A weekend in a London flat: where to stay and what to sort first

Most weekend apartments in London will happily take Friday to Sunday, but some residences prefer longer bookings and a handful won't look at anything under a month, so check the minimum stay before you fall for a flat. After that, pick the area around what you want to do on Saturday.

What it costs, and getting in on Friday

The typical starting rate across the residences we list is about £270 a night, though the range is wide, and since these are starting prices, ask for the actual figure for your Friday and Saturday. Two couples sharing a two-bed often pay less per head than they would for two hotel rooms, and they get a sitting room to finish the evening in.

From Heathrow, the Heathrow Express gets you to Paddington in about 15 minutes, which suits Bayswater, Paddington and Marylebone. For Mayfair and the West End, take the Elizabeth line straight through to Bond Street or Tottenham Court Road; it's slower than the Express but cheaper, and it drops you closer. A car in from the airport in the Friday rush, late afternoon into early evening, can easily run well past an hour.

Picking the area

Mayfair is for shopping and dinner, with Bond Street, Mount Street and Savile Row all walkable and Hyde Park along the western edge. It goes very quiet late in the evening, and Sunday night can feel a bit flat with fewer restaurants open. Fortnum & Mason on Piccadilly is a short walk from most of the area, and afternoon tea in the Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon is worth booking for the Saturday.

Marylebone makes for a slower weekend. The High Street has the independent shops and cafés, the side streets are residential, and it's the easiest central area to walk round without fighting crowds. On Sunday mornings Marylebone Farmers' Market takes over Moxon Street, the best argument going for an apartment kitchen: buy lunch there and eat it at home. Oxford Street sits at the bottom of the neighbourhood when you need it and is easy to ignore when you don't. If you're staying nearer the river, Borough Market by London Bridge is the Saturday alternative; it's heaving round lunchtime, so go early, do the weekend's shopping and get out before the hot-food queues build.

South Kensington has three free national museums on Exhibition Road and Hyde Park at the top of it, so a wet Saturday is no problem. Knightsbridge, one stop east on the Piccadilly line, adds the Brompton Road department stores and the designer shops on Sloane Street, and both areas are well served by the Circle, District and Piccadilly lines, with the Piccadilly going direct to Heathrow.

Chelsea suits a weekend with no agenda. Start at Sloane Square, have lunch on the terrace at Manicomio on Duke of York Square, then wander the King's Road down towards the river. For Saturday dinner with a garden, The Ivy Chelsea Garden further along is busy enough that you'll want to book a week or two ahead. The drawback is the Tube: Sloane Square, on the District and Circle lines, is the main station, so a flat at the river end of Chelsea means a longer walk or a bus.

Arriving and leaving

Check-in and check-out vary by building. Mid-afternoon in and late morning out is common, which makes for a short Sunday unless you ask, and direct guests are sometimes offered early check-in or late check-out, so put the request in when you enquire rather than at the desk. Nearly every residence is a short walk from a station, so arriving on a Friday evening from King's Cross, Paddington or the airport needn't mean a taxi queue. Book Saturday dinner and any theatre before you book the flight home, because everything else in London can wait until the day.

London weather by month

July is the warmest month, averaging 23°C by day. July has the fewest wet days (9) and October the most rain (80 mm). For sightseeing on foot, June scores best on our combined warmth-and-dryness measure.

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Rain	Wet days	Chance a 7-day stay sees a washout	Record high / low
January	8°C	2°C	74 mm	13	53%	16°C / -12°C
February	8°C	2°C	51 mm	10	43%	18°C / -8°C
March	11°C	4°C	45 mm	9	44%	23°C / -7°C
April	14°C	5°C	54 mm	10	44%	26°C / -3°C
May	17°C	8°C	54 mm	9	39%	30°C / -1°C
June	20°C	11°C	58 mm	9	35%	34°C / 2°C
July	23°C	13°C	52 mm	9	34%	34°C / 4°C
August	22°C	13°C	68 mm	9	37%	37°C / 4°C
September	19°C	11°C	62 mm	9	39%	29°C / 2°C
October	15°C	8°C	80 mm	11	47%	27°C / -2°C
November	11°C	5°C	76 mm	12	52%	18°C / -6°C
December	8°C	2°C	69 mm	12	50%	16°C / -8°C

Calculated NOAA GHCN-Daily observations at the Hampstead weather station, north London (records 1960–2015; averages from about 25 years per month). A wet day has 1 mm of rain or more.