A 6 day London Travel Story
All of my international trips bar one have been for work purposes. I take some extra time apart from the working days to enjoy the place to myself. But the trip to London was only the second time that I traveled for leisure. The only one other time was on my honeymoon in Maldives. But London was sort of solo travel – so it was really special. I say sort of because I accompanied my husband on his work trip – he worked while I enjoyed London solo to my heart’s content. Evenings and weekends, though, were a couple’s trip.
There’s so much to do and see in London that I ran out of time! My own itinerary was tailored to what I like but I will suggest alternatives for some places I know are too customized i.e., fandom based. So without further ado, here’s my London travel story.
London Baby!
Friends fans will understand the header above – Joey exclaiming when he visits London. My feelings and excitement was similar. My husband and I arrived in London early evening on a Saturday. After reaching our hotel, dumping our luggage and freshening up, we went out to meet a college friend of ours. The evening turned into night as we chatted, reminisced about college and made plans for the next day.
Passes - Which one?
Passes make sightseeing cheaper, within budget. The cost of a pass is lesser than the entry for all attractions put together. Also there are jump-the-queue facilities and other offers on dining as well. There are different kinds of passes available:
- London Pass – day based, includes 90+ attractions along with Big Bus, river cruise, walking tour, hotel drop off services. £ 89 for a 2 day or £ 98 for a 3 day pass.
- Sightseeing Pass – day based, includes 55+ attractions along with special offers like bicycle tours, HOHO bus tours etc. £ 74.40 (2 days) or £ 99.20 (3 days).
- Explorer Pass – based on number of attractions, includes about 60 attractions. £ 34 (2 choices), £ 49 (3 choices).
- Oyster Card – travel card for London underground, buses etc.
My trip was broken into 2 parts with a day in Cork, Ireland. So, taking the day based pass wasn’t feasible since, once activated, the pass would be valid for continuous days. Also the cost for a 6-day pass was too high. Upon several calculations, I took a combination – a 3 day London Pass along with an Oyster card and a 3-attraction Explorer Pass.
Royals and Magic
Buckingham Palace
Day 1’s plan was just 2 places / attractions. First was, what else?! The Buckingham Palace. We made sure to be in time for the Changing of Guards ceremony. It was an hour long event, very interesting to experience. The on-duty guards at the Buckingham Palace hand over their duties to the new shift inside the palace grounds and do a parade round the street in front before leaving. It involves horses, marching bands and swords! I felt lucky to have seen it because that was the last day of the year when it was being held, after which the Queen would shift to her winter residence.
Tip: Change of guards ceremony is not held everyday, and there have been changes due to Covid. Please check this website before planning your trip.
After the ceremony, we booked tickets for the tour of the palace. We managed to get the last tickets (!!!) for that year’s palace tour!
Tip: The Palace is open to visitors for only ten weeks in the summer, so be sure to check the dates before planning your trip and book tickets accordingly.
We had some time on our hands before the tour so we walked around the neighbourhood, upto London Bridge. We saw the London Eye, the Big Ben – then under renovation, Westminster Chapel and the Thames. Just walking around a city gives a feel for the vibe of the city and I loved it. For lunch, we had the quintessential english dish – Fish and Chips! Sadly, it was just average.
Lunch done, we walked back to Buckingham Palace for the tour. The Buckingham Palace is one of the few working royal palaces today. It is the headquarters of the Monarchy as well as the home of the Queen. We got a glimpse into the Queen’s residence – the Throne Room, the Ballroom, the Grand Staircase and various other State rooms and some part of the magnificent Royal Collection. It takes close to an hour to do the tour; to complete, wander the gardens and do stop at the shop for souvenirs.
Tip: Photography is prohibited inside but one can take pictures from the gardens of the palace building as well as the from the outside when you are done with the Changing of Guards ceremony.
Apart from the Palace tour itself, one can also visit the Royal Mews where lies the historic coaches and carriages as well as the working Royal Stables. The Mews is responsible for travel arrangements of all the Royal family members. We unfortunately had to skip this due to time shortage.
