📍 London, England
I spent 4 beautiful, fully packed, days in London with my family and had the best time seeing all of the most iconic sights!
We visited in the last week of May and had some of the best, most atypical, British weather: full sun! 🌞 It was glorious! And while I might be a bit bummed that I didn't get to see England in it's full gloomy glory, I am so thankful we weren't rained out at any point, especially with only 4 days in big 'ol London!
Accommodations
Day 1-3 - Airbnb in Fitzrovia - The most wonderful Airbnb! From location to size, this was a lovely Airbnb experience all around.
It's quite literally a 3-minute walk to the nearest tube station (Goodge Street) and there's a little Tesco right across the street. (which was perfect for early morning & late night snack runs!) It was truly our favorite and most convenient accommodation we stayed in the entire trip!
Day 4 - Hilton Garden Inn Heathrow - Our fourth day in London was the last day of the trip so we decided to get accommodation close to the airport.
I don't have much to say about The Hilton, it was definitely an average hotel experience, but I will say if you're worried about air traffic, don't be. I absolutely did not hear a single plane anytime we were in our room!
Transport
We only used the tube & our own two feet to get around London. (with the exception of taking a train to Windsor Castle)
I would -definitely- suggest getting an Oyster card if you're coming from a foreign country and want to have as few transaction fees as possible! With an Oyster card you can just tap your card each time you enter and exit a tube station and only have to worry about the fee every time you top up (add money to your card) and not every single ride.
The initial card is £7, but if you're in the city for much time, I'm sure it would be easy for transaction fees to greatly exceed that anyway, so in my eyes, its saving a bit of money. By the end of our 4 days, it ended up being about £80 (per person) with minimal fees, instead of £80 + a bunch of transaction fees.
I fully believe that the tube is the best, fastest, and cheapest mode of public transportation. (We averaged about £2.5 per trip, but multiple factors affect the cost of your journey. I used Apple Maps to map out our journies, which gave info on the current price of the trip. (I'm sure several other apps do the same.))
*Note for those traveling with proper suitcases on the tube. this is my official warning to you that not every tube has a conviniently located lift or escalator, so that suitcase will probably be lugged up and down several flights of stairs during your time in London. If you have some arm strenghth, good for you, but all I'm saying is if i could do it over again, I would only have my 35L backpack and a personal item... not a proper suitcase, because not all stations are fully accessible.*
Day 1
05/23 - Our flight got in around 11:30am, and after customs, getting our bags, taking the tube, and walking a bit, we made it to our Airbnb!
We took a well deserved rest for a bit, then were on our way! First stop: The Monument to the Great Fire of London for a quick look & some photos.
We then walked to one of the most beautiful places we went the entire trip: St. Dunstan-in-the-east! It's an old church turned overgrown garden and chill out area. It really feels like the most beautiful little secret tucked away in the middle of the city! It's wonderful.
After a relaxing visit in St. Dunstan, we were off walking to Tower Bridge & The London Wall.
We walked around the area for a bit, enjoying the beautiful sunny day and then ended up at Pizza Express for our first meal in hours. (Very good!) After our dinner, we made our way back to the Airbnb where we all promptly crashed (hello jetlag) concluding day 1 in London.
Day 2
05/24 - We started our morning by heading to Buckingham Palace for the Changing of The Guard, which was amazing to watch! Such a cool experience! (In the summer, it takes place every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday at 11am. If you're planning to go to the palace on one of these days, I highly reccommend stopping to watch!)
Obviously being at the palace, Victoria Memorial was right there so we made our way over for some pictures and a different view of the palace. (Which turned out to be a good thing, because that was a wonderful side to be on for the ending of the guard changing)
From there we decided to walk a short way down The Mall, to Piccadilly Circus, by Trafalgar Square, onto Whitehall/Parliament Street where we stopped and saw the Monument to the Women of WWII, Downing Street, and the Cenotaph. (I love the way we walked from the Palace, becasue I really feel like we were able to see a bunch of iconic pieces of London in such a timely manner!)
