I recently returned from an amazing vacation with my husband. In 2 weeks we visited 3 countries and I’m still wishing we were on our adventure! The first leg of the trip was London, United Kingdom.

Travel to London, United Kingdom

What I loved about London was that it was somewhat like Toronto only with prettier buildings and people with cool accents all around me! Seriously, I know the point of travelling is to head to places where the culture is different and to learn new things, but there’s something to be said about feeling comfortable in a big city and knowing that at any point you can ask for help and not be worried about misunderstandings.

Getting There:

There are many airlines you can take to get to London, but since Iceland was one of our stops (more on that in another post!) we flew with IcelandAir. There are direct flights to London from Toronto via IcleandAir, but when I finally got around to booking our flights there were no direct flights available; we ended up having a short 1 hour layover in Iceland which turned out to be a blessing for us, since we both aren’t used to long flights.

When we finally did arrive in London, we landed in Gatwick airport. I was told by friends and through online research that the best way to get to Gatwick airport to our hotel in Holborn was to take a train direct from Gatwick to Kings Cross at Pancras then take the Piccadilly line to Holborn station.

Now…seeing as how this was our first trip to Europe and we had no idea how far away the airport was to our destination and we had 2 weeks of luggage with us…trying to figure out the train and the tube wasn’t very appealing. We sucked it up and took a cab. It cost us £90!!!  According to my exchange calculator that cab ride set us back $183 CAD before we really even started our trip. Lesson learned but I still think we made the right choice. If we had less luggage to navigate or were more familiar with the city then I think we could have handled the public transportation.

Where to Stay:

There are many hotel choices in London – you won’t have trouble finding anything. It really all depends on the neighborhood you want to be in and of course budget. On our list of things to see was the National Gallery. We also wanted to be within walking distance of many of the attractions so we didn’t have to necessarily have to rely on the tube. I also looked into airbnb’s but many of them weren’t right in the city although they were close to stations.

After much research on Trip Advisor we settled on the Premier Inn London Holborn Hotel. It was in a great location (about a 15 to 20 minute walk to every major attraction we wanted to hit), it was clean and had enough room. Many of the hotels I looked up in London were TINY. We really only spent our evenings in the hotel room but the secret to a happy marriage is allowing for some personal space 😉

Where to Eat:

London is a very expensive city. In fact according to this article from VanCity Buzz it ranks 12th in the world! Since we had already spent so much on our taxi ride we were pretty weary of where to eat but eventually we just had to accept defeat and gave in to the fact that everything was just going to be pricier.

It was hard to miss the “fast food” chain called Pret a Manger since there was literally one at every corner! While not the most inexpensive place around, it served really fresh and healthy foods that any traveler can appreciate. Normally when on the go, fruits and vegetables can be hard to come by! We ended up eating at Pret at least once a day. It seemed to be extremely popular with the locals heading off to work or popping in for lunch too.

We also found an amazing Middle Eastern place called Hiba Express where huge portions of incredible food was served at really reasonable prices. We sadly only discovered it on our last night – I would suggest you check it out early in your trip so you can go back for more!

What to Do:

The great thing about London is that just simply walking around is entertainment on its own. There are so many beautiful buildings to look at and if you happen to be there during a weekend you’ll probably catch an event or show of some type happening in the city.

We happened to run smack into the Tour of Britain and just enjoyed watching the race for a while. My husband used to race road bikes so many of our early years together were spent at similar races.

Be sure to check out the many galleries and museums. We went to the National Gallery and the British Museum and both were free to get into! They of course ask that you make a donation should you wish to do so but there’s no pressure. It’s a great way to spend the day or even just to duck in and look at some art if the weather takes a turn for the worse.

Shop at Harrods – or rather browse. It’s a beautiful but very expensive department store but it’s definitely an experience! We spent quite a while in the Christmas section just gawking at all the unique items they had. It’s also home to a Lauderée if your sweet tooth should happen to kick in while you’re there.

See Buckingham Palace. We didn’t have time for a tour but I still think it’s a must see. It WILL be overrun with other tourists so just be prepared! St. James park is right next to it – we had hot chocolate and just sat on the wall people watching 🙂

Ride the London Eye. It’s pricey (£23 per adult) but the 30 – 40 minute ride give you the best views of the city! It’s a nice relaxing way to take in the city from above.

While there are SO many other things to do in London we only had 2.5 days there – but I think we accomplished a lot! If you’ve been to London I’d love for you to share your experience with me in the comments!