LONDON, ENGLAND
WELCOME BACK for a student’s weekend abroad in London! I’m very excited to share what I’ve got for this one. I’m not quite sure what made our visit so amazing…personally, I think it was just being in an English-speaking country after a month of not knowing what most people around me are saying (lol). No matter what, it was truly the most unforgettable, amazing experience. ALSO, we got to spend a lot of it celebrating Lilly’s 21st birthday (WHOOHOO) which made it even better.
Once again, here’s a narrative of our trip (it’s a long one) + a concise bullet-point recap of what we did, other London suggestions, and a list of helpful links at the bottom
…
Before we even left for London, we had to make sure that we met all of the Covid requirements for entering the UK. Our flight left on February 11th at 7:30 AM and on February 11th at 4:00 AM, the UK announced that they would relieve its mandatory negative-test proof for individuals that were fully vaccinated—this was truly a Godsend. So, all we had to do was fill out the UK’s Passenger Locater Form and triple check that we brought our vaccine cards. We left our residence hall around 5:30 AM that morning, which gave us plenty of time to go through security, grab a quick bite to eat, and get to our gate. The flight was just a little over 2 hours and we soon touched down in Londontown’s own Gatwick Airport.
Gatwick had these automatic Customs machines where you just hop in a line and scan your passport and face on a screen. At first, my machine told me to “seek assistance” AKA go to a line that would have actually taken 3 hours so that a real person could verify my passport. Instead, I switched lines and went to a different machine and—thank goodness—it worked. And just like that, we were ready to head into London! Gatwick is located pretty far south of the center of the city, so we decided to take a train to Victoria station (central London). All you have to do is follow the signs in the airport to the train station, buy a ticket on the self-service kiosk (around $24 one way), and hop on your train (which run around every 20 minutes out of Gatwick). Once we arrived at Victoria station, we followed the signs to the “Underground” (the Metro) and bought an Oyster Card for the weekend. The card itself was 5 pounds, then we added 15 pounds worth of trips on the card—this got us through almost the entire weekend (total of $27). You can also just buy each trip individually by using Apple Pay or the “tap” function on your credit card. Honestly, I’m not sure which one would be more cost effective, but we love some good public transportation so we went all in with buying the Oyster Card (*the Oyster Card also works on the double decker buses — taking a ride on one of them is a must*). *TIP: Unlike Madrid, you will not have service when you start going underground in the London Metro. So if you are taking multiple stops and switching trains to get to your destination, be sure to map it on your phone prior to going down the elevators / escalators so you know when to switch lines!
We took the Metro to Covent Garden Station, which was the nearest stop to our Airbnb. The host told us that we couldn’t drop off our bags until after noon, so we planned to have brunch at The Delaunay, which was a quick walk from Covent Garden station and near our Airbnb, too. The food was fantastic, the English was so comforting, and the restaurant had a coat check and were more than happy to put our luggage back there as well. By the time we finished brunch, we could drop off our suitcases at the Airbnb and begin exploring.
We hopped back on the Underground and took the train to Hyde Park where we wandered around until we got to the big lake in the middle of the park. There were TONS of swans, pigeons, and ducks on the path by the lake—definitely bring some food for them if you want to get a closer look. When we were by the lake, we got stopped by someone who asked us to participate in a “project.” At first, we started to do the whole walk-away-slowly-and-brush-him-off-without-being-too-rude-tactic, but eventually gave in to hear what this “project” was about. It turned out that he was just a guy that liked to interview people for advice, post their answers on TikTok, and hope that it inspires other people. So naturally, we were charmed, said yes, and participated. (You can see Lilly’s interview here: https://vm.tiktok.com/TTPdSFhn3M/ ). 
We continued to stroll until we reached Kensington Palace (Prince William & Kate’s official royal house). We did not go inside, but I think we could have explored the gardens for free. We then exited the park and used Apple Maps to figure out which Double Decker bus would take us over to Harrods, London’s most luxurious and famous department store. Once we were close, we hopped off the bus and did some window shopping along the street, then went inside Harrods. I have never been to a store with so much bouje. I think it was around 7 floors of solely designer-wear…and we did some major shopping damage…in the food court (lol). Regardless, it was very fun to see all of the newest fashion trends and sparkly diamond rings. Then we hopped back on the Underground to explore China Town, which is within walking distance of our Airbnb in Covent Garden. Since Chinese New Year had recently passed, the streets were lined with a lot of lanterns. We then stopped to have a bite of dumplings at Beijing Dumpling, which was so yummy and also our most affordable meal in London. We paid our bill then started our trek back to Covent Garden around 6:00 PM and stopped at a few stores on the way home: Free People, TK Max (TJ Max but almost even better – Daisy got $10 Zara jeans), Calzedonia tight store, an American Candy store, and ended the shopping spree by grabbing a bottle of wine from the neighborhood market.
