Wallace & Gromit are having a moment. With the much-loved claymation duo back in the spotlight after their 2024 Netflix return "Vengeance Most Fowl", the team at Secret London put together an itinerary for the perfect London day out built around the pair's creators and the wider world of British animation.
The obvious starting point for any fan is the Wallace & Gromit trail at attraction spaces that have hosted Aardman experiences in the capital in recent years, including model-making workshops where you can shape your own Gromit out of clay — exactly the craft that made Nick Park and the Aardman studio famous. Aardman itself is based in Bristol, but London regularly hosts pop-ups, exhibitions and screenings tied to the studio's films, so it's worth checking what's on before you travel.
Beyond the animation theme, the day works as a properly good London itinerary. Think a morning spent around the South Bank, home to the BFI Southbank, which frequently programmes British animation seasons and archive Aardman shorts on the big screen. Add in a wander along the river, a stop at one of the second-hand book and comic shops around Charing Cross Road for vintage animation art, and a pub lunch, and you've got a very British day out that goes well beyond the usual tourist checklist.
Fans with time to spare can extend the theme: the Cartoon Museum on London's Museum Street is a small, charming spot packed with British comics, cartoons and animation history, including Aardman material. It's an easy detour between the British Museum and Covent Garden, and entry is modest. Families might also time a visit around school-holiday events, when animation-themed workshops pop up across the city.
Why does this matter to travellers? Because it's a reminder that London rewards the niche itinerary. A themed day built around a film studio, a comic tradition or a single franchise gives shape to a city that can otherwise overwhelm, and it takes you to neighbourhoods — Southwark, Bloomsbury, Fitzrovia — that most weekend visitors barely scratch.
For the full picks from the people who know the city best, see the original feature by Secret London.
