London Travel Diary| 2017
Hey Guys!
Recently my Hubby and I took a day trip to London and I wanted to share some of the pictures and tips on traveling! We actually walked over 28,000 steps and over 12 miles! We saw a lot of the city but of course not all of it. It was supposed to rain all day so we prepared but it actually ended up being beautiful!
My husband and I currently live about an hour outside of London so we decided to take a train into the city. Driving would have been a nightmare so if you are traveling from the outskirts I highly recommend taking a train. We traveled into the Waterloo station which was very big, clean, and right next to the city. We just had a short walk over a beautiful bridge and we were in the city next to all of the historic places. Not to mention the bridge had BEAUTIFUL views while walking over it.
Before walking over the bridge we passed the London Eye. This is the giant ferris wheel that offers amazing views of the river and city skyline. We didn’t go into it on this trip. My sister who has been to London before went in it and said it is nice but to be warned it is pricey and can take a long time to go all the way around. So plan your time accordingly.
Once across the bridge we made our way towards Chipotle! This is my husband’s favorite restaurant in the states and when he found out there were a few in London he made it his mission to track down! Since it was lunchtime and close to where we were I happily obliged and we had a nice lunch. After lunch we walked into a busy square full of people and also had people in Pikachu, and Yoda costumes that you could take pictures with. There was also a HUGH monument with lions that a ton of people were sitting on to take pictures with. It also provided a distant view of Big Ben which was cool.
Big Ben is starting to be renovated for a while so we made our way over to it. It had scaffolding almost all over it but the top part was still uncovered. This renovation is supposed to last until 2021. Big Ben is attached to Westminster and let me tell you it is big and beautiful! Even with scaffolding all over it was amazing to see the size and beauty of this piece of architecture. You can buy tickets to tour the inside but we chose not to do that. We focused more on walking around and seeing the outside of buildings since the weather was so nice. After that we walked to Buckingham palace. This is quite a long walk away from Big Ben so be prepared. There are many buses that go to all of the main tourist spots so if you aren’t able to walk long distances I would recommend looking into them. My husband and I actually bought a London Travelcard which allowed us all day access to the Subway, Busses, and trains all over the city of London. It was so worth it and I HIGHLY recommend getting one. Check it out HERE.
Buckingham Palace was breathtaking ! The golden gates were gleaming in the sun while the red soldier marched in front of the palace. It felt like we were in a movie! There is also a beautiful monument outside of the Palace made of gold and marble. Picture tip: If you want a nice selfie with the Palace climb to the top of the monument and take one from up there.
After walking through a park we stumbled upon Chinatown. I thought it would be more like the Chinatown I hear about in NYC with shops and souvenirs but it was all restaurants. We weren’t able to eat at any but they all looked delicious. Also while in Chinatown we stumbled upon M&M world. It is a 3 story store full of everything M&M’s. It was very crowded but very cool to see. One thing I noticed while in London was there were many restarants but not many souvinier shops. I remember seeing maybe 2 shops which is very different from the US because many tourist destination places have souvinier shops everywhere.
After a quick Dinner at All Bar One (which was delicious) we made our way to the Tower of London. According to my husband this was where people in Medieval times were tortured. Once we made our way over we found that it was a beautiful castle like structure. We didn’t go in this time but we plan on going in on our next visit. A short walk from the Tower of London is Tower Bridge. This is one of the iconic bridges of London. Along the water are different restaurants and boats you can take through the river. It as too cold that day to do this but it would make a very romantic evening out. After Tower Bridge we had been walking around for about 8 hours and decided to head back home.