After a long travel day, we decided it was time to take a break, so we showered, napped, then got ready for our 10 PM dinner reservation at Sketch. I’m sure most of you have seen photos of this “London-must” with its pink rooms, edgy New York artwork, and of course the bathroom with individual pods and a rainbow roof. Since we had eaten a lot that day, we decided to share a few plates together—risotto, beef tartar, mac-and-cheese, and a side of French fries. The drinks were great, but the dessert was honestly sub-par, so if you’re looking to really indulge, I feel like there were better options nearby for a sweet treat. BUT the best part was getting to celebrate Lilly’s 21st at midnight in Sketch! They brought her a special little cake with a candle. It was absolutely precious. We continued the party at an underground, speak-easy type of bar with craft cocktails and chill vibes (The Dirty Martini). We had to pay a 5 pound cover to enter the bar, which was much better than some of the covers at the main clubs in SOHO (30 pounds). After a round of margaritas, we decided to catch a late-night Double Decker bus home, but not without a snack at McDonalds (sometimes we just need to feel American).
The next morning, the celebrations continued for Lilly’s birthday! We cooked pancakes, prepped toast + jam, and had some delicious fresh fruit at the Airbnb…we may or may not have set off the smoke alarm a few times (whoops). After a slow, relaxing morning, we got ready to embrace our inner tourist. We began walking from Covent Garden towards The London Eye, but quickly found ourselves detouring to see what was happening at Covent Garden Plaza—an indoor / outdoor market with shops ranging from Chanel to Ghirardelli to a coffee food truck. There were also a lot of street performers around the Plaza (mostly doing tricks and stunts or magic shows). We continued walking and passed the Benefit store which already had a long line in the morning. From my understanding, you can buy Benefit products in there, but going inside is almost like a museum experience as well. We got back on our itinerary for the day and soon found ourselves crossing the River Thames and approaching the London Eye. Almost all of us had been on the London Eye with our families, but we still entertained the idea and went inside to the self-service kiosks to see how much a ticket was. FORTY POUNDS. Which is the equivalent of nearly $55. So with that, we said adios to the London Eye, grabbed a coffee, and took a few pictures with Big Ben in the background.
We began to make our way over towards Westminster Abbey. The Abbey gave us a student discount and we paid 21 pounds to get inside and were given a digital guide and headphones (we choose to do the “highlights” tour that was around 30 minutes long). If you find these kinds of monuments / places where historical figures are buried to be boring, then you may want to skip out on this one. Personally, I wish that I knew more about the past British monarchs as I think I would have appreciated the history more. However, the church itself is absolutely stunning and it was really cool to be in a place where so many events have taken place—Royal Family weddings, coronations, monumental celebrations, ect. The outside courtyard of the church was one of my favorite parts, which is the very last part near the exit.
The next morning, I got up a little bit before everyone else and made my way to Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Covent Garden to finally hear a mass spoken in English. I stopped at a coffee food truck on the way back home and soon we were off to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace. If you have seen the changing of the guard, you know that it isn’t what you would expect (they played songs like Can You Feel the Love Tonight from the Lion King). No matter what, it was a great experience to see this British tradition and a fun way to start the morning. ALSO, this does not happen every day; while we were there, the guard changed on Friday morning and Sunday morning at 11:00 AM. I'll link the official schedule at the bottom of the page.
*Something I overheard from someone when watching the changing of the guard: if the only flag raised is the British flag and there are only 2 guards at the front door of the palace, the Queen is not home. However, if there are 2 flags and 4 guards, the Queen is inside Buckingham!
After the guards had passed us, we started to walk over to SOHO to glance at the shops and the old red-light district. After about an hour, we saw a cool indoor / outdoor food court situation and decided to take a look inside. Kingly Court has three floors of restaurants to choose from, so if everyone is craving something different, this is a great place to go. We settled on a sushi spot on the 2nd floor and enjoyed a long lunch as the early afternoon rain started to come into the city. After lunch we took the Underground back to the Covent Garden, and once again, spent the afternoon wondering around—each time we explored a different side of Covent Garden and were shocked by how many shops were near us! We even came across another food court similar to Kingly Court (this one was called Seven Dials Market) and Lilly bought some beautiful, locally made earrings and we all got a soft-serve treat from the food area. There was also a Banksy art exhibit across the street from the Seven Dials; since it was a Sunday, it was closed, but I would highly suggest going to check out this museum on modern street art!
