We arrived at London Heathrow a little after three, got through customs and immigration pretty quickly, picked up our bags, and met Michael before taking the Underground to where we were staying in Bethnal Green.
We were supposed to meet up with the lady we were renting our apartment from, but she never showed for over an hour (it was a nightmare. You can read a little more about that here.)
Anyways, we were over an hour behind on our sightseeing because of the apartment delay. We took the tube to Tower Hill and checked out the Tower of London. We didn't go in, just took pictures of the outside. It was pretty pricey to go in (especially as a family of 5! It would have cost us £100 (or $162.19!) so definitely not worth it for us. If you are interested in touring the Tower of London, HERE is the website.
We then stopped by Pret for some sandwiches for dinner (It was right by the Tower of London.) It was pretty inexpensive (by London standards) and the food was great! Pret has a variety of sandwiches, wraps, soups, and salad ready to eat as well as coffees and bakery items (all organic and natural by the way!) Sandwiches were between £2 - £5 (about $3 - $7)
We then headed over to the Tower Bridge. It was so cool to finally see the Tower Bridge in person! It's something you always see in pictures, but finally seeing it up close was so neat! We stayed there for a little while, walking around and taking a ton of pictures before heading back to our room.
Day 2 in London started out with us taking the Tube to Waterloo station and checking out all of the touristy things! We also did a TON of walking!
We first walked by the London eye. We decided not to go on it for several reasons. A couple of which were that it was very expensive (especially for a family of 5!) the lines were really long, and it seemed like a bit of a waste of time considering we had so much we wanted to see!
We walked west along the Thames, when everyone decided they were hungry. I had a place picked out for lunch, but everyone wanted to eat right now, so we ended up at McDonald's. Not the greatest, but definitely cheap and easy! We then crossed the Westminster bridge and checked out Big Ben, the Palace of Westminster, and Parliament Square, before heading over to Westminster Abbey. Unfortunately for us, they were doing construction on it so we weren't able to get very good pictures on the one side of the Abbey.
We then walked through St James's Park on our way to Buckingham Palace. Luckily, there was hardly anyone there and we were able to walk right up to the palace gate!
Next, we walked to Trafalgar Square, then by Piccadilly Circus, we walked down Regent Street, then up to Covent Garden, where we ate dinner at Shake Shack. We were all really hungry at this point, so we were happy to have some decent food! Shake Shack has a fairly simple menu of burgers, hot dogs, fries, and shakes. The food was really really good!
After dinner, we took the tube back to Tower hill, then walked to St Dunstan-in-the-East. Unfortunately the park was closed, so we continued on to the Millennium bridge, then by St. Paul's Cathedral, and then back to the Tower Hill tube station.
We were all very tired, and were looking forward to going to bed, but as luck would have it, the heat would not work in our room, and we were just done with the place. The apartment sucked and we couldn't get a hold of the lady we were renting from. My mom called Airbnb, and the lady there told us there was no way we should be staying in the room any more! That was all we needed to hear! We found an overpriced Holiday Inn, and despite the late hour, we packed up and took the tube to the hotel. The hotel ended up being an unfortunate extra expense, but it was nice to be able to sleep in a clean, comfortable bed!
We first walked by the London eye. We decided not to go on it for several reasons. A couple of which were that it was very expensive (especially for a family of 5!) the lines were really long, and it seemed like a bit of a waste of time considering we had so much we wanted to see!
We walked west along the Thames, when everyone decided they were hungry. I had a place picked out for lunch, but everyone wanted to eat right now, so we ended up at McDonald's. Not the greatest, but definitely cheap and easy! We then crossed the Westminster bridge and checked out Big Ben, the Palace of Westminster, and Parliament Square, before heading over to Westminster Abbey. Unfortunately for us, they were doing construction on it so we weren't able to get very good pictures on the one side of the Abbey.
We then walked through St James's Park on our way to Buckingham Palace. Luckily, there was hardly anyone there and we were able to walk right up to the palace gate!
Next, we walked to Trafalgar Square, then by Piccadilly Circus, we walked down Regent Street, then up to Covent Garden, where we ate dinner at Shake Shack. We were all really hungry at this point, so we were happy to have some decent food! Shake Shack has a fairly simple menu of burgers, hot dogs, fries, and shakes. The food was really really good!
After dinner, we took the tube back to Tower hill, then walked to St Dunstan-in-the-East. Unfortunately the park was closed, so we continued on to the Millennium bridge, then by St. Paul's Cathedral, and then back to the Tower Hill tube station.
We were all very tired, and were looking forward to going to bed, but as luck would have it, the heat would not work in our room, and we were just done with the place. The apartment sucked and we couldn't get a hold of the lady we were renting from. My mom called Airbnb, and the lady there told us there was no way we should be staying in the room any more! That was all we needed to hear! We found an overpriced Holiday Inn, and despite the late hour, we packed up and took the tube to the hotel. The hotel ended up being an unfortunate extra expense, but it was nice to be able to sleep in a clean, comfortable bed!
Luckyyyy! Have fun! I'm stuck in my office. :)
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London was a lot of fun! We went to London about 5 months ago, but I'm dreaming about when I get to go back! It was such a great city! Hope your day goes well! :)
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