So… you’re the type of tourist who…
… doesn’t want to cram fifty sights and activities into a day.
… doesn’t need to see every tourist site.
… doesn’t want to stand in a line for an hour just to sit in a pod with thirty other people for thirty minutes.
Or maybe you even live in London and you just want to experience as much of it as possible in the evenings and on the weekends.
You’re my favourite type of tourist… a casual tourist.
We’ve made these guides for YOU.
Get to know the underbelly of London with a detailed list of a Londoner’s best recommendations for what to do, see, eat and drink.
What’s in the Casual Tourist Guides?
A curated list of:
- Sights and Points of Interest that one of those vanilla guidebooks would never tell you about
- Fun activities and tours to help you experience the alternative side of the area
- Local cafes to park up and enjoy a coffee in
- Pubs to visit that will be filled with Londoners enjoying a pint and a roast
- Unique markets and can’t-miss restaurants
- Sexy bars for sipping elaborate cocktails in
- Shops selling interesting and eco-friendly treats to take home
Each guide has:
- Approximately 50 recommendations
- Insider tips, opening hours, price range, Google Maps link, dietary restriction info and wheelchair accessibility status
- Printable checklist of all of the recommendations in the guide. Keep track of which ones you’ve experienced so far
- NEW: Digital Map to help you visualise where each recommendation is in relation to the others, and to help you navigate when you’re on the ground in London.
You’ll receive these guides immediately upon purchase via digital download.
Choose from:
Bundle discounts:
– Buy 3 Casual Guides get 10% off with the code CASUAL10
– Buy 4 Casual Guides get 15% off with the code CASUAL15
– Buy 5 Casual Guides get 20% off with the code CASUAL20
About the areas…
The Casual Tourist Guide to Central London
With the Central London guide, you’ll get to experience the buzziest part of the city, being the epicentre of the theatre scene and London’s LGBTQ+ community. It’s also where many of the most famous sights and attractions sit, and where Londoners meet their friends when they each live on completely opposite ends of the city and want to “meet in the middle” for dinner or drinks.
While “being in the centre of it all” means there are quite a few tourist traps, overpriced restaurants, and even a creepy wax museum, central London also hosts some of the top spots to eat, drink and do fun things.
The key is, however, that you need to know what and where they are.
So that’s why we’ve made The Casual Tourist Guide to Central London. Those underrated restaurants, quirky bars, and underground activities that I LOVE to recommend to friends, family and followers are now compiled into this easy-to-use guide. We mainly cover Chinatown, Soho, Covent Garden, and Fitzrovia, all within walking distance of each other.
The Casual Tourist Guide to West London
West London is known for being a leafy, posh part of the city. Walk down almost any street and you’ll see rows of stunning Victorian houses as far as the eye can see. Londoners here also appreciate having lots of beautiful green spaces to enjoy, no matter the weather… we’ll go for a walk through Kensington Gardens even when it’s raining!
Amazing high-end restaurants, cute cafes serving top-notch coffee and treats, and unique shops worth a browse, many of which you’ll see recommended in this guide, also characterize west London. As usual, I’ve only included the ones I LOVE to recommend to friends and family, and I think you’ll enjoy them too.
This guide covers Notting Hill, Kensington and Paddington, but you might notice that the majority of the recommendations are around the area you’ll know so well due to a certain Julia Roberts film. That’s because of all of west London, in my opinion, it has the best vibe and the best spots.
The Casual Tourist Guide to East London
In the eclectic east end of London, between the quirky cafes and upscale cocktail bars, you can still see the influence that centuries of immigrant communities have had on the area, and that still have on it today. Only until recently, the east end was a working class area, but now it’s become a hub for the city’s creative industry. And lucky for us, when we explore east London, we get to experience both the old school and the new, through art, culture, food, and drink.
In The Casual Guide to East London, there are four main areas that are covered. We start with Shoreditch, the buzziest part of east London, where you’ll find funky street art alongside top-notch restaurants and grungy pubs. Just beyond it is Hoxton, with its Victorian-esque Columbia Road, home to the world famous Sunday flower market. Then head across the canal to London Fields, with its green spaces, classic markets, and lots of local flair. Finally, we have Victoria Park, London’s first park made for the people, and the branching off point for what feels like a village that’s been plopped down right into busy London. This is my favourite part of London and with my curated list of recommendations, I think you’ll love it too.
The Casual Tourist Guide to North London
North London has quite a diverse mix of neighbourhoods, from the super posh Hampstead, with its stunning multi-million-pound homes and historic museums, to buzzy Kings Cross with top-notch boutique shops and independent restaurants, to the judgement-free Camden, known for its quirky, music-influenced vibes and great pub scene.
This guide covers Hampstead, Camden, Kings Cross and Islington, an eclectic mix of areas with their own history and stories that have shaped what you’ll see today. Explore north London with this guide and you’ll hit up some famous pubs, visit unique and interesting museums, spend time at one of the city’s most incredible and historic parks, try some fine wine at Idris Elba’s wine bar, and much more.
The Casual Tourist Guide to South London
Some would consider south London as the “real” London. That’s because London is a city of immigrants, influenced by almost every culture across the globe, and many of south London’s neighbourhoods really exemplify this, and it’s absolutely worth experiencing and immersing yourself into.
In The Casual Tourist Guide to South London, we cover three areas. There’s Bermondsey, the most centrally-located, not far from one of the busiest stations in England but the area still has this incredibly calm, village-like vibe to it. Here you’ll find historic markets, a beer lover’s paradise, and plenty of fabulous restaurants and pubs. Then there’s Brixton, an area that has been popular with the Afro-Caribbean population since the Windrush Era, so you’ll see this influence on the eclectic food and drink scene here. Finally, there’s Peckham, also known for the influence of its immigrant population, and home to some incredible regeneration projects, like a rooftop bar at the top of a multi-storey car park.
*Note that The Casual Tourist Guide to Central and East London have overlap with Day 2 and 3 of the 3-Day Itinerary, so if you already have the itinerary, it’s best to grab North and West London instead, which have no overlap and nicely complement it.
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Meet the Expert
I ‘m Jess, an American who moved to the UK in 2013 and loves nothing better than finding unique, fun and interesting things to experience in London.
My team and I have helped hundreds of thousands of visitors to London to have the trip of a lifetime here in my city, through my Youtube channel Love and London. I know planning a big trip to London can be overwhelming, so I look forward to helping ease that worry.
– Jess
