LONDON'S BEST LANDMARK
- MG
- Apr 27
- 9 min read
Updated: Apr 28
As nominated by Londoners, in our Time Well Spent Awards 2025
London has its fair share of iconic buildings, but do they all live up to the hype? If you're visiting our city, who better to trust than the people who live here... so put your faith in them and read on to find out what they nominated as London's Best Landmark in the Time Well Spent Awards 2025.
London Eye
South Bank
Ferris Wheels aren’t a new idea. In fact, the first appeared way back in 1893, for the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
But fast forward roughly a century and husband-and-wife team, Julia Barfield and David Marks of Marks Barfield Architects, decided it was the ultimate way to celebrate the turn of the Millenium. When the London Eye (originally called the Millennium Wheel for that very reason), opened on December 31st, 1999, it was the largest Ferris Wheel in the world and was intended to be a temporary attraction with a five-year lease.
But its success took everybody by surprise and the London Eye has not only survived for a quarter of a century, but has become an iconic landmark on London’s skyline.
While it’s undoubtedly great to look at, the Eye was designed to look from, and that’s where it really comes into its own. The wheel holds 32 capsules, each of which holds up to 25 people. It rotates at 10 inches per second, which is slow enough for the wheel to be in perpetual motion during opening hours, with guests boarding as it moves (though it can be stopped for disabled or elderly passengers).
Once aboard, you’ll get a birds-eye view of the Palace of Westminster, and on a good day that view will incorporate a 40km radius, meaning Buckingham Palace, all of London’s Premier League football stadiums, the Tate Modern, Crystal Palace park and even Windsor Castle can be seen from the top.
Tower Bridge
River Thames
It takes something special for a bridge to become a landmark. While most are a way of traversing a river or ravine, a few manage to really capture the imagination of the people who use it: The Clifton Suspension Bridge; San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge; Sydney Harbour Bridge.
And you can comfortably add London’s very own Tower Bridge to that list.
Often mistaken for London Bridge because, let’s be honest, it is THE iconic London bridge, the construction was first opened in 1894. It was, and remains, a feat of engineering. Shipping lanes meant a fixed bridge - such as those further up the Thames - would not be suitable in this area close to London’s docks.
History runs through the pipes at Tower Bridge, and as such it was recently opened as a visitors attraction, where guests can learn about its construction, the incredible engineering that goes into lifting the huge bridge and… Bella, the Tower Bridge cat. Yep, it’s great for children, dog-friendly and good for people who like strolling across glass walkways 42 metres above the River Thames.
The View from The Shard
London Bridge
Tourists and Londoners alike are fans of getting high in London. We know that, because whether it’s the London Eye, Tower Bridge walkway or any of the new skyscrapers cropping up in the city, planners are rushing to give us a vantage point to gaze across the capital.
None are more impressive than The View from The Shard, which hoists guests 68 floors into the sky in just 60 seconds and leaves them there to gawp at many of the other landmarks on this list. With 360 degree views of up to 40 miles on a clear day, you can tick off a whole lot of sightseeing up here, with the benefit of having some of London’s finest bars and restaurants just a few floors below.
If nothing else, it offers a great chance to explore one of London’s most interesting buildings, which set the tone for a decade of architecture and taught town planners that skyscrapers don’t need to be big, blocky and ugly.
Cutty Sark
Greenwich
It’s bizarre to think that a London landmark could be improved by a catastrophic fire, but that’s exactly what happened when the Cutty Sark caught ablaze in 2007. If that sounds like we’re being mean, we’re not. The fire was a huge blow to Londoners who loved that beautiful old clipper, but its brilliant restoration also gave historians the chance to rethink how we viewed the Cutty Sark. A new ‘dry dock’ was created beneath the ship, which now holds a cafe and event space where guests can get London’s first ever whale’s-eye-view of the historic clipper’s hull.
It’s fitting that we write this article on the day of the London Marathon, when the Cutty Sark takes its place as the most iconic landmark on the race route. She’s not something to run past, though - we recommend you head inside, take a long look around and bask in the atmosphere of one of the world’s best preserved historical ships.
Natural History Museum
South Kensington
From the second you set eyes upon the Natural History Museum’s Renaissance-style building, there’s something magical about a day trip to this London landmark. It’s grand in every way, from its gorgeous gardens to the building itself and the contents, which is estimated to include around 80 million items. Yes, you read that right: eighty million items, across five collections, including specimens collected by Charles Darwin himself.
The most famous is the blue whale hanging from the ceiling and the diplodocus cast it replaced in the main hall. There isn’t a child who grew up within the London boroughs who doesn’t remember standing beneath those awe-inspiring skeletons.
In recent years, the free-entry museum has started to expand its events programme, offering sleepovers, silent-discos and launch parties in the majestic main hall - all of which come highly recommended.
There aren’t many places you can see a dodo, a piece of the Moon, Neanderthal skulls and a an Iguanadon tooth all in one day, but Natural History Museum has all that and more,.
Buckingham Palace
Victoria
Speaking of dinosaurs, Buckingham Palace is home to… er… one of Britain’s most beloved institutions, the Royal Family. Well, technically speaking, it’s more their office as they all live at one of their other pads around the country, but Buckingham Palace stands alone as the most iconic of them all.
Sitting at the end of the Mall, a stone’s throw (don’t try it…) from Trafalgar Square and St. James’ Park, the old palace is as central as it gets.
Many tourists opt to stand at the front gates and gawp through the windows, hoping to catch a glimpse of the King at work. They’re usually rewarded with the odd cavalcade of Royal cars and the occasional changing of the guard.