Before long, we were back home and reminiscing on our fantastic weekend in London...Lilly and I even started chatting about finding internships there for this summer (TBD, but some applications have been submitted)!
London is a city that has so much to see and so much to offer. If you have the chance, try to stay for as long as you can Once again, thanks you for reading, happy travels, and comment your favorite London spots and tips!
<3, Mary Price
List of Places We Went in London:- SIGHTS / ACTIVITIES
- Hyde Park
- Kensington Palace
- Harrods
- China Town
- Covent Garden Plaza
- London Eye
- Big Ben
- Westminster Abbey
- Abbey Road
- Buckingham Palace for Changing of the Guard
- FOOD
- The Delaunay (breakfast in Covent Garden)
- Beijing Dumpling (China Town)
- Sketch (must go for atmosphere; get reservation)
- Dirty Martini (chill, local-feel bar)
- Gloria Trattoria (Italian dinner in Shoreditch; get reservation)
- Kingly Court (food in SOHO)
- Seven Dials Market (food / shopping in Covent Garden)
- SHOPPING
- Harrods
- Anywhere in / around Covent Garden Plaza
- SOHO area
- Boots
- HUGE pharmacy with a lot of locations; great for people in Spain that can’t get a lot of over-the-counter medication
- TK Max (in Covent Garden)
- American Candy stores
- If you’re craving something specific from America, you can probably find it here!
- TIPS
- Stay in Covent Garden if you can! It’s so cute and close to a lot of great sites
- Bring an umbrella
- London is an expensive city, so budget accordingly
- Pounds to dollars conversion is a bit unforgiving
Other Suggestions: - Book a ticket to Sky Garden
- London’s largest, public rooftop garden with food & drinks & views
- Tickets are free since its a public garden!
- They sell out on the weekends quickly (tickets available almost 4 weeks in advance)
- St. Paul’s Cathedral
- Ticket reservation required ahead of time; climb the bell tower to see a beautiful view of London
- London Eye (if you think it’s worth it)
- Check out the bar scene near Gloria Trattoria (the Shoreditch area)
- Nightlife in SOHO
- Ronnie Scott’s jazz club
- Some good pubs & clubs over here
- Get authentic fish and chips for lunch
- Banksy museum
- Located across the street from the Seven Dials Market / next to Urban Outfitters in Covent Garden
- Columbia Road Flower Market
- On Sundays only
- We didn’t go because it was raining and a little too far from Covent Garden (near Shoreditch)
- Go see the London Bridge
- Tower of London (if you’re looking for a longer tour – crown of jewels here!)
- Borough market (London’s best food market)
Helpful Links:
St. Paul’s Cathedral ticket: https://www.stpauls.co.uk/tickets
Look up the official Changing of the Guard Schedule (it doesn’t happen every day): https://changing-guard.com/dates-buckingham-palace.html
WELCOME BACK for a student’s weekend abroad in London! I’m very excited to share what I’ve got for this one. I’m not quite sure what made our visit so amazing…personally, I think it was just being in an English-speaking country after a month of not knowing what most people around me are saying (lol). No matter what, it was truly the most unforgettable, amazing experience. ALSO, we got to spend a lot of it celebrating Lilly’s 21st birthday (WHOOHOO) which made it even better.
Once again, here’s a narrative of our trip (it’s a long one) + a concise bullet-point recap of what we did, other London suggestions, and a list of helpful links at the bottom
…
Gatwick had these automatic Customs machines where you just hop in a line and scan your passport and face on a screen. At first, my machine told me to “seek assistance” AKA go to a line that would have actually taken 3 hours so that a real person could verify my passport. Instead, I switched lines and went to a different machine and—thank goodness—it worked. And just like that, we were ready to head into London! Gatwick is located pretty far south of the center of the city, so we decided to take a train to Victoria station (central London). All you have to do is follow the signs in the airport to the train station, buy a ticket on the self-service kiosk (around $24 one way), and hop on your train (which run around every 20 minutes out of Gatwick). Once we arrived at Victoria station, we followed the signs to the “Underground” (the Metro) and bought an Oyster Card for the weekend. The card itself was 5 pounds, then we added 15 pounds worth of trips on the card—this got us through almost the entire weekend (total of $27). You can also just buy each trip individually by using Apple Pay or the “tap” function on your credit card. Honestly, I’m not sure which one would be more cost effective, but we love some good public transportation so we went all in with buying the Oyster Card (*the Oyster Card also works on the double decker buses — taking a ride on one of them is a must*).
