When M and I were planning our European honeymoon, we decided our first stop would be London, England due to the flight duration from the states (it was only a seven-eight hour flight from Chicago). In 2008, my family and I took a trip to London, England for three or four days as a layover to Uganda, Africa (more on this in a later blog post). Since having been to London before, I knew M and I would be able to squeeze a good amount of sight seeing in within the three days we had planned to be there. Below was our three day itinerary and how to explore London in three days. M and I both felt the three days was enough time to see the things we wanted to before heading to our next destination.
We were lucky enough to fly out the Monday after our wedding (we got married on a Saturday). This was the first time for us boarding in the morning in the states, flying eight hours during the day then landing overseas at night. We typically fly the red-eye flights and board at night in the states, sleep on the flight then land overseas in the morning. I am happy to report flying during the day is not as bad as it sounds, the flight truly went pretty quick and when we landed it was time for bed so it made it a (bit) easier to adjust to our new timezone/jet lag. The first night when we landed we went straight to the hotel and went to bed.
Day One:
We stayed at the hotel Middle Eight in the heart of the Covent Garden District. This hotel was beautiful and our room was big for London (had a relaxing couch and desk area within our bedroom). The location was perfect and within walking distance to most of the main attractions. Now, M and I are healthy young adults (or at least I like to think mid thirties is young haha) so if you are concerned about walking distance to attractions please do your own research on how far you feel comfortable walking. We had breakfast included in our stay here (note: we always try to do this wherever we stay) so we ate at our hotel every morning and their food/drinks were very tasty with a great variety for both hot and cold options.
After breakfast, we walked to Piccadilly Square, explored, sat by the water fountains and enjoyed some time people watching and taking it all in. After, we walked to Piccadilly Circus to meet our tour guide for our pre-scheduled semi-private Soho bar crawl. We met some great people on our Soho bar crawl and visited four different bars (I did not document which bars they were–I apologize) but they offered any drink you would like at each bar (had to pay separately for this) and heard the history of the bar as well as some history of London. Most of the bars we went to Elton John frequented back in the day as well as The Beatles! Great tour, 10/10 highly recommend. After our Soho bar crawl, M and I ate at Poppies for fish and chips. I would rate the fish (cod) and chips we had as a 7/10. We later went back to the hotel and had drinks at their aesthetically pleasing hotel bar.
Day Two:
Another wonderful breakfast at the hotel then walked to Churchill War Rooms museum. Two of our friends highly recommended this museum and I did not see it the last time I was in London so M and I went to check it out on a wim. We are both so glad we did, if you have not visited this attraction, I highly recommend it. You tour where Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his Team lived and worked during WWII and entry costs around 25 pounds/adult. There are a lot of original items in the underground museum that makes this attraction even more intriguing. 10/10 highly recommend. Next to the Churchill War Rooms is the Prime Minister’s house which is also fun to see (you cannot go inside/tour this location).
After the Churchill War Rooms, we visited Buckingham Palace for the changing of the Guards. Pro tip: head to the left of the Victoria Memorial statue about an hour before the changing of the Guards (if you have time to hangout this long), there is where you’ll see the changing of the Guards with a little less visitors and closer than if you stayed in the front of the Palace. Plus, you are closer to restaurants for after viewing the changing of the Guards, if you want. This is a free attraction and when we were there (August) this occurred every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday at 10:45am and lasts about 45 minutes.
We walked through St. James Park on some of The Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Walk to get to Westminster Abbey. This walk is around fifteen minutes and a lovely leisurely walk from Buckingham Palace. Close behind Westminster Abbey is Big Ben and The House of Parliament. All three of these attractions are free to view from the outside. We did not go inside any of these three attractions. After these three attractions we got drinks at Buckingham Arms pub to spend time before our water ferry to The Tower of London.
We booked the water ferry to The Tower of London prior to our trip because we knew The Tower of London was an attraction we wanted to see and tour. The water ferry loading dock was at Westminster Pier. Please note, many of the public restrooms in London require at least one pound to access. The water ferry did have free restrooms and a bar (private pay) once you board. Pro tip: Get to the boat early to be able to select a seat upstairs and in the open air or down below by a large window that opens up to the water. Otherwise, you are left with sitting in the middle of the boat or on the side with the sun and the ride is not as enjoyable. This tour was about thirty minutes and we were able to boat by the London Eye, The London Bridge and boat under the Tower Bridge. The water ferry docks right after the Tower Bridge and very close to the entrance of The Tower of London.
The Tower of London entrance tickets for adults are different for each site, we booked off of Viatour and it was around sixty pounds/adult with a semi-private Beefeater tour guide included. A Beefeater tour guide is usually every half hour. Pro tip: you can join any Beefeater tour you see around the Tower of London to receive additional information. Here is where you will also see the famous The Tower of London ravens as well as the Crown Jewels. There is not an additional charge to visit the Crown Jewels, and sometimes there is a long line to enter. You are forbidden to take photos within the Crown Jewels location and I 10/10 highly recommend visiting this attraction (The Tower of London and the Crown Jewels).
After the Tower of London tour (about an hour, hour and a half), M and I walked through downtown London to the Underground tube train station “Banks” to ride the train back to Piccadilly Square. M had never rode the tube so this was us getting him to experience this while in London. Later this evening, we ate at Dishoom Covent Garden and this was easily the best Indian food and one of the best restaurants we both have eaten. I know I sound like a broken record but 10/10 highly recommend this restaurant. When we were there (August 2022), Dishoom did not take reservations for parties smaller than 6 people. Full disclosure: we stood in line for forty-five minutes to eat here (which we normally would not do) and we are so glad we did!
Day Three:
Started with breakfast at the hotel, writing this makes me miss their muesli so much. It was lightly raining that day and we had tickets for the underground Eurostar train to Paris for early afternoon departure. We walked to the trainstation with our luggage (carry-on) and this took us about thirty-forty minutes. I would recommend going to the train station at least an hour early because there could be a VERY long line that wraps around the whole first (lower level) floor which can be a bit anxiety provoking if you already have your train ticket. The line went fast for us, luckily, and we were still early for our train to Paris but I prefer to be early to everything and not risk missing our transportation (flight, train, boat etc). The lower level train station has great department stores if you do arrive early and want to kill time. Once you get through security, they have quick shops for food and drinks for the train.
-See my post on Paris for details on the Eurostar train that travels under the English Channel and my guide to Paris in three and a half days!
What I would do if we had one more day in London:
- Tour Buckingham Palace
- High Tea
- Visit Harrods (I did this during my prior visit when I was in London and M isn’t much of a shopper so this wasn’t high on our list but definitely do this if you are a first timer in London!)
- Tour inside Westminster Abbey
- St. Paul’s Cathedral
- Visit Notting Hill
- Have a drink at Churchill Arms Pub
- Abbey Road (I also did this during my prior visit)
- I also received an insider tip that there is a new building across the street from St. Paul’s Cathedral with a free rooftop bar that would also be fun to see!
Have you been to London, England? If so, what is your favorite attraction? What is something you wish you visited but didn’t get to while there? If not, what are some things you would want to see/do if you were to travel to London, England? Don’t forget to leave a comment below! 🙂
It’s also important to note, we were in London, England sixteen days prior to Her Royal Majesty Queen Elizaeth II passing, may she rest in Power and Peace <3
–Don’t forget to follow me on instagram: @thedailyallis
**The pictures on this post are my property and are not available to duplicate without proper credit linking back to my site.**
Xo
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