London 5 Day Itinerary for a Girls Trip
I’ll be honest: London has never really been at the top of my list, especially for a girls trip. And we all know the reputation of London. It’s like any other big European city, except significantly more grey. Once you see all the tourist sights, what else is there to do? And then I went with less of an itinerary and more of a go with the flow mentality. That’s when I realized, London is the kind of city that rewards wandering. Where the best things happen in between the plans. We stayed in Shoreditch, ate our way through different neighborhoods, and ended up in random pubs with new friends. And now I can say, London is actually wildly underrated as a girls trip destination.
Here is my 5-day London itinerary for a girls trip — organized by neighborhood so you’re never burning time in an Uber or sitting in the Tube crossing the city, with the classic tourist spots woven in alongside the places that made me actually fall in love with it.
KNOW BEFORE YOU GO: THE BASICS
Where to stay: Shoreditch is my top recommendation. It’s East London’s creative hub. Very walkable, full of incredible restaurants and bars, close to Spitalfields Market, and has great energy at night. If you want something more classic, Soho or Covent Garden put you in the middle of everything. Notting Hill is gorgeous but slower-paced. Skip anything near Leicester Square. It’s a tourist trap with hotel prices to match.
Getting around: The Tube is your best friend and you can tap to pay at every entrance. For longer days or late nights, Uber works great. We also had no issues using the bus with the exception of there being no AC, so skip if you’re there during the warmer time of the year.
Money: London can be expensive. Budget more than you think you need for food and drinks specifically. But the upside: there are plenty of things to do that are free.
Weather reality check: It will probably rain at least once. Pack a light layer and a compact umbrella and don’t let it derail any of your plans!
WHERE TO STAY
Shoreditch is my top recommendation. It’s East London’s creative hub. Very walkable, full of incredible restaurants and bars, close to Spitalfields Market, and has great energy at night.
Maldron Shoreditch – where we stayed! clean, modern, centrally located
Aethos Hotel London Shoreditch – gorgeous architecture & interiors, great location
Hart Shoreditch by Curio Collection – stunning boutique vibes & part of Hilton, good for loyalty program and rewards
If you want something more classic, Soho or Covent Garden put you in the middle of everything. Notting Hill is gorgeous but slower-paced. Skip anything near Leicester Square. It’s a tourist trap with hotel prices to match.
For a splurge:
NoMad Hotel – 2 minute walk for the Convent Garden tube, quintessential London hotel
The Savoy – one of the most iconic hotels in London
Shop My London Looks
Day 1: Borough Market + Notting Hill + The West End Evening
The orientation day — from iconic market to iconic neighborhood, ending with a show.
Morning — Borough Market & Southwark
Start your trip the right way: with food. Borough Market is one of the most famous food markets in the world. Get there before 11am to beat the worst of the crowds, and come hungry. This is not a browsing situation, this is a full eating situation. An absolute must try: pulled pork sandwiches from The Black Pig, chocolate strawberries, Mac and cheese from Bath Dairy.
From Borough, walk across the Millennium Bridge with St. Paul’s Cathedral directly ahead of you.
Afternoon — Notting Hill
Take the Tube across to Notting Hill Gate and spend your afternoon doing absolutely nothing in the best possible way. Notting Hill is the neighborhood that looks exactly like it does in every movie about London: the pastel houses, the independent bookshops, the flower-draped pubs. So charming!
Walk Portobello Road to browse the antique stalls if it’s a weekend (they pack up Monday–Wednesday). I bought some vintage watches and jewelry from the vendors here!
Evening — Chinatown + Soho + Sondheim Theatre
Head into the West End for the evening. Walk through Chinatown on Gerrard Street. The lanterns at dusk are beautiful and it’s one of those London scenes that photographs better in real life than on a phone. Grab dim sum or roast duck if you’re hungry, or save your appetite for after the show.
The Sondheim Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue is one of London’s great old venues. All red velvet and gilded balconies. Book tickets in advance; the West End often sells out. I was able to get a last minute ticket, but was only buying for one! Les Miserables was indeed, miserably sad.
Day 2: East London — Spitalfields + Jolene + Tower Bridge + Shoreditch Pubs
The best day on this itinerary. East London delivered everything.