Then we finally made our way to Big Ben, which is truly such a sight to see in real life! I am such a sucker for some beautiful architecture, so this area is just magnificent in my eyes!
After a quick admire of Big Ben, we made our way to Westminster Abbey (my most anticipated sight in London!). Note - This does cost money to enter. We opted to buy the "Family Associate Membership" for £95, which includes entry for 2 adults and up to 4 children for an entire year. - This membership may not be for everyone, but as it was going to cost us £92 for a one day entry anyway (and we wanted to visit more than once) this was the best value for my family!
Of course, the Abbey was absolutely stunning! The architecture, the historical significance, the grandiosity- all of it is just magnificent!
Included with our Family Membership, was entry to "The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries." (Even if it's not included in your visit, I highly recommend paying £5 to get up there.) Up in the galleries are tons of old royal family artifacts and even replicas of the crown jewels! I won't spoil much, as you aren't allowed to take photos in this area, (though you can see a video of it on Westminster Abbey's website...), but it is truly beautiful up there. As you can see... I could easily talk about Westminster all day, so on to the next stop...
After stopping in the Westminster Abbey gift shop, we headed to Borough Market. (Though it was about 4:30 so there wasn't much still open. - Warning to any fellow Americans visiting, we noticed a lot of places, especially the market "close at 5" but are well into closing by 4:30, so keep that in mind!)
Since there wasn't much open, we got a quick dinner down the street at "Honest Burgers." (Which turned out just fine because it was de-licious!) Then we made our way to the tube to head out to Kensington Palace.
There's quite a walk to the Palace, so on the way we stopped by Diana Memorial Playground where we sat on a bench, enjoyed the scenery, and ate some yummy ice cream! We continued walking and made our way to the Palace and admired the beauty of the grounds. So wonderful!
After a short break, we were on the move again through Kensington Gardens and on the way to Diana's Memorial Fountain where we sat and enjoyed the water.
From the fountain, we made our way to our last stop: Wellington Arch! (btw the walk from the fountain to the arch, along the river, is absolutely beautiful and full of lil ducklings in the springtime! so freaking cute!)
And with that, that concludes our second day in London! Such a good time!
Day 3
05/25 - We got an earlier start today and headed to Leicester Square to visit the Lego store for my little brother's birthday! From the square, we made our way to "Goodwin's Court." (a small alley that is said to have inspired JK Rolling's "Knockturn Alley") It was so peaceful back in there and it was definitely giving Harry Potter vibes!
Another short walk away, we arrived at Neal's Yard, which is absolutely stunning with all of its colors. Especially in the spring! So freaking cute!
After Neal's Yard, we made our way over to Kings Cross Station (#HarryPotterNerds) and then on to Notting Hill. It was such a lovely and picturesque neighborhood, but sadly, we didn't have time to make it in the shop, as we had to rush to catch our train to... Windsor Castle!
Windsor & St. George's Chapel were just spectacular. Like with Westminster Abbey, the architecture and historical significance are two things that I absolutely love. And being able to go into St. George's Chapel and see where the Queen was laid to rest, was simply magnificent. So beautiful. If you have any interest in history, architecture, or the royal family, you definitely cannot miss out on Windsor Castle.
After our walking around the grounds, we made our way out and back to the train station where we grabbed a bite to eat at "Cattle Grid Windsor." (So yummy!)
From there, we made our way to Harrods for some chocolate cake! (per the birthday boy's request.) And we finished up the night singing happy birthday & collectively eating an £8 slice of cake. 😆
Day 3.5
05/26 - We were only in London for the morning (before catching a train to Bury St. Edmunds), but we wanted to make the most of our time! So we were up early & off to Abbey Road to do as one does on Abbey Road, walk, of course! I'm so happy to have seen such an iconic piece of road.
From there we went back to the Airbnb to collect all of our bags and then we were on our way to London Bridge Station where my mom and I popped out to Borough Market to get what I had been waiting for... a chocolate pot of strawberries! (essentially just a cup of strawberries with tons of chocolate poured over them!) It was absolutely as delicious as it sounds!
And with that, we concluded our first 3 days in London!
