I’ve lived in London since 2004 and believe me when I say, you’ll never see everything there is to see in London – which is what makes London such an exciting city. I’ve put together a whole bunch of unique and fun things to do in London, whether you’re a tourist or you live here. If you visit any of these after reading my blog, I’d love to know so please leave me a comment.
Coffee in a former Victorian toilet
One of the most unique things I’ve done – ever – is have coffee and a pastry in a former toilet! Attendant is a specialty coffee roaster with a few locations in London. By far the quirkiest is their shop and restaurant in Fitzrovia. It was a former Victorian public convenience for men (in other words, a toilet) so you can enjoy your coffee sat at a urinal! Attendant Fitzrovia is located just a few minutes walk from Oxford Circus Tube Station.
A tour of Highgate Cemetery
Call me weird but I love old cemeteries. They are so beautiful and peaceful. London has seven private cemeteries, which are referred to as the ‘Magnificent Seven’ and one of them is Highgate Cemetery in Highgate, North London. It’s a Victorian cemetery, which opened in 1839 as a solution to the overcrowding of graves in churchyards in the city. Highgate cemetery is divided into a West and East side and you can only visit the West side with an organised tour. And believe me, it’s so worth it! The Highlights Tour was absolutely fascinating and I learned so much.
On the West side you’ll find the Egyptian Avenue, the Circle of Lebanon and the Terrace Catacombs. We learned that London Zoo discovered a rare spider, called the orb weaver spider Meta bournet, in the vaults of the Egyptian Avenue!

And according to our tour guide, in the Terrace Catacombs is the grave of a famous doctor who inspired Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein! The Catacombs is also where people stormed the cemetery in the 1970s trying to find the famous Highgate Vampire, causing damage to some of the coffins.

The Highlights Tour cost £18 and took around 70 minutes. When the tour is finished, you’re welcome to explore a bit more on your own. Then you can walk across the road to the East side, show your ticket and visit the graves of many famous people, including Karl Marx, George Elliot, Douglas Adams, Malcolm McLaren and more.
Visit a floating bookshop
I’m a bookworm and I love a good bookshop. London has loads of great bookshops but surely nothing as unique as Word on the Water! Located in King’s Cross on the canal just past The Lighterman gastro pub, Word on the Water is a floating bookshop or a ‘bookbarge’. And it’s open every single day from midday to 7pm – apart from Christmas Day.

Word on the Water is packed full of books and has seating areas where you can sit down and read a book cover or just relax for a bit. They even have a wood burning stove, making it super cosy. It really is a London gem and an absolute must-see for book lovers.
Treasures Gallery at the British Library
I love the British Library, even though it took me about 15 years to actually visit it! It’s a great place to do some work at one of their desks or booths (yes, they have plug points), have a coffee at one of their cafes, buy something unique from their gift shop, visit an exhibition or have a wander around their amazing Treasures Gallery. Inside you’ll find a whole host of amazing books, such as a Gutenberg Bible, religious books dating back centuries, the Magna Carta, Shakepeare’s Folios, drawings by Leonardo Da Vinci, lyrics by the Beatles and much more. It’s free to visit too!
Crypt Gallery at Saint Pancras Church
Saint Pancras parish church is located just over the road from Euston Station. The church is the oldest building in the area and dates back, in parts, to the 11th century. The new parts of the church were built based on the Ionic Temple of the Erectheum on the Acropolis in Athens, Greece. Can you see the Greek influence?

Enter through the beautiful red doors to find a crypt that’s an art gallery! The exhibitions change but when I visited it was a really interesting exhibition called the Brainwashing Machine, which explores propaganda techniques in Russia. It was free to visit but you could make a donation if you wished.

Leake Street Arches
If you’re a street art lover, you’ll love Leake Street Arches. Located just around the corner from Waterloo Station, these former railway arches are now home to graffiti artists. It’s London’s longest legal graffiti wall and there’s also a few restaurants and bars.

If you’re lucky, you’ll even spot a graffiti artist at work! And if you fancy giving it a go yourself, you can take part in a graffiti workshop for £50 – fun for the whole family. When you’ve finished admiring the different artworks, be sure to visit Lower Marsh Street as it’s full of cool coffee shops, restaurants, food stalls (on certain days) and independent shops.

