England, despite the wrongs of the past, was one of the largest and most powerful empires in the history of the world. But England wasn’t always a force, in the middle ages, many attacked, and controlled parts of England, whether it was the Anglo-Saxons, the Franks, or the Vikings. Because of this, the history of the country is immense and for history buffs there is plenty to learn and see. London, being the capitol city, has markings of this history on the grandest scale throughout. London truly is a marvel, it is a global city, with plenty of commerce and diversity, and it has endless iconic structures and neighborhoods. With that being said, with all there is to see and do, London attracts a ton of tourist and the prices skyrocket… London is packed and expensive.
Iconic Landmarks
We stayed in London for 5 nights, which seems like a good amount of time to explore, but with everything we wanted to do, it was rushed. We saw most of the city, although we didn’t go inside many of the iconic landmarks, just visited them, took pictures and moved on. This was in part due to time, but also the price… we needed to save money. Despite the prices, hotels options are plentiful and can be found at a decent price. We stayed at The Tower Hotel, which was a good price and right on the Thames River, in front of the iconic Tower Bridge. It is also about a 5-minute walk from The Tower of London.
In addition to these two sights, other sites we visited were The Elizabeth Tower and Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, The London Eye, Trafalgar Square, Picadilly Circus, Leicester Square and Buckingham Palace where we navigated the endless wave of tourists to watch the Changing of the Guard. It was a cool experience, but with the time used getting there early (for a good spot) and trying to get out of the crowd, it was kind of a waste of time… but I guess it’s something you have to see if you’re in London.
For my walking tour VLOG of London's iconic landmarks, click here.
Boroughs
Some other neighborhoods, or boroughs as they call them, we visited were Soho, China Town, Greenwich, Notting Hill and Camden. Soho is riddled with pubs and restaurants and is a popular and fun neighborhood. China Town was cool to walk around, but the food we had wasn’t great. In Greenwich, we visited the Prime Meridian and a number of museums and colleges famous for navigation and exploration. Notting Hill, known for television shows, has a ton of colourful buildings, boutique shops, cafés, antiques and the Portobello Road Market. And in Camden I spent a couple hours drinking in pubs and mingling with locals and other tourists.
Activities
And for museum fans, most museums are free. We went to the National Gallery, the Natural History Museum and a couple others in Greenwich. The museums are cool and usually have activities for kids. In addition to the kids activities in the museums, we took our daughter to the Paddington Experience. It was costly but a lot of fun and she had a blast! When she got to take a picture with Paddington Bear they had to act as security because she kept running back for more! We also went to the Paddington Store and took a picture with the statue in Paddington Station. Paddington Bear is a London icon and not only was it fun for our daughter, but we had a blast with this experience.
Pubs
There was plenty to do, but in addition to neighborhoods, landmarks and structures, London is famous for pubs. We visited several pubs throughout our time in London, some while needing a break from the heat, others for a meal and some to try a beer (or several). The pub scene is fantastic, compared to Scotland and Ireland, the pubs in London were my favorite. There was history, cool designs/architecture and great beer.
The most beautiful pub I’ve seen was a pub built in the 1800’s, the Blackfriar Pub, an iconic wedge-shaped pub with intricate stone art. Inside wood carved panels, vaulted ceilings and bronze statues with monk themes throughout make this one of London’s most visually appealing pubs. Then there was one of London’s most historic pubs, Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, which dates back to the 1500’s and was rebuilt in 1667 after the great fire. The pub’s maze like interior with several dark and low ceiling rooms, the cellar bar and a cool ambiance and the excellent food contribute to the fact that it is one of London’s most famous pubs. And, unlike in Canada, the pubs are family friendly, with kids being welcomed (usually until 10:00 pm) and good kids menus. And again, unlike Canada, the food was usually tremendous in these pubs.
Food
Now the pub food was good, but so was the rest of the food in London and England for that matter. People say British food is bland, but when you’re actually eating there, it isn’t. England is home to some of the best farm land; why do you think the Vikings and everyone else wanted a piece of England? Good farmland makes for great food. The landscape is a lush and green rolling hills and the cows are grass fed; the beef is excellent and so is the fresh bread, potatoes and cheese. And yes, the British know how to do carbs well, that’s why I gained at least 5 pounds over there.. coupled with the beer of course.
So good farming makes for some high quality food, and London is very diverse, so it’s not just British food that’s good. I had Chicken Shawarma one night after the bar when I was absolutely gutted, and the wrap was excellent. There are also a number of markets, the one we spent an afternoon in was Borough Market. The range of foods are endless, and despite the crowds, it was totally worth it for the delicious food we had, although again, we over indulged and ate way too much! We had a Japanese rice bowl, Mango Sticky Rice from a Thai place, one of the best sandwiches of my life from The Black Pig, Paella, and a Jacket Potato. But, other English foods of note are the meat pies which are excellent, of course the fish and chips, flaky and tasty sausage rolls and anything they did with the potatoes. The food was very fresh and hearty and felt like good home cooking. Unfortunately, we missed the famous Sunday Roast meal in London, but we managed to find it in York, I’ll tell you about that one in my York Experience later.
Locals and Tourists
While I was surprised and impressed with the food, the same can be said about the people. Everyone says people from England are cold, but I couldn’t find anything but the opposite. The English and people in London were extremely friendly. Europeans often complain about British travelers, but in England I found quite the opposite, especially in London which was packed with other tourists, in particular other Europeans. The tourists were rude and incosiderate, but the locals were friendly and funny. Yes, many of them like to swear and have fowl mouths, but it’s all part of the fun. You can really have a good conversation with a Londoner, especially in the pub. But of everywhere I’ve been in my life, in London, the tourists were too much, there were too many of them and they were some of the rudest I’ve encountered. I know, it’s kind of ironic as I’m writing a travel blog about travelling to London, I’m complaining about tourists… but come on, be respectful and considerate for others, especially while travelling.
Day Trips
There are tons of tourists because there is tons to do in London, but there are also several day trips outside of the city if you want to get away from the chaos. We booked a day trip to Windsor, Stonehenge and Bath. The trip was tremendous and totally worth it. The epic history of England isn’t unique to London, and we learned a lot on this day trip. Windsor castle left us in awe and interestingly it is the oldest occupied castle in the world. We also witness a proper changing of the guard ceremony there with less craziness than London. Stonehenge was interesting and a bucket list site and the town of Bath was really neat, while the tour of the Roman Bath’s themselves was nothing more than average. I’ll tell you more about this tour in a separate blog later, but it was excellent and illustrates that there is plenty to see and do in England and outside of London.
Final Thoughts
London was a trip, it was busy, fast paced and jam packed with action. The heatwave the city had added to the exhaustion of our 5 days there, but it was a lot of fun. We travelled all over the city, taxis are expensive but public transportation in London is excellent. We took the “tube” (or the London Underground) throughout the city, and the schedule is easy to follow and get around, just don’t mind the lack of AC. The buses are good too, and many of London’s iconic attractions are all within walking distance anyways. And, with a bit more of a price tag, you can even take the Thames Clipper, or Uber Boat. We took this to Greenwich and it made for a nice relaxing morning. So, if you can take the crowds, London is a breathtaking city that’s easy to navigate and plan a wide array of activities and experiences, as long as you’re willing to open your wallet. It was an excellent trip, but we could have used an extra day or two to ease the load of our epic trip to London and the UK.
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