Morning — English Breakfast at The Savoy
Start the first official day in the best way we can: a hearty English breakfast. We went to Savoy Cafe and Kitchen in Shoreditch followed by orange cream cold brew coffees at Bangers!
Mid-Morning — Spitalfields Market
Spitalfields is the market that actually has things worth buying: independent designers, vintage clothing, ceramics, jewelry, as opposed to the tourist-facing ones that sell the same three London tote bags. The covered Victorian market hall is stunning even if you don’t spend a penny, but you probably will.
The surrounding streets of Spitalfields are some of the most photographed in London for a reason. Look up at the Georgian townhouses on Fournier Street. Find the Huguenot church that’s been a synagogue, a mosque, and is now a church again. The whole history of East London migration is in that single building.
Coffee at Jolene
Jolene on Redchurch Street is the kind of coffee shop that feels like it was designed specifically for your Instagram grid, and then you get there and realize you actually don’t care about the photos because the coffee and pastries are so good. It’s a bakery first, and we got the sausage roll, cheddar scone, and chocolate chip cookie. No misses.
Afternoon — Tower Bridge
Walk down to Tower Bridge. Yes, it’s touristy, but do it anyway. The bridge is beautiful, the views over the Thames in both directions are worth stopping for, and the Tower of London sits on the north bank. You don’t need to go inside unless history is your thing; the exterior alone is worth seeing.
Evening — Shoreditch Pub Crawl
Shoreditch at night is exactly what you hope it’ll be — neon signs, crowded pavements, music coming out of every door. No reservations, no plan, just wander and follow the music. We went to a few different taverns and pubs, including Old Street Tavern, Queens Head Shorditch, and The Crown and Shuttle.
Day 3: Westminster + St. James’s + BRAT + Soho Bars
The classics, done properly.
Morning — E. Pellicci, Bethnal Green
Before you do a single tourist thing, breakfast at E. Pellicci. The full English here is a serious, loaded, unapologetic plate of food. Sausage, bacon, black pudding, eggs, beans, hash browns, the lot. The family runs it like you’re eating in their kitchen, which is essentially what you are. Don’t skip the pesto sauce, but they’ll probably insist.
Late Morning — Westminster
Take the Tube to Westminster and do the classics in order. Westminster Abbey, Parliament Square, Big Ben, Westminster Bridge, see the Thames.
Walk through St. James’s Park. It’s the prettiest of the Royal Parks. Willows trailing into the lake with the view back toward Buckingham Palace through the trees. If the weather cooperates, this is a picnic moment. If it doesn’t, it’s still worth walking.
Stroll past Buckingham Palace. You don’t need to go in, I didn’t. The exterior and the forecourt are the whole experience unless the State Rooms happen to be open for summer viewing.
A Note on Afternoon Tea (Because You Have To)
A girls trip to London without afternoon tea is, technically, just a trip. Here’s how to do it properly:
Fortnum & Mason, St. James’s. The most iconic option and genuinely worth it. The Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon on the fourth floor was opened by the late Queen in 2012 and named Time Out’s best afternoon tea in 2025. Traditional afternoon tea starts from £82 per person — sandwiches, scones, pastries, a full pot of something excellent, live piano. It’s in St. James’s, which puts it two minutes from Buckingham Palace and ten from Westminster Abbey, making it a perfect fit for Day 3. Book several weeks ahead.
Sketch, Mayfair. The most photographed afternoon tea in London — you’ve seen the pink oval room on every travel influencer’s feed for years. It’s a little over the top, it’s completely maximalist, and it’s exactly as fun as it looks. The food is genuinely good, the design is by India Mahdavi, and the whole experience feels like an event. Prices start from around £85 per person. Book well ahead.
Lunch/Early Dinner — BRAT, Shoreditch
Everyone, and I mean, everyone, recommends eating at BRAT if it’s your first time in London. My dinner highlights were the bread with anchovies and wood roasted duck.
Evening — Trafalgar Tavern
This spot is one of my absolute favorites in all of London. We took the Tube over to Trafalgar Tavern to catch the sunrise and enjoy some beers by the water. We ended up having a 2nd dinner here, ordering fish and chips, a scotch egg, and the sticky toffee pudding. Everything was pure perfection.
