The Best Things To Do If You Only Have A One-Day Trip In London

"When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life, for there is in London all that life can afford," Writer Samuel Johnson said in 1777. Nearly 250 years later, this remains true as ever. The bustling British capital vies with New York for the title of the unofficial capital of the world, and it often comes out on top.

It's impossible to see "all that life can afford" in just 24 hours, but we're going to try our damnedest. We start with a full English breakfast, then sail westward along the Thames. After all, British Playwright Peter Shaffer once remarked that while New York is an oil painting, London is a watercolor. We tour the Houses of Parliament and Buckingham Palace before dinner and a show in the West End. You probably won't make all of these stops in a single day, but we're suggesting the route as a template for an efficient way to see the best of London. You can even do just one or two and spend the day meandering around this dreamy watercolor painting.

We strongly suggest a London Pass (Here's how to tell if it's worth the money), which includes over 95 essential attractions, including the boat ride, for £169 per adult and £109 per child, which can save up to 50%. See Rick Steves tips for having the best vacation in London on the tightest budget. We recommend wearing business casual attire, which is required at many of the sites here. Also, grab a bottle of water, a portable phone charger, and a stiff upper lip in case everything does not go completely according to plan.

London effectively began in A.D. 43, when Roman forces built the original London Bridge across the River Thames. Since then, the city has grown around the river, which was critical to its development as one of the most important ports in the world. Today, the Thames is as crucial to London as ever, and many of its most iconic sites are located along its banks. Several tour companies offer hop-on, hop-off Thames cruises that allow visitors to enjoy some of London's loveliest attractions at their own pace. We prefer boat rides because they offer panoramic views, fresh river breezes, no traffic, and often offer onboard food, drinks, and informative tours in several different languages.

We recommend Uber Boat by Thames Clippers, which offers an east and westbound service between 24 different piers along the Thames from as early as 5:30 a.m. to as late as 11:42 p.m., 7 days a week, including holidays. Most other tour companies only travel between four far-apart piers. The one-day hop-on, hop-off option grants unlimited boat rides for a day and costs £22.10 per adult, £11.05 per child, and £44.20 for a family. An extra £11.05 buys concessions on the boat. An Uber Boat ticket will allow riders to enjoy London from the sky as well. For about £10 extra, any ticket comes with a ride along the IFS Cloud Cable Car, which glides 295 feet over breathtaking scenery.

Both the tour boat and all the tourist sites will offer food, but if you want the true London experience, we recommend stepping back onto terra firma to enjoy the best restaurants and pubs in the world. Since you're in England, we recommend the full English breakfast, one of the country's best-known national dishes. The full English typically features some variation of eggs, bacon, sausage, black pudding, baked beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, and fried bread or toast. It is often paired with coffee or tea and hash browns.

We're starting our day with a tour of the Tower of London and a walk across the Tower Bridge. For a great full English near the Tower, Byward Kitchen & Bar, just steps away, offers a classic breakfast for £16.20, along with vegetarian options, many other sandwiches, and classic, hearty breakfast meals full of eggs, syrup, and potatoes. Natural Kitchen opens much earlier at 7 a.m. and offers a full English for £19.50, a vegetarian option, and a similarly robust breakfast menu.

If you're pressed for time and are in the mood for possibly the best prison food anywhere, the Tower of London offers four full-time on-site cafés near some of its top attractions. The New Armouries Café, which offers a wide variety of soups, sandwiches, and salads, opens at 9 a.m. Tuesday through Saturday, so it's probably the best choice for a busy day ahead.

After a full English breakfast, it's time for full English history. The Tower of London is a nearly thousand-year-old tower built in 1078 by William the Conqueror that has served as a royal palace, armory, treasury, and perhaps most famously, a prison and execution site. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of Britain's most popular and revered attractions. An admission ticket covers entry to the White Tower, the iconic medieval castle; the Line of Kings, where you can marvel at the historic armor of English monarchs; the ravens, the ancient guardians of the Tower; and the Crown Jewels, which include the crown and clothing still used during coronations. For the best Tower experience, book an iconic Yeoman Warder or "Beefeater" Tour.

Towering over the Tower is the Tower Bridge, which spans 800 feet across the Thames. There are two ways to cross. The lower level is a pedestrian path next to the thousands of cars and double-decker buses that cross the bridge every day. This is free and open 24/7. But for the first of many brilliant views today, climb 206 steps to the Walkways, which connect the two grand Gothic 213-foot towers. A £13.40 timed ticket includes exhibits on the bridge's history and entry to the walkways and the Glass Floors, where visitors can feel as though they are floating above London.

