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Booking resources for your London trip

These are the websites, companies and tools we, as London experts, recommend using when planning your trip. They’re tried and tested, highly rated by our past community members, or are considered the “best of the best” in their industry. We are proud to recommend these brands.

Some of the links below are affiliated which means if you book or buy after clicking, we get a small bit of compensation. This helps us to continue to create all of our free content on Love and London and to help our business to keep growing to other destinations. Thanks in advance for your support!

London airport transfers and taxi services

Luggage storage

London accommodation bookings

UK train and coach tickets

London photographer

Virtual private network

Travel-friendly credit and debit cards

Preferred tour operators

E-sims and insurance

London travel guides and books

Language learning and culture

City sightseeing passes

London theatre tickets

London airport transfers and taxi services

Welcome Pickups

If you want to pre-book a taxi to or from anywhere in London, we recommend Welcome Pickups. They are especially great for airport transfers as they will track your flight and your driver will wait for you in the terminal with a sign with your name, so you don’t have to stress about trying to find them. You pay a flat fee no matter how much time your trip takes. They also operate in Paris and over 100 cities around the world.

Book Welcome Pickups
This is a picture of a taxi driving through Central London.

Luggage storage

This is an image of a lineup of colourful suitcases.

Nannybag

We always recommend Nannybag for luggage storage, they have thousands of places around the city where you can store luggage affordably and safely. They’re also in Paris and many other cities around the world.

Book Nannybag

London accommodation bookings

This is an image of a hotel front in London.

Booking.com

We like Booking.com because they have a TON of filters so you can easily find exactly what you want and need.

Search Booking.com
This is an image of a nice hotel room overlooking the park. There is a double bed, couch and desk.

Expedia

Expedia is quite similar to Booking.com, and we know those of you from the US really trust them, as do we.

Search Expedia
This is an image of a hostel bed room with bunk beds and white sheets.

Hostelworld

The go-to platform for booking hostels in London and around the world, with decades of trust behind them. Be sure to always check the rating before choosing a hostel.

Search Hostelworld

UK train and coach tickets

Omio

We love Omio for two reasons. First, you can use their search to find not only trains but also to see coach and plane options, which might be better or cheaper. You can also book journeys using multiple different companies in one go, and if you’re doing a Euro trip, you can book all of your travel for the entire continent on this site (and in your own currency!)

Book Omio
This is an image of two trains waiting at their respective platforms.
This is an image of two travellers carrying their backpacks and suitcases down a train platform

Trainline

This is the most popular train ticket app in the UK, and they have started selling tickets for other parts of Europe as well. The app works great too and it can issue you e-tickets. We think Omio is more user-friendly for non-UK travellers, though.

Book Trainline

London photographer

Ewa

A really nice souvenir of a London trip is photos from a professional photo shoot, great to share on social media and they last FOREVER. We’ve been sending our followers to a photographer we love for YEARS now and they’ve always been super happy, and if you mention us when you book you’ll get 10% extra photos.

Book your London photo session

Virtual private network

Surfshark

If you plan on using different wifi networks while you’re travelling, a VPN will keep your data and browsing history secure from hackers and intruders. VPNs also let you change your “browsing location” so if you want to seem like you’re in the USA when you’re actually in the UK, to maybe watch a USA sports team or get certain titles on Netflix, SurfShark helps you do all of that.

Download Surfshark
This is an image of a man holding up a phone. The screen of the phone shows a VPN.

Travel-friendly credit and debit cards  

This is an image of a man holding his credit card against his phone.

Chase Sapphire Preferred®Card (US residents)

This is a great starter credit card if you want no foreign transaction fees (VERY important) and some decent travel perks, like a $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit, and good points earning potential to be redeemed on future travel, hotels, and more. It also comes with trip cancellation insurance, primary car rental insurance and lost luggage insurance. It’s also got an increased welcome bonus at the moment where you can earn 60,000 bonus points after $4,000 in purchases in your first 3 months from account opening. That’s worth $750 when redeemed through Chase Travel. Plus, get up to $300 in statement credits on Chase Travel purchases within your first year. Offer ending 14th November 2024.

