In the midst of one of the busiest jobs of my year, Brandon and I somehow managed to escape to London for a week for a much-needed vacation and some time away together right before Thanksgiving.
In usual Lauren fashion, we kicked the trip off with a travel issue (surprise, surprise) when the airline didn’t want to check our bags due to an AIRLINE issue. After we purchased our tickets, the itinerary was changed when our first flight was pushed back ~30 minutes. Due to this change, according to the system, the airline wouldn’t have enough time to transfer our bags (when did 1.5 hours become not enough time?). We were asked if we could leave the bags and travel without them. Ummmmmm, no. What a dumb question. Then we were asked to move to a different flight. Again, no…how frustrating. After a lot of back and forth, the supervisor got involved and was able to process our bag check with no issues. As we walked away from the desk, Brandon turned to me and asked if I had any clothes in my carry-on bag (I didn’t) foreshadowing what would happen.
So what happened, you’re wondering? I know you’re on the edge of your seat. My bag made it! Brandon’s did not. HOW? We will never know or understand. Luckily he did have some clothes in his carry-on, but not enough to keep us from having to go on a shopping trip after arriving. Welcome to the travel woes of Lauren! Every. Single. Time.
Six-Day London Itinerary
We set up our flights so that we would have a full six days in the UK, flying on a red-eye to London and leaving at 6:00 am on the seventh day, allowing us to arrive home late that same day after a full-day of travel. If you know me or have read other posts, it should come as no surprise that we did quite a bit in such a short trip, so if you want to see it all, this is a great guide!
Day 1
Our flight came in around 9:30, but after going through customs and filing a claim for Brandon’s missing bag, we didn’t get to our friend’s house until almost 12:00, so we still lost part of the day. Also, we were just BEAT! So, we decided not to do too much on our first day. We headed to the Borough Markets for lunch. After lunch, we were so close to the water, we took a walk to see the London Bridge then walked down to the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London. From here, we hopped on the tube and headed on over to Harrod’s to spend a few hours perusing the hundreds of different rooms and floors. At this point, you should treat yourself to something that you’ve always wanted because you deserve it girl!! **Also, if there are European brands that you like, this is a great place to purchase because the prices are often much lower than what you would pay in the States AND you can get a reimbursement of the VAT that you paid on your items. This can lead to savings of hundreds of dollars for larger items! After our shopping adventures, we made our way back to our friend’s house for dinner with him and his fiancé.
Day 2
We kicked off our second morning with breakfast at The Ivy in the St. John’s Wood area before heading to the Buckingham Palace for the Changing of the Guard. We got there early (~10:15), but apparently not early enough! During the winter, the Changing of the Guard only happens every other day, so prepare accordingly. You’ve been warned! After the ceremony was over, we went to the Churchill War Rooms and spent several hours there! This was a bit of a spur of the moment decision for us, so I wasn’t quite prepared and didn’t know what to expect. The museum is amazing, but you definitely need to block off a large chunk of time to see everything.
We went back to the house to take a quick nap and rest up for the evening, then headed to the West End for dinner and a show. We went to Bill’s for dinner and really enjoyed it, only to find out that there are several Bill’s throughout London. After that, we were off to see TINA: The Tina Turner Musical, featuring my friend Adrienne Warren as Tina and it was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! We popped into this adorable little bar called the Lady Charlotte Bar right around the corner once we were done for some delicious drinks!
Day 3
Our third day was pretty jammed packed with all of the touristy things and tons of walking. We started the day with an early lunch in Chinatown and walked around there. From there we walked through Leicester Square, where there was a small Christmas market, did some window shopping in Picadilly Circus and walked down to Trafalger Square. We saw some very famous paintings (and some not so famous paintings) at the National Gallery and Brandon tried to recall and teach me what he learned in Art History in high school.
After this, we went real estate window shopping and I found my future home, the Palace of Westminster (sorry Parliament, you’ll have to find somewhere else to meet). We also saw the Westminster Abbey and Big Ben getting a facelift. We went on a ride on the London Eye and I had a bubble waffle ice cream while we waited and it was so yummy!
We ended our evening with a ride over to Notting Hill to explore the Portobello Markets. We stumbled across the neighborhood’s lighting of the Christmas tree, so of course we stayed and watched the whole ceremony! There were some musical acts and some speeches, but it was so fun to feel like a part of the little community. Brandon only stayed for the free cake (and because he loves me). At the completion of the ceremony, we went to the Fish House of Notting Hill for fish and chips, followed by gelato as Amorinos. After such a long day, we were exhausted and our bodies and feet were dying, so we called it a night and headed back to get some sleep.
Day 4
We continued with our tour of the landmarks of London on our fourth day, with this being the last day that we would spend in the city. Our first stop of the day was a pub called Churchill Arms that is connected to a Thai restaurant with delicious food! We spent the bulk of the day walking around the Kensington Palace and Gardens and Hyde Park. We also went to the British Museum, which is also massive! We picked up a museum map, which luckily had a handy list of the “must-see” items, so we were able to knock out some of the more famous exhibits without spending 4-6 hours at the museum. We spent our evening in Camden walking through the Camden Markets and eating at several little food booths! I had dessert at La Curreria, followed by dinner at The Mac.
Day 5
In an effort to see other parts of the UK, we booked a day trip, and boy am I glad we did this. It ended up being one of my favorite parts of the trip!! We booked a Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and Bath Day Tour through the Visit London Official Visitor Guide. It was a long day with a lot of time spent in the bus, but it allowed for time to rest and nap or read, so we weren’t complaining after all of the time we’d spent on our feet over the last several days. As the tour states, we made three stops throughout the day, kicking off in Windsor with a tour of the Windsor Castle. The line to get in and through security was very long and took quite a while, so once we actually were in the castle, we had limited time. We still managed to see both St. George’s Chapel and the State Apartments. We were surprised that the State Apartments included several exhibits, including an exhibit related to Prince Harry and Megan Markle’s wedding, where her dress was on display. Such lucky timing, as the exhibit was closing soon after we visited! After this stop, we got back on the bus and continued west for Stonehenge. We were given an audio tour and spent about an hour exploring Stonehenge, learning what is known about Stonehenge, but also all of the mysteries associated with it. We still do not know for sure how or why it was built. Crazy! After this, we continued traveling east until we arrived to the city of Bath, where we did a self-guided audio tour of the Roman Baths. I took Latin for seven years, as well as several other courses in college about Roman and Greek life, so I was very excited about this visit!
Day 6
At this point, we were completely exhausted from all of our busy days leading up to this point. We had planned to take another day trip and go to Brighton Beach, but the weather was miserable and we were tired, so we decided to have a more low-key day. If you’re still going, use this day to take a day trip elsewhere in the UK because there are loads of options! We were staying with a friend in a town called Hatfield north of London, so we spent the day there. We had a wonderful breakfast at The Waffle House (not the US Waffle House) complete with a banana waffle and banana milkshake! We then went to the Mill Green Museum and Mill, which is a working watermill that was originally built in the 18th century. The miller was operating the mill during our visit, so we were able to see it in action, which was pretty cool! We finished the night with dinner from George’s Fish Bar for one last fish and chips and dessert from Simmons Bakers and went back to the house to pack and rest up!
It was a jam-packed trip, but we were able to see so many amazing museums, landmarks and exhibits during our stay!
