How many days do you need for London?
Three or four: one for the river line and the museums, one for the markets and the east, one for the neighbourhoods and one spare or for a trip to Oxford, Cambridge or Bath. Two covers the classics, but London has no single centre and it’s covered in pieces.