But for those who want to take a look inside, there are tours throughout the year.
You won’t be able to tour the whole palace - King Charles still likes to keep his underwear drawers away from the prying public - but from July to September you can see the State Rooms, while January to May there are East Wing tours, where you can see the famous balcony and eye up the art of the Royal Collection. Even better is that you’ll be led through the Palace’s front gates and across the forecourt, as if you were one of those fancy types that get invited to royal events.
Shakespeare’s Globe
South Bank
One man who knew his Kings was William Shakespeare, and back in the 1600s, thousands of theatre-goers would’ve flocked to The Globe to watch plays like Macbeth, King Lear and The Henriad.
The original version, opened in 1599, was destroyed by a fire 14 years later only to be rebuilt and then knocked down in 1644. With that kind of luck, it’s amazing William managed to get his career off the ground, but it seems fitting that London pays tribute to the most famous playwright of all time, by recreating his theatre on the banks of the River Thames.
Shakespeare’s Glove is an open-air theatre painstakingly built using evidence of the original version between its original launch and that pesky fire - which is when Shakespeare was most active at the site. It sits just 750ft from the original location and stepping inside is like travelling back in time, which is kind of the point.
Don’t expect comfy seats and popcorn machines here - 700 of the 873-capacity audience stand or sit on the floor (you’ll bet known as ‘Groundlings’), while the posh lot can enjoy three tiers of raked benches, which is the only area not open to the elements.
The Globe is said to have the first thatched roof in the city of London since the Great Fire and with an entirely English oak construction with no structural steel to be found anywhere on site, the sprinklers and fire retardants are a welcome (but rare) modern addition to The Globe.
Old Royal Naval College
Greenwich
Perched up on the hill above the Naval College is the Royal Observatory, where time is measured from - you can even stand with your legs either side of Greenwich Mean Time, one foot in the Western Hemisphere, and one in the East.
So as well as being the official centre of the earth (don’t @ us, you can’t argue with science), Greenwich has also been the centre of Naval excellence.
The site played host to a palace and Royal Hospital (where none other than King Henry VIII was born and Lord Nelson lay in state), before becoming the beautiful Naval veterans home we see today.
It was originally the site of the Palace of Placentia, owned by Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester. But when he was arrested by King Henry VI’s soldiers for treason and mysteriously died in custody, the resulting rumours of foul play led to William Shakespeare writing Henry VI.
And it holds a unique place in British history. Not only was the infamous Henry VIII born here, but he spent over 4,000 nights at the palace - more than any of his other homes - and it was here that he suffered a jousting accident that many claim was the reason for his infamy. After being knocked unconscious for two hours (a sight so shocking, it caused Anne Boleyn to miscarry his baby), many historians claim the brain injury he suffered changed his personality forever - and not for the better. It certainly didn’t do much for Anne Boleyn’s future.
During the rules of various kings, the site was renovated, left to rot and then earmarked to become a palace ‘to rival Versailles,’ but it wasn’t until 1694 that William III handed it over to Naval veterans and commissioned Sir Christopher Wren to spruce the place up.
He did a cracking job, and guests today can enjoy the incredible Painted Hall, which is South London’s answer to Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel. There’s also the brilliant kids’ area, The Ahoy Gallery, plus a museum displaying naval artefacts from hundreds of years of Britania ruling the waves.
Royal Albert Hall
South Kensington
It takes a lot for a music venue to become one of London’s most iconic attractions, but Royal Albert Hall can deliver on that promise.
The Hall’s namesake, Prince Albert, came up with the excellent idea of building some permanent venues for the arts after the success of the Great Exhibition in 1851. Unfortunately, he died before the idea came to fruition and his wife, Queen Victoria, named the venue after him to give him a bit of credit for the brainwave.
The beautiful building is befitting of a man of Albert’s standing - a wrought iron and glass dome was created in Manchester and transported to London by horse and cart before being hoisted on top of the red-brick foundations.
It’s welcomed the great and the good over the years. The Suffragettes held meetings there, as did Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle and Albert Einstein; Lennox Lewis and Muhammed Ali have boxed there; and performers from Eric Clapton to Bob Dylan to Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, The Who, David Bowie and Adele. You name ‘em, they’ve probably played the Albert Hall. It’s also the annual host of that great bastion of Britishness, The Last Night of the Proms, so grab your Union Jacks and head over to the Hall - you won’t be disappointed.
Tower of London
Tower Hill
Tower of London has it all: Bizarre rituals, torture, execution, crows and bona-fide heroic soldiers dressed in mad hats and garish jackets. Yep, it celebrates every part of British history. The Tower’s allure is steeped in its past as the place where people went to die - or at least, to be tortured until they wished they were dead. If those thick, stone walls could talk… they’d probably just scream and do a little cry.
It doesn’t shy away from its gruesome past and Beefeaters will guide guests around the site, from Traitor’s Gate (where prisoners were rowed into the bowels of the Tower from the River Thames) to the torture chamber where they would be manacled, stretched on The Rack or compressed in The Scavenger’s Daughter.
Head down into the dungeons and hear about the past residents including Elizabeth I (before she became Queen), and Sir Walter Raleigh.
For a place linked so heavily with death, it’s surprising that only around ten executions have taken place within the Tower itself - most prisoners were led outside to the nearby Tower Hill so they could be dispatched in full view of the public - but it’s also notably where the Princes in the Tower famously met their gruesome end. Much of the Tower has now been restored and guests can visit Edward I’s bedchamber and catch a glimpse of the Crown Jewels, which have been on display since 1669.
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