Day 4
05/31 - Our last day in London and our last day of the trip! We had basically done everything we wanted to do here, but we built in this extra day just in case.
With an early start, and an hour tube ride from Hatton Cross to Leicester Square, my dad, and brother made their way to the Natural History Museum, and my mom and I made our way to The National Gallery.
We spent a good 2 hours admiring as many paintings as we could! (With a bunch of help from a wonderful gentleman called "Alan." He was so incredibly kind and helpful and truly just seemed to love working in an art museum! He reconnected with us several times, in several different rooms, each time asking how we liked the painting he had directed us towards previously. He truly added to our experience! I so wish I could have stayed all day listening and seeing his recommendations!) And I wish I could have sat and picked apart every detail of Van Gogh's "Sunflowers" for hours and hours. It was truly so amazing to have finally seen some of his paintings in real life.
From there, we met up with my dad and brother at the Victoria and Albert Museum, which was full of so many incredible pieces of history from all over the world.
After, we made our way to "Honest Burgers" for the second time this trip because they're just that good!
Then we rushed over to Westminster Abbey to make it in before 3:30 (last entry time). We made it! And because of our Family Membership this trip was "free" / included in our purchase from the previous week.
This visit we really took our time and noticed every detail. We even stopped to talk to "Father Donald" who was at the Abbey for that week. He was lovely and very enjoyable to talk to. (Even after we left him to make our way up to The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Galleries, and saw him after, he still recognized us and continued our earlier conversation. This isn't anything SO special but I do tend to appreciate when people who work with the public are able to do this, because I know it can be hard keeping track of all the people you meet and speak with, so the fact that he made an effort was appreciated in my book!)
We left the Abbey for the final time and made our way to Millennium Bridge / St. Paul's Cathedral! Such a lovely viewing spot in London! My dad and brother even made their way down to the beach at low tide. (I, however, was absolutely not doing the incredibly steep, railing-less stairs to get down there)
From the beach area, we made our way over to St. James's Park where we had some ice cream, fed some squirrels, and saw tons and tons of lil baby ducklings!
After some time there, we made our way to Buckingham Palace (where the Royal Standard was flying! Hello Charlie!) and went down The Mall a ways to the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Memorial.We almost didn't do this, but we were all so glad we did! The detail of the statues combined with the detail of the reliefs, to the left and right, is just incredible. A true work of art.
And from there we finished our night walking down Regent Street to Piccadilly Circus and onto the hour-long tube to the hotel, thus closing out a wonderful 10 days in England.
Daily Budget
Food - Given that we really only ate one meal a day with a few snacks surrounding, our daily food and drink costs (per person) were about £20.
Transit - Anywhere from £10 to £15 - but this will greatly vary based on the mode of transport you take, where you're staying, where you're going etc. etc.
Souvenirs - The souvenirs I got seemed to be reasonably priced, so the average we were spending was about £2-3 a day.
Accommodation - We stayed in 2 different places for our London stay and the average was about £200 a night.
Misc. - Most places are free, but some, like Westminster Abbey and Windsor Castle, have admission fees, so keep those extra expenses in mind.
Total - roughly £250 a day.
What I wore
Now this will most likely be totally unhelpful, as the weather the week we were in England was so... un-England this time of year! Most of our days were lovely 70℉+ (21℃) days, so I was able to wear long jeans, trousers, or linen pants with tank tops, and a light cardigan for the mornings when it was a bit chillier! My biggest tip, no matter when you're going, is to check the weather daily! Heck check it twice daily! If there was anything we learned leading up to this trip is that England's weather is so finicky! So keep an eye on it!
What I Would & Wouldn't Do Again
I can confidently say, i would do it all again! There was nothing about our time in London that I disliked so much that I would not do it again! Maybe we just lucked out, maybe we just -really- liked London, but I have nothing to warn you of or tell you not to do! And at the end of the day what I didn't like, could be something you love! So I encourage you to do everything you want to do and if you don't -love- it, then hey! it's a part of the trip you can hopefully laugh at in the future. Have fun!
For more England + Travel content follow me on insta @seeherwander!