*TIP: Unlike Madrid, you will not have service when you start going underground in the London Metro. So if you are taking multiple stops and switching trains to get to your destination, be sure to map it on your phone prior to going down the elevators / escalators so you know when to switch lines!
We took the Metro to Covent Garden Station, which was the nearest stop to our Airbnb. The host told us that we couldn’t drop off our bags until after noon, so we planned to have brunch at The Delaunay, which was a quick walk from Covent Garden station and near our Airbnb, too. The food was fantastic, the English was so comforting, and the restaurant had a coat check and were more than happy to put our luggage back there as well. By the time we finished brunch, we could drop off our suitcases at the Airbnb and begin exploring.
We hopped back on the Underground and took the train to Hyde Park where we wandered around until we got to the big lake in the middle of the park. There were TONS of swans, pigeons, and ducks on the path by the lake—definitely bring some food for them if you want to get a closer look. When we were by the lake, we got stopped by someone who asked us to participate in a “project.” At first, we started to do the whole walk-away-slowly-and-brush-him-off-without-being-too-rude-tactic, but eventually gave in to hear what this “project” was about. It turned out that he was just a guy that liked to interview people for advice, post their answers on TikTok, and hope that it inspires other people. So naturally, we were charmed, said yes, and participated. (You can see Lilly’s interview here: https://vm.tiktok.com/TTPdSFhn3M/ ).
We continued to stroll until we reached Kensington Palace (Prince William & Kate’s official royal house). We did not go inside, but I think we could have explored the gardens for free. We then exited the park and used Apple Maps to figure out which Double Decker bus would take us over to Harrods, London’s most luxurious and famous department store. Once we were close, we hopped off the bus and did some window shopping along the street, then went inside Harrods. I have never been to a store with so much bouje. I think it was around 7 floors of solely designer-wear…and we did some major shopping damage…in the food court (lol). Regardless, it was very fun to see all of the newest fashion trends and sparkly diamond rings. Then we hopped back on the Underground to explore China Town, which is within walking distance of our Airbnb in Covent Garden. Since Chinese New Year had recently passed, the streets were lined with a lot of lanterns. We then stopped to have a bite of dumplings at Beijing Dumpling, which was so yummy and also our most affordable meal in London. We paid our bill then started our trek back to Covent Garden around 6:00 PM and stopped at a few stores on the way home: Free People, TK Max (TJ Max but almost even better – Daisy got $10 Zara jeans), Calzedonia tight store, an American Candy store, and ended the shopping spree by grabbing a bottle of wine from the neighborhood market.
After a long travel day, we decided it was time to take a break, so we showered, napped, then got ready for our 10 PM dinner reservation at Sketch. I’m sure most of you have seen photos of this “London-must” with its pink rooms, edgy New York artwork, and of course the bathroom with individual pods and a rainbow roof. Since we had eaten a lot that day, we decided to share a few plates together—risotto, beef tartar, mac-and-cheese, and a side of French fries. The drinks were great, but the dessert was honestly sub-par, so if you’re looking to really indulge, I feel like there were better options nearby for a sweet treat. BUT the best part was getting to celebrate Lilly’s 21st at midnight in Sketch! They brought her a special little cake with a candle. It was absolutely precious. We continued the party at an underground, speak-easy type of bar with craft cocktails and chill vibes (The Dirty Martini). We had to pay a 5 pound cover to enter the bar, which was much better than some of the covers at the main clubs in SOHO (30 pounds). After a round of margaritas, we decided to catch a late-night Double Decker bus home, but not without a snack at McDonalds (sometimes we just need to feel American).
The next morning, the celebrations continued for Lilly’s birthday! We cooked pancakes, prepped toast + jam, and had some delicious fresh fruit at the Airbnb…we may or may not have set off the smoke alarm a few times (whoops). After a slow, relaxing morning, we got ready to embrace our inner tourist. We began walking from Covent Garden towards The London Eye, but quickly found ourselves detouring to see what was happening at Covent Garden Plaza—an indoor / outdoor market with shops ranging from Chanel to Ghirardelli to a coffee food truck. There were also a lot of street performers around the Plaza (mostly doing tricks and stunts or magic shows). We continued walking and passed the Benefit store which already had a long line in the morning. From my understanding, you can buy Benefit products in there, but going inside is almost like a museum experience as well. We got back on our itinerary for the day and soon found ourselves crossing the River Thames and approaching the London Eye. Almost all of us had been on the London Eye with our families, but we still entertained the idea and went inside to the self-service kiosks to see how much a ticket was. FORTY POUNDS. Which is the equivalent of nearly $55. So with that, we said adios to the London Eye, grabbed a coffee, and took a few pictures with Big Ben in the background.