The Mosaic House in Chiswick
Artist Carrie Reichardt has turned her home in Chiswick into a colourful art gallery. Starting in 1990, the house has been covered in mosaics by various artists, to tell stories – often with a strong political message. Even the trucks outside are covered in mosaics.

Reichardt has had a long running art campaign against the death penalty so there are lots of references to American prisoners, particularly at the back of the house where you can see a memorial tribute to Luis Ramirez on the wall as well as the Angola Three who can be pictured above the window. The house is free to visit, but only the outside as it’s a home, not a museum.

The House of MinaLima
Whether you’re a Harry Potter or Fantastic Beasts fan or not, the House of MinaLima is a must-see in London! Miraphora Mina and Eduardo Lima started working together in 2001 to create the magical world of Harry Potter for the films. In 2009, they started their own company and called it MinaLima Studios – a hybrid of their names.
House of MinaLima is located on Wardour Street in the heart of Soho and is part-shop, part-museum. Inside you’ll find genuine props from the Harry Potter films as well as prints and other items that you can buy. It’s a really cool, fun, free and unique thing to do in London!

Unique exhibitions at the Wellcome Collection
The Wellcome Collection, near Euston Square and Warren Street Station, is a free museum and library that explores health and the human experience. There are always a number of different exhibitions on, as well as a permanent exhibition called Being Human. Over the years I’ve seen some really interesting ones, such as ‘Play well’, which explored the transformative power of play in childhood. The most recent exhibition I saw was ‘Jason and the Adventure of 254’, which tells the true story of the artist, Jason Wilsher-Mills’ experience of becoming disabled in the 1980s when he was a child.

The Wellcome Collection also has an amazing Reading Room, a cafe and a very cool shop where you can find really unique gifts.
Barbican Conservatory
The Conservatory in the Barbican is the second largest Conservatory in London – the biggest being in Kew Gardens. It was designed Chamberlin, Powell and Bon, the architects of the Barbican, and was opened in 1984. It houses around 1,500 plant and tree species – some of which are rare. There are also three pools, with fish such as Koi and rudd as well as terrapins.

It’s completely free to visit the Barbican Conservatory, however you do need to book a timed ticket online. Tickets are released a month in advance and it’s also open on Friday evenings. It’s well worth seeing!
St Dunstan in the East
St Dunstan in the East is a public park set in the ruins of a former church. The church was badly damaged by the Great Fire of London in 1666 and was then given a new tower, built by Sir Christopher Wren (who designed St Paul’s Cathedral). Unfortunately the church was bombed during World War II and the Anglican Church abandoned rebuilding it. So it’s now a beautiful, serene park which serves as an oasis in the city. Top tip though… avoid visiting between 12 and 2 pm as it’s filled with city workers eating their lunch!

Hill Garden and the Pergola
The Hill Garden and Pergola in Hampstead really is a hidden gem. Tucked away off the busy North End Way, you’d never know it was there! Hill Garden was once a private garden to a manor house that no longer exists. The Pergola was the dream of William H Lever, who was a philanthropist who made his fortune selling soap (and his company later became Unilever) and Thomas Mawson, a celebrated landscape architect. Today the Hill Garden and Pergola are open to the public and free to visit.

Roman mosaics that aren’t Roman
I love mosaics so when my sister sent me an Instagram Reel showing the mosaics at Shepherdess Walk I knew I had to seek them out. They are located in a park in Hoxton, about a 10 minute walk from Old Street tube station. They are slightly tricky to find, which adds to the fun!

The project was funded by Hackney Council to celebrate London hosting the Olympics in 2012. Artist Tess Hunkin worked with about 150 volunteers to create the first two panels, which are inspired by Roman mosaics and depict life in Hackney. Over the years more panels have been added, including one that shows two shepherdesses herding sheep, depicting how the area got its name.

The man trapped inside a clock
The Paddington Real Time clock is by Dutch artist Maarten Baas and can be found just outside Paddington station at 50 Eastbourne Terrace. The man trapped inside the clock is dressed in a 19th century style three-piece suit to reference Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the renowned civil engineer and chief engineer of the Great Western Railway, whose trains run from Paddington Station. Every minute the man has to wipe off the clock hands and paint the time. It’s pretty cool!
Once you’ve finished admiring the clock, why not explore Paddington? There are loads of restaurants, you can hire a Go Boat, explore Little Venice or even do a little guided boat trip to Camden Market.
So those are my suggestions for unique and fun things to do in London! I hope you enjoy them and let me know if you visited any.

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