Day trips tend to give people between 12 and 16 hours to head around and discover their destination. Arrive as early as you can, leave as late as possible, and fit in as much as you can manage - it’s a tried and tested formula that means you get to explore the world whilst saving as much money as you can.

A day out in London, however, will need some careful planning. London can suck the time straight away from you, and even though you’ve got hours ahead until your train home, you may only get to do two or three things (not counting stopping to eat).

With the amount of people who move around London every single minute, delays are common, crowds are to be expected, and it’s quite easy to lose your bearings. Unless you like moving slowly around the city and don’t mind trying things out as you come across them, you’re going to have to know where you’re going and time your day quite strictly!

So, whether you’re coming across from Oxford or you got the boat over from Calais, let’s make sure your day in London doesn’t have a single wasted minute.

Don’t Carry Anything You Don’t Need to

Really, you’re going to need all the energy you can get when you’re walking around London. You don’t want any heavy bags on your back or shoulder! So if you can, pack a smaller bag you can transfer the essentials into once you arrive and then drop the rest of your stuff off at a luggage storage.

Don’t worry - these lockers are perfectly safe and fully insured, so you can explore at a pace with true peace of mind. And you don’t have to decide your luggage at the station either, as luggage storage can be found all over London.

Ended up in Canary Wharf with a suitcase that’s causing you to lag behind? There’ll be a luggage storage canary wharf centre nearby you can make use of. Now you can head onto the docks, get lunch at any of the high-rise restaurants, or visit the nearby Tower Bridge with much more of a pep in your step.

Download the Tube Map Ahead of Time

The London Underground system can be a very hard thing to understand. The tube map can be hard to follow, and when you’re in the middle of a crowd and need to stop to read the signs, you might get some complaints from anyone behind you.

That’s why you should download the tube map ahead of your trip and learn the routes you want to use. Learn the stations you’ll need to use, the lines and their colours, and the direction you need to be bound in. That way you won’t need to stop before heading down to the right station; you’ll just know you’re headed the correct way.

Get on a Sightseeing Bus

If you really want to see as many of the famous London landmarks as possible, get on a sightseeing bus that’ll take you on a round trip.

These buses are ‘hop on, hop off’ as well, so you can get on them wherever you like, get off wherever you want to explore, and then get back on later in the day. Just make sure you’ve got the right ticket for this!

Avoid the Rush Hours

You probably already know this, but London is one of the busiest cities in the world. That means rush hours are more common here than they are in most other places, with one in the morning and one in the evening, but lunchtime and mid-afternoons tend to get quite packed as well.

If you can, try to stay put during these hours and travel outside of them. If you’re getting into London in the morning, between 8.30 am and 9 am is usually best. If you’re leaving in the late afternoon, try to avoid 5 to 6 pm. And if you’ve got train tickets to make use of, double check what ‘peak’ they can be used in - you don’t want to get caught out.

Spending the day in London is a great way to experience the city, but make sure you know what you want to see and the easiest way to get there. Public transport is some of the best in the world, but it isn’t foolproof. Avoid rush hours, know both the tube and bus times, and don’t weigh yourself down with heavy bags!

Featured