This card is accepted everywhere across London, the UK and Europe and has a low annual fee of $95. Our founder Jess has used the more advanced version of this card, the Chase Sapphire Reserve®, for years as her go-to when travelling.

Learn more about the Chase Sapphire Preferred®Card

This is a picture of a lady with her luggage looking out the airport window.

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card (US residents)

This card also has no foreign transaction fees (a must) and is very travel-friendly— our founder Jess actually used this card back when she was studying abroad and backpacking around Europe. It also comes with great travel perks like an application fee credit for Global Entry or TSA PreCheck (up to $120) and included travel insurance. You’ll earn miles for your spending which can be redeemed on things like travel or gift cards, and it has a low annual fee of $95.

Learn more about the Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

This is an image of someone holding up a Wise bank card. Behind it is an ATM.

Wise (Worldwide)

Our founder Jess has been a Wise (formerly Transferwise)* user for over ten years, and they have a fantastic travel-friendly debit card that’s great for travelling abroad. Exchange rates are reasonable and  you won’t be hit with any unexpected fees.

*The information for the Wise Card has been collected independently by Love and London. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.

Get the Wise card

Preferred tour operators

Our favourite London tour companies. FYI, booking direct generally means you’ll get a better price. We have worked with some of these companies in the past on paid partnerships.

This is an image of a man taking a tour group around London. They are currently across the Thames with Big Ben in the distance behind them.

Walks

If you want to book tours of the major sights like the Tower of London, Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey and more we always recommend Walks. They have top-notch guides, most of whom are Blue Badge Certified, and usually include things like “skip the line”. We ESPECIALLY recommend their VIP Ceremony of the Keys nighttime tour of the Tower of London, it’s a very unique and special London experience. They also have tours around Europe and the US.

Book Walks Tours
This is an image of a tour group having a wine and food tasting.

Devour Tours

Our go-to food tour specialists for London and Europe. We especially love their Traditional Pub Food and Drink tour and their Borough Market food tour. A fun and delicious way to experience London and hear about its history.

Book Devour Tours
This is an image of a tour group riding bikes around London. they are having a stopover in the park.

TallyHo Vintage Bike Tours

We love any tour that’s done in a bit of a different way, and that’s what TallyHo does. They run vintage bike tours around the city, with guides dressed in vintage garb as well. They also do kid-friendly private tours and a boozy gin safari in the summer. Use code LOVEBIKES24 for a 10% discount.

Book Tally Ho Vintage Bike Tours
This is an image of three women on a Women in London tour. They are standing in front of a statue.

Women of London

Typical walking tours often are very focused on the MEN of London but there are so many women who made a HUGE impact on the city that are often left out. Well Becky, historian and founder of Women of London, wanted to change that, so she started her company that does walking tours highlighting incredible women who have walked the same streets as you. We love her and her team!

Book Women of London Tours
This is an image of a tour group standing in front of The Old Curiosity Shop in London.

Rebel Tours

Another female-run small tour business we love. Ellie and her team take you around the city to teach you about the rebels that made an imprint on London, for better or for worse. They do an ethical version of a Jack the Ripper tour which we LOVE, and there’s even a super tasty and affordable vegan food tour, the only one you’ll find in London.

Book Rebel Tours

E-sims and insurance

This is an image of a group of people in front of Big Ben smiling at one another.

World Nomads

It is SO SO SO important to have good travel insurance to save you money in case of emergencies and to cover replacements when cash or your stuff gets lost or stolen. WorldNomads is known internationally as being one of the best, most reliable insurance companies for travellers.

Get World Nomads
This is an image of a girl holding up a phone, where she is downloading an eSim.

SimLocal

If you can’t use your phone plan while in the UK due to high roaming charges, you can opt for an E-SIM and skip the old school SIMs that are so hard to install and so easy to lose. Instead you can easily install an e-Sim on your phone and start using your phone in the UK or anywhere you buy your e-SIM for ASAP. SimLocal is a reliable and affordable option for this.

