London, I could totally live in London! So far it is one of my favorite cities in the world. Luckily for me, I have family that live there and are always inviting me to England. I was also lucky since I had a place to stay during the 2012 Summer Olympics.
I arrived in London at St. Pancras International after my train ride from Paris. The ride was so easy and quick and I got to go in the chunnel! I made myself stay awake just to see the train enter the chunnel and then it was nap time. After arriving at St. Pancras, I walked over to King’s Cross station so I could take the tube to my aunt’s house. How easy is it to ride public transportation in London (or Europe in general)? I had never been to London before and I got to my aunt’s tube stop without any problems. My aunt was there waiting for me and we walked out to her car. In typical American fashion, I walked to get into the car and she asked “Are you going to drive?” Yup, I got in on the wrong side of the car.
After an evening of winding down and eating some amazing homemade pho, I woke up the next morning ready to see the city. First stop, the Tower of London. It was fascinating to walk around this once prison and royal residence. There are different buildings within the Tower of London so I would allot some time there to get the most out of it. I was there for the entire morning and probably could have spent all day there. The Crown Jewels are also located inside the Tower of London. No photography is allowed inside the Jewel House and I witnessed the guards confiscate a guy’s camera and made him delete the pictures.
After the Tower of London, I ate some fish and chips along the River Thames before my London Eye start time. You can purchase your London Eye tickets beforehand online and depending on the type of ticket you purchase, you have to select a date and time on when you will be at the Eye. They have “flexible” tickets that cost more but you can go anytime during a particular day or even week with those tickets. I didn’t really feel like paying the extra pounds for the flexibility so I showed up at my time slot and it was great cause I didn’t have to wait in the ticket line!
The London Eye seems so “touristy” but it was actually great! You can see most of Central London while on it which is great for pictures. It goes around pretty slow, slow enough for everyone to get in and out of their capsule without it stopping and slow enough for you to enjoy the views. In the capsule, these guys hogged the front for almost the half the ride! They were taking “finger squish” pictures, really?! Besides that, it was great! I totally recommend this to anyone, plus who doesn’t love a Ferris wheel?
I ended my day with a walk over to Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus and Chinatown. If I had to compare Piccadilly Circus to anything, I would say New York’s Time Square but I feel like it’s not even fair since both places have their own identity.
After some shopping, I had dinner at a dim sum spot in Chinatown. Chinatown is not a far walk from the Piccadilly Circus tube station. The dim sum was really good and it is always interesting to see Chinatown in different cities especially since Houston has such a great Chinatown/Vietnamesetown.
Stay tuned for Part II!
What is your favorite thing to do in London?
Love it!! London is on the tip top of my travel list and I'm really hoping to get there next year! It's so neat that you were there for the Olympics!
Great job at capturing London! I loved the London eye! I think most people really enjoy it…tourist or not. It's a must see. But I don't think I could live in London…but that's only because I live in a charming British town and I couldn't trade it for the high paced, overpopulated big city 🙂
I would love to live in a quaint English town! It's funny cause I don't think I could ever live in a small town in the States (now) but in Europe, I would love to!
Beautiful photos! I love that shot of Big Ben, and the ones from the London Eye. It's so hard to say what my favorite thing to do in London is, but drinking tea, wandering around Shoreditch, and eating Indian food would all be at the top of the list!
This sounds like a perfect day! I love these photos, they make me want to visit London that much more. All the architecture looks stunning. This is definitely on the top of my bucket list.
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I absolutely love London! I definitely agree that Piccadilly Circus is like Times Square…that was my first thought when I went there! I was only able to visit on a weekend trip so I feel like everything was rushed but I want to go back and explore ASAP.
I would have to agree, you can't just pick one favorite! The next time we visit London, I will have to get your recommendation on where to go for Indian food!
I'm jealous that you can take a weekend trip to London! ha
Oh you are making me ache to go back to London so badly! I love all of your pictures – we went to almost all of the exact same places. And yes, we rode the Chunnel from Paris to London, it was quite an experience!
I'm so glad I found your blog! I think we have very similar interests. I can't wait to read more about your adventures!
These are awesome photos (and your blog is lovely!). I would love to visit London someday. Until then I'm bookmarking your page to live vicariously through you 🙂
Love London! And I went to the Tower of London when I was there in November. It was so foggy that day that you couldn't even make out the Shard but your weather looked like it was beautiful!
We got really lucky when we were in London! Sunshine and warm! You always hear about the London fog. Walking around the Tower of London in thick fog sounds really cool, I bet it added to the experience!
Awesome photos. Made me miss London. 🙂