A Week in London
I have been wanting to travel to London, UK for Christmas or New Year’s Eve for so long, so now that I got to go with 5 of my best friends made it more special than I could have ever dreamed. I wish I had more time there because there is just endless activities to do and sights to see! Because London can be a whirlwind and overwhelming to plan, in this post I will list what we did while visiting, memorable restaurants/bars, transportation, and accommodations to give you some ideas!
Things to Do/See:
Buckingham Palace
London Dungeon
Tower Bridge
Tower of London
Big Ben
London Eye
London Bridge
Tate Modern Museum
Hyde Park Winter Wonderland
Madame Tussaud’s
Jack the Ripper Tour
ArcelorMittal Orbit Slide
Somerset Ice Skating
Westminster Abbey
Restaurants and Bars:
Ballie Ballerson- umm talk about the coolest adult ball pit ever. We went here New Year’s Day for bottomless brunch and drank our weight in martinis, mimosas and prosecco! Definitely 100% recommend!
Coppa Club- you always see those cool igloo pictures on instagram and you’re probably wondering where to find them, right? Check out Coppa Club Tower Bridge for the amazing view and cozy igloos during the winter time. Heading to London in the summer? No worries, they transform the igloos into “surfer shacks.”
Duck and Waffle- one word: AMAZING. I had the caramelized banana waffle and a mocha and I was not disappointed. I promise, all five of us were so quiet you could probably only hear our chewing and swallowing lol. I still dream of this meal on the reg!!! Not only is the food exquisite, but the ambiance is just so chic and trendy. Please, please, please go here and experience this restaurant!
Simmons SoHo- I spent an insane amount of money on drinks and food in London, however, when we went to Simmons we arrived during happy hour (thank God) and drinks were 2 for 10 GBP! This is so cheap in London and the bartenders were not stingy with the alcohol! Very cute and right next to Ballie Ballerson, so stop here if you choose to bar hop!
Flight Club Bloomsbury- cute bar that has dart games you can play with your friends! We stopped here at the end of the night right before closing so we didn’t get to experience much of it, but I would still suggest to stop in for a drink!
The Cow- after our ride down the ArcelorMittal Orbit Slide, we did some shopping at TK MAXX (no, not a typo- its TK in the UK!), and then stopped at a pub called The Cow. All I can say is get the fish and chips platter because my mouth was watering for days after. Not your classic pub, but very good food!
Borough Market- we didn’t eat lunch or dinner here because we had just eaten, however, it was so nice to see local food and produce to purchase!
Camden Market- finding a food stand in Camden Market was one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make! There are so many delicious options and everyone is able to find something to eat!
Transportation:
Buying an Oyster Card in London will be the biggest money saver. We started off with putting 20 GBP on the card the first day, but ended up reloading it two or three more times. I found that we used around 10 GBP a day on our oyster card, so we spent no more than 70 GBP for our five day trip. The Oyster Card works for underground transportation (the tube), public buses, and ferries. Probably the easiest way to go from place to place.
Uber is available in the UK, however, we rarely used it because there was no need to unless we needed to get somewhere really fast. Uber’s are regularly priced but we found that taking the tube was more fun and made us feel like locals.
Accommodations:
This was the first trip where I have stayed in a hostel, and for being a girl who is very picky about where she is staying during a trip, it was pretty good! We stayed in Wombat’s City Hostel in a private room with a private bathroom. Because we knew we weren’t going to spend much time at our hotel or hostel, we figured the cheapest, but still nice, option was the best pick.
However, there are many different accommodation options in London. Airbnb, Hostelworld, and simply searching for hotels on the web can provide a wide range of prices which suit your needs!
As you can tell, there is something for everyone in London- here is so much I haven’t even listed! I hope you get a chance to experience the life happening in London, and if you do, please let me know how your trip was! To think… I was only there for five days but already looking at one way flights to go back :)
xoxo
