Top Hidden Gems Day Trips from London
Written by UK Hidden Gems Editorial
Updated 5 August 2026
The top Hidden Gems Day Trips from London include The Smallest Police Station in the UK, Churchill War Rooms, Pickering Place, Two Chairmen Pub, St. Margaret's Church, Neal's Yard, The Jewel Tower and The Vaults.
For all its grand landmarks, London hides countless small wonders for anyone willing to look a little closer. Many gather around Westminster: on Trafalgar Square you can spot the tiny police post built into a lamp holder, while a short walk brings you to the underground Churchill War Rooms beneath Whitehall.
Nearby stand St Margaret's Church beside the Abbey and the medieval Jewel Tower, one of the last pieces of the old Palace of Westminster. Slip up to St James's for the hidden courtyard of Pickering Place, or find the old Two Chairmen pub near Queen Anne's Gate.
Over in Covent Garden, the brightly painted Neal's Yard is a photographer's delight, and across the river the graffiti tunnels and bars of the Vaults keep the South Bank buzzing after dark. Whether you love history, quiet corners or a bit of street art, these spots reward a curious wander.
Here are eight hidden gems for a day trip from London.
The Smallest Police Station in the UK
Photo: John Salmon via Geograph.org.uk
Find the smallest police station Often called the smallest police station in the country, this tiny one-person post is built into a hollowed-out stone lamp holder at the south-east corner of Trafalgar Square. Little more than a round stone box with slit windows, it was created in the 1920s so that officers could keep watch over demonstrations in the square and telephone for help, staying in use until radios made it unnecessary.
Despite the nickname it was never truly a police station, with no cells and no desk inside. It still stands quietly on the corner, topped by its lamp, an easy curiosity to walk straight past among the crowds.
Churchill War Rooms
Photo: David Dixon via Geograph.org.uk
Churchill War Rooms The Map Room and Cabinet Room sit much as they were left in 1945, part of a warren of wartime offices preserved underground beneath Whitehall in Westminster. These original Cabinet War Rooms now pair with a modern Churchill Museum, which traces the wartime leader's life through personal objects and an interactive timeline.
The complex was pressed into use in 1939 and sealed up when the war ended, staying shut until it opened to the public in 1984. It is run as a branch of the Imperial War Museums, and you enter at Clive Steps on King Charles Street.
Pickering Place
Photo: Colin Smith via Geograph.org.uk
Seek out Pickering Place Reached through a narrow, low passage beside the wine merchants Berry Bros and Rudd, off St James's Street, Pickering Place is a tiny enclosed Georgian courtyard. Often said to be one of the smallest public squares in London, it keeps its 18th-century brick fronts, iron railings and gas lamps beautifully intact.
A plaque on the passage wall records that the Republic of Texas ran its London legation from here between 1842 and 1845. Tales of duels once fought in this shadowy yard belong more to its lore than to proven history, but they only add to the atmosphere of a genuinely concealed spot.
Two Chairmen Pub
Photo: Andrew Abbott via Geograph.org.uk
Pause at the Two Chairmen The Two Chairmen is a small, old back-street pub at 39 Dartmouth Street in Westminster, facing Queen Anne's Gate and just a stroll from St James's Park. Its name recalls the chairmen who once carried sedan chairs and waited here for fares in the 18th century, back when a royal cockpit stood opposite.
The listed building has bench seating and an 18th-century painted mural on its back wall. Do note that a separate pub of the same name stands near Trafalgar Square, so the two are easily muddled.
This is a cosy, characterful place for a pause between Westminster's sights.
St. Margaret's Church
Photo: Robert Lamb via Geograph.org.uk
Visit St. Margaret's Church Standing just north of Westminster Abbey, on the Parliament Square side, St Margaret's Church shares the same World Heritage Site in the heart of Westminster.
It has served as the parish church of the House of Commons since 1614, a Perpendicular Gothic building of the late 15th and early 16th centuries, with an early 16th-century Flemish east window linked to Catherine of Aragon. Sir Walter Raleigh lies buried here, while Samuel Pepys, John Milton and Winston Churchill were among those married within its walls.
It is free to enter, a working church quietly overshadowed by the Abbey right beside it.
Neal's Yard
Photo: D Williams via Geograph.org.uk
Discover Neal's Yard Tucked away in the Seven Dials area of Covent Garden, between Shorts Gardens and Monmouth Street, Neal's Yard is a small courtyard washed in bold colour. Its buildings are painted in bright hues and draped with plants, making it easy to miss yet irresistible once found, and a firm favourite for photographs.
Around the yard sits a cluster of independent shops and eateries, among them the wholefood and remedies businesses that grew up here from the 1970s. It takes its name from Thomas Neale, who laid out the surrounding streets in the seventeenth century.
It is a joyful splash of colour in the city.
The Jewel Tower
Photo: Roy Hughes via Geograph.org.uk
Step into the Jewel Tower A three-storey medieval stone tower near Westminster Abbey, across the road from the Houses of Parliament, the Jewel Tower is one of only two substantial buildings to survive from the old Palace of Westminster. It was built in 1365 for Edward III as a secure store for the king's treasure and plate, and it stands beside a surviving stretch of the palace moat, with original ribbed stone vaulting on the ground floor.
Over the years it held Lords records and then the offices that tested weights and measures, and it came through the fire that destroyed most of the palace in 1834. English Heritage runs it, with a small exhibition inside.
The Vaults
Photo: Robert Lamb via Geograph.org.uk
Walk through the Vaults The Vaults is a run of railway arches beneath Waterloo station, reached along Leake Street, a road tunnel that has become London's best-known legal wall for graffiti. Its walls are painted and repainted constantly, so the artwork shifts from week to week and sometimes from one day to the next, and it is free to walk through.
Off the tunnel, in the arches, you will find bars, street-food traders and an underground venue staging immersive theatre, comedy and club nights. It is a lively, ever-changing corner of the South Bank, at its liveliest in the evenings when the crowds arrive.
FAQs
Where can I find the smallest police station in London?
It sits at the south-east corner of Trafalgar Square, built into a hollowed-out stone lamp holder. Blink and you will miss it among the crowds, but it is a fun curiosity to seek out while exploring central London.
Are any of these London gems free to visit?
Several are. St Margaret's Church, Neal's Yard, Pickering Place, the graffiti tunnel at the Vaults and the little police post all cost nothing. The Churchill War Rooms and the Jewel Tower charge admission.
How close together are these London attractions?
Most cluster tightly around Westminster and the surrounding streets, so you can walk between them with ease. Neal's Yard in Covent Garden and the Vaults near Waterloo sit slightly further out but remain a short hop across central London.
Conclusion
London's biggest sights are only half the story, and a day spent seeking out its smaller marvels can be every bit as rewarding. Around Westminster alone you can find a police post in a lamp holder, the underground Churchill War Rooms, the ancient Jewel Tower and quiet St Margaret's Church beside the Abbey.
Wander a little wider and there is the hidden courtyard of Pickering Place, the old Two Chairmen pub, the colourful Neal's Yard in Covent Garden and the ever-changing graffiti of the Vaults across the river. Most sit within an easy walk of one another, so you can happily string several together in an afternoon.
From wartime bunkers to painted alleyways, these are the hidden gems for a day trip from London.
