Travel Guide: 4 Days In London - Tay Meets World

Travel Guide: 4 Days In London

2:06:00 PM

I thought Paris stole my heart...it actually might've been London. The city itself, is clean, colorful and there is so much to see around every corner - it was overwhelming. We kicked off our trip to Europe in London; I was glad we did because we were able to ease into the language barrier once abroad. We only had 4 days in London but we were able to see the major "tourist" attractions.


Need to Know | Fun Facts:
  • Native Language: English! 
  • Tube = Metro/Subway: Most common transport method
  • Purchase an Oyster card if you are there for multiple days. This is a "metro" card that you can refill. We used the tube multiple times a day so this was the most cost efficient way to get around. Attendants at the stations can assist you with purchase! 
  • Airport: London Heathrow is what we flew into, 15 minutes to city center
  • Popular Cuisine: Fish & Chips
  • What to Wear: Layers
  • You must go to afternoon tea, you won't regret it. 
I always recommend taking later flights that put you in Europe in the morning. Each time I have travelled, I was on the plane during the "night" and slept the whole time - once I woke up it was time to start the day in London! This is a surefire way to avoid jet lag, that is, if you can sleep on a plane😉.
Same as Nice, France - we chose to stay in an AirBnb. We chose this adorable Airbnb in Notting Hill. It was walking distance to the tube, Ladbroke Grove, where we were then able to get anywhere. 
  • Check-In
  • Lunch *We were starving!
  • Notting Hill
  • Portobello Road
  • Portobello Market
We arrived around 12pm, a little sleepy from the travel day before but we had a half a day so after check-in to our flat in Notting Hill we ate lunch and decided to explore Portobello and the market. It was so much fun just taking in the culture of the city. The food, shops, music and colorful rows of homes - it was so much fun and a perfect way to introduce us to London. After exploring, we worked up an appetite again and had the most amazing Chinese/Thai food. We went to bed earlier as we knew the next day was going to be much longer!
**Do not go to London without trying a Nutella filled doughnut. Trust me on this. 

  • Tower of London
  • Tower Bridge
  • Borough Market
  • The Shard (photo moment)
  • Lunch
  • Covent Gardens
  • Platform 9 3/4's (For all the Harry Potter fans out there)
  • Dinner
We started off the day at Tower of London. From Notting Hill, we got off on Tower Hill - walked passed the London Wall to the Tower of London. After a couple of hours there, we ventured across the Tower Bridge. Once across, it was around 12pm or so, so we ventured to Borough Market for lunch, we caught a nice glimpse of The Shard as we walked there too. If there is one place I cannot recommend enough it's Borough market. you go down steps and it's the large market filled with fresh food and street vendors all under a bridge. We had mac & cheese with BBQ pulled pork🤤. It was the best mac & cheese I've ever had! 
After we ate and walked around to look at the shops, and take selfies at cute murals, we took the tube to Covent Garden. I loved this area. The colorful buildings filled with flowers and greenery were quite the site. I picked up this painting by a local artist, I thought it was the perfect souvenir to take home from each place we visited. We spent the rest of the afternoon in this area and decided to take the tube to King's Cross to check out Platform 9 3/4 before heading back to Notting Hill. I'm so glad we did, my sister and I had fun living in the world of Harry Potter for awhile😂. 

  • Big Ben
  • Westminster Abbey | Parliament
  • London Eye
  • Buckingham Palace
  • Pret-a-Portea
  • *See a show - We tried so badly to go to a show but all shows we sold out (we tried purchasing for any night), my recommendation is to book tickets when you initially book your place to stay as you can work a show into your itinerary. 
I was so excited for Day 3 - then we walked up from the Tube right to Big Ben - only to find it was completely covered for reconstruction. The only thing you could see was the clock face. While I knew it was going to have some sort of construction going on we were so disappointed to learn that it was all covered 😂. I want you to know now in the event you go this year, do not get your hopes up!
We took in Big Ben and Westminister before heading across the bridge to the London Eye. It certainly gives you a bird's eye view of the city so I recommend for your first time visiting. We then walked to Buckingham Palace, it was about a 30 minute but very easy to navigate and the wear was beautiful! We all wore tennis shoes as we knew it was going to be a day of walking so I highly recommend you bring a pair. 

Our afternoon tea at Pret-á-Portea in The Berkeley Hotel was my favorite. They are currently doing a "Couture Cakewalk' theme but when we there it all about Dior. You can imagine how much fun we had! The petite sandwiches, J'adore Dior high heeled cookies were too cute to eat - we did anyways of course. The tea itself was phenomenal. You want to make a reservation and we did dress us a bit for the occasion. It's not everyday you get to attend an afternoon tea with your besties so have fun!

  • Kensington Palace
  • Lunch
  • Picadilly Circus
  • National Gallery
  • Trafalgar Square
  • Dinner
Our last day was one of my favorites. We spent the morning at Kensington and I was enthralled learning about Queen Victoria. I love that there is so much history in Europe, it's obviously older than the United States but the art, culture, and history that resides is incredible. We then made our way over to the Picadilly are and went to the National Gallery. I'm a huge fan of the Impressionist era. Van Gogh, Degas, Monet, Renoir, Rusell, etc., their paintings are breathtaking. They are so colorful and I could seriously walk through the gallery for hours just looking at them all. The National Gallery has Van Gogh's famous 'Sunflower' print - they also have Edgar Degas' ballerina paintings, I've loved his work since I was little girl and took ballet classes, kind of a pinch-me moment to see them in person. 


After Day 4 we ventured to France the early the next morning. We took the metro to the train station, King's Cross and then a train to Dover, United Kingdom where we hopped on a ferry to France! This is one of the most cost efficient ways to get to France - it's quick, just as a train is - but the site seeing is incredible. 
Stay tuned for my Travel Guide to Paris that's coming next week. You can see a previous Travel Guide for Paris here. 


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