by Jayson Mansaray
I have a rule when friends come to stay in London – I’m not going to take you to most of the capital’s famous tourist attractions. I know it sounds mean but if you are dying to see Buckingham Palace, you’re on your own, The Tate Modern I might come to, but The London Eye I’m not your date, St Paul’s Cathedral maybe and if you even utter the name ‘Madame Tussaud’ I’ll probably just scoff at you. It’s not that these aren’t great, or enjoyable, it’s just that when you live in a migratory city, one as iconic and full of sights as London, you tend to get weary of visiting friends and the inevitable overlap of the main sights.
This is why I found it hard to write a list of must dos, the kind of list you find on a travel website or city guides usually, the kind that would fit perfectly in this very travel section. But why cover the ground of 1000 journalist hacks, a million highly visited websites or a gap year photo album? Instead, I thought ‘what would be your top 10 things Jayson, what is it that you might want to do’? So, I thought and thought and I couldn’t get my thoughts to organise, to sequence, to remember past the inevitable post sightseeing wine. So, I decided to look back at things I had written before, London Calling columns from times gone by. These were often places I myself found curious, or that were on the road less-travelled or had a particular history that made how popular and visited they were irrelevant. But nostalgia is a funny thing, you go back and often you keep going, and going… and so I did until I couldn’t go any further.
It was 14 years ago, I had been living in London for four years, and my old boss and mentor, this paper’s very own editor Jennifer Merigan asked, seeing I was living in London anyway, ‘would I write a column about Britain’s capital city’? It was issue No. 234 when the first London Calling column was published in Have a Go News, and it’s where we start our journey for the first, and not the last, top five things London Calling has recommended you do in London.
The Churchill War Rooms

Barely a hop and a jump from Big Ben, the war rooms were used extensively during the Blitz, September 1940 to May 1941 when Churchill was PM. This fascinating complex of historic rooms can be seen exactly as they were in 1945. Highlights include the map rooms with original strategic markers still positioned while brilliantly graphic photos showed just how badly London was damaged during the war. Interestingly The War Rooms are connected to number 10, Downing Street, where the Prime Minister lives and located directly behind on Whitehall by a secret tunnel. There is a café down there too and entry gets you a free audio guide complete with descriptions and re-enactments; the latter being very amusing at times.
Churchill War Rooms, Clive Steps, King Charles St, London SW1.
The Horniman Museum and Gardens, located in South London’s Forest Hill.
The story begins with Frederick John Horniman, a wealthy Victorian tea trader who explored the world collecting natural history and curiosities. This obsession with collections was so determined eventually the Horniman family was forced to vacate their home and in December 1890 the former residence became the Surrey House Museum and the adjoining gardens were officially opened to the public in 1895. Now the Horniman houses a collection of 350,000 objects, specimens and artefacts from around the world, in galleries including natural history, anthropology, music and aquarium. The aquarium and taxidermy have garnered designated status which means the treasures it holds are considered of national and international importance.
Like the Pitt Rivers Museum (Oxford University) the Horniman’s collections appear to be arranged thematically rather than according to age or origin. This and the classic architecture, old school cabinets and high density of objects makes the Horniman an old-world museum of curiosities. The music gallery is incredible, a true living encyclopedia of instruments from around the world and throughout history displayed before your eyes.
Horniman Museum and Gardens, 100 London Road, Forest Hill, London SE23.
Museum and Gardens are free to enter.
There is a charge to visit the Butterfly House, Aquarium, and some events and temporary exhibitions.
St Paul’s Cathedral
For 1400 years there has been a working cathedral dedicated to St Paul and at 111m high the cathedral dome has dominated the London skyline; holding poll position as the tallest building from 1710 until 1962 and so becoming synonymous with English identity. Still an operating church where you can worship (closed Sundays for tourist visits) it is truly an awe-inspiring vista to walk into. Standing in the nave looking towards the choir you are overwhelmed by the vast beauty and epic scale. The real adventure is up 259 stairs to the Whispering Gallery, named so for the fact that you can hear someone whispering on the other side some 30 metres away (tried and tested). Another 119 steps and you arrive at the Stone Gallery, where you can experience the first 360° view of London. I took another 152 steps to the upper most point of the dome, not an easy walk but it is amazing because you can see the inner workings of the dome’s engineering, eventually arriving at the Golden gallery over 85 metres high up. This is not for the faint hearted, nor is it for those who suffer vertigo.
St Paul’s Cathedral, St Paul’s Churchyard, London, EC4
Somerset House
Somerset House, the neoclassical building designed by architect Sir William Chambers which dates from 1776–96 and has been refurbished as a centre for the visual arts. The first institution to move in was the Courtauld Institute of Art, including the Courtauld Gallery, which houses one of the most important collections of European painting and drawings in Britain. Somerset house offers free guided tours three days a week. But the real drawcard is just spending time in the epic Edmond J. Safra Fountain Court and chilling with a drink on the River Terrace.
Somerset House, Strand, London WC2, admission to Somerset House is free (you’ll need to buy a ticket for some exhibitions and events)
Covent Garden & Transport Museum

Nestled amongst London’s premiere West End theatres, Covent Garden was a Saxon trading port until the 13th century when a 40-acre site formed the kitchen garden for the Convent of St Peter at Westminster. The area lies between St Martin’s Lane (West), Drury Lane (East), Floral Street to the north and capped by Maiden Lane in the south. In 1540, six years after the formation of the Church of England, King Henry the VIII dissolved the country’s monastic properties in a dispute with the Roman Church. Part of the Convent Garden was given to the 1st Earl of Bedford and remained in the family until 1918. Today’s incarnation can most noticeably be attributed to the 6th Duke of Bedford who in the 19th Century commissioned a redesign of what was by then a thriving market. Old stalls were cleared and Charles Fowler designed a neoclassical market to house fruit and vegetable traders. He also included a new flower market in the East End corner which today accommodates the Transport Museum. The museum shop is my number one destination for quality London souvenirs rather than the naff trinkets you’ll find in high tourist destinations. It is also, a chance to see everything from a horse drawn double decker tram to the classic Routemaster as we know them.
Covent Garden, 14 James St, Covent Garden, London WC2, Transport Museum