London does the usual tourist circuit well. The River Thames. Big Ben. Queue for three hours to see a wax figure, etc. But the UK’s capital also offers activities so strange and unknown that even seasoned Londoners raise eyebrows…
These are the hidden gems that somehow escape most people’s lists of unusual things to do in London. So if you’ve exhausted the conventional and want something off the beaten track, here’s where London gets properly Bizarre But True!
1. Soak In A Floating Hot Tub Whilst Cruising Past Canary Wharf’s Banking District
Picture this: you’re sitting in swimwear, submerged in 38°C water, champagne in hand, floating past some of Britain’s most expensive real estate whilst a guide recounts the grim reality of 19th-century docklands working conditions…
The London Hot Tub Boat Tour operates year-round on the Thames. The tubs are wood-fired, the water is changed after every single trip and you get waterproof phone containers so you can document yourself waving at confused onlookers from shore.
Groups cap at seven people maximum. Tours last 75 minutes. Heated changing facilities included. People reportedly cruise comfortably even in rain and snow too!
BOOK YOUR FLOATING HOT TUB EXPERIENCE NOW !
2. Feast In The Same Crypt Where Henry VIII Held His Three-Day Wedding Reception
The 600-year-old crypt beneath St Etheldreda’s Church in Ely Place has hosted feasts since 1509, when King Henry VIII celebrated his wedding there with guests dining on “Swans, Stuffed with Larks, stuffed with Sparrows”…
Today, you can book a magnum dinner in the same space. The original brick-vaulted ceilings remain intact. The atmosphere sits somewhere between medieval banquet hall and upscale restaurant.
This isn’t themed entertainment. It’s an actual functioning crypt converted into a dining venue, where you eat surrounded by centuries of documented history.
BOOK YOUR ANCIENT CRYPT FEAST EXPERIENCE NOW !
3. Witness a 700-Year-Old Gate-Closing Ritual That Was Only Delayed Once (by Nazi Bombs)
Yes, the Tower of London is standard. But what most of the thousands of daily visitors don’t see is what happens after hours…
The Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London has been performed every single night for at least seven centuries. The ritual follows an exact verbal exchange that hasn’t changed since medieval times.
At precisely 21:52, the Chief Yeoman Warder carries a candle lantern and the King’s Keys. When challenged by a sentry who shouts “Halt, who comes there?”, he responds with “The keys.” The sentry demands “Whose keys?” and receives the reply “King Charles’ keys.”
The ceremony was delayed once. Seven minutes. During World War II when a bomb knocked the Yeoman Warders off their feet. They subsequently wrote an apology letter to King George VI for the tardiness.
Between 40-50 visitors are admitted under escort at 21:30 precisely each night. Late arrivals are refused entry. Photography is strictly prohibited during the ceremony. The ceremony concludes at exactly 22:00 as the clock chimes ten, when “The Last Post” is sounded on a bugle and the Chief Yeoman Warder raises his Tudor bonnet and declares “God preserve King Charles”, followed by the guard’s response of “Amen.”
BOOK YOUR TOWER OF LONDON KEYS CEREMONY EXPERIENCE NOW !
4. Tour London’s Victorian Public Toilets Like They’re The Sistine Chapel
The London Loo Tour exists. It’s guided. And it’s an enthusiastic ‘movement’…
Participants visit Victorian-era public conveniences, learning about the social history of sanitation, the architectural significance of underground facilities and the engineering innovations that made modern plumbing possible.
This isn’t satire either. Tour guides deliver genuine historical context about how public toilet access shaped urban development, class dynamics and public health policy in the 19th century. Some of the facilities toured are still operational. Others have been preserved as historical sites. The experience attracts a surprisingly dedicated following of people who appreciate infrastructure history.
No visit to London is complete without a visit too the loos…
BOOK YOUR TOUR OF LONDON’S LOOS NOW !
5. Learn to Make Traditional Pork Pies From Scratch (Then Eat Your Creation)
The Traditional Pork Pie Cookery Class teaches participants to construct the hot water crust pastry, prepare the filling and assemble the iconic British snack from raw ingredients...
Classes run for several hours. You leave with both the knowledge and the actual pie you’ve made.
Unknown to most people, Pork Pies have very specific structural requirements. The pastry must be robust enough to stand unsupported. The filling must set properly. The jelly layer requires precise timing. It’s oddly satisfying to master something so quintessentially British and so completely overlooked by modern cooking trends.
So book your uniquely British baking experience now!
BOOK YOUR BRITISH PORK PIE MAKING EXPERIENCE NOW !
6. Explore London’s Unsavoury History Through Its Seediest Former Locations
The Naughty London Tour covers the capital’s less ‘wholesome’ past – brothels, gambling dens, criminal networks and the various vice industries that operated openly before Victorian moral reform…
Guides lead participants through areas that once housed London’s red-light districts, explaining how sex work, organised crime and underground entertainment functioned in London through different historical periods.
The tour doesn’t sanitise either. It presents documented historical reality about how London actually operated when moral codes were… somewhat different!
BOOK YOUR NAUGHTY TOUR OF LONDON NOW !
7. Enter The Magic Circle’s Headquarters (Where Women Were Banned Until 1991)
Take a peek inside one of the most secretive buildings in the whole of London..!
The Magic Circle Tour grants access to one of the world’s most exclusive magic organisations, founded in 1905 when 23 magicians met at Pinoli’s Restaurant and chose the name specifically because its initials “M.C.” matched those of founding member Martin Chapender, who had recently died aged 25.
The organisation remained male-only until 1991. Eighteen months before women were officially permitted, Sophie Lloyd joined by disguising herself as a man with help from fellow magician Jenny Winstanley, using the name “Raymond Lloyd.” When she revealed her gender after the rule changed, members voted to expel her, somewhat ironically, for “deliberate deception.” She was finally readmitted under her own name in 2025.
Tours include the private 126-seat theatre and museum. The collection displays props from Houdini’s famous acts, rifles used in bullet-catching illusions and the cup-and-ball trick Prince Charles used for his membership application in 1975.
Close-up magic demonstrations finish the tour, performed from distances of less than two metres. After the first Harry Potter film was announced in 2001, Magic Circle membership actually doubled as magic suddenly became “a lot cooler than it was before.”
Membership requires applicants to pass a performance examination in front of a panel of judges or submit a written thesis on magic and the select “Inner Magic Circle” is limited to just 300 members worldwide.
BOOK YOUR TOUR OF THE MAGIC CIRCLE NOW !
Book Something Properly Bizarre In London Today…!
London has enough conventional attractions to fill months. But if you want experiences that actually stick in memory, the weirdest things to do in London deliver something standard tourism can’t – and you’ll have far better stories than anyone who queued three hours for a wax museum..!