Day 4: Chelsea + Belgravia + Hyde Park
The pretty, indulgent, only-in-London afternoon.
Breakfast — Dishoom
Everyone talks about how good Dishoom is, but their breakfast is highly underrated. The Big Bombay Breakfast and sausage naan roll is non-negotiable. The chai is essential.
Mid-Morning — Saatchi Gallery
Head to the Saatchi Gallery in Chelsea, just off the King’s Road. Free entry with a rotating contemporary art exhibitions. Give it an hour to ninety minutes.
Afternoon — MG&Co + Walk to Hyde Park
MG&Co — Matilda Goad’s homeware store on Ebury Street in Belgravia — went viral on TikTok for good reason: you walk in, pick a matchbox sleeve, and they engrave a custom design into it while you wait. The store itself is a dream — all scalloped lampshades and hand-painted hardware and the exact aesthetic that makes you want to renovate your entire apartment.
From Ebury Street, walk north through Belgravia — one of the most expensive (and quietly beautiful) neighborhoods in London, all white stucco townhouses and garden squares — toward Sloane Street, then up through Knightsbridge and into Hyde Park. It’s a 20-minute walk and it’s gorgeous. Stop by a grocery store or M&S to get some meats, cheeses, and drinks before picnicking in the park!
Evening — Pub on the Park, London Fields
End the day at Pub on the Park, right on the edge of London Fields in Hackney. Fairy lights, a wraparound wooden terrace, proper craft ales on tap, and the kind of buzzy, unpretentious energy that’s hard to find in central London. This is a locals pub — the kind of place where you end up talking to strangers and staying two hours longer than planned. We ended up watching the World Cup England game here, and it was so much fun.
Day 5: Hackney + The British Museum + Uber Boat + Last Pubs
The perfect send-off Sunday.
Morning — Sunday Roast
Sunday in London means one thing: a proper roast. This is not optional. Roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, crispy potatoes, gravy, all of it. Some good options depending on where you are: The Marksman in Hackney (book ahead — their roast is legendary), The Bull & Last in Hampstead (worth the journey), or The Harwood Arms in Fulham for a serious splurge. We ended up going to the Blacklock, and it was out of this world.
Mid-Morning — British Museum
The British Museum is free, and feel free to go if you’re looking to get angry thinking about how the greatest collection of human history ended up here. The Rosetta Stone, Egyptian mummies, Cleopatra, the Greek sister, just to name a few.
Other alternatives that won’t leave you angry:
- National Gallery
- Natural History Museum
Afternoon — Head over to the London Eye for sunset
Uber Boat on the Thames
The Uber Boat (Thames Clipper) is the most overlooked way to see London and the single best thing you can do on your last afternoon. Buy a ticket at any pier, hop on, and ride it from wherever you are to Greenwich, or from Tower Bridge to Westminster. You’ll see the city from the water: Tower Bridge, the Shard, the Tate Modern, the Southbank, Parliament, in a way you simply can’t from the Tube. It takes longer than the Underground and that’s entirely the point. There’s also a bar on the boat!
Evening — Last Pubs
Let London do what London does best on a final evening: a slow pub crawl with no particular destination. If you’re in Shoreditch, the streets between Curtain Road and Brick Lane will sort you out. If you’ve migrated to the Southbank, The Anchor by Borough Market or any of the pubs on the river toward Bermondsey will do. Order a pint of something local, find a spot outside if the weather allows, and stay until you have to go.
Bonus Day Trip: Warner Bros. Studio Tour — The Making of Harry Potter
If you’re a big Harry Potter fan, the Warner Bros. Studio Tour is a must. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time, but it did come highly recommended. And although it may come off as a tourist trap, I’ve been told it’s worth the visit. This is the actual Leavesden Studios where all 8 films were shot, from Diagon Alley, to the Great Hall.
Tickets start from around £58.50 per adult and must be booked in advance, often months ahead for weekend slots and school holiday periods. Book directly through the official Warner Bros. website for the best prices. Budget at least three to four hours on site.
If you can’t make it to the full studio tour, I’d recommend making a pit stop at Platform 9¾ at King’s Cross!
Save this for your next girls trip, and DM me on Instagram with any questions.
xx Jules