We began to make our way over towards Westminster Abbey. The Abbey gave us a student discount and we paid 21 pounds to get inside and were given a digital guide and headphones (we choose to do the “highlights” tour that was around 30 minutes long). If you find these kinds of monuments / places where historical figures are buried to be boring, then you may want to skip out on this one. Personally, I wish that I knew more about the past British monarchs as I think I would have appreciated the history more. However, the church itself is absolutely stunning and it was really cool to be in a place where so many events have taken place—Royal Family weddings, coronations, monumental celebrations, ect. The outside courtyard of the church was one of my favorite parts, which is the very last part near the exit.
*Something I overheard from someone when watching the changing of the guard: if the only flag raised is the British flag and there are only 2 guards at the front door of the palace, the Queen is not home. However, if there are 2 flags and 4 guards, the Queen is inside Buckingham!
After the guards had passed us, we started to walk over to SOHO to glance at the shops and the old red-light district. After about an hour, we saw a cool indoor / outdoor food court situation and decided to take a look inside. Kingly Court has three floors of restaurants to choose from, so if everyone is craving something different, this is a great place to go. We settled on a sushi spot on the 2nd floor and enjoyed a long lunch as the early afternoon rain started to come into the city. After lunch we took the Underground back to the Covent Garden, and once again, spent the afternoon wondering around—each time we explored a different side of Covent Garden and were shocked by how many shops were near us! We even came across another food court similar to Kingly Court (this one was called Seven Dials Market) and Lilly bought some beautiful, locally made earrings and we all got a soft-serve treat from the food area. There was also a Banksy art exhibit across the street from the Seven Dials; since it was a Sunday, it was closed, but I would highly suggest going to check out this museum on modern street art!
List of Places We Went in London:
- SIGHTS / ACTIVITIES
- Hyde Park
- Kensington Palace
- Harrods
- China Town
- Covent Garden Plaza
- London Eye
- Big Ben
- Westminster Abbey
- Abbey Road
- Buckingham Palace for Changing of the Guard
- FOOD
- The Delaunay (breakfast in Covent Garden)
- Beijing Dumpling (China Town)
- Sketch (must go for atmosphere; get reservation)
- Dirty Martini (chill, local-feel bar)
- Gloria Trattoria (Italian dinner in Shoreditch; get reservation)
- Kingly Court (food in SOHO)
- Seven Dials Market (food / shopping in Covent Garden)
- SHOPPING
- Harrods
- Anywhere in / around Covent Garden Plaza
- SOHO area
- Boots
- HUGE pharmacy with a lot of locations; great for people in Spain that can’t get a lot of over-the-counter medication
- TK Max (in Covent Garden)
- American Candy stores
- If you’re craving something specific from America, you can probably find it here!
- TIPS
- Stay in Covent Garden if you can! It’s so cute and close to a lot of great sites
- Bring an umbrella
- London is an expensive city, so budget accordingly
- Pounds to dollars conversion is a bit unforgiving
Other Suggestions:
- Book a ticket to Sky Garden
- London’s largest, public rooftop garden with food & drinks & views
- Tickets are free since its a public garden!
- They sell out on the weekends quickly (tickets available almost 4 weeks in advance)
- St. Paul’s Cathedral
- Ticket reservation required ahead of time; climb the bell tower to see a beautiful view of London
- London Eye (if you think it’s worth it)
- Check out the bar scene near Gloria Trattoria (the Shoreditch area)
- Nightlife in SOHO
- Ronnie Scott’s jazz club
- Some good pubs & clubs over here
- Get authentic fish and chips for lunch
- Banksy museum
- Located across the street from the Seven Dials Market / next to Urban Outfitters in Covent Garden
- Columbia Road Flower Market
- On Sundays only
- We didn’t go because it was raining and a little too far from Covent Garden (near Shoreditch)
- Go see the London Bridge
- Tower of London (if you’re looking for a longer tour – crown of jewels here!)
- Borough market (London’s best food market)
Book a free ticket at Sky Garden: https://skygarden.london/booking/book-a-free-ticket/
St. Paul’s Cathedral ticket: https://www.stpauls.co.uk/tickets
St. Paul’s Cathedral ticket: https://www.stpauls.co.uk/tickets
Look up the official Changing of the Guard Schedule (it doesn’t happen every day): https://changing-guard.com/dates-buckingham-palace.html
Comments
Post a Comment