Ultimate 1-day-route for the most famous sights in London!

Some small comments in advance: 

There is a number of additional things to see quite close to the route that you could easily include, if you want to. So simply take a look at the map and don't shy away from making some alterations to this tour to make it really match your interests.

Also, this tour can be done merely by foot. At the end of the day you  will then probably be quite tired, but it is clearly nothing impossible to do. I myself have done this several times, but in case you don't feel like walking as much, it is no problem either. London's public transport is fantastic and relatively cheap, so  simply hop on one of the busses and ride a view stops towards your next destination to get a rest during the day. By the way favourite app for reliable transport info is Citymapper®, which actually comes form a London based company and thus really is the greatest for UK's capital. Read my post to find out more!

So, here we go: First, let's look at a very short overview of all the stops we will pass by: 

Now let's go a bit more into detail: 

In the morning you hop on the Tube to make your way to Covent Garden station on the Piccadilly line. 

Getting off, you are right in the middle of one of the lively Coven Garden area. With its many nicely decorated small shops it is a great roofed area to spend quite a bit of time in. Personally my favourite stores are Sass et Belle® offering plenty of cute, still practical household items and Whittard®, which is a Chelsea based tea maker always having some hot chocolate, coffee or tea available for tasting for free!

After you have taken a stroll around here, head north towards Tottenham Court Road station via Cambridge Circus. Once you are up there, you can have a short exploration tour around the Tottenham Court Road with some more great shops, like Cath Kidston®, a fantastic London based bags, clothing and other high quality modern vintage producer. 

Heading west from the crossing onto Oxford Street, stroll along the many huge brand store past the popular Oxford Circus and Bond Street right until Marble Arch station, which is at a top corner of the Hyde Park. 

From here you actually have 2 options: 

Option 1 will make you see a bit more of the city. This would be going back to Oxford Circus (an about 5 min walk) and from here heading down Regent's Street with a pop to the left into Carnaby Street area. At the bottom of the road you will end up at Piccadilly Circus.

Option 2 (shown in the map above) is more of a break from all the city hustle for a while. This would be going down through Hyde Park until you reach the southern corner, and head back east from here until you also reach Piccadilly Circus. 

No matter which way you choose, you can have a nice break sitting at the statue in the middle of Piccadilly Circus for a while listening to great street music, marvelling at the huge advert screens on the buildings and watching all the people walk by.

From here you can hop over to Leicester Square for a minute to see the Lego® and M&M® store, before you continue heading south to Trafalgar Square, where also the National Gallery is located. Just a small advice: Museums are always a great space for toilets and free wifi ;)

The view from here allows to see the top of the London Eye and Big Beg if you search carefully. 

Afterwards, walk west via The Mall, the iconic red road, towards Buckingham Palace.

When walking straight onto the royal palace, you can actually also take a few steps into St. James's Park directly on your left. Once you have reached the stunning building, you can walk down towards the river Thames and see Westminster Abbey and Big Ben (construction work will soon be finished here) in the heart of Westminster. 

If you take a look across the river you will be able to see the spectacular London Eye! This is indeed an amazing spot to finish off such a long day of walking around. 

In case you decide to go straight home from here, you can get on the tube at Westminster station, which is located right at the riverfront at Westminster Bridge. 

And now congratulations! Wow, you really made this very long tour through the city. But I'm sure you'll agree, it was definitely worth it! Let me know what your favourite sight was!

By the way: to make navigating a whole lot easier for you, why not use the route planning function on Google Maps®. This allows you to enter all the stops you want to see and keeps everything simply and organise. Check out my post to find out more!