For many centuries, the Tower was the tallest building in London. Today, that honor belongs to The Shard, a soaring glass pyramid that, at just over 1,000 feet, is the tallest building in the U.K. and Western Europe. After you've walked the Tower Bridge to the southern bank of the Thames, you can turn around and catch the next boat, or you can walk for about 15 minutes. Reservations are required to ascend to the top floors, which offer sweeping views of London and the rolling green meadows that lie beyond it. The Shard, named for shards of glass, doesn't so much scrape the sky as poke it with its jagged top, and visitors can stand right under these on the open-air Skydeck on the 72nd floor. If the London fog covers up famous monuments, you can return for free within three months.

We recommend packing some nice clothes for your Shard visit, because the tower boasts seven world-class restaurants offering world-class views, which each have a smart casual dress code. We especially recommend lunch at Aqua Shard, which offers contemporary British cuisine and elegant afternoon tea, all while surrounded by three stories of floor-to-ceiling views of the city. Some visitors are put off by the Shard's sky-high prices and recommend visiting the free Sky Garden instead. Located across the river at the top of the 525-foot "Walkie-Talkie Building," this airy space combines a lush garden with panoramic views and elegant restaurants.

It's time for more views, but this time, they move. At London Bridge, catch the next boat and glide along the Thames until you dock at the most famous Ferris wheel in the world. The London Eye is a 443-foot wheel just across the river from the Houses of Parliament, more commonly known as "Big Ben." It was unveiled on December 31, 1999, to celebrate the new millennium, and at the time was the largest Ferris wheel in the world. It was only intended to stand for five years, but it proved so phenomenally popular that it just kept rotating.

As with any phenomenally popular attraction, some planning is necessary. Visitors will need to book a block of time, and booking online will ensure a better price. If you visit on a quiet weekday and book a Fast Track ticket, you can be up in the sky in as little as five minutes. You'll enter into a glass pod connected to the wheel, which will ascend all the way to the top before rotating back down. In the course of the roughly 30-minute ride, visitors will be treated to an ever-shifting view of London's top landmarks, including Buckingham Palace, St. Paul's Cathedral, the Tower Bridge, The Shard, and our next two stops, the Houses of Parliament, and Westminster Abbey. On a clear day, visitors can even see Windsor Castle over 20 miles west.

While riding the London Eye, you'll likely be gazing all over London, but more often than not, you'll probably be drawn to the majestic Gothic clock tower just below you. Whatever you call it — Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, the Palace of Westminster — there's no question that it's London's most recognizable symbol, the way the Eiffel Tower symbolizes Paris. As one of the world's oldest parliaments, it's also an international symbol of government and democracy. 

Visitors can enjoy both guided and self-guided tours of this "Mother of Parliaments" on Saturdays throughout the year. During parliamentary recess periods, self-guided tours are available Monday through Saturday, and guided tours are available Tuesday through Saturday. Both self-guided and guided tours take visitors through a roughly 90-minute tour of the sprawling palace. Tours cover highlights like the boisterous Commons Chamber, where members of Parliament shout at each other as the Speaker cries "Order!"; the Lords Chamber, where each year the king sits on a gold throne and opens Parliament; and Westminster Hall, the medieval great hall used for addresses to the two chambers of Parliament. 

When Parliament is in session, visitors can book a free seat in the public viewing gallery to watch the lively debates. If you book early enough, you can nab a spot to climb to the belfry of the famous Elizabeth Tower, where a 15-ton bell called Big Ben chimes at the top of every hour.

Just across the street from Britain's center of government is its hub of faith. Since A.D. 960, Westminster Abbey has been the site of coronations for 40 kings and queens and 16 royal weddings. The abbey has also hosted several state funerals, including those of Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Diana. Three thousand three hundred of the great and good lie in rest under its soaring ceilings, including Queen Elizabeth I, Sir Isaac Newton, and William Shakespeare.

Westminster Abbey is open for both guided and self-guided school tours. Guided tours are led by vergers, knowledgeable lay ministers who help run Anglican churches. Ninety-minute verger tours take visitors to parts of the abbey inaccessible to visitors, like the tomb of Edward the Confessor, an Anglo-Saxon king who died defending England from the Norman invaders. The verger tour also covers Poets' Corner, home to the tombs of literary giants like Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, and the Brontë sisters. It also includes the Lady Chapel, home to exquisite stained glass windows and the tombs of Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots, among others.

But Westminster Abbey is more than just a tomb: it is still a functioning church with numerous services and programs like choral and organ recitals. Services like Morning Prayer, Holy Communion, and Evensong are held daily, and are free for the public to attend. If you have time, stop by London's other superstar church, St. Paul's Cathedral.

