If you’re like us at Secret London, in 2022 you were armed with a London bucket list for the year. You were ready to go to town with a schedule of activities, events you would be attending restaurants and bars that you wanted to try. But how many did you end up making? So many new restaurants opened gallery exhibitions has lured us and heralded events that we missed the original list. Still, it’s a good start to the new year — looking at what you’re most looking forward to.
So we asked you, the reader of Secret London, what were you most looking forward to in London in 2023?
And you had a lot to tell us! Some of you had entire days planned while others had more general ideas of things to do and see. We then rounded up the best answers to make this: the authoritative one Secret London Bucket List for 2023. What do you add to your own list?
Credit: Shutterstock – Photo by GaudiLab
They have their sights set on London’s food scene
1st meal at 34 Mayfair
Get off to a strong start. It’s a really beautiful restaurant.
2. “Eat as much as possible [that] I’m not coming to Germany”
Well, good thing London is full of such great restaurants, and plenty of cheap eats to fill your tummy too!
3. A full English breakfast after an early morning arrival!
Oh, there are some great breakfasts available to you in London.
4. City Market
Yes, we can’t resist the food markets either!
Photo: AC Manley, Shutterstock
5. Falkenmoor
Nothing beats a great steak, am I right?
6. Heliot Steakhouse
7. Street food
8. Dim Sum at the Royal China Club
Yes, please, with ALL dim sum.
9. Afternoon tea at the Sanderson
There really is nothing better than a great afternoon tea.
You fancy a drink or two
Credit: Shutterstock – Photo by DavideAngelini
10. “Camden Pub Tour Booked”
And while you’re there, why not check out everything else Camden has to offer?
11. “Just a good gin bar…and a London feel!”
Maybe we have some recommendations for gin bars.
12. “A drink at Anchor Tap near Tower Bridge.”
You have to love London’s incredible pub scene.
13. “Gresham Martini at the Fortnum and Mason Bar at the Royal Exchange”
Suddenly we’re pretty parched…
You’ve already planned whole days through
14. “Participating in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in March with the volunteer Pandemonium Drummers, and then drumming for the London Marathon runners in April. Great atmosphere at both events”
We’re tired of just thinking about all this!
15. “Afternoon tea on a Routemaster and afternoon tea at Kensington Palace”
What, two afternoon teas in one day? Actually… That’s kind of awesome.
16. “I’m going to see Dermot Kennedy at the O2 on April 14th. We have already booked a hotel suite… with a terrace balcony as an early birthday present”
An early Happy Birthday! And what a great choice for taking part in London’s incredible live music scene.
17. “Paddington Bear Afternoon Tea and Cirque du Soleil”
18. “The Tower, Dr. Johnson’s house and the globe—in that order!”
Credit: Shutterstock – Photo by Kamira
19. “Back to Albert Primrose Hill and along the Regent’s Canal by waterbus – Little Venice to Camden Town”
20. “Shopping and Sightseeing”
You can’t beat shopping in London!
21. “Rosette Stone Tour at the British Museum and a few pints at my favorite pub, the Founders Arms Pub on the Southbank”
Credit: Shutterstock – Photo by Alex Segre
22. “Afternoon tea at Marco Pierre White’s in Leicester Square followed by The Unfriend at the Criterion Theater”
Oh, can we come too?
There are plenty of live performances on your London bucket list
From theatrical performances:
Photo: untitled, Shutterstock
23. The Gunpowder Conspiracy
After all, who doesn’t love a good old immersive experience?
24. “Visiting my son so he can finally see Hamilton, he’s so excited! … Also, we’re going to see the musical Back to the Future for the second time, it’s brilliant.”
25. Lemons Lemons Lemons
26. The Newsies
27. The Jersey Boys
28th Circus of Cirque du Soleil
29. “Ian McKellan in Mother Goose”
Photo credit: Mother Goose Show
30th ABBA trip
31st War of the Worlds
32. Watchmen on the Rhine
33. Moulin Rouge
34. “See & Julia before the final show”
On London gigs:
Photo: Shutterstock – Photo by kondr.konst
35. Killer joke
36. Motley Crue
37. Snoop Dogg
Credit: Shutterstock – Photo by MPH Photos
38. Def Leppard
39. Shapeshifter
40. Florence + The Machine
You are dying to see the sights in London
41. The mail train
42. St Pauls
43. Sky Garden/Sky Bar
Who doesn’t love being high in the air with a drink and an unparalleled view?
Photo credit: sky garden
44. The Garden at 120
45. “Kensington. My family lived and died in Lorne Gardens at the time and then in the cemetery to pay their last respects.”
What a beautiful, touching day that sounds.
46. Battersee
Hype est opening of 2022, Battersea Power Station is sure to be on everyone’s bucket list for 2023, especially with all that’s to come this year.
Credit: John Sturrock
47. House of the Queen
48. Kenwood House
49. London Canal Museum
50. Marche Museum
51. The Tower of London
52. “Take a picture next to the blue plaque on Danger Mouse’s mailbox.”
53. “To see spring blossoms in London Royal Parks and in Kew Gardens”
London is definitely home to some beautiful green spaces that will look amazing in Spring!
54 Canary Wharf Festival of Lights
55. London Transport Museum
Sounds like you’re interested in her late night sessions too!
56. The reopened National Portrait Gallery
57. The V&A
Credit: Shutterstock – Photo by Kiev.Victor
58. Highgate Cemetery
59 Elevator 109 Battersea
It sure offers a whole new perspective on London!
60. Coal drop site
Would you like to travel a bit this year?
Photo Credit: Pexels – Photo by Pixabay
61. “My friend just bought tickets to Mallorca for less than a travel ticket, so I think the first place I will visit is Heathrow.”
Well, okay, we’re not jealous or anything… We’re just driving to one of the many quaint villages and day trips around London!
62. “Getting out of London and the UK as much as possible during the year”
Not polite! But if you’re going to Berlin, you might want to check out the sleeper train route. However, if you just want to escape London, could we recommend the Peak District?
And there are many more experiences you can’t wait to check out:
63. Six Nations at Twickenham
Well, for those of us who didn’t get tickets, we’re going to go to one of those viewing experiences.
Credit: Shutterstock – Photo by Melinda Nagy
64. The Coronation Celebrations
65th Nature Photographer of the Year at the Natural History Museum
The Natural History Museum sure is stunning. We would also add the titanosaur exhibit to our bucket list!
66th Japanese Film Festival at ICA
67 Exhibition “Back to the Future”.
Great Scott! Now there’s an idea!
68. “Ax throwing! Yes, really. A gift experience from my daughter!”
If you haven’t tried it yet, we really can’t recommend ax throwing enough!
69. “Seeing the 2023 Christmas decorations and hopefully some snow”
Look, we love Christmas decorations as much as everyone else – but is this the first thing you’ll be doing in London in 2023? What are you doing until December? (Or October, when some Christmas decorations go up…)
70. “Rappel down the cheese grater building. So excited!”
You are braver than us, that’s for sure!
And some of you are downright silly…
71. “Buy a bucket!”
Yes, yes, but that’s not what we mean by a London bucket list. Although, come to think of it, I don’t have one for my apartment yet. So maybe this should be on my to-do list after all…
But there was a common theme that unified it all
Photo: I Wei Huang, Shutterstock
72. “Just to get there!”
Sometimes we forget how lucky we are to live in London.
Although we fully understand that this is also a bucket list item:
73. “Pay London Rent”
And if we are honest – this is a constant struggle for us too! But we love this city and now we’re ready to go. Let’s make 2023 the year we do Everyone the most at least some of our bucket list items in London!