Tickets (not included in any pass): £ 30
Harry Potter Studio Tour, Warner Brothers
Then, it was time for the best part of my London trip – I’m saying this unashamedly – the Harry Potter Studio Tour in Leavesden. I was there for 4 hours but was still left wanting for more. There was so much to enjoy there – its a must for any Harry Potter fan. There’s Diagon Alley, there’s the Forbidden Forest, the dormitories, wand lessons and what not! I have written a whole post about this part of the trip. Check it out here. https://nilsaroundtheworld.com/potter-mania-warner-bros-studio-tour-london/
Tickets (not included in pass): £ 49.95
All The Cool Places
Tower Bridge
This was a Monday so it meant work for the husband while I set off to ramble around London. My first stop of the day was the Tower Bridge. The Tower Bridge is London’s defining landmark – the bridge with 2 towers and a span that opens up to let boats through. Established in 1894, it is a bascule (opens up in 2 parts) cum suspension bridge with twin walkways at the higher levels connecting the 2 towers.
As part of the Tower Bridge Exhibition Tour, I went up 206 steps to the North Tower. There was a short film about the Tower telecasting on the screen. Then I walked across the bridge over the glass bottom walkway! It was scary; it felt like I was stepping into the deep waters below! The views from up there are wonderful – the whole vista of London city with the Thames flowing calmly in between. Upon reaching the South Tower on the other side, I walked down the steps to reach the Engine Rooms below. The Engine Rooms are from where the original steam engines were operated to draw up and lower the bascules. It was very interesting indeed.
Tip: There is a shop after this at the lower level, you can buy some interesting mementos here. Pass holders get discounts on items in the shop.
I took a walk around the area after my Tower Bridge tour along the Thames bank, enjoying the sunshine and having an ice cream cone. I sat down at a random bench and just soaked up the day as I gazed at the river and the boats. Then I took off walking again towards the St. Paul’s Cathedral.
Hop On Hop Off Bus Tour
The Hop on Hop Off (HOHO) Big Bus Tour is a way to see all the city’s prominent and some not so prominent areas and attractions in a sort of bird’s eye view. It also helps plan your itinerary in more detail. This day, I boarded the Big Bus at the tail end of my meandering walk – from the Cathedral stop. That’s the beauty of the HOHO bus – I could get on at any point and get off at any other one as per my wish. The bus took me throughout the city as I learned about the city’s as well as the different monuments’ history through the very interesting live commentary on board.
Tip: There are 4 routes of the Big Bus which take you through the various areas – Central London, (Red) West London (Blue) etc. Choose the route accordingly or you may take them all. Ask about which bus it is before boarding at any stop.
Self Walking Tour
I got off the bus at its London Bridge stop. This part is the self-guided walking tour. I saw (and walked over) the London Bridge – is isn’t falling down!, the Monument – a tribute to the Great Fire of London, Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square. I ended the day with some memento shopping near the area. Then it was dinner with my husband and his colleague at a cute little pub in a small alley near our hotel.
Tickets (without Pass)
- Tower Bridge: £ 10.60
- Big Bus: £ 31.20 (1 day)
- HMS Belfast: £ 22.70
- London Bridge, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square – Free
Half Day Tour of Landmarks
Covent Garden, Millennium Bridge, Borough Market
I started the day with collection of my passes; I had booked all of them online. From there I walked to my first stop of the day – Covent Garden. It was a lively market with variety of shops, so colourful. I checked out a few shops – chocolates, perfumes, tea. In the end though, I didn’t really buy anything. I did walk around and enjoy live music being played. I had such a good time.
Next stop – Millennium Bridge. This is a pedestrian bridge which I liked because of its intriguing design. It is connected on one end to St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Tate Modern Museum on the other. It makes for very Instagram-worthy photos.
Last stop on my half day tour was the Borough Market. Borough Market is one of London’s oldest and largest market. I read about this on a blog and was immediately interested. It lived up to ,y expectations and then some! There are foods of various cultures and cuisines – from raw fresh produce to cheeses to delicious hot food. The smells were amazing. I had this lip-smacking yummy sandwich made of spit roast porchetta. I left with the happy smile of a well-fed person.
That was it for the first 3 days of my London trip. On this 3rd day, my husband and I took a flight to Cork for his work purposes. We were there for the next day when I went about enjoying Cork. Read about it here.
For the second half of my London trip, watch out this space for The London Journals – Part 2.
This is beautiful. I liked the pictures and the traveling tips.
Thank you! And thanks for reading.
Looks like you have managed to fit a lot into a short trip! I love London, I have been there a lot! I can’t wait to do more in London. Thank you for sharing!
Lauren – bournemouthgirl
I had a lot of time on my hands and I made sure to start early each day. Plus London’s underground is so easy that I could travel intracity so quickly. There’s more coming up in Part 2! Thanks for reading.
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