My mom has been a certified Angliophile for as long as I've known her. I grew up with her faithful watching of the latest Coronation Street, Emmerdale, and EastEnders. We'd have a full English breakfast on special weekends, complete with beans on toast. She keeps up-to-date on the Royal family and actually got up early to watch the King's Coronation. She has basically been preparing for this trip her whole life.
I haven't travelled with my family for almost 20 years. The biggest trip we've ever taken was to Italy more than 25 years ago, when I was a child and therefore did not help with planning anything. This time, I offered to plan this trip to lower my parents' stress. I told my mom to just tell me what she wanted and I'd make it happen.
Our itinerary consisted of:
- Museums and galleries
- Castles
- A giant Ferris wheel
- Walking along the Thames
- And eating traditional British fare
The National Gallery
I'm thankful that pretty much all of the museums and galleries were free. We went to so many that it’s hard to choose a personal favourite, but the National Gallery is definitely up there. I went in without having done much research beforehand, yet seemed to stumble upon a famous art piece with every turn.
Natural History Museum
We managed to squeeze in the Natural History Museum on our last day and I'm really glad we did. The blue whale skeleton at the entrance was stunning. I couldn't resist buying "On the Origin of Species" from the giftshop - science is a subject that will always have a special place in my heart. I studied life sciences in university so you can bet we learned all about evolution in introductory biology.
Although I try to keep my personal book collection relatively minimal, I ended up buying 4 books in total on this trip. I also bought gorgeous hardcover editions of "Watership Down" and "The Complete Collection of Sherlock Holmes", and a small book on V&A patterns. I thought so many of the V&A patterns were beautiful and wanted to remember them in some way, but I also didn't want yet another tote bag. I have somehow managed to accumulate way more tote bags than one person would theoretically need in their lifetime.
Victoria and Albert Museum
The V&A was a museum where we ended up spending way more time than anticipated. In my opinion, the website does not do a good idea advertising exactly what it contains. It's a large museum with so much to see that most people seem to tire themselves out on the first two floors - the upper floors were relatively quiet and peaceful as a result. The statues were my personal favourite. I was surprised by how enormous David is in real life.
The British Museum
However, we spent the most time in the British Museum: approximately 6 hours in total. I gave myself a personal mission to find all the artifacts that are also in Animal Crossing. We did have a break halfway through our visit with afternoon tea at the museum and it was so good! I discovered I really enjoy clotted cream on scones. I've had afternoon tea before (in Canada), and while it's pretty good, this was definitely superior.
There is so much to see in London that we filled up our days easily. Initially I had wanted to plan a few different daytrips out of London, but in the end my family decided to take it easy with a more relaxed pace. However, I did manage to successfully negotiate a half-day trip out to Windsor.
Clotted Cream Ice Cream at Windsor Castle
While I am not particularly interested in the Royal family, I often hear about them because I am a citizen of the English-speaking world. One of my friends recommended going for a tour of Windsor Castle instead of Buckingham Palace and I'm glad I took her advice. The State Apartments are grandiose and stunning, and I particularly liked the Moat Garden.
Buckingham Palace
Wellington Barracks
Of course, we still visited Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guards. We knew it’d be super crowded right at the palace gates so we decided to watch the new guards getting ready at Wellington Barracks. They played "Ain’t No Mountain High Enough" and "Sweet Child O' Mine".
Twin Flake 99 at St. James's Park
Then we wandered back to St. James's Park. It was such a beautiful, sunny day so we wandered around eating ice cream and watching ducks. Actually, it was sunny with blue skies for pretty much our entire trip. The guys who sold me ice cream told me to enjoy this weather because it's not usually like this - I guess we brought the sunshine to London. ☼
The London Eye
The one day that was cloudy was the day we went on the London Eye, but I think that worked out for the best so we wouldn’t be roasting in a glass pod. I had actually deliberated for a while if I should book tickets because they are pretty expensive and I heard the queue could be up to an hour on a busy day - even with pre-purchased timed tickets! But I personally love Ferris wheels and this particular one was on my bucket list. In the end, I'm glad I forked over the money because apparently my dad also loves Ferris wheels and this became the highlight of the trip for him.
Tower of London
We also decided to go for a tour of the Tower of London. The tour was led by a
Yeoman Warder (or "beefeater") that liked to tease the American tourists. Canadians remained largely ignored, which I am absolutely fine with because I prefer laying low.
Sky Garden
Another highlight for me was Sunrise at Sky Garden. Basically you get to enter early for a breakfast consisting of a pastry and coffee. But the real appeal was that you can take your time looking out onto the city with a lot less people invading your personal space. (It got very, very crowded once it was officially opened to everyone.) It was so beautiful with the sunlight streaming through.
Notting Hill
My preparation for this trip involved studying British media. I watched Notting Hill for the first time and suddenly understood the appeal of young Hugh Grant, so of course we had to find that iconic blue door! My mom especially loved looking at the colourful houses of Notting Hill.
I'm glad we went to Portobello right at opening because it was crowded by the time we left. Most of the markets were pretty darn crowded. We only had one (known) pickpocketing attempt, but thankfully we came out unscathed. Anyway, turns out thrifting for antiques isn't really of interest to me or my mom, but we got some coffee and souvenirs. Oh, and I bought a tote bag.
Holland Park
We made sure to eat all the classic British food, like a full English breakfast, fish 'n' chips, and a Sunday roast. But we also enjoyed the simpler things: a Ploughman's sandwich while enjoying the tulips in Holland Park, sausage rolls in the ultra crowded Covent Garden, and cheese and onion crisps while strolling along the Jubilee Walkway. I will especially miss the Percy Pigs.
St. Dunstan-in-the-East
Lessons from exploring London:
- Book everything early. I planned very far ahead and booked most things 1-1.5 months ahead of time, but some timeslots were already filled up by then. I would have booked things even earlier if I had gotten sooner confirmation from my family!
- The Tube is incredibly easy to navigate, but avoid rush hour (like most cities).
- I highly recommend the Citymapper app. It's way better than Google Maps for planning transportation and will even tell you which train cars are busiest (eg. go to the middle car or to the end).
- Everything in London is stupidly expensive, so make use of the free things. I basically doubled the price to get a rough estimate in CAD.
- Toronto now feels like a poor mimicry of London.
I guess the hallmark of a successful trip is when someone immediately starts planning the next trip as soon as they get back. Which is what both my parents ended up doing. I'm glad to see my efforts were appreciated!
