READER INSIGHTSWhat readers are telling us
An analysis of the answers themselves: what respondents want to read, do and book — and how those preferences differ by age, location and habits.
6–19 October 2026 · Updated 19 October, 09:47 BST
Voluntary survey respondents, not a representative sample of all Londonist readers. Each chart uses its own answer base.
Editorial interest and intended activities are different questions. These are stated preferences, not observed bookings.
560 answers · single choice
Things to do is selected by almost half. London history is the next largest preference; food and drink is third.
Which would you most like to read about on Londonist?
Percentages include every answer option, including declines where offered. Values may not sum to 100% because of rounding.
578 answers · single choice
Museums and galleries lead, followed by shows or live music. Walks and parks also have a substantial following.
Which would you choose for your next London day out?
Percentages include every answer option, including declines where offered. Values may not sum to 100% because of rounding.
564 answers · single choice
Theatre/comedy is the most selected category. “Not sure yet” and “None of these” together account for 21% (117/564).
Which are you most likely to book in London in the next three months?
Percentages include every answer option, including declines where offered. Values may not sum to 100% because of rounding.
552 answers · single choice
Independent shops and markets together account for 44% (244/552). A further 26% have no particular preference.
Where do you prefer to shop for gifts?
Percentages include every answer option, including declines where offered. Values may not sum to 100% because of rounding.
Keep practical things-to-do coverage prominent, with cultural options and independent shopping. Treat commercial opportunities as ideas to test: a single-choice preference does not measure willingness to buy.
Budget, timing and travel provide context for useful editorial and commercial offers.
587 answers · single choice
56% choose a usual budget below £50. 29% select £50 or more; 16% say it varies or decline. Travel is excluded from the question.
What would you usually spend per person on a London day out, excluding travel?
Percentages include every answer option, including declines where offered. Values may not sum to 100% because of rounding.
560 answers · single choice
54% plan on the day or a few days ahead. 27% plan several weeks or a month-plus ahead.
How far ahead do you usually plan a London day out?
Percentages include every answer option, including declines where offered. Values may not sum to 100% because of rounding.
563 answers · single choice
31% eat out in London at least weekly; 29% say less often or never. The remaining 40% dine monthly or a few times a month.
How often do you eat out in London?
Percentages include every answer option, including declines where offered. Values may not sum to 100% because of rounding.
584 answers · single choice
45% visit most days or about weekly; a further 22% visit monthly.
How often do you visit central London?
Percentages include every answer option, including declines where offered. Values may not sum to 100% because of rounding.
637 answers · single choice
Tube/train and bus together account for 80% (507/637). Car and taxi/minicab together account for 6% (40/637).
How do you usually travel around London?
Percentages include every answer option, including declines where offered. Values may not sum to 100% because of rounding.
Paired comparisons: each denominator includes only browsers who answered both age and the relevant question. Adult bands are 18–34, 35–54 and 55+.
Share among people who answered both questions
18–34s report weekly dining about twice as often as 55+s: 47% versus 25%.
Share among people who answered both questions
Short-notice planning falls from 66% among 18–34s to 43% among 55+s.
Share among people who answered both questions
The youngest adult group is most likely to choose a sub-£50 budget. Frequent dining should not be read as high spending.
Share among people who answered both questions
35–54s select a family day out most often. This is an age pattern, not evidence that everyone in that band is a parent.
Share among people who answered both questions
The 35–54 group is highest here at 40%, against roughly 27–28% in the other adult bands.
Share among people who answered both questions
Museums and galleries are selected more often by 55+s: 35%, versus 23–24% among younger adults.
18–34: timely, affordable dining and things to do. 35–54: family outings alongside theatre and comedy. 55+: museum and gallery coverage with more planning lead time. These are overlapping interests, not fixed personas.
Among respondents to the original location question who selected London, weekly dining is still higher for 18–34s: 31/61 (51%) versus 31/113 (27%) for 55+s. Short-notice planning is 44/64 (69%) versus 55/105 (52%). Removing eight browsers who gave at least five answers in under ten seconds also leaves the overall age patterns essentially unchanged.
These checks reduce two possible explanations; they do not establish causation or remove other differences between the groups.
