2024 Best Sights Around London England
Big Ben & Parliament - London, England
Intro
Whether you are a history buff intrigued by Queen Victoria and all of her crown jewels, a sports aficionado and want to catch a game at Wembley Stadium, are in love with Prince William and want to hangout alongside the royal residence, or are just interested in seeing all of London's iconic landmarks. Whatever your interests, London is the perfect place to get lost in deep history and culture. An added benefit is that it is a quick hop, skip, and a jump around Europe where you can see the Eiffel Tower in France, the Blarney Stone in Ireland, or the Colosseum in Rome and many other famous places.
Millennium Bridge - London, England
-
2005 London Visit
In January, 2005, when I was a junior in college, I had signed up for a winter intersession course in England for almost 3 weeks. Several classmates and I would be studying Shakespeare in London and Stratford-Upon-Avon. We also spent some time going to museums, strolling past many a royal palaces and the River Thames, royal parks, plays, the Globe Theater and a guided tour all around the cities Shakespeare spent time. There are a ton of famous landmarks in London, filled with rich history and we got to cross off so much of it and really immerse ourselves in the city.
I have never been as excited as I was getting ready for England. A trip I wanted to do (not a trip required by my family or school), seeing plays almost every day (I was a theater major and obsessed with going to the theater), exploring a country rich in history and feeling very adult. This trip was prior to me having a laptop I could take with me to journal, so the journal we kept was a literal handwritten journal that of course I lost due to my lack of maturity and organizational skills. Along with losing my journal from the following year to Greece (you think I would have learned in a year…). Since this time, I always make it a point to write down what I did each day on some trackable device (Google Docs, Apple Notes, or even texting myself).
What I do remember from this trip is I fell in love with England (not the weather). London has a robust theater district, diverse cuisine, extensive nightlife, and a long and interesting history. This is a large part of why I love England, but also because it turned me into a travel lover. It made me realize how awesome seeing the world is and how fortunate I am to be able to do so. I never thought I enjoyed history in school until this trip. I did not love it when I was reading about the Globe Theater but fascinated by it while standing in front of the iconic structure. Was not interested in reciting Shakespearean plays, but intrigued by watching them come to life in the city Shakespeare wrote them in.
This moment also made me love my own family history. My grandfather was stationed in London during World War II as a Staff Sargent. He unfortunately never visited England again after the war to see this magical city as it should be. It did give me a feeling of connection to him, being in the city he was stationed in. Wondering what it was like for him to be there. Luckily, we do have a few notes he wrote my grandmother from England, to get a glimpse into his life and thoughts.
A memory that pops into my head from my first trip to England, was watching King Lear. I have never been a fan of loud noises or heights. We were several mezzanines up and watching one of the most infamous storm scenes in theater history with frequent loud claps of thunder for what felt like an unusually long time. Being 20 and around my peers and not my parents, I told myself to freak out. But, I definitely had white knuckles on clasped to the arms of the chair.
We also had a group dinner one night at a Moroccan restaurant. This was around the time when my diet was still pretty basic and did not venture past American cuisine. Not wanting to ruffle feathers I went without a protest. It reinforced my positive experience from two years earlier, from a similar scenario where I had Japanese food for the first time. It got me to try something new and reminded me that I am a very lucky person with no health issues and can afford food, so if the worst-case scenario is I just do not like something that is a great position to be in. 15 years later, I rarely eat American food. My normal diet when going out to eat is something Asian, African or Middle Eastern cuisine.
Another thing that stood out to me from this trip and made me laugh was how short the ceilings and door frames were in many places across England. Especially in the historic sights. Standing at 5’3’’, many times even I would need to dip my head when walking in a room. I felt bad for my teacher, clocking in at well over 6’, he barely stood upright while indoors.
2007 London Visit
This was my first time in London unsupervised. When I went in 2005, I was with a group for my college course, so everything was planned out for us. This was evident by me taking a really expensive taxi ride from Heathrow instead of the Tube. My hotel (if you can call it that) was nestled between Paddington Station and Kensington Gardens. That was the only lovely thing about it. I was a broke 22-year-old, so what I could afford in downtown London was pretty minimal. I was only in the city for one night because I had been two years prior and just needed it as a stopover to get over to mainland Europe. So I was able to turn this overnight into a casual experiences versus a packed-tight agenda. I walked through Kensington Gardens and St. James Green, and past Piccadilly Circus on my way to Buckingham Palace. Unfortunately, I just missed Queen Elizabeth...or she didn't care to see me.
This was about all I could fit in within a few hours touring around London, before my early flight to Paris the next morning.
2009 London Visit
In November, 2009 I went back to England for five days and four nights for work. At the time I was working for a non-profit and we took several local high school students to England. I paint this picture as while it was a work trip where I needed to be watchful of minors. It was a fun, touring trip for them so that too is what I was doing.
My boss wanted us to get on the local timezone and not crash hard when we first got there, so after checking into the hotel and grabbing some food, we took a Jack the Ripper tour that took several hours. It was exhausting because we had just arrived and had gotten off a red-eye, so a walking tour was a bit aggressive on my part (yeah, I picked that), but most of us probably would have fallen asleep in our hotel rooms or on a bus tour so it wasn't a bad idea in theory, I just don't think we thoroughly enjoyed it as much as we would have being well rested.
