There’s one thing that the current UK lockdown has done to, curiously, unite both Londoners and would-be-visitors to the city. That is, it’s ensured neither group of people has been able to discover, explore and enjoy its well-known and hidden delights, for many, many weeks. Indeed, if we’re going to get down to it, since the pandemic swept the world, it hasn’t been possible to have that full London experience as a visitor – or, indeed, as a proper Londoner – for a whole year, now.
But that won’t always be the case. One day the lockdown will end and *someday* the pandemic’s grip will be loosened enough so the world returns to something-like-normal once more. And when that happens it’ll be possible to return to the incredible metropolis that’s the Big Smoke; maybe discovering it anew, but doubtless basking in some of the pre-2020 easy-to-do London things that so many once took for granted.
So, what of those simple experiences on getaways In London that aren’t possible, right now? Which ones are you looking forward to? Here are what top our list…
Stop for a coffee in one of London’s best kept secrets
Small but perfectly formed, Neal’s Yard is a courtyard located in the Covent Garden area (lying between Shorts Gardens and Monmouth Street) where you’ll find a number of independent boutiques and cafés, as well as wonderfully colourful, blooming plants, ensuring it’s an absolutely perfect spot for idling away a half-hour or two on a coffee break come springtime.
Take a Walk Along Tower Bridge
One of the best recognised of London’s many icons, Tower Bridge really has to be experienced when you next visit the capital (whether or not you need, then, to worry about following the likes of the Montcalm Covid-19 update). Because if you’re experiencing it from a distance, allowing you to take in all its iconic majesty, or you’re actually stepping inside it as a public attraction, Tower Bridge is quite unlike anything else in the city.
A landmark on the outside, but a grand, fascinating example of ingenious Victorian engineering on the inside, it’s somewhere that makes for an unforgettable experience, that’s for sure. Moreover, while you can always freely walk along the bridge at road level (on its pavement), by visiting the interior attraction, you’re able to walk along the elevated walkways above the roadways – the advantage of this being it offers an ever better view of the London skyline from the bridge.
Experience Tate Modern’s Exhibitions
Housed in the vast, brutalist yet marvellously atmospheric space that’s Turbine Hall, the South Bank’s Tate Modern is rightly hailed as one of the world’s very finest modern art venues. This is where to visit in London – and so easy to reach from luxury accommodation like Montcalm Marble Arch hotel London – for everything from blockbuster exhibitions of works by globally revered artists to smaller, niche collections drawn from the cream of lesser-known British talent. Frankly, if you’re yet to go, it’ll take you just one visit to confirm why Tate Modern’s the most popular contemporary art gallery on the planet.
Take a Trip Down The Thames
Finally, if you’re not a London newbie but a regular visitor, then you’ll probably know all the major landmarks pretty well already, especially from vantage points on the South Bank, Embankment, Westminster Bridge and Waterloo Bridge. Now, although those panoramas never get old, there’s nothing quite like seeing the very best London has to offer from a different viewpoint – and that’s exactly what you get if you take to the River Thames via a boat taxi, boat tour or even on a day-long boat excursion. To say the views that it’ll give you are Instagrammable is putting it mildly, indeed!
