One of the best things about London is that there’s so much to do. One of the worst things about London is that there’s so much to do. It’s a plus and a minus, with the city giving us so many options it can be overwhelming. But on the rare occasion I find myself in town on a weekend, I have a bit of a ritual. It makes a perfect Saturday in London, and it goes like this.
Perfect Saturday in London
I start my day in Chelsea‘s Duke of York Square, where there’s a weekly market on Saturdays.
A maze of vendors sells everything from duck confit sandwiches to decadent chocolate cakes. Locals and visitors browse the stalls, sampling Italian white truffle oil and English Wyfe of Bath cheese.
The market is big enough to offer a lot of variety, but small enough not to overwhelm. On sunny days, it’s the ideal place to enjoy oysters and champagne to the sound of live music played by street performers.
Saatchi Gallery
Right by the Duke of York Square market is the Saatchi Gallery, where I usually end up next.
The contemporary art museum offers free entry, and its exhibitions change regularly enough that there’s always something new to see when I’m visiting on a perfect Saturday in London.
From Warhol to Weiwei, the gallery exhibits a range of contemporary and modern works by artists from all over the world.
King’s Road and Sloane Square
When I’ve had my fill of art, I usually do a bit of shopping along the King’s Road and Sloane Square until I’ve worked up an appetite again.
From Anthropologie and J.Crew to Reiss and Peter Jones, it has more than enough stores to entertain.
When I’m ready for a break, I pop into Cuisine de Bar, the London branch of my favorite breakfast place in Paris. Back when it opened, I was so excited that I wanted to move in.
It’s always busy for breakfast and lunch on the weekends, and I can’t get enough of their Welsh rarebit tartine.
South Kensington
My perfect Saturday in London continues with a walk up Sloane Avenue and past the pretty boutiques on Draycott Avenue and Walton Street.
Eventually I reach Cromwell Road and find myself by the Victoria & Albert Museum, Natural History Museum, and Science Museum.
I’m spoiled for choice with three of London’s largest and best museums in front of me, another symptom of the city’s tendency to offer too many temptations.
I usually pop into whichever one I’m in the mood for, whether it’s fashion at the V&A, the giant sequoia tree from California at the Natural History Museum (hey, I get homesick), or the evolution of flight at the Science Museum.
All three South Kensington museums offer free entry, so I can spend as much or as little time in them as I like.
Hyde Park
Later, I emerge museum fatigued. It’s nothing a rest in Hyde Park can’t cure, though.
I continue my perfect Saturday in London by walking up Exhibition Road in South Kensington and recharging in the green fields while the paddle boats go by on the Serpentine.
If there’s still time left when I’m walking around again, I head northwest through Kensington Gardens and into Notting Hill.
Notting Hill
There’s no shortage of energy in Notting Hill, and I spend the rest of my perfect Saturday in London exploring the Portobello Road Market and meeting friends for dinner at one of the many good restaurants and pubs in the neighborhood.
Often the night continues at the buzzy upstairs bar at The Oak or the hilariously kitsch basement that is Trailer Happiness.
Perfect Saturday in London and Beyond
By the time my perfect Saturday in London comes to an end, I’m both thoroughly exhausted and completely overwhelmed by how much the city has to offer.
And when I think about how this is only one tiny corner of it, I realize for the millionth time that I could spend the rest of my life in London and have a different perfect Saturday every weekend. But for now I’ll stick with this one.
How about you? What’s your perfect Saturday in London?
Find this post helpful? Buy me a coffee!
New here? Join thousands of others and subscribe to the A Lady in London blog via email.
Pin it!
30 Comments on Lady’s Guide to the Perfect Saturday in London
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Wow! All in one day? I am impressed! London is an amazing city. I was just there a month ago, and already keen to get back!
Yeah, it’s a long day, but a good one!
Ah your perfect Saturday sounds so much like my Wednesday this week – I had a stroll and shopping session around The Duke of York Square and Kings Road, before popping into the V&A to take some outfit photos, then to Saatchi Gallery for the opening of their new Hermes exhibition. It seems that great minds think alike! 😉 Enjoy your weekend lovely x
Nice! Sounds like a good day!
This sounds like the perfect Saturday, and it’s exactly the sort of thing I like to do when I have a day to myself in London while my husband watches football matches.
Nice! Glad you like it.
One of the things I love about London is that most of the museums (including the V&A) have no required admission fee, just a donation box, so you can pop in if you have 20 minutes to kill, and donate whatever you think is fair.
Yeah, I love that. It’s so nice to not have the pressure of spending lots of time in the museums.
What a perfect day. Perhaps I’ll copy it when I’m in London in two weeks 🙂
Yeah, you should!
I LOVE this post Julie – makes me feel so nostalgic as I spent years studying at university on Exhibition Road so all these places are familiar though would you believe in all these years, I’ve never actually been inside the Saatchi gallery! I’m definitely going to try and spare a Saturday to relive all these sights 🙂
Thanks! I hope you enjoy the Saatchi Gallery!
those picnic tables next to the river look amazing – what’s the name of the pub? Would love to take my mom there next week when she visits us in Barnes.
It’s just the cafe next to the Serpentine. I don’t know the name, but you can miss it!
Wisteria season is just the best time of year — I can’t get enough of those beautiful blossoms.
Sounds like you’ve got the perfect weekend planned out =)
xo
Yeah!
My perfect day: Stroll around Trafalgar Square and take some photos, pop into the National Portrait Gallery and afterwards grab a sandwich at the Pret A Manger nearby and eat that on the steps of St. Martin in the Fields. After that, take a stroll down Whitehall and see if the guards at Horse Guards are doing anything interesting. Then head down to Whitehall Gardens to take some more photos, ending up sitting on a bench on Embankment, taking more photos. Perfection!
Nice!
Oh, this looks amazing!! I really need to make it to London sometime soon. Thanks for the suggestions 🙂
You’re welcome!
I would say that mine is fairly similar to yours. I’d start the day with breakfast at The Good Life Eatery and take some of their delicious peanut butter cups to go. I’d then make my way to the V&A and have a relaxing browse around there. If I was there for long enough I’d make time for tea and a slice of their delicious lemon cake. A walk through Hyde Park is a must every time I’m in London. I think I’d then hop on a tram and go to Covent Garden to browse a few shops and find somewhere to eat.
Sounds like a great day!
Posts like this really make me miss London. There is no such thing as too much to do – in fact, this is pretty much exactly how I’d spend my Saturday. And once I sat down with a beer by the pond, I’m pretty sure I’d never leave.
Yeah, London really has an amazing amount of things to do!
I would be exhausted after all of this! Good job there’s lots of little coffee shops and parks for napping along the way 🙂
Yeah!
Sounds wonderful – especially the Duke of York Square market! Would love to check that one out.
Yeah, the market is great!
Hello
You are just my type of woman!!
I am dee now retired was in fashion and still visit all my haunts!!
Berwick street market where all the fabric houses are, Great Portland Street, Greek village, fonthill road and more.
Love your blog just discovered, regards deexx
Thanks, Dee! I’m glad to hear that.