Hi, friends! London was amazing. I think mostly because the transition is so easy: no language barrier, easy transportation, Apple Pay everywhere. We chose springtime to avoid the heat and crazy crowds. The temperatures during the day stayed sunny and in the mid 60s. Mornings and evenings were cold (40-50s) and windy. Dress in layers, Bring warm coats. Scarves and hats were useful for us spoiled SoCalers.
You can see my London fits here on my LTKit page.
ESSENTIAL LONDON tips:
Gratuity is almost always included.
Tax is always included.
French fries = Chips.
Chips = Crisps.
Cookies or Crackers = Biscuits.
Bathrooms = Toilets or the Loo
London restaurants were VERY allergy and dietary restriction friendly. Taxis are everywhere and sometimes easier than uber. The public transportation is unmatched. The Underground train station takes Apple Pay. Kids travel free with one adult. No need to purchase an Oyster transportation card. If you type your destination into google maps – it’ll write out exactly what to take.
LET’S START WITH THE OVERVIEW!
THE FLIGHT:
We flew to London on Virgin Atlantic on Economy +.
No major blunders. Smooth trip. Food was good!
THE STAY:
Our entire 8 day itinerary was based in London. We were traveling with my brother and his girlfriend and we wanted to all stay together. Large suites were thousands of dollars per night and rentals were tiny so we decided on the Sea Container Hotel right along the Thames River. The hotel was quirky and entertaining. Rooms were small but we had gotten adjoining rooms (3 beds and 2 bathrooms) for less than $600 per night so it was a steal! The location of this hotel was UNMATCHED. The Lyoness Cocktail Lounge at the hotel is included in the top 10 in the world, so definitely worth going to even if you are not staying there!
Okay, so now the itinerary….
DAY 1:
We flew into Heathrow Airport late afternoon after our overnight 10.5h flight. Grabbed an Uber directly to the hotel, checked in, and immediately walked along the Thames River.
It. Was. Beautiful.
We had THE BEST fish n’chips at The Swan restaurant. The food was fresh, tasty, and first come, first serve. I highly recommend this place! Make reservations if you can but we got lucky as walk-ins.
Day 2:
We had breakfast at the hotel (BEST coffee and tea bar btw!) and these Harry Potter fans headed off to King’s Cross Station. It was easy to get to using the train. We had a photo op at Platform 9 3/4. Harry Potter fans – don’t miss this EVEN if you are going to the WB Studio Harry Potter tour (their platform photo ops had poor lighting and no fun accessories or photographers). The photographers at King’s Cross gave you wands and Hogwarts School scarves. They were great with posing families and the photos for purchase were reasonably priced!
Tips:
Get there early and expect a line.
The platform photo op led into a small but packed Harry Potter store. This store was far smaller than the WB Studio Tour gift shop but did have overlapping items. You could get goodies at both places to relieve lugging a large amount of purchases (we bought goods at both!).
We then walked to the British museum (first picture in this newsletter!). I was surprised by the quantity of beautiful parks around the city! We stopped by one for lots of water and some caffeine to fight jet lag.London has a number of free museums – all with their own highlights. We were between the British Museum and the National History Museum. The British museum was new to us and close to the Platform so it made our decision easy. Even though it’s free, the British museum has timed ticketed entrances for crowd control so be sure to make ressies on their website. Friends, the entrance was BREATHTAKING. Save time for pics. We explored a few exhibits of interest, learned a lot, and took off to meet up with my brother and his girlfriend, who flew in that afternoon.
We spent the remainder of the evening exploring Trafalgar Square and Big Ben (known as Elizabeth Tower). It was an absolutely beautiful structure, especially at sunset. Make sure to walk down the Westminster Bridge to get the full breathtaking view of the House of Parliament and Big Ben Tower (attached to each other). The architecture was gorgeous.
Day 3:
Breakfast was at The Table (walking distance). IT WAS DELISH. Get there early. Expect a small wait. Do not sleep on the pancakes and the waffles + matcha latte.
Next?
