They say the best cure for jetlag is to do something active upon arrival from a long-haul flight. They don’t tell you to hop on a bicycle, bleary-eyed, onto the bustling streets and backroads of London because that would be insane. But that’s exactly what my teenage son, Ames, and I did rolling straight off our overnight flight from Austin into the chaos of London streets on Breakaway Bike Tours’ Secret London Bike Tour. Spoiler: the secret was just how crazy fun and interesting it was to spend our first day there.
The 3.5-hour tour winds through old London Docks, canals, and hidden passageways including the sites of Harry Potter film’s Diagon Alley & Leaky Cauldron, a Jack the Ripper murder scene and The Double Decker Bus’s Leap of Faith. Breakaway Bike Tours’ afternoon rides start at 3pm, which is ideal for most overnight flight arrivals.
Plenty of time to retrieve your luggage, check into your hotel, or if you’re running late, they’ll stash your belongings during your ride. Wearing the same clothes we’d worn on the plane, we arrived with just enough time to wolf down a pizza to-go at a place near the bike shop.
Even though the difficulty level of the tour is listed as moderate, we rarely had to shift gears, as London terrain is fairly flat. The most challenging part was the nerves of steel necessary to cycle over bridges across the Thames River in (slow-moving) traffic with our handlebars just inches from a double-decker bus and keeping up with our guide through a roundabout or traffic light.
We certainly worked up an appetite, so after a shower at our hotel, we meandered over to our first proper meal at Westminster’s Old Queen Street Café nearby. OQS, as it’s known to locals, is a British Brasserie with an outstanding seasonal farm-to-fork menu.
For starters, we shared the Asparagus & Broad Bean Tarte Fine and the Fried Cod’s Cheeks. Ames enjoyed the Barnsley Lamp Chop and I, the Chicken Schnitzel and new potatoes with malt vinegar butter. The café’s fresh-pressed juice blends were just what the doctor ordered. As Ames was getting over a head cold, he opted for the Green Immunity Booster (a blend of celery, cucumber, kale, apple and lime) and since I was recovering from quadruple bypass surgery just 7 months earlier, I couldn’t resist the Heart Beat (apple, carrot, ginger and beetroot). Both were outstanding. Dessert included the Warm Bakewell Brioche (stuffed with cherry and almond Frangipane) and a Lemon Tart (with Orange Crème Fraiche, Meringue and Raspberry), which Ames allowed me one bite of each before polishing off both himself.
Continuing our Amazing Race-pace of day one, we started off day two with yet another bike tour, this time with Tally Ho on its Landmarks and Gems tour. Every aspect of the ride was quintessentially British from start (getting outfitted in tweed caps on our comfy Pashley bikes adorned with wicker baskets large enough to hold a load of laundry) to finish (at a pub for a pint of ale). In between was a carefree way to see the Changing of the Guards and the parade from insider best views without having to wait around. We’d whirl past mobs of tourists who looked beleaguered from standing and waiting, ringing our bells to make way for our own parade of bikes like we were in a scene from Mary Poppins. Our guide took us down riverside paths and local lanes to see Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, St James and Green Park to Banksy’s Graffiti Tunnel to try our hand at spray painting. Three hours later, we’d conquered London with a head full of tales and trivia of London’s most iconic sites.
We were left with plenty of energy in the tank to spend the afternoon at the Churchill War Rooms reliving WWII. Ames, who has previously declared he hates history, stopped to actually read exhibit descriptions and engage with the multimedia recordings. It was fascinating to both of us to step underground into a 1940s capsule that felt frozen in time.
Keeping in theme with Churchill, we took our appetites to one of his favorite haunts for dinner that evening at the Red Lion Pub. We feasted on its renowned Pie Sharing Board of mini pies of steak and London Pride, chicken bacon and leek, alongside cauliflower and Cheshire cheese, creamy mash, savory cabbage, leeks, peas and red wine gravy. Ames polished off his with classic sticky toffee pudding for dessert.
Day 3 began early with a stroll down to the water’s edge to London’s river bus service, Uber Boat by Thames Clippers from the Westminster dock to that of the Tower of London. Our Hop-on Hop-off 1 day ticket offered unlimited access to points up and down the Thames (with a ferry at certain docks to travel cross river) and the weather made it delightful with plenty of sunshine in late May.
We arrived at the Tower of London when it opened so we could beeline it straight to the crown jewels, as long queues form quickly by mid-morning. Our eyes popped at the blinginess of the Royal Collection’s over 23,000 gemstones. Afterwards, we enjoyed the Yeoman Warder tour where our Beefeater guide regaled us with history and fun facts about requirements to become a Beefeater and live on the tower grounds. 1000 years of rich stories abound from this famous landmark, which has served as a fortress, castle and infamous prison. This year marks the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, commemorated by a stunning display of ceramic poppies.
Heading west on the Thames to the Embankment pier and a 15-minute walk inland will take you to the Natural History Museum. Admission is free, though visiting exhibits charge nominal fees and reservations are recommended. The Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibit is not to be missed (through July, 2026), capturing the awe-inspiring animal world and conservation challenges.
Traveling with a teen can be challenging if yours is anything like mine, offering little input on what he was interested in seeing/doing on this trip. My approach was to offer a wide variety of options and go with the flow based on what Ames’s interest was. To my surprise, he was enamored with the stones and gems section of the museum for well over an hour, poring over every single glass table and bought two gemstone reference books in the museum’s gift shop. There’s something for everyone at the museum including these top weird wonders.
If you’re going to visit just one wax museum in your lifetime, you can’t top the original, Madame Tussaud’s London where you can learn about the wax figure creator herself and pose with over 150 lifelike figures, from the Royal family to your favorite celebrity in music, film, fashion or sports. Combo tickets will save you a few pounds, if purchased with the London Eye.
For one of the best times to visit the city’s iconic observation wheel, we opted for a sunset ride, offering shorter queues and that glorious golden hour lighting for photo keepsakes.
In just a few days, we’d barely scratched the surface of all London offers by bicycle, boat, foot, car and bus, but we both agreed, our glass capsule’s 360-degree, birds-eye view was the perfect mode of transportation to reflect on our fabulous few days in London.
