I studied abroad in London in 2014, so you are probably wondering why I am even bothering writing about what to eat and which sites to visit. To this day, people still ask for my advice on this subject before they take their own trips to London (without even inviting me which is pretty audacious in my opinion!) so now it’s all in one post and not a boring e-mail! Hooray!
After a VERY long trip down memory lane, I have rounded up the highlights of what I like to call “My Four-Month Life” because everything in London was amazing.
Please give all places a good ol’ Google search to make sure they are still open. I would also go as far as investing in a Lonely Planet book because it tells you what you “can’t miss” at all of the attractions.
P.S. I accept payment for these recommendations in the form of a plane ticket to Heathrow. If it is cheaper to fly me to Gatwick, I will be flexible. The best part is that it only has to be a one-way!
How to get around the city
TAKE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION! The Tube is THE BEST!! Seriously, it’s super safe and so clean you could probably perform surgery on it. The Piccadilly Line will take you literally anywhere you want to go. Take a black cab to say you took one but you don’t need to do it more than once. WASTE OF MONEY! Take the double-decker buses and the Tube!
Markets in London
First and foremost, the markets were my favorite! They are at their peaks on Sunday, so spending a few hours of your Sunday in London at the markets for souvenirs is worth it!
Calories do not count on vacation. I’ll say it again. CALORIES. DO. NOT. COUNT. ON. VACATION. Okay, now that we have agreed that calories do not count on vacation, let’s take a deep dive into Borough Market…
Borough Market is my absolute favorite market in the whole world, and it’s open during the week so you don’t have to add it to your Sunday market list. Seriously, whenever I’m asked what I would eat if I only had one more meal left in my life, I say “an eating marathon through Borough Market” with zero hesitation. I want to say there were over 70 food stands in this market, and it may seem intimidating to figure out where to eat. That’s where I step in.Â
There was a stand with paella and Thai green curry that was out of this world and my consistent “go-to” whenever I found myself at Borough Market. I wish I knew the name of the stand. Anyways, it was amazing.
Get a huge cookie there, too! I used to refer to them as “the cookies the size of my face” for obvious reasons pictured here. They were amazing and I got one of those cookies every single time I was within a half-mile radius of Borough Market.
There used to be a stand in Borough Market with the best grilled cheese EV-ER that I discovered on my very last day in LDN. The stand is called Kappacasein, but they may have a brick and mortar shop now. TRACK IT DOWN! It was AMAZING! I walked away with very few regrets from my semester abroad, and discovering Kappacasein grilled cheese WAY too late was one of them.
I loved spending my Sundays at Brick Lane Market and the Sunday UpMarket. The food was so good and there was decent shopping, too. Definitely a cool experience worth checking out. The Indian food on Brick Lane is epic. However, any time I was in that area, I would get a bagel from Beigel Bake and they were DELISH. Hot Salt Beef on a bagel? Say no more!
There is also a gem on Brick Lane called Dark Sugars Chocolates that was absolutely unbelievable hot chocolate if my memory serves me correctly. I mean look at the pictures and tell me that hot cocoa is not projected to be amazing. When they shave the fresh chocolate and let it melt in that drink, how bad could it be? Spoiler alert: NOT BAD AT ALL!
Spitalfields Market was my personal favorite market for shopping. Seriously, I lost the wrong kind of pounds there! Ha. I would put a grenade in my account every time I set foot in that market. They had beautiful scarves, pretty silver jewelry, and other amazing souvenir stands that are less “touristy.” I actually got a really nice leather purse there that has only gotten better over time. Watch it rip or something now that I’m saying this!
MORE Touristy Things
Hyde Park is my favorite place in the entire world! You can’t face tune that glow I’m sporting in that picture to the right!
The Serpentine is in Hyde Park, and you can even go paddle boating in the lake! Super cool and I totally wish I did that when I was in London! It goes without saying it was my favorite of all the royal parks (that are all beautiful). It’s walking distance from Harrods and Kensington Palace is also over there, too (if my memory serves me correctly).
Harrods is definitely worth experiencing, and I still loved visiting there even though the only store items in my budget were the sandwiches and donuts from the food hall. They were solid purchases, nonetheless, if I do say so myself! Sometimes, I would even practice will power and wait to eat them until I got to Hyde Park to enjoy my lunch there!
As far as Kensington Palace goes, I think it was cool to see. I don’t recall spending too much time there, but I liked seeing Princess Diana’s gowns and learning other bits of history you couldn’t find elsewhere outside of Google. Additionally, the gardens outside the palace are beautiful!
Trafalgar Square is the center of the city. Obviously, there is so much to see and do in that area. You have access to the National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery and so much more that I cannot list without a Google search.
Shakespeare’s Globe was really cool to see. I went during one of my classes, but I think it would be worth taking a tour of the theatre because you will probably find yourself along South Bank at some point during your trip. The theater does not have a roof, and I think they even have shows there in the summer.
Views of the City
London’s skyline is the best. Yes, Chicago, I just said that out loud. It is a beautiful skyline and you can’t go to London and not get a good look at the view. There are so many ways you can see the city from the sky, but I am listing my top three.
First of all, St. Paul’s Cathedral had the best guided tour EVER. I was blown away. I was there so long ago that you listened to the tour on an iPod touch, but the tour was phenomenal. I will never forget how they walked you through every single aspect of every room rather than tours elsewhere where they seemed to just give a general overview. After the tour, you climb to the top of the cathedral and get a stellar view of the city. Definitely worth it!
Apparently taking panoramic pictures of the skyline was a hot commodity for me in London (fine… I still take panos in Chicago, too!), but Primrose Hill was really underrated. Bring a bottle of wine and watch the sunset over the city from the hill. It is so, so, so perfect!
The London Eye was cool, but I would not go back on the Eye again during future visits to London. It was one of those things that was cool to do once, and that’s that. You definitely get a solid view of all the main attractions in the city, but I would strongly advise against waiting in a long line to ride the Eye if your trip to London is short.
You can also get a pretty solid view of the city from Greenwich! It’s far from Central London, but there was an awesome market and cool sight-seeing. The Prime Meridian runs through Greenwich, too. Heading to Greenwich was about a half-day time commitment, but it was pretty fun. However, I don’t think I would return there on future trips.
Museums and Galleries
The museums and galleries in London are unbelievable, and the best part is they are FREE. I am going to try and remain objective as possible here because I would be lying through my teeth if I said I loved every single one of them. It’s obviously personal preference and you can do your research on where you actually want to visit.
British Museum
National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery
Natural History Museum
Victoria and Albert Museum
HIGH Tea
There are multiple Hotel Indigo locations in Central London, and I think my friends and I bought a Groupon for this outing. Fortnum & Mason was more of a treat. I do not think all tea experiences are the same, but you can’t go wrong with the experience you choose. Just find one that fits your budget and you’re good to go.
High Tea was a very fun experience in London that I highly recommend, and I actually went to a few different locations for tea. I am not going to ramble about the quality of food or tea selections at every place. There are a ton of places that offer High Tea and they are all very fun in their own ways. Pictured here are my experiences at Hotel Indigo (top) and Fortnum & Mason (bottom).
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More Fun Things that I will showcase with photos rather than lengthy descriptions...
What I would do with another week in London...
1. I would have an eating marathon at Borough Market.
2. I would eat at Duck & Waffle.
3. I would go paddle boating on the Serpentine in Hyde Park.
4. I would spend too much money at Spitalfields Market.
5. I would go to some of the “Instagrammable” places like Sketch or a tea party at Mad Hatters. I would also like to try Chin Chin Ice Cream and Blondies Kitchen.
