London
In 2024 we had planned for a grand adventure across the pond! Brit got a one time sabbatical from work for the whole month of June so we wanted to plan a longer trip to a place that was high on both of our lists. We decided to head to England for a couple of weeks. Karen’s parents were able to join for the trip which made it extra special. We spent many months prior to the trip researching exactly where we wanted to explore and came up with an itinerary spanning across majority of the country. We all excitedly met at KCI airport and set off for our sleepless overnight flight into London Heathrow airport. Even with our poor sleep on the plane, our excitement of being in London kept us energized for our first day of adventures (as well as our mandatory caffeine stop as soon as we landed). We were able to find a pretty affordable hotel right in London city center in the neighborhood of Westminster (link here). This hotel is highly recommended for the close proximity to major attractions and affordabe price. We took the tube towards our hotel and then headed to our first stop on the list, a tour of Westminster Abbey. Our hotel was so close to the abbey we could walk.
Westminster Abbey is one of the most famous churches in the UK known for its royal weddings, coronations and burials. It is a stunning place with amazing architecture and history to explore. The Abbey costs about 30 pounds to enter, but it is well worth the cost in our opinion. We spent a couple of hours here easily as we explored the Abbey and its surrounding grounds. This was a great way to start our time in London.
The rest of the afternoon we continued to explore the streets of London. We strolled through beautiful St James Park where we could spot Buckingham Palace and the London eye.
We then stumbled upon a beautiful spot in the gardens called the Duck Island cottage garden. This little spot perfectly embodies quintessential cozy England gardens. We could have spent a lot more time exploring the beautiful gardens of this park but we had more on our agenda for the day to see.
Farther into the park we came to Buckingham Palace where we could see the famous Kings guards.
After exploring St James Park we made our way to a famous London department store, Fortnum and Mason.
This store is known for its famous Early Grey teas, and there are quite a few varieties to choose from. Queen Elizabeth II is known to love their teas and often shopped for other goods at the store. There were so many tasty looking treats to include biscuits, chocolates, jams, honey, coffee, and teas. It’s such a beautiful store to explore and shop and we could have spent a lot more time exploring the multiple levels. We couldn’t help ourselves and got a Countess Grey tea as a souvenir to take home. There were so many other tasty goodies we could have gotten, but we resisted.
On our way to find dinner we stumbled upon an amazing pastry spot, Buns from home. We thought, might as well have dessert first! And we were sure glad that we did. Maybe it was because of the many miles we had just walked or the jet lag, but this was one of the tastiest treats we had experienced in quite awhile. We would highly recommend the tiramisù bun, it was quite delicious. This spot was only a couple of blocks away from Fortnum and Mason but we realized there are a few other locations scattered across the city.
After stuffing our faces with delicious pastries we set out for yet some more food. We found a little Italian restaurant tucked away down a side street for dinner. This restaurant was not on our radar yet ended up being one of our favorite food spots of the trip. It’s a quaint family run restaurant with delicious Italian food, hard to go wrong.
As we were finishing up the night we strolled through China town which was very energetic! The streets were full of performers and outdoor dining patios. So many of the restaurants looked very good. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to come back to try any of them but definitey would like to explore more of this area if we are ever able to come back.
We ended the day very tired after logging many miles straight off the plane. But it was such a fun day and we were excited for the next days adventures.
For our second day in London, we started by traveling by tube from Victoria Station to King’s Cross St Pancreas to explore the British Library. The British Library is one of the largest National Libraries in the world. Some of the highlights that drew us to exploring the library include Shakespeare’s first folio, the Magna Carta, Leonardo da Vinci’s notebooks, the Gutenberg Bible , as well as handwritten lyrics by the Beatles. There are so many other amazing things to see at this library and it is well worth a visit to explore all of the history it contains. The other great thing is that the library is free to enter.
We worked up an appetite exploring the library so then headed to one of London’s most famous food markets, Borough Market.
London is full of amazing street markets and Borough Market is one not to miss. There are so many delicious food stalls selling an assortment of goods to include street food, pastries, breads, produce, cheese, spices and so much more. There are also several restaurants and bars surrounding the market. There are so many choices it was a little overwhelming making our choices! We wanted to try something more traditionally British and we arrived at a stall called PieMaster and ordered a steak and ale pie. This was such a good spot that we made our way back in a couple days to get more pies!
We stopped at several other stalls sampling cheeses, candies and purchasing soft pretzels from a German bakery. It’s hard to go wrong with any of the food stall options.
To work off all our calories consumed at the market we made our way to the South Bank to walk along the River Thames. It was a beautful 70 degree sunny day and perfect for a stroll along the river.
Along this path you get great views of the city skyline and pass along many London attractions to include Tate Modern Art Museum, Shakespeare Globe, St Paul’s Cathedral and South Bank book market. There are a couple spots along the walk with a staircase that leads down to the bank of the Thames to explore a bit closer to the water. We spent some time on the bank soaking in the beautiful weather and views. There were also quite a few street performers and artists along the walk.
On this walk we came across London’s Millennial Bridge which is famous for it’s appearance in the sixth Harry Potter film when the Death eaters destroy the bridge.