My brother had bought tickets to a soccer game. Um, I know nothing about soccer but this was SO FUN! There are multiple soccer stadiums (we went to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium) so there may be a walk from the station to the stadium.
Tips:
Leave PLENTY of time to travel via train and get there early.
They close down all entrances 30 minutes after the start of the game and we almost missed our timing!
Wear the home team’s colors (or at least avoid the visiting team’s colors!). Get your bathroom breaks and food DURING the game. Don’t wait until halftime! Expect a crowd on the way back. The majority will head towards the train station. I was nervous with the volume of people, but it was surprisingly well organized and everyone was so nice and patient!
The crowd’s enthusiasm was contagious. We had a blast! Note to parents with younger kids – there will be foul language everywhere… and it will be loud. Either prepare those little ears or get ready to have a talk!
We ended the day in Chinatown. It was the most beautiful Chinatown we have ever been to! A ton of yummy places to eat, shop, explore. I strongly recommend any of their tea shops and we LOVED this shop Taiyakiya for sweet Taikyakis (Japanese fish-shaped cake made from waffle or pancake batter typically with red bean filling). I recommend red bean paste, sesame mochi, and matcha ice cream. It was getting cold and late so the three of us took an Uber back home but I’d encourage walking back if you can. There are TONS to see!
Day 4:
Two exciting stops today: We had lunch reservations at DISHOOM (a staple Indian restaurant in London). They have multiple locations. The Covent Garden was their newest location and it was beautiful. The food did not disappoint. Highlights were the rose lassi, lamb chops, pav bhaji, daal makhani, roomali roti, and bottomless chai!
Covent Garden is also a great place for vintage luxury brand and boutique shopping so it was great top walk off our large lunch!
Tips:
If you are a Burberry fan – we loved shopping at CHECK IT VINTAGE It has all things vintage Burberry at great prices!
The next exciting stop: the HARRY POTTER WB STUDIO TOUR. You guys. I cannot adequately put into words how amazing this experience was. This studio tour was all about the making of all of the Harry Potter movies, real sets, optical illusions, costumes, cinema magic… I can go on. Some of the sets were recreated by the original set designers and construction team specifically for the Studio Tour! My brother and his girlfriend had read the books and seen the movies but weren’t die hard fans and still thoroughly enjoyed the entire tour.
Tips:
Buy tickets EARLY. This books out quickly.
This is far from London. Allow ample travel time. It took us about an 1-1.5 hours each way via train from the South Bank. There is a free double-decker shuttle bus that runs from the Watson Junction Station (closest station to the WB Studios) that takes about 20 minutes to go to the studio entrance. There are multiple ways/transportation tips on their website.
Schedule about 3 hours (or more) for the tour.
The have a coatcheck at the entrance so you’re not lugging your crap around.
They also have a cafe + goods in the beginning AND in the middle of the tour (about 2 hours in) so I advise, starting the tour immediately and saving the food break for the middle of your tour.
Don’t forget about the Butterbeer cafe for Butterbeer, Butterbeer cookies, Butterbeer scones, donuts, and more.
There is something for everyone. Pics and videos simply do not do this justice. It ended with a beautiful gift shop with TONS of goods 🙂
Also note the trains don’t run 24 hours. Plan your trip back accordingly. We had a 5pm reservations for the tour and didn’t leave the studio until past 9pm. Had to take a train to the closest open station to our hotel and taxi the rest. It was all worth it.
This picture above was the “miniature” model of the Hogwarts School + castle grounds where they recorded many scenes and CGI’d the actors in! CRAZY!
Day 5:
We wandered over to Borough Market in the morning. Go at opening because even on a Tuesday – it got crowded by noon 1pm. The food options here are ENDLESS so get a quick survey of the types of foods and plan accordingly.
I recommend the viral strawberries + chocolate. I know. Sounds lame and simple but I promise you won’t be disappointed. If you’re not a huge chocolate fan, you can get the strawberries alone or the chocolate in a separate cup to dip!
