This past Christmas (December 2019), my partner and I went to London to spend the holiday with his family. This was my first trip to London – so while the main purpose was to see family, I also wanted to fit in touristy items in between.
A few of my personal highlights were going on a Christmas lights walking tour, visiting Windsor Castle, and having afternoon tea at Fortnum and Mason. Also trying the different foods – this trip I tried meat pie, sausage roll, beef wellington, and minced pies. And we couldn’t leave London without riding the double decker red bus, the train, and the underground!
A little different than most other big trips I’ve taken, I did little to no research, but my partner was an amazing tour guide and we were able to fit in a bunch of sites and activities. Here are some of the things we did, in roughly chronological order:
- Tour at Houses of Parliament – fun way to learn about UK government
- V&A Museum – lots to see, we will have to go back
- Windsor Castle – interesting walking tour and nicely decorated for Christmas
- Christmas lights walking tour – one of my favorite things, we walked around different light displays, but the tour guide also talked about the history of the shopping and stores in the areas that were decorated
- Mini Getaway to Bath – a cute small town, easy to walk around and see everything in a couple days
- Roman Baths – historical site, I didn’t even realize that the Romans had settled in England so it was all new to me
- Spa – I didn’t expect that there are actual baths/mineral waters in Bath….seems like it should be obvious by the name (duh!)
- National Portrait Gallery – small museum but fun to see all the portraits and read little snippets/fun facts about different people, historic and some more current; it’s a good museum if you have less than one or two hours
- Tea at Fortnum and Mason – iconic and so much fun! But also, I drank too much tea and couldn’t go to sleep very well at night. Will drink non caffeinated next time.
- Tower Museum – this is where the crown jewels were, but the building to see them was way too long! We ended up only going to one of the other buildings which was interesting, but a little disappointing that it was so crowded – I think because it was the holidays and more tourists were around
- A LOT of walking: Knightsbridge and Harrod’s (where we stayed the first few nights), Buckingham Palace, Hyde Park, along the River Thames, St. Paul’s Cathedral, King’s Cross and Camden Town, Picadilly Circus, and many more little neighborhoods; just looking at the different architecture and scenery was probably my favorite thing to do.
Overall, this was an amazing first visit – exploring to see the architecture, different neighborhoods and festive Christmas decorations, but London is such a big city and I feel like I barely scratched the surface….more London trips to come!
