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The entrance to Borough Market in London, busy with visitors.
Layover guideLondon · LHR

Eating near the crew hotels in London

Food markets are the efficient layover feed: Borough Market by London Bridge (closed Mondays), Old Spitalfields open daily; carry a card, everything takes contactless but a few stalls do not.

Jeremy Keith from Brighton & Hove, United Kingdom / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0
All of London

Borough Market, beside London Bridge station (8 Southwark Street, SE1): Tue-Fri 10:00-17:00, Sat 09:00-17:00, Sun 10:00-16:00, closed Mondays. Busiest Saturday afternoons; entry free; hours change on bank holidays.

Old Spitalfields Market (E1) runs 7 days a week with around 45 food and drink traders plus 58 shops and stalls; open to 20:00 most weekdays, 18:00 Saturday, 17:00 Sunday, so it works for evening arrivals when Borough is shut.

Payment norm: cards, contactless and digital wallets are accepted almost everywhere in Britain, but VisitBritain warns some small shops, markets and cafes may not take card, so carry a little cash for market stalls.

  1. Borough Market (operator) · checked 2026-08-18
  2. Old Spitalfields Market (operator) · checked 2026-08-18
  3. VisitBritain (national tourism agency) · checked 2026-08-18

The rest of London

The whole guide
Getting out of the airportBlack cabs on the meter from ranks outside each terminal with a small Heathrow pick-up charge, or three rail routes into town, only one of which runs through the night and only at weekends.Ride-hailingApps are legal but every ride is a pre-booked private hire job, the pick-up is in the short stay car park rather than the terminal kerb, and the app estimate replaces a meter.Local laws that catch crew outThe traps that catch crew here are blades, cannabis, and open alcohol on the transport network, and all of them come straight from UK government departments and TfL.Staying connectedFree wifi at Heathrow and Gatwick; PAYG SIMs and eSIMs sold with no contract or credit check.WeatherMild maritime climate: pack for rain in any month, light layers year-round, and increasingly real summer heat with no monsoon or snow season to plan around.What to buyNo VAT refund on goods you carry home; street markets (vintage, food) are the distinctive buy, and cards work nearly everywhere.TippingTipping is optional, not expected: 10-15% in restaurants only if no service charge is on the bill, round up taxis, and by law staff now keep 100% of tips.