London guide · 18 August 2026 · 3 min read

48 hours around Hyde Park and Oxford Street: a local itinerary

Everything in this itinerary starts at Marble Arch and is walkable, or one short tube stop away. It is the weekend we suggest to guests staying with us for the first time.

Tree-lined avenue in Hyde Park, London, in autumn light

Day one, morning: Hyde Park before the crowds

Enter the park near Marble Arch at around eight and walk south along the Serpentine. In forty minutes you can reach the Diana Memorial Fountain, the Serpentine Galleries and Kensington Gardens. Coffee at the Serpentine Bar, then out at Lancaster Gate or back the way you came.

Day one, afternoon: Oxford Street and Mayfair

Selfridges is a ten-minute walk east. Do the food hall even if you skip the shopping. From there turn south into Mayfair: Mount Street, Brown Hart Gardens and the Wallace Collection, which is free, rarely busy and one of the best small museums in Europe.

Day one, evening: dinner close to home

Two directions from Connaught Village. West to Edgware Road for Lebanese mezze and late-night cafés, or east to Marylebone for a quieter table. Both are under fifteen minutes on foot, which is the point of staying here.

Day two, morning: Marylebone and Regent's Park

Marylebone High Street on a Sunday has a farmers' market, bookshops and a slower pace than the West End. Continue north and you are in Regent's Park within twenty-five minutes of the front door.

Day two, afternoon: Notting Hill and Portobello

Two stops on the Central line from Marble Arch, or a thirty-minute walk through Bayswater. Portobello Road is at its best on a Friday or Saturday morning; the antiques end near Westbourne Grove is calmer than the tourist stretch.

Day two, evening: theatre or river

Marble Arch to the West End theatres is fifteen minutes by tube and about twenty-five on foot along Oxford Street. If you would rather stay outdoors, take the Central line to St Paul's and walk the Millennium Bridge at sunset.