Get SimLocal

London travel guides and books

This is an image of our London Itineraries.

London Itineraries

If you don’t have days and days of your life free to spend researching and planning your multi-day visit to London, and would rather someone who knows London REALLY well just did it for you, have a look at our London itineraries. Ranging from 3-6 days long, they give you tons of options along a daily route so you can choose what you want to do based on your interests, budget and desired travel pace. We take you to the classic London sights while also introducing you to nearby hidden gems you’d otherwise miss. Thousands of travellers have used our itineraries already and the reviews tell you all you need to know.

Shop itineraries
This is an image of our London Casual Tourist Guides.

Casual Tourist Guides

If you’ve already done London before, or you’re just not the type of traveller that wants to do the main touristy bits and bobs, but prefers a slower paced, more local type of exploration, have a look at our Casual Tourist Guides. We made these specifically for the casual traveller, with London experts giving you a curated selection of the best things to do, cafes to sip coffee in, restaurants to book, and other things around the city that Londoners LOVE. And each Casual Tourist Guide covers one area, making it easy to plan your days.

Shop Casual Tourist Guides
This is an image of our London Transport Guide.

London Transport Guide

Made for the future London visitor who is confused about all things London and UK transport, we take the overwhelm off your shoulders and tell you absolutely everything you need to know about taking tubes, buses, trains, and a lot more. With topics covering day trips, accessibility, kids, rail strikes, and more, you’ll be a pro before you even set foot in London.

Shop London Transport Guide
This is an image of our Spending Guide.

London Spending Guide

Trying to make a budget for your trip but not even sure where to start? Our London Spending Guide gives you cost estimations, tells you what you’ll likely forget to include in your budget, recommendations for things to do within every budget (including hotels we love), and it even includes a ready-made budgeting tool that hooks up to Google Sheets so you can pop in a few numbers and have your trip budget done in seconds.

Shop London Spending Guide
This is an image of our London Packing Guide.

London Packing Guide

Confused by the crazy London weather forecast? Not sure what you should buy for your trip or what to wear so you fit in and are weather-proof? Need a ready-to-use packing list? Grab our London Packing Guide.

Shop London Packing Guide

Language learning and culture

This is an image of a girl learning a new language on her laptop via the app Lingoda.

Lingoda

If English isn’t your first language and you want to brush up before you get to the UK, taking a few group online classes is an easy, effective and also affordable way to do that. We love Lingoda, our founder Jess has done quite a few of their French classes and found doing classes with qualified teachers to be the best way to learn. With our link, you can get 20 EUR (or 25 USD) off when signing up.

Download Lingoda
This is an image of the book 'A Really British Guide to English'.

A Really British Guide to English

Our friend Tom, the English teacher behind the YouTube channel Eat Sleep Dream English, has a really fun guide to British English language and culture. Learn things like “What Brits say and what they actually mean”, British vs American vs Australian English differences, Cockney rhyming slang (VERY London!) and more. There’s even some quizzes to test your knowledge. Get the digital or print version, and there’s an additional course you can add on too. Use code LOVEANDLONDON for a 10% discount.

Buy A Really British Guide To English

City sightseeing passes

GoCity

If you want to be a super tourist and see a ton of the major sights, you will most likely save yourself a good chunk of money with the London Pass from GoCity. Get a certain amount of days (3+ is the best value) and you’ll get free entrance to a select group of attractions around London. They also have the Paris Pass. Savings do get to be a LOT the more you see and the more people you have in your travel group.

Shop GoCity
This is an image of the London Eye and South Bank from the other side of the Thames.

London theatre tickets

This is an image of a crowded and full theatre with lots of balconies and lights. The crowd appears to be clapping.

London Theatre Direct

Heading to the West End for a theatre show or play while you’re in London? You might find lots of results when searching online for the show you want to see, but don’t just buy tickets from any old website. Stick to a reputable source when purchasing. Our top recommendation is to book through the venue’s official website London Theatre Direct. If you’re lucky, they also have some great cheap deals you can nab in advance.

Browse London Theatre Direct