My PREMIER destination!

Welcome to the conclusion of our Europe extravaganza! Touring London!!! We ended in the destination I was most excited about. In retrospect, I absolutely loved every place we went—definitely more than I had hoped actually—and this has done nothing except make me more determined to travel more. 

But this was London…finally

Day One – Getting Off The Ship And Touring London

We port in Dover, which is a good two hours from London, so we needed a plan. We booked a full-day tour with International Friends (https://www.internationalfriends.co.uk/) that took us from the ship ultimately to our hotel around 7 pm that evening. This twelve-hour excursion was more than reasonable for what we received, in my opinion. We made two stops:

Canterbury touring

The first stop after about an hour on the bus was the Village of Canterbury, which is a city with its roots in Roman history! It is still a completely walled city, with the wall dating back to the 12th century. After entering the wall, we made our way down cobblestone streets through a beautiful village. Following a guided tour, we struck out on our own, walking to the furthest walled entryway to see the Pride flag they were flying. A stop in a local cafe came after going into a totally free and medieval library and museum. 

Leeds Castle

Our second stop blew me out of the water. Just the mile walk from the parking lot to the actual castle at this stop was breathtaking, and when we cross over the moat by drawbridge I thought I might faint. Wandering room to room through this castle, I was struck by the accessibility—I was able to run my fingers over dressers and fine china, and even sat in a chair or two. After touring the Castle of Six Medieval Queens, we went through the grounds—even trying the first part of a full-sized hedge maze! It was beautiful and intimidating. I don’t think I closed my mouth once the entire time we were on the Castle grounds—even when we were eating!

Day Two – Touring London By Foot

The Kensington Park Hotel was awesome. Small (as expected) room, but awesome full breakfast the next morning. This was a big walking day, as you will see we traversed the entirety of London by foot. Onward~

Hyde Park

This huge, beautiful, manicured park was right across the street from our hotel, and we started our day wandering through it towards our first destination. Londoners were out in force—lounging, walking dogs, playing—as it was the warmest and sunniest day of the year so far. 

Kensington Palace

Our first major stop, this was one I’ve been looking forward to—Princess Diana’s house!!! We started the tour in a beautiful area, and we went up and down stairs, through all parts of this glorious mansion. The accessibility, once again, was stunning, and I enjoyed touching the wallpaper, candelabras and furniture. The exhibit was “Couture to Crown” and I learned so many interesting details about the clothing worn to Court through the centuries. It was a long, interesting tour of a fantastic national landmark. I would have been happy to stop here!!!! But…no…

Walking through Wellington Arch

We continued our walk through Hyde Park, which took us to the famous Wellington Arch, where we were summarily yelled at to get out of the path! Coming towards us, no lie, hundreds of soldiers on horseback. I climbed on a war monument and talked to a guard, who told me they were practicing for the Trooping of the Colors!! He narrated every group that went by, telling me who they were and what they represented. They even saluted the monument I was standing on—so I got off of it!! Following this beautiful and dramatic parade, we continued on. Only to find more troops and the canons practicing the salute to the King right there in the park! It was insane.

Buckingham Palace

Finally! The crown jewel of the day! Except…it’s all blocked off. When we asked, they said it was for the practice of the Trooping, but should be taken down soon-ish. We waited, because I really wanted to go right to the front gates and watch the Guards. So…we waited…watching…and PRINCE WILLIAM comes out a gate in the back of a Rolls Royce! Then, when they reopened the area, they started right in front of us, so I got an empty picture of me at the front gate! Life goal completed!

Westminster Abbey

Continuing our visit of religious locations in seven countries, we went into Westminster Abbey. This two-hour tour was also amazing, with different crypts and rooms devoted to different people from centuries ago to modern day. By the time we left, they were closing for a service, and we got to hear their award-winning choir singing. It was beautiful.

“Hamilton”!

Keep walking, people, all the way to the West End for a Broadway show. We decided on Hamilton, and it was fantastic. It was kind of interesting to see that historical topic covered in London, that’s for sure. Following the show, we had a nice cocktail and grabbed an Uber back to the hotel at almost midnight, clocking well over 20,000 steps for the day.

Day Three – Touring London, But Trying To Save Our Feet

We slept really, really well, and woke up to another great breakfast. Time to head out for our last full day.

Making use of the CityPass

We had pre-purchased the London CityPass, and got our use out of it, that’s for sure. Everything we did yesterday except for Hamilton was covered, and we didn’t need reservations for any of it. Today we decided to do some more things on the long list.

HOHO Bus

We walked to the nearest Hop on Hop off bus stop, and jumped on. It was absolutely painful how slow and laborious the trip was. We took it all the way across London, got off and swore we wouldn’t get back on! It wasn’t bad, just a poor use of our very limited time.

Tower of London

You can spend all day in the walled city that is its own fortress. We found it so interesting to go through the different tunnels and vantage points of this area. It was surprising that there were working stores within its walls, too. They had restaurants and street shows, and a very disturbing display of the torture items they used in medieval times. Skip that and go see the Crown Jewels is my advice.

Thames River cruise

Jumping on the river cruise, we went right under the London Bridge, the Tower Bridge and saw the London Eye from the water. It was a relaxing and enjoyable way to go back to a completely different part of the city. We jumped off with a plan to visit another nice park and then head to the Zoo.

London Zoo

Way off the beaten path, we decided to end our day at the zoo. We love going to zoos everywhere we visit, because we love animals and have no zoo in our city. It was a nice way to spend the afternoon, with the coolest colobus monkey exhibit I’ve ever seen. 

That’s enough!

We Ubered back to the hotel in time to search out dinner, and we were completely beat. Not as many steps on this day, but we had certainly had our share of long days on this trip. We needed the suitcases to be under 50 pounds, which we knew would take Sweet Husband some work that night, so we had a local restaurant send up some food, and stayed in. 

Day Four – Travel Day

British Airways, as of today, has still not answered my requests for reimbursement for the bills incurred when they left us in Barcelona for two extra days. It’s very frustrating. 

I was thrilled our return flight was on American! It was long and tedious, but they had ample entertainment options and a meal. Most importantly, they got us home as scheduled with our luggage! Thank you!

Touring London – Would I Go Again?

I am a firm believer in the value of all kinds of travel. While I think it is extremely important to visit things in your own country—every parent should take their kids to our nation’s capital in my opinion—I believe that visiting other countries gives you a fantastic perspective of all that is good in America. It also highlights ways we need to improve, that’s for sure, but it is worth it to be able to see how other cultures live. 

So, hell yeah I’ll go back again. Already planning 2025.

And 2027.

And 2029, actually.

THANK YOU FOR READING THIS FAR

Thank you for reading all about touring London!

Hey, since you’re here! You may as well check out some other tips, like European Trip part 2, here, or European trip part 1, here! Or, check out our other topics here! Either way, I appreciate you!

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