South London Attractions

There are a great many attractions to tempt day trippers to ultra-hip Greenwich, the historic village that sits on a sharp bend of the Thames’s south bank. Chief among these are the Cutty Sark, Royal Museums and Royal Observatory, but there’s loads more to enjoy here. 

Take a stroll around Greenwich Market and sample some of the wonderful street food here while you’re at it, and take in fine city views from Greenwich Park. 

But, most of all, don’t miss the chance to take a stroll beneath the Thames itself, via the awesome Greenwich Foot Tunnel. This marvel of early 20th-century engineering is 1,215 feet of cast-iron, concrete, and white-glazed tiles, set 50 feet beneath the surface of the river. Emerge at the southern tip of the Isle of Dogs for spellbinding views back across the Thames to the Royal Observatory.

Named for the huge glass structure that was relocated here from Hyde Park following the Great Exhibition in 1851 (but sadly now long gone), Crystal Palace Park is a typical Victorian pleasure garden that retains many of its playful original features and quirks. 

And what could be more quirky than uncanny dinosaur sculptures? You’ll find these hilariously ghastly behemoths basking around the park’s lake, and their uncanniness is at least charming enough to warrant a few snaps.

Once your camera roll is full, stroll the park’s curvaceous lanes, taking in replica sphinxes, haunted statues, a cool maze, and the Crystal Palace Bowl.

You’ll often find that London’s smaller museums are its most interesting. Sure, they may not boast the tourist-drawing big hitters, but that just means the queues will be non-existent. 

The Horniman proves this theory with its fascinating collection of 350,000 anthropological artifacts, including Asian puppets, European wind instruments, Navajo textiles, and more. 

Equally eye-popping is the natural history section, where the menagerie of taxidermy beasts of yore includes an overstuffed walrus - the museum’s mascot. He’s been around since 1901, as long as the museum itself. Eagle-eyed snappers will also not want to miss the ‘Horniman merman’ – truly the stuff of nightmares.

Swimming outdoors at all times of year is a peculiar pastime of South Londoners, with the hardiest of swimmers frequenting the iconic Brockwell Lido right through the depths of winter. 

Let’s be clear: this Art Deco South London landmark is a) open-air and b) unheated, so you might want to consider visiting in the somewhat sultrier summer months, rather than during a January blizzard. 

However, nothing will earn you the right to that post-dip hot chocolate (with extra marshmallows) faster than a 40°F dip in your smalls. To those brave few, we salute you.

Brixton’s bright lights and eye-candy street art will have your camera popping the second you step off the Tube. Pay homage at the shrine to Brixton boy David Bowie, then follow the huge neon sign down Electric Avenue to Brixton Village, humming the classic Eddy Grant hit as you go.

Inside this covered foodie mecca, trains thunder overhead and the heady aromas of jerk chicken and freshly roasted coffee intermingle. Roll the dice and take your pick from – deep breath – artisan pizza, belly-busting burritos, dirty burgers, Vietnamese street food, and more. 

But do yourself a favour and try the colorful modern Caribbean cuisine on offer. You won’t find cod fish fritters, fried plantain, and spicy rice better anywhere else.

Housed in a Grade II-listed early 19th-century building designed by Regency architect Sir John Soane, Dulwich Picture Gallery packs quite an extraordinary punch for its relatively diminutive size. 

Inside this South London gem, you’ll find one of the country’s finest collections of Old Masters, some 600 pieces, with a focus on French, Italian, and Spanish Baroque art and British portraits from the Tudor era to the 19th Century. 

Rembrandt, Canaletto, Gainsborough, Rubens, and Constable provide some of the best wow moments.

The second-largest and arguably most impressive of London’s Magnificent Seven Victorian cemeteries, Nunhead promises 52 acres of haunting landscape for tombstone tourists to explore. 

Think grand, vine-clad memorials to the great and good of 19th and 20th-century London, including inventors, engineers, MPs, and music hall legends of the Victorian era. 

As woodland has encroached on the cemetery over the years, so too has the native wildlife. Arrive at just the right twilight hour for spooky sightings of tawny owls, pipistrelle bats, and urban foxes.

One of London’s cooler but lesser-known markets, Bermondsey’s Maltby Street is the kind of place to arrive hungry and leave with a great big sourdough cheese toastie-induced smile across your face. 

There are cool street food stalls galore at this weekend market, which takes place beneath soaring Victorian railway arches, providing the perfect backdrop to your next set of IG food shots. 

Try waffles with fried buttermilk chicken, Venezuelan rainbow arepas, and black pudding scotch eggs, then hit up Bermondsey’s nearby ‘beer mile’ to sample some of the coolest craft ales in town, fresh from the brewery taprooms.

South London attractions don’t come much more manicured than Streatham Rookery. Set within Streatham Common, this hidden gem is one of the city’s finest formal gardens, its cascading terraces crammed with ornamental hedges, lily-covered ponds, stone sundials, and vibrant beds of wildflowers and herbaceous plants. 

Grab a mini picnic from the café and find yourself a quiet nook to watch the birds, bees, and butterflies flitting among the plants and trees. You might even be lucky enough to catch an open-air theatrical performance here in summer.