This is a river-based itinerary, but if you were to do nothing but spend your day strolling around London's roughly 3,000 parks, it would be a day well spent. About 20% of London is a public green space, one of the highest percentages in Europe. The famed Buckingham Palace is about a mile west of Westminster Abbey, and if you have the time, why not enjoy some pelicans on your way?

St. James's Park is a 57-acre park located just north of Westminster Abbey. This bucolic gem is one of London's eight royal parks, former royal family hunting grounds that now make up a total of 4,900 acres of public parkland throughout Greater London. Much of St. James's is taken up by St. James's Park Lake, a narrow pond stretching the park's entire width. The lake is a haven for wildlife, including ducks, coots, moorhens, the occasional Black Swan, and six resident pelicans, who are fed each day between 2:30 and 3 p.m. For the best chance to spot the pelicans, head to Duck Island Cottage, the beautifully quaint cottage once home to the keeper of the park's birds.

If you're still in the mood for more strolling, cross the tree-lined Mall to The Green Park. It is a 40-acre park just north of Buckingham Palace. As its name suggests, it is a peaceful, brilliantly verdant respite from the city bustle and the busier Hyde Park next door.

It's fair to assume that every tourist comes to London secretly hoping they might see the King, the same way anyone visiting Los Angeles hopes to spot a celebrity. Both are unlikely, but stepping inside the King's palace is a pretty great consolation prize. From July to September, and on select dates throughout the year, Buckingham Palace offers tours of its 19 State Rooms, the public rooms where the King and members of the royal family receive and entertain guests. You'll be treated to some of the finest art and furniture in the world, including the gold, curving Grand Staircase, the gold furniture and exquisite chandeliers of the White Drawing Room, marble sculptures, and Vermeer paintings.

If you're a royalist and want to indulge all your fairytale fantasies, consider booking a Royal Day Out tour. After the State Rooms, you'll head outside for a tour of the Royal Mews, which contain both the working horse stables and the 260-year-old Gold State Coach they pull, which was used at coronations and jubilees. The tour also includes a stroll through the King's Gallery, which includes various photographs, paintings, and rare furniture from the Royal Collection. Some of these combination tours cost a princely penny and book up quickly, but the Changing the Guard ceremony is free and takes place every morning at 10:45. Make sure to get there early for the best view.

You've been on your best behavior inside the hallowed halls of church and state. Now it's time for a little fun. There's no better way to cap off a day in London than dinner and a show in the West End, home to some of the best theater, restaurants, and nightlife in the world. This large, bright, buzzy district is an embarrassment of riches when it comes to places to eat, drink, and be merry. 

If you're in the mood for a warm, cozy English pub, try the French House, a watering hole for writers, artists, actors, and aristocrats since 1891. Two blocks down, you can rub elbows with Fleet Street journalists inside the Coach & Horses, which calls itself "The West End's Best-Known Pub." For modern British cuisine in a beautiful terraced restaurant in the heart of Covent Garden, try the Ivy Market Grill, which offers a special theater dinner menu and adorns its creamy walls with photos of actors, Sardi's style. Nearby, The Cross Keys pub is also filled with eclectic pop culture memorabilia and its handsome exterior overflows with plants. If you'd like a pint next to beautiful stained glass windows, head to The Champion. For a Sunday roast next to a roaring fireplace, try Pivot.

The West End also includes Chinatown, whose lantern-strewn streets offer delicious spots like grand dim sum hall Gerrard's Corner, Cafe TPT for Cantonese food, Speedboat Bar for Thai food, and much, much more.

A West End performance is the perfect grand finale to a dramatic day. The West End competes with Broadway as the world's premiere theater district, and many argue that it comes out on top with a wider selection of plays and ticket prices that are, on average, three to five times cheaper. Still, prices are rising, and newer, buzzier shows are bound to cost a little bit more. 

Popular new releases include "Stranger Things: The First Shadow," the prequel to the blockbuster Netflix show; "Six The Musical" about the six wives of Henry VIII, and new productions of "Waiting for Godot," "Cabaret," "Kiss Me, Kate," and "Romeo and Juliet." Popular new musicals include "Back to the Future," "Tina: The Tina Turner Musical," and "Kathy & Stella Solve a Murder!" about true crime podcasters who end up in a real-life mystery; "Next to Normal," about a woman suffering from bipolar disorder; and "Standing at the Sky's Edge," about three generations living in a low-income council flat.

Many old classics are still selling out, like "Hamilton," "Matilda the Musical," "Les Misérables," "The Phantom of the Opera," "Wicked," "Frozen The Musical," "The Book of Mormon," and "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child." If you're overwhelmed by choice, try seeing what's playing at some of the West End's more illustrious theaters, like Theatre Royal, which opened in 1663 and is the oldest theater in London, or the palatial Palladium or colossal Coliseum, the largest in the West End.