Last Updated on July 20, 2026 by Nasir Hanif
Every few months someone says London has become overrated.
Too busy.
Too expensive.
Too touristy.
Usually it’s followed by a list of cities you’re apparently supposed to visit instead.
I never really know what to do with those arguments because they tend to treat London like it’s one attraction instead of a city where nearly nine million people actually live.
Can London feel crowded? Of course.
Can it be expensive? Definitely.
But, played out? Not at all.
People Keep Visiting For A Reason
It sounds obvious but it’s worth saying.
Cities don’t keep attracting millions of visitors every year by accident.
People come back to London because the city gives different trips to different people.
One person spends the weekend looking around museums.
Someone else hardly steps inside one.
Some people are here for shopping.
Some are there for concerts and Dear Darling after-parties. Others for LFW. Others just to hangout.
London is versatile, is what I’m trying to say. Becoming played out is not even a possibility.
The Internet Makes Everywhere Feel Familiar
I think this is where some of the problem starts.
Before people arrive they’ve already seen Tower Bridge a thousand times.
Buckingham Palace too.
Covent Garden.
Big Ben.
The trendy restaurants.
That’s social media more than anything.
You scroll long enough and eventually every major city starts looking strangely familiar.
Then you visit in person and realise the screen flattened everything.
London isn’t really something you understand from photos.
You notice little things instead.
The sound of buses pulling away.
People eating lunch on tiny patches of grass because the sun came out for twenty minutes.
The strange mix of old buildings and glass offices standing next to each other like they never argued about it.
None of that really comes across online.
You Don’t Have To Rush
One thing I notice with first-time visitors.
They panic.
Not visibly, maybe.
But you can tell.
They’ve got twenty saved locations and three days to fit them all in.
By the time you finally stand there yourself, it almost feels familiar.
By the second day they’re watching the clock more than the city.
I’ve done exactly that.
Wouldn’t recommend it. London gets better once you stop trying to finish it.
You’ll fail anyway.
Might as well enjoy yourself.
Every Area Has Its Own Personality
People often talk about London as if it’s one neighbourhood.
It really isn’t.
Spend the morning around Marylebone and the day has a completely different feel than spending it around Soho.
Walk through Mayfair for an hour then head towards South Bank.
Again, different.
You don’t need someone to point the differences out either.
You just feel them.
That’s one reason people come back.
A second trip can feel surprisingly different from the first without even leaving Central London.
Yes, It’s Busy
This is usually the complaint.
Too many people.
Fair.
There are moments when Oxford Street feels like everybody in Britain decided to walk down it at exactly the same time.
I normally leave.
Simple enough.
Turn down another street and things calm down pretty quickly.
The nice thing about London is you don’t have to follow everyone else.
Half the time I’ll leave a busy street simply because I feel like it. Quite often that’s when the day gets better.
Expensive Doesn’t Mean There’s Nothing To Do
Another criticism.
Everything costs too much.
Some things absolutely do.
Nobody’s arguing with hotel prices.
Still, not every good day in London involves spending hundreds of pounds.
Walking costs nothing.
Parks are free.
A lot of museums are too.
Some of my favourite days in London haven’t cost much.
A hot drink and a walk can literally heal you.
I still remember sitting in St James’s Park with something I’d picked up nearby, watching people come and go for a while. Nothing special on paper. Still sticks in my head.
The City Keeps Changing
This is probably the biggest reason I don’t think London gets old.
It refuses to stay still.
Restaurants disappear.
New ones open.
I quite like that.
A city that’s finished surprising its own residents probably has a problem.
London hasn’t reached that point.
Not even close.
It Doesn’t Ask You To Travel One Way
Some cities almost tell you how you’re supposed to experience them.
You visit the famous square.
Take the famous photo.
Eat the famous dish.
Move on.
London is looser than that.
You can spend the whole weekend around food.
Or history.
Or shopping.
Or architecture.
Or theatre.
Or bookstores.
Or absolutely none of those.
A friend came over once and spent most of the afternoon digging through record shops.
That was the trip for him. Couldn’t have cared less about ticking off famous landmarks. Another spent hours wandering around galleries and barely shopped at all.
Neither trip sounds particularly exciting to the other person.
Both had a great time.
That’s probably the point.
Even The Weather Becomes Part Of It
I know.
Complaining about London’s weather is almost compulsory.
Some days it’s miserable.
No point pretending otherwise.
Then the sun comes out and suddenly every outdoor table is full within about fifteen minutes.
Parks fill up.
People start carrying iced coffees instead.
The second the weather improves, it’s a play where you can see the set changing in front of your eyes.
The weather changes the city more than people realise.
It also changes your plans.
Sometimes for the better.
I ended up in a tiny bookshop once because it started raining. Spent almost an hour in there, bought a novel I wasn’t planning on buying, and never made it to the place I’d originally been walking towards.
Still haven’t.
You Probably Won’t See The “Best” London
People spend far too much time chasing the “best” version of everything.
Best restaurant. Best view. Best museum.
I’m not sure those things really exist.
The best afternoon I ever had in London wouldn’t make much sense written down.
Coffee.
A long walk.
Lunch.
Another walk because nobody wanted to go back yet.
That’s basically it. See what I mean?
The City Doesn’t Really End
That’s another strange thing about London.
You can come back five times and still leave with another list for next time.
I used to find that slightly frustrating.
Now I think it’s one of the reasons people return.
The city never gives you the feeling that you’ve completed it.
There’s always another street.
Another restaurant.
Another museum you’ve been meaning to visit.
Another afternoon that ends differently than you expected.
So, is London played out?
It’s not. But, if you only go to the same 4 places every single travel influencer goes to, it might feel like it. Not London’s problem though, it’s more a social media issue.
The cure? Think “What would an influencer do?” And then do the opposite.
Walk instead of rushing between Tube stations.
Spend longer over lunch.
Turn down a street because it looks interesting rather than because someone online told you to.
You won’t see everything. But, you will actually see what makes London London.
