30 Things to See First

Thirty places to see first, in order, for somebody who has never been to London. Each says what it is, whether it is free, whether you must book, and whether the queue is worth it.

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Leadenhall Market

A Victorian covered arcade in cream and maroon ironwork, hidden in the middle of the banking district. Free to walk through, alive on a weekday and shut at the weekend.

Also in Food Markets and Harry Potter.

Leadenhall Market is a covered Victorian arcade in the middle of the City of London, the financial district, standing on the ground where the forum of Roman London was. A market has traded here since the fourteenth century, first in poultry and cheese, and the building over it is Horace Jones's of 1881: iron and glass painted cream, maroon and dark green, with cobbles underfoot and shopfronts that have kept their Victorian glass.

What trades here now is lunch and drink for the offices around it, so it is full from midday on a weekday and the pubs spill out into the arcade in the early evening. At the weekend the shutters are down and it is empty, which is good for photographs and no use for anything else. Free, with nothing to book.

Where
Gracechurch Street, EC3V 1LT
Nearest station
Monument · 5 min walk

Also here

Hours

Monday10:00 – 18:00
Tuesday10:00 – 18:00
Wednesday10:00 – 18:00
Thursday10:00 – 18:00
Friday10:00 – 18:00
Saturday10:00 – 18:00
Sunday10:00 – 18:00

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Photo by Diliff, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons

Data is compiled from public sources including OpenStreetMap, under the ODbL. Hours change often, so check before making a journey.

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