If I Only Had 24 Hours Left in London — This Is Exactly How I'd Spend Them

By Isa | IsaUnpacked

London is the kind of city where you could spend weeks and still feel like you've barely scratched the surface. There's always another neighbourhood to explore, another market to wander through, another restaurant someone insists you have to try. But sometimes you don't have weeks. Sometimes you have one day, maybe you're passing through, maybe it's your last day before heading home, maybe you just want to make the most of every single hour. So I asked myself: if I only had 24 hours left in London, what would I actually do?

Not the tourist checklist. Not the things you're supposed to do. The things I'd genuinely choose if I could only pick a handful. And it came down to two things a hidden restaurant that I go back to every single time, and a West End show that completely blew me away.

Getting Around

One of the things I love most about London is how easy the Underground makes everything. You don't need a car, you don't need to plan complicated routes you just tap in, hop on, and the whole city opens up. For this particular day, I started at Waterloo, which is one of the main stations if you're coming in from outside London, and everything I did was connected by just a couple of Tube changes. If you've never used the Underground before, honestly don't overthink it. It's straightforward, it's fast, and it gets you everywhere you need to be.

The Hidden Restaurant — Chew Fun

From Waterloo, I took the Tube to Embankment, switched onto the Circle line to Aldgate, and from there it's a short walk to one of my absolute favourite places to eat in London: Chew Fun.

This little restaurant is tucked away down an alleyway, and unless someone tells you about it, you'd walk straight past without ever knowing it was there. That's part of what makes it so special it feels like a proper hidden gem, the kind of place you want to keep to yourself but also can't help telling everyone about.

The concept is what really sets it apart. Everything is completely customisable, you choose your noodles, your meat, your spice level, your toppings, so every single bowl is built exactly the way you want it. It's not one of those places where you pick from a set menu and hope for the best. You're designing your own meal from scratch, and that makes the whole experience feel so personal.

I always go for the same thing: double beef rice noodles with the beef soup and their secret sauce. For me, that's the perfect combination. The broth is rich and warming, the noodles have this lovely soft texture, and the double beef means you're getting a proper, filling bowl. They also give you sauces on the side so you can adjust everything to your own taste as you eat, which I love. It's one of those meals where you start eating and you don't look up until the bowl is empty.

The portions are huge too genuinely big enough that you won't need to think about food again until late in the evening. It's the kind of lunch that carries you through an entire afternoon of walking, exploring, and Tube-hopping without your stomach complaining once.

If you're ever in London and want somewhere less obvious but genuinely amazing, somewhere the locals actually eat rather than the places that show up on every "top restaurants in London" list, Chew Fun is the one. I go every time I'm in the city, and it has never once let me down. I honestly think it might be my favourite restaurant in all of London, and I don't say that lightly.

A West End Musical — Hamilton

After lunch, I took the Underground from Aldgate East to Victoria, and from there it was time for one of the most iconic London experiences you can have: a West End musical. And not just any musical, Hamilton at the Victoria Palace Theatre.

If you've never been to a West End show before, let me tell you, the experience starts before the curtain even goes up. The Victoria Palace Theatre is a stunning building from the outside, and once you step inside, it's even more impressive. Multiple levels, beautiful interiors, bars and little refreshment areas dotted around the building everything about it makes you feel like you're about to see something special. I obviously had to grab some popcorn and a drink before taking my seat, because that's just part of the ritual at this point.

And then the show itself. Hamilton is one of those musicals that you hear so much about that you wonder if it can possibly live up to the hype. I can tell you now it absolutely does. The energy from the very first number was electric. The vocals were incredible, the acting was so powerful that you forgot you were watching performers on a stage, and the way the story is told through the music makes it feel completely different from any other musical I've seen.

You could really feel how much the cast loved what they were doing, and that passion came through in every single scene. There were moments where the whole theatre was completely silent because everyone was so absorbed in what was happening, and then moments where the energy was so high it felt like the room was vibrating. It's the kind of show that gives you goosebumps and then makes you laugh five minutes later, and by the end of it I was just sitting in my seat processing everything I'd just watched.

London's theatre scene is genuinely world-class, and the West End is one of the best places on the planet to experience live performance. If you're ever in London, even for just a day, even if theatre isn't usually your thing, I really think you should see at least one show. There's something about being in a historic theatre, surrounded by hundreds of other people, all watching the same story unfold live in front of you, that you just can't get from a screen. It stays with you in a completely different way.

Why This Is My Perfect London Day

I've been to London enough times now to know what I'd miss most if I couldn't come back. And it's not the obvious landmarks, it's not Big Ben or the London Eye or Buckingham Palace. Those are all lovely, and if it's your first time you should absolutely see them. But the London that I love, the London that keeps pulling me back, is made up of smaller, more personal things.

A bowl of noodles in a hidden alleyway that I've been coming back to for years. A seat in a beautiful old theatre watching a cast pour their hearts into a performance. The feeling of tapping through the barriers at a Tube station and knowing exactly which platform to head to because this city has started to feel familiar. That's my London.

If you've only got a day, my advice would be this: don't try to do everything. Don't run around ticking off a list and end the day exhausted and feeling like you didn't actually enjoy any of it. Pick two or three things that genuinely excite you, give them your full attention, and let the city fill in the gaps. Walk a little slower than you think you should. Sit down when something catches your eye. Let yourself get a bit lost on the way to wherever you're going.

London is one of those cities that rewards you for slowing down, even when everything around you is moving fast. And if you're ever here with 24 hours to spare, I hope you find your own version of what I found a hidden restaurant, a show that moves you, and the feeling that one day was somehow exactly enough.

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