Original location question only: 1,357 London respondents and 175 outside London, before pairing with other answers. The later replacement is shown separately below.
Share among people who answered both questions
London respondents are more likely to plan at short notice: 60% versus 36%.
Share among people who answered both questions
61% of London respondents select a budget below £50, compared with 37% outside London.
Share among people who answered both questions
Outside-London respondents select £100+ more often: 18% versus 7%. This is a stated day-out budget, excluding travel.
Share among people who answered both questions
Weekly London dining is less common among people who live outside the city, as would be expected.
Try quick, value-conscious local suggestions alongside book-ahead visitor itineraries. The outside-London group is smaller and may differ in age and visit purpose, so location itself is not proven to explain the spending difference.
These are explicitly defined, overlapping cohorts, not statistically discovered clusters. The comparison question is always different from the question defining the cohort.
Share among people who answered both questions
Weekly diners also visit central London more often: 71% versus 34%.
Share among people who answered both questions
Weekly diners are more likely to plan at short notice: 66% versus 46%.
Share among people who answered both questions
Both groups are around 10%. More frequent dining does not establish a larger day-out budget.
Share among people who answered both questions
History-first respondents select museums/galleries most often here: 40%, against 28% of things-to-do readers and 19% of food-and-drink readers.
Test short-notice dining ideas for frequent city visitors, and link history stories to museum or gallery outings. Avoid describing either group as a premium-spending audience on this evidence alone.
Age is available for 683 of 2,030 respondents (34%). New location and family questions have had less time to collect answers.
683 answers · single choice
131 of 683 age respondents are 18–34 (19%); a further 50 are under 18 (7%). This is the age mix of survey respondents, not an estimate of Londonist’s whole readership.
What is your age range?
Percentages include every answer option, including declines where offered. Values may not sum to 100% because of rounding.
409 answers · single choice
409 answers: 308 (75%) select a London area, 50 (12%) elsewhere in the UK and 43 (11%) outside the UK. Eight decline.
Whereabouts do you live?
This replacement omits Central London. Do not compare its area shares directly with the original question or interpret the difference as a trend. Do not add both question bases: some browsers answered both.
131 answers · single choice
61 respondents report children, 62 report no children and eight decline. Of the 61 with children, 38 report their youngest is over 18.
Do you have a child/children? If so, how old is your youngest?
The published options omit youngest-child age 11 and exactly 18. This limits interpretation; the 61 respondents with children are not equivalent to parents of young children.
Share among people who answered both questions
Early finding: 9/43 with children versus 1/46 without select a family outing. Small counts and the age-band gaps make this a directional signal only.
Browsers who answered age gave an average of 8.57 answers; those who did not gave 1.57. Cohort analysis therefore describes more engaged survey participants. It cannot be generalised to all readers or even all survey starters.
Source: Londonist production survey answers, from launch on 6 October to 09:47 BST on 19 October 2026. Known synthetic responses excluded. One first answer per anonymous browser and question across releases; 7,976 source answers and 7,976 deduplicated answers reconcile. No missing browser, question or option IDs; one wording per question and option.
Denominators: overall percentages use everyone who answered that question, including “prefer not to say” and “varies” where offered. Every comparison prints its numerator/denominator. Age comparisons omit under-18s and declined ages; all appear in the age distribution. Weekly dining means “several times a week” or “about once a week”. Original London residency includes North, South, East, West and Central London.
Interpretation: anonymous browsers approximate people; cleared storage and additional devices may count again. Questions are single choice. Most respondents did not answer every question. Cohorts overlap and must not be added together. Comparisons are exploratory, unweighted and not causal; many comparisons were inspected, so small differences should not be treated as proven effects. Paired bases below 50 are early signals. Descriptive 95% Wilson intervals are included in the aggregate download; they do not correct self-selection or multiple comparisons.
Question changes: the original and replacement location questions retain distinct IDs and bases. No before/after population trend is inferred. The family question has known option gaps. Answer totals include retired questions. This is a dated snapshot, not a live counter.
1,568 answers · single choice
Original question retained for historical reporting and the paired geography comparisons above.
Which part of London do you live in?
Percentages include every answer option, including declines where offered. Values may not sum to 100% because of rounding.
The image includes the main analysis. Expand the retired-location section above for the historical breakdown.