Oysters and ceviche were fresh. Huge assortment of smelly cheeses. Definitely try the Turkish coffee. Don’t forget the truffle oil station, truffle butter mushroom risotto stand (yes, that’s all they make). Go to Ginger Pig for THE BEST sausage roll baked in a buttery, flaky croissant and the variety of food stalls (Thai, India, Italian, Japanese, American, etc) in the back. We went home with specialty dates, cakes, and jarred spreads (the rose pistachio was our favorite!).
Next was afternoon tea at Fortnum & Mason. You have many, many tea time options in London! We chose the Fortnum & Mason location because it was the most traditional and included FOUR FLOORS of shopping their products!
Everything from teas, biscuits, scones, preserves, spreads, chocolates to perfume and linens.
Tips:
Tea and food were unlimited.
There were no special kid prices.
They were incredibly accommodating for allergies and dietary restrictions (we had a veg menu and a nut free menu included).
They packed all of our leftovers and sent us home with free macaroons.
Highlights:
Sandwiches, tea obvi, and most importantly, SCONES & their orange curd. It was the best we had ever tasted! The sweets were not our favorite. We shopped our hearts out on the ground floor and went home with F&M teas, spreads, and goods.
Day 6:
This was one of our two free days to catch up on all the touristy attractions. We walked to Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the Churchill War Rooms Museum but mutually decided on purchasing tickets for one: The Churchill War Rooms.
During WWII there was a secret underground headquarters where the entire course of the Second World War was determined. Almost everything was preserved since the
end of WWII and you get a chance to see what it was like for those living and working underground during the war. Every ticket holder was given an audio pack with headphones that walked each one through the museum. In the middle there was an entire museum dedicated to Winston Churchill.. Love him,
hate him, or not know much about him – doesn’t matter. It was incredibly educational and gave so many perspectives on this.It was phenomenally done. I was blown away.
Tips:
Kid tickets are half price and they have a kid friendly audio tour. Reserve about 1.5-3 hours depending how much you are interested in reading through everything.
Next we walked to Buckingham (about a 20 minute walk) for a quick snap and wandered around the city. Change of guards are at 11am and becomes crowded so ensure you get there early!
Our plan for the rest of the day was to shop and browse.
Love Luxury is a small store in Knightsbridge with new and preowned Hermes and Chanel bags. Their inventory was impressive. Prices were high as the purses were in excellent condition.
The Designer Exchange was right around the corner. This was another preowned luxury brand store and had largest inventory I have seen next to theRealReal in LA. The store had a shocking quantity of luxury brand shoes, accessories, handbags and clothes. Many pieces were pre loved or from previous seasons so the prices were reasonable.
Tips:
Some items didn’t come with authentication cards but if you purchase an item, you can take it to the origin store and they can provide one for you.
Harrods was a short walk down the street and offered a beautiful selection of every luxury brand (brand new).
Hyde Park & Kensington Gardens were about a 10 minute walk from there!
Patara Thai is a must stop for Thai food in the area. We stumbled across it while shopping. It was the most authentic Thai food I have eaten since visiting Thailand! Their entire staff, including the chefs, were from Thailand who had immigrated to London. Later that night, Gia and I went to see Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theater. It was amazing and I recommend seeing a theater show in London! Similar to NYC there were so many options and different theaters.
Tips:
If you hate crowds and lines VIP theater lounge access was worth it for about an extra $25 extra per person. You are able to enter the lounge one hour prior to the show and enjoy drinks and snacks. They will also personally walk you to your seats before showtime. During intermission – you get to go back to the lounge, skip bathroom lines, and enjoy more goodies.
If you are watching the evening show – Uber or Taxi to and from. The area gets a little sketchy at night.
Day 7:
Another relatively free day. We slept in and had one lunch reservation; The Tamil Prince. HOT TAKE – This was better than Dishoom. Granted it was South Indian food but everything we ordered there was beautifully spiced and balanced.
Tips:
Reservations only. Make them early!
Highlights: Chicken Lollipops, Seabeam fish, Masala dosa, Mango lassi, Chicken Curry, chana bhatura, lamb chops. Pretty much everything. It was about 2.5 miles from our hotel, we took a taxi there and walked back into the city (about an hour) for last minute wandering, eating, and shopping.
