London in 4 days

Westminster Abbey is a thousand years of English history under one Gothic roof: every monarch since William the Conqueror has been crowned here, and Newton, Darwin and Dickens rest in Poets' Corner — a whole nation gathered in one nave. The ticket costs ~£31 (~€36) with the audio guide included, and the strategy is the one for all big entrances: booked online it costs less and skips the queue, and with the first slot the nave is almost yours. Two hours fly by among tombs, chapels and choirs: it's the densest stop of the trip, placed first on purpose, on fresh legs. On the way out, Parliament Square and Big Ben are five minutes on foot.

Suggested time here: 2h 10m

Big Ben is the world's most famous clock tower, freshly restored — and it should be said straight away, honestly: the inside of the Elizabeth Tower can only be visited on tours booked months in advance, so you do as Londoners do and admire it from outside, nose in the air. Parliament Square is the right spot for it: in the square the statues of Churchill, Gandhi and Mandela look at one another, and Parliament stretches along the river next door. Half an hour of photos and history, then the river: you cross Westminster Bridge, with the outline of Parliament opening up over the water — fifteen minutes that justify the morning on their own.

Suggested time here: 45 min

Lower Marsh is the market street behind Waterloo station, the one where the area's office workers have lunch — the most reliable signal there is. On weekdays the street-food stalls cook half the world for £8-10, and the independent cafés do the rest: you choose with your nose, eat wherever you land and spend little, two steps from the great wheel. It's the London lunch rule applied to the letter: the money saved on the free museums gets reinvested at the table, but at midday the table means a market. The London Eye awaits: ten minutes on foot and you're boarding.

Suggested time here: 1h 35m

The London Eye is the great wheel on the Thames: a full turn takes 30 minutes, and at 135 metres the view holds Parliament, the Thames and the City in a single curve. The advice is all financial: online, tickets start at ~£29 (~€34), while at the gate on busy dates they reach ~£40 — booking always pays, and the fixed time also gives the afternoon its rhythm. From up there you recognise the abbey and the bridge of the morning: it's your day seen from above. Then back to the water: along the Queen's Walk and over the Golden Jubilee Bridge, the walkway with the best view of the river, fifteen minutes towards Trafalgar Square.

Suggested time here: 1h 30m

The National Gallery is one of the world's great picture galleries, overlooking Trafalgar Square — and entry costs nothing: Van Gogh's Sunflowers, Turner, Piero della Francesca, all free. It's London's stroke of luck, and it changes the very way you visit: no marathons to amortise, no guilt over the rooms you skip. An hour and a half in the ones you love most is the right measure — coming back would be free tomorrow too, a luxury only this city offers. On the way out, the West End evening begins two steps away: Chinatown and its dinner are seven minutes on foot.

Suggested time here: 3h 8m

Gerrard Street's red lanterns light up the Chinatown evening: lacquered duck in the windows, dim sum, ramen, all at prices the surrounding West End can only dream of. The rule for choosing is the usual one, and here it works every time: go in where the room is full of Chinese families, not where the menu has the most photos. It's the right dinner for the first day: lively, generous and honest, two steps from the theatres — and on the walk home the illuminated West End serves as dessert. Tomorrow the register changes: the City, the dome of St Paul's and the Tower wait on the other side of the river.