Day 1: Arrival
My flight to London was a nonstop overnight flight from Orlando to London in a little over eight hours. I safely landed in London at the Gatwick airport around 10:25am. This gave me enough time to grab the Gatwick Express to the city before heading to my hotel. Before this trip I bought the London Pass & Travel Card, which gave me access to 88 attractions by skipping the line & 25 pounds on the travel card, known as the Oyster Card. There are machines around in the stations that will help load more money onto your Oyster Card. To use the train stations and know where you are going, you must download the Tube App. The Gatwick Express takes you to the Victoria London train station. From there, you can see which line goes to your final destination. I stayed in Canning Town since it was least expensive area but only a ten minute train ride into the city. My hotel was called ibis London Canning Town, which was adorable and right across from the Canning Town station. There was a restaurant & bar inside the hotel, as well as a grocery store, beauty store, and cafe outside right next door. Check in was quick, easy and my room was ready earlier than the time expected.
After checking in, I headed straight back into the city to see The View from The Shard. This experience was already included my London Pass, but since it was a Saturday, the fast pass lane was still thirty mins to check in, and then another thirty mins to head up to the top floor. Once you see the view, which could take you ten minutes or an hour depending on how you want to take your time, and the line to go back downstairs took an hour. The view was wonderful, but the wait was awful! I highly suggest to do this experience during the week when it’s not crowded. Next I head to see the Chase Rice Tour which was playing about a thirty minute train ride at O2 Shepard’s Bush Empire. I’ve photographed and seen Chase Rice perform many times, and you can head over to my Munich travel guide here to see more photos from his show in Germany. It was a perfect show to end my first night in London.
Day 2: London Bridge
Since I was super jet lagged from traveling, I did not explore London until the afternoon the next day. I started at The Tower of London, a historic castle on the north bank of the Thames in London. It had a great importance in the history of England and was besieged several times. This was a great experience to go through, and it was right next to the London Bridge, which was my next stop. It was just un-believable to be walking on the London Bridge after always seeing it in photographs. After some sight seeing, I headed to the Museum of London, which was my final stop of the day. The Museum of London is the world’s largest urban museum, packed with historic objects and exhibitions telling the story of London’s past. I am not a big fan of museums, but this was a great to experience and learn more about London. Both the Tower of London and Museum of London are included in The London Pass. I ended my night at the hotel’s restaurant for dinner. I ordered a margarita pizza, and it was huge! I did eat it all since I’ve barely had anything to eat all day. I will say the food there is delicious!
Day 3: Kensington Palace & Notting Hill
Today was my last full day in London so I woke up early to start my day by 8am. I headed straight to the Big Ben, but unfortunately it was being remodeled. It was still great to view, and the London Eye was on the other side of me. Then I headed right next door to the Westminster Abbey. Westminster Abbey is a Gothic monastery church London that is the traditional place of coronation and burial for English monarchs. Westminster Abbey is a place of worship owned by the royal family. One of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen! You can skip the line with your London Pass. Next I headed to the Kensington Palace to take a tour of some Royalty. The palace is located at the end of Hyde Park, which the park is not as pretty during the winter. The tour was great, but I ended up leaving it to explore the palace on my own. It was cool to see Princess Diana’s room.
After enjoying my visit at the palace, I headed to Notting Hill. This small cute and quiet neighborhood was by far my favorite stop in London. The houses on Farmer street are all colorful and bright. I ended up having lunch at The Hillgate. I ordered one of the daily specials which was a club sandwich and a tasty cocktail. After lunch, I headed back to the London Bridge for the The London Bridge Experience. If you like Halloween Horror Nights, this attraction is for you! This experience is all based on the horrors of London in a skit, but then they send you in a haunted house, which I thought was never going to end! I thought it was scarier than Halloween Horror Nights. It’s definitely was the best way to end my stay in London. The Westminster Abbey, Kensington Palace, & The London Bridge Experience is all included in The London Pass.
The next day I flew out of the Heathrow Airport to head to Munich, Germany. You can read my Munich Travel Guide here. London was great, but definitely need more than three days to explore the city. I know I will be back one day!