Some other highlights of the trip were walking up to the top of St. Paul's Cathedral and thought I was going to die. Seeing the changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace. Taking a day trip to Bath, England where we stopped in a cafe and the barista told me I had a lovely accent and gave me a free scone. Side note, I am from New Jersey and very few people enjoy our accent enough to give us scones, so this was a real treat. We stopped at Madame Tussaud's, because what else would American's do after flying over 6 hours other than go to a venue we have in our backyard. We went to see a show on the West End, where we were running late from dinner and I had to scarf down a piece of salmon like a champ.
It was a quick but fun trip seeing some of the most famous London landmarks from South Kensington to the Royal Observatory and everywhere in between.
In the three times I have been to England, I saw something new and had such different experiences. What I loved about the city is that the theater district is on par with New York City and you can feel as comfortable wandering around on your own as well as part of a group. Below in no particular order, is my top sights to see while in London.
-
-
My three trips to London were very different experiences. I first visited London in 2005 while taking a 3 week college course, so my involvement in the planning of this trip was minimal, past me showing up at the airport. Everything was paid for and planned through my University. Occasionally during this trip we had some off time where we picked the restaurant we ate at or our free time activity. One evening we had off, a few students collectively decided to go see the show Beauty and the Beast. You would think after 3 weeks of seeing Shakespeare plays most nights, we would be tired of the theater and would pick something else to do, but we were theater nerds at heart so getting to choose a non-Shakespeare play was thrilling to us.
My visit to London in 2007 was a quick one. Just an overnight in downtown London in between my travels from Scotland to France. By this point I had already been to London and spent just shy of a month there, two years earlier so there wasn’t a ton of the sights I had missed. For this trip, I did virtually no planning past my hotel and flights. I just walked around many of the parks like Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, the Green Park, and St. James Park as well as through Piccadilly Circus.
My final trip (so far) to London in 2009 was with work. At the time I was working for a non-profit, meaning we had limited funds and resources so while on this trip I wasn’t in charge of planning the travel arrangements, I had my hand in a small portion of the planning and knew what was going on. The thing I was the most involved in was picking a tour for the morning we arrived in London. As anyone who has taken a red-eye from the US to western Europe knows, going to sleep for several hours when you first arrive early in the morning can impact you getting on the right sleep schedule quickly. What I have learned in my multiple trips to Europe is to keep moving that first day and go to sleep early on the local time. The few times I went to Europe and slept for hours upon arrival, it took me several days to get my body on the right schedule. So, on Day 1 in London, 2009, we took a Jack the Ripper walking tour. Most of us, myself included, were utterly exhausted by the end. Not much adds to exhaustion more than walking several miles on top of the exhaustion.
-
My trips to London in 2005 and 2007, I did not stay in nice hotels so I am not going to put them on this blog to recommend. With that said, I know there are a wide variety of hotels for every different budget. My issue with the hotels I stayed at those two trips weren’t the star rating as much as I didn’t think they were up to my clean standard. During my business trip in 2009, we stayed at the Hilton London Metropole, which is between the Regent’s Park and Kensington Gardens. I definitely recommend this hotels location and the brand.
There are a lot of great hotels that are clean, comfortable and for every budget in London. Keep in mind the difference in conversion rates depending on what country you are coming from also could have quite an impact on the cost of things. When I visited London in 2009 the US Dollar was plummeting and the conversion rate was 2.5 USD to 1 British Pound, so that definitely hurt my wallet. I am a big hotel person vs. hostels or AirBNB’s because I worked for hotels for 8 years. I am not going to say which, because it will seem biased. I think most of the big brands like Hilton, Marriott, the Four Seasons, Hyatt, Wyndham, and IGH (among others) are all great brands that have a variety of hotel chains for every need and in most cities.
Below is a list of hotels and links to each of their websites that are great brands and in great areas of London, close to attractions and metro stations.
Globe Theater - London, England
-
-
If you are anything like me, the cuisine is a big part of my travels. I want to try a wide array of food. Local cuisine, exotic cuisine, you name it and I want to try it. I also don’t want to spend too much time researching restaurants or wandering around aimlessly, trying to find the perfect time. So, I’ve compiled some top rate restaurants, allergy friendly places, and spots visited by the one and only Anthony Bourdain.
Tayyabs - Indian
Azou - Moroccon
Sketch - European
Busaba Soho - Thai
Yauatcha - Dim Sum
Chamisse - Lebanese
The Wolseley - British
Flat Iron - Steakhouse
Andy’s Taverna - Greek
Zeret Kitchen - Ethiopian
Shoryu Ramen - Japanese
The Breakfast Club - Breakfast
The Mayfair Chippy - Fish & Chips
-
Buckingham Palace - London, England
Conclusion
I would like to say I did all my growing and learning during this first trip to England. But with each passing year, each trip, each new experience; I take away a little something. A new insight, a new skill or at the very least my heart and mind expand with a new adventure. Even though it's been awhile since my last trip to London, it definitely wasn't my last. I have my mind set on spending the holiday's in London and finding some quaint villages to wander around, like my own version of Cameron Diaz in The Holiday.
Quote
“The parks be the lungs of London.” – Charles Dickens
Next Up On The Blog
London was the first oversees city I traveled to, since then it has held a soft spot in my heart. I always love hearing people’s first experience to the UK. Check out Chrisina’s, Adventures in London! If you’re going to make a trip out of exploring the UK, check out my post on the Perfect Way to Road Trip Around Ireland.
London Bridge - London England