After enjoying our walk along the river, we started to make our way towards Covent Garden to find a dinner spot. Located in the West End of London, Covent Garden is a market filled with shops and restaurants.
The historic market building and surrounding streets are filled with restaurants, patio dining, shops, and beautiful flower arrangements during the summer months.
As we were exploring we stopped by a beautiful flower adorned pub for happy hour, Crown and Anchor.
For dinner we went to din Tai Fung for some delicious dumplings. We strolled through several more streets as the evening came to a close and we meandered our way back to our hotel tired and ready to wind down. For our third day in London, half of the day we spent exploring the nearby Windsor castle. You can read more about our adventure there (here). But before heading to the castle we made our way over to St Paul’s cathedral. On our way to the cathedral, we made a detour to explore St Dunstan in the East Church ruins. This is a hidden oasis located right in the hustle and bustle of the city. It would be very easy to miss if you weren’t searching for it. We would highly recommend stopping by this peaceful spot to escape the busy city for a few moments.
We then made our way to St Paul’s Cathedral. The Cathedral was destroyed by the Great Fire of London 1666. The current building was designed by Sir Christopher Wren. The building is a beautiful architectural masterpiece to explore. The dome has so much detail, it is incredible to see. The cathedral is full of famaus paintings, sculptures and memorials of some of the Nation’s greatest heros to include Winston Churchill and Christopher Wren.
We then felt brave and ascended the 528 steps to reach the Golden Gallery of St Pauls where we were rewarded with amazing panoramic views of London. If you don’t want to climb all 528 steps, you can stop after 257 steps where you’ll reach the Whispering Gallery. This unique spot allows you to look down into the cathedral and hear a whisper from the opposite side of the room. Here are some of the city views we got from the top of the cathedral
When we got back from our day trip to Windsor, we strolled the streets of London a bit longer before before heading back to our hotel for the night. We stopped by cozy pubs and an evening view of Big Ben.
We started our next day by exploring The Tower of London. The Tower of London is a 1,000 year old castle serving as a fortress, royal palace, and infamous prison throughout its history. We were able to explore the Royal Armouries, the crown jewels and the infamous tower ravens. We were only able to explore for a couple of hours as we had a train ticket scheduled later in the morning for our day trip to Seven Sisters. More on that adventure here. This is an icnoic London attraction and well worth the admission price. We wished we had even more time here to explore!
The Tower of London moat was another beautiful spot to explore, full of beautiful wildflowers. There was a longer wildflower walk but unfortunately we didnt have time to do it all
On our way to the train station for our Seven Sister trip we passed by the Tower bridge. We were lucky enough to catch it at a time the bridge was going up!
We also stopped back by Borough Market to take some lunch on our train. We found some delicious bao buns and went back to Pie Master to get another steak and ale pie!
Our next day we made our way to the west side of London to explore. We started by checking out the Notting Hill neighborhood. Our first stop was the Portobello Market. This is about a mile long street market with various brick-and-mortar shops as well as street stalls selling foods and trinkets. It’s definitely a fun street to explore when in the area.
Notting Hill also has some very pretty streets and houses to wander through. One street in particular that is worth stopping by is Lancaster Road. It’s long row of colorful houses that make for a fun photo spot.
Notting Hill is also full of quaint, cozy mews to explore. Mews are small side streets historically used as a service lane where stables and carriage houses were kept. We got to explore a few very cute spots to include St Lukes Mews and Colville Mews
The vibes of these quiet residential streets were so cozy. We could have spent much more time exploring even more of these pretty streets throughout London.
After Notting Hill, we made our way over to Kensington area to check out a few of the museums and Kensington Garden. We walked along Kensington High Street on our way where we passed many restaurants, pubs and shops. A particularly beautiful pub that we passed is Churchill Arms where the facade was adorned with the most beautiful flowers covering the entire building. We unfortunately did not have time to stop at this pub but we snapped a few photos to remember
We then made our way to the Design Museum where you can explore exhibits focusing on product, industrial, graphic, fashion and architectural design. It’s a really interesting museum to explore and the best part is that it's free!
Another great musuem in this area that is also free to enter is the Natural History Museum. We were unfortunately running out of time and didn’t get to explore this museum as much as we would have liked to. We thankfully were at least able to explore the main entrance of the building where an impressive blue whale skeleton was suspended from the ceiling.
This museum has such impressive architecture and exhibits. We wished we could have had more time here to see even more.
For our last stop in Kensington, we made our way over to Kensington Gardens, one of London’s 8 Royal Parks covering 265 acres.
While exploring the park we came upon the impressive Albert memorial, Queen Victoria’s towering tribute to her beloved husband, Prince Albert.
We also wandered through the beautiful Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Garden.
London is such a special city and we had an amazing few days exploring just a sampling of the sights and attractions it has to offer. We made some amazing memories traveling together with family with lots of laughs and only just a handful of grumbles and arguments haha . Brit was the MVP of the London trip taking charge of the public transportation organization to include figuring out tubes and trains. We relied on public transportation on our entire trip as we decided not to rent a car. We hope to make it back here one day to explore more of this wonderful city. But as our London adventure came to a close, we ventured on to our next destination in Oxford.