The President and his wife, Sabina, will be the guests of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh at Windsor Castle for the four-day visit.
He is due to meet the Queen and address Parliament - another historic first.
Ahead of the trip he said Anglo-Irish relations were at a high but warned there was "significant work" to do secure peace in Northern Ireland.
His trip comes after the Queen became the first British monarch to visit the Republic of Ireland three years ago in May 2011.
As is customary on official state visits, the president will lay a wreath at the grave of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey, central London.
He is also due to meet Prime Minister David Cameron at Downing Street, pay tribute to the work of Irish health professionals, and meet business leaders and London Mayor Boris Johnson.
He will be joined on the trip by Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Foreign Affairs Minister Eamon Gilmore.
Irish President Michael D Higgins said
"We are at a very interesting point in history, when we have, following Her Majesty's visit to Ireland, such good relations between our people," he said.
"My hope for the visit at the end of it all is that people will in ever more numbers come to share in experiencing the history, the present circumstances and culture, and do so in ever greater numbers."
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