If you’re anything like me and the thought of visiting London’s V&A, or the Natural History Museum on a Saturday afternoon fills you with fear, you might like to try the quieter and smaller Horniman Museum and Gardens, tucked away in SE London.

The Horniman Museum and Gardens is a 5 minute walk from Forest Hill station and is an altogether calmer and more peaceful experience than any central London museum on the weekend. The main exhibition focuses on taxidermy and includes a giant over-stuffed walrus which dominates the room, plus lots of interesting displays of flora and fauna from around the world. There are a couple of other exhibitions, some you have to pay for, but we found that the main room was the perfect amount of museum-ing for us, and unlike some London museums, we didn’t feel overloaded and overwhelmed.

We wandered for a bit around the gardens too – unfortunately the beautiful Pavillion which you can hire for weddings was closed – and then we headed over by train to London Bridge to enjoy the delights of Borough Market. I work practically overlooking Borough Market, but there was something nice about returning on a weekend and getting to be an absolute tourist for an hour. I definitely recommend Bread Ahead‘s wondrous vanilla cream donuts – voted the best donuts in the UK, or so I’ve been told. If you’re ever in London, I would always always recommend a trip to Borough Market – it’s somewhere that feels really traditional and with so many stalls and noises and smells, it’s never short of atmosphere.

From London Bridge we walked east along the river to the cool Shad Thames area, and grabbed a pint from a quaint pub. The weather in London is definitely turning more Spring-like everyday, and I can’t wait to explore more parts of London in the sun!