The Best Things to Do in London This Summer

London is a genuinely different city between June and September. The parks stop being shortcuts and start being destinations, the river fills up, and everything worth doing moves outside. The trick is knowing which categories reward planning and which ones you can simply walk into.

Here’s a category guide to a good London summer, with one shameless entry for our own party, clearly labelled.

The parks, properly used

Everyone knows Hyde Park and Regent’s Park; the summer move is the ones with a view or a swim. Hampstead Heath for the bathing ponds and the skyline from Parliament Hill, Greenwich Park for the Thames panorama, Victoria Park and Battersea Park for a picnic that doesn’t feel like a tourist attraction. Bring a bin bag; the city is better when people take their rubbish home.

Lidos and outdoor swimming

London has an unusual number of outdoor pools and swimming spots, and on a hot weekend they are the best value few hours in the city. They also sell out: most operate timed sessions you need to book in advance, sometimes days ahead in a heatwave.

The river

The Thames is the thing most Londoners underuse. You can walk the South Bank end to end, take a scheduled river boat as public transport, hire a kayak or paddleboard on the quieter stretches, or go out on an evening sailing. Being on the water rather than beside it changes the whole scale of the city.

Outdoor markets and street food

Summer is when the market circuit makes sense: food markets for lunch, vintage and flower markets for a slow morning, and the smaller neighbourhood weekend markets that turn into an afternoon of drinking outside. Go early for browsing, late for atmosphere.

Rooftops and beer gardens

Rooftop bars are the obvious answer and they work, just book, because walk-ins on a sunny Friday are a fantasy. A good pub garden or a canalside pub is often the better version of the same evening for a third of the price.

Festivals, open-air cinema and outdoor theatre

From June onwards the city fills up with music festivals in the parks, open-air film screenings, outdoor Shakespeare and free events on the South Bank. These are the most seasonal things London does, which means they are also the most worth planning your weekends around.

Free culture on a hot day

When it’s 32 degrees, the free museums and galleries are air-conditioned buildings full of world-class collections. Late openings (many run one evening a week) are the civilised way to do them without the crowds.

Our entry: an ABBA boat party on the Thames

We’re biased, obviously. But if you’re picking one big outdoor thing to anchor a summer weekend, a Thames boat party combines two of the categories above: being on the river, and a proper party outdoors.

Disco Wonderland’s London ABBA Boat Party runs across summer weekends: DJs playing ABBA, disco and party classics all sailing, bars onboard, an open-air upper deck, and Tower Bridge, The Shard, St Paul’s and the London Eye arriving one after another. Day sailings are a disco in the sunshine; evening sailings catch the sunset and carry on under the city lights. Tickets are £25 Early Bird and £30 General Release via FIXR, groups of ten or more save 15%, and sailings are 18+ departing normally from Tower Millennium Pier (check your ticket; the boarding point can occasionally change).

Three rules for a good London summer

• Book the weather-dependent things early. Lidos, rooftops, river events and festivals all sell out before the forecast is even out.
• Keep one day unplanned. The best London summer days are the accidental ones.
• Get on the water at least once. Even if it isn’t with us.

If it is with us: here’s what the sailing is like, and here are the dates.