There are many publications that offer ideas to explore a city in 36 hours, or a weekend, or even a day. I won't say that they have bad ideas, and the timelines they suggest are probably reasonably achievable, but who wants to keep themselves constrained to someone else's idea of a great weekend?
As well, who can reasonably expect to not get distracted by a cute coffee shop or an interesting crowd or a fun looking food van and consequently have their entire defined schedule thrown into disarray?
Therefore, if you want to take things at your own pace, go your own way and just want some general guidance,
you're in the right place, because here are just three choices of the best way to spend a weekend, or any time, in London...
Soho
More Bohemian than Bohemia. The heart of art. The coolest place in London, nestled as part of what's known as the West End, full of bars, clubs, pubs, food, colour, interesting people, and most importantly, energy. Soho was once known for its seediness and offer of potentially naughty good times. It has of late been accused of becoming gentrified. I've only lived in London for six years, so I may not know its heyday, but I do know that I c
an't get bored of it, and you won't either.
It's a place to go to for literally anything.
You want to have a chill coffee? You've got it.
You want a Michelin star restaurant? Of course.
Wine bar? Many.
Theatre? You know what the West End is known for, right?
Want just three choices of cocktail bar, two of which are in Soho, check out this article.
St James's Park
Located a bit south west of Soho is St James's Park, a _really_ green spot of Central London, full of squirrels (as an Australian, seeing these cute little critters the day I moved to London when a friend took me to St James's Park was a massive highlight. We have similar urban park animals, possums back home, but they're less approachable and make a sound like a monster in a horror movie) which also has some swan and pelican inhabited waterways.
It's nice to stroll around for its own purposes and gives you some respite from the high energy of the West End, if not of crowds of people, but its also a usefully cheeky addition to a list of three choices, because you almost can't avoid seeing another typical tourist attraction, Buckingham Palace.
Southbank
Cross over one of the several bridges from the West End, and land in Southbank, which is ideal for getting some sun (except for the 99% of the time London has a grey sky hanging over it 🙃), due to the lack of high rise buildings right at the waters edge, unlike the poorly planned Northbank.
Southbank is also home to theatrical and arts venues, as well as some bars and restaurants, but the thing to really check out when you're here is the graffitied skate park that's always got some skating action happening, even if you're not into it as an activity, I barely am, you can't deny the talent of some of these people, and its cool that they have their own space amongst the big money development all around.
So there you have it, just three choices of the ideal way to spend time in London.
Now many reading this are probably thinking, "well where in the hell is Tower Bridge or the City in this nonsense list?!"
The fact is, the interesting buildings of the City are visible from nearly anywhere in Central London, and they are the only reason you'd care to hang out in the City, unless empty streets are your idea of a good time, and they may well be, you do you.
Tower Bridge as well, sure it's pretty, but you can see it from Southbank, and you know what, depending on what you technically count as Southbank, go for it, head east, but once you've seen it, walked across it, seen the Tower of London, that's really all there is. The east is cool in of itself, and may be the topic of another article, but if you're time limited and want to visit the common (and let's face it, cool) idea of 'London', believe me, it isn't worth the trek, I've lived in Whitechapel for nearly three years and often head west.