Experiences
Five Days in London: The Itinerary
Five days is enough to stop sprinting between sights and start living a little like a local. A grown-up route through the East End, Soho and Brixton, one slow day out at Windsor, and a proper dinner waiting at the end of each one.
In short: our top picks are St. JOHN Bread and Wine, Rochelle Canteen and Quo Vadis. 6 places in total, chosen on merit, with the full reasoning below.
Three days in London is a checklist. Five days is something better: time to let the city breathe, to spend a whole morning in one neighbourhood instead of half an hour, to get on a train and watch the suburbs give way to fields. This is the itinerary we’d hand a friend who has done the headline sights before and wants the texture this time. It threads the obvious (you should see the river, you should walk through a royal park) with the things that actually make people fall for London: a market lunch eaten standing up, a pub at the top of a hill, a back-garden canteen you’d never find without being told. We’ve built in one full day out of town, because part of understanding London is leaving it for an afternoon and feeling the pull back. Every dinner here is real, bookable and worth the table. Pace yourself. The point of five days is that you don’t have to do everything before lunch.
| Place | Area | Price |
|---|---|---|
| St. JOHN Bread and Wine | Spitalfields | ££ |
| Rochelle Canteen | Shoreditch | ££ |
| Quo Vadis | Soho | £££ |
| Windsor Castle | Windsor | ££ |
| Naughty Piglets | Brixton | ££ |
| The Holly Bush | Hampstead | ££ |
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Editor’s choice
St. JOHN Bread and Wine
Why we pick itStart your first morning across from Spitalfields Market with a bacon sandwich and a coffee, then come back the same evening for the proper room. The menu is rewritten twice a day and reads like a dare (Welsh rarebit, devilled kidneys, that famous Eccles cake with Lancashire cheese), but everything lands with quiet confidence. A gentle, generous introduction to how London actually eats now.
Day one. Nose-to-tail British cooking, all day from breakfast
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Rochelle Canteen
Why we pick itYou reach it through a discreet door in the brick wall on Arnold Circus, press a buzzer marked Canteen, and step into a former bike shed turned dining room with a garden out front. Margot Henderson cooks a short, daily menu that changes with whatever's good. It feels like a secret even when it's full, which is exactly the right way to spend a slow afternoon in the East End before drifting down to the City.
Day two lunch. Seasonal British plates in a walled school garden
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Quo Vadis
Why we pick itSpend the day in the West End (a gallery, the bookshops of Cecil Court, a wander through Soho) and book in here for the night. Jeremy Lee has been turning out the kind of food you want to eat for years, and 2026 marks the room's hundredth birthday with a run of guest chefs. The smoked eel sandwich is the house signature for good reason. Stained glass, white tablecloths, and the happy hum of a place that knows exactly what it is.
Day three dinner. A century-old Soho dining room, gloriously alive
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Windsor Castle
Why we pick itTrains run from Paddington in around thirty to forty minutes (change at Slough), and the station sits right under the castle walls, so there's no faff at the other end. It's the oldest occupied castle in the world and you feel it: the State Apartments, St George's Chapel, the Long Walk stretching away into the park. Go early, do the castle in the morning, then lunch in the old town and walk it off across the Great Park. Closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so plan around that.
Day four. The day trip. A working royal castle, half an hour from town
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Naughty Piglets
Why we pick itBrixton is where you go to feel London's energy without the polish, and this twenty-odd-seat bistro near the Water Lane end is its sharpest dinner. French technique, a British accent, sharing plates that keep arriving, and a natural wine list with real personality. Pair it with an afternoon prowling Brixton Village market, where more than a hundred independent traders crowd the arcades. Tiny room, big night.
Day four dinner, or day five lunch. Small plates and natural wine
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The Holly Bush
Why we pick itSave your last day for north London. Walk up across Hampstead Heath to Kenwood House for the Old Masters and the view back over the city, then come down through the village lanes to this 18th-century pub tucked up a flight of steps. Open fires in winter, a proper Sunday roast, and the unhurried feel of a London that existed long before the skyline did. The right note to finish on.
Day five. A hilltop pub to close the trip, after a Heath walk
Before you book
Book the dinners as soon as your dates are fixed; the small rooms here go weeks ahead, especially for Friday and Saturday. One scheduling catch worth knowing: Windsor Castle shuts on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so slot the day trip onto a Thursday-to-Monday if you want to go inside. Get an Oyster or just tap a contactless card on the Tube and buses, and let the daily cap do the maths for you. Most of the markets and canteens here are at their best at lunch and quieter early in the week, so save the long weekend for the river, the parks and the dinners you’ve booked. Comfortable shoes throughout; London is a walking city dressed up as a transport network.
Common questions
What are the top picks in this guide?
St. JOHN Bread and Wine is our editor's choice: Start your first morning across from Spitalfields Market with a bacon sandwich and a coffee, then come back the same evening for the proper room. The menu is rewritten twice a day and reads like a dare (Welsh rarebit, devilled kidneys, that famous Eccles cake with Lancashire cheese), but everything lands with quiet confidence. A gentle, generous introduction to how London actually eats now. St. JOHN Bread and Wine, Rochelle Canteen and Quo Vadis lead the guide, with 6 places in total, all chosen on merit.
How does Lamplit London choose its recommendations?
Every place is chosen on merit, after first-hand visits where possible, with no pay-for-placement. Read our full method at https://www.lamplitlondon.com/how-we-choose/.
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