London Vacation 2023: Amazing Getaway in the Heart of UK
London Vacation. Where to go?
I started off my New Year with a bang!!
What is a better way to start your 2023? Travel with friends.
A Europe vacation indeed.
London here we come!!
We flew from Tampa, FL to Gatwick Airport, London. A non stop flight through British Airways for 8 hrs 55 min. Given a choice we would have chosen Heathrow Airport which is closer to Hyde park.
Where to stay in London:
Hyde Park ( Westminster )
If you are looking for a place to stay. Hyde Park is a very well recommended area in Westminster borough. It is centrally located, the park itself stretches from The Buckingham Palace to Kensington Gardens there you can find The Kensington Palace where Princess Diana used to live. It is also close to the restaurants, train/tube stations.
Hotel: Bayswater Inn
For the hotel, after hours of reading the reviews, we finally settled to BaysWater Inn Hyde Park for a reasonable price. I learned that the standard hotel rooms and bathroom sizes are very small and narrow maybe except for the fancy ones.
But our goal was just for a place to rest at night. We loved the hotel, breakfast was great, so make sure you include that in your booking ( $15/person ). The staff were courteous and friendly. Pls. click the photo to redirect you to their website.
Here are the places we visited in London:
The Buckingham Palace
London is very well known for it’s history, monarchs and politics, busting nightlife’s , museums and historical buildings. Millions of tourists flock every year to experience it. According to Atlys.com 9.09 million people visited London in 2022 and earned a #3 spot on their list but according to TripAdvisor, London is the 2nd most popular world travel destination for 2022 according to TripAdvisor per CNN
During my London visit, I just feel sad that I’m a little bit late to visit the Queen. I grew up singing that Pussy Cat nursery rhyme and it stayed in my head ” Where have you been? I’ve been to London to visit the Queen “
Galleries
Just Remember: You can get closer to the horse and take a photo but ” Do Not Touch The Horse’s Reins ”
The Westminster Abbey
After The Buckingham Palace our next destination is The Westminster Abbey. This Anglican Church was rebuilt in 1245 by King Henry III as his burial site.
Now, Westminster Abbey serves as a site for royal burials, coronations and weddings including Prince William and Princess Kate’s wedding in 2011.
The Big Ben and The Palace of Westminster
London Fun Fact: Do you know that the name of the tower is Elizabeth Tower and Big Ben is the big clock on top of the tower. The tower was renamed from The Clock Tower to Elizabeth Tower in 2012 per Wikipedia
Galleries
The Red Telephone Booth
Who would want to miss the red phone booth? I wouldn’t.
The London Eye & Thames River
After Big Ben, few feet away is the London Eye. Of course, I can’t miss this one as I have seen this so many times in the movies. It was great for us to take pictures as it wasn’t crowded plus the cold breeze going through your skin, it was perfect.
The Kensington Palace
A mile away from our hotel is where the Kensington Gardens is, you will see the Kensington Palace inside the park. It was currently close during our vacation. I learned this is where Queen Victoria was born and Princess Diana had lived there also. Currently, the palace is the official London residence of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
The Beatles "Abbey Road "
When Beatles released their album in 1969, this street became the iconic pedestrian crossing as this is where the Beatles was pictured crossing the road for their album cover. Since then this Abbey Road became one of the top 10’s most famous street.
To all the Beatles fans out there, this ones for you!!
” Desmond has a barrow in the marketplace, Molly is a singer in a band. Desmond says to Molly, “Girl, I like your face
And Molly says this as she takes him by the handObladi Oblada life goes on brah
La la how their life goes on..
I actually had a funny experience while I was on the side of Abbey Road, prior to going I already know this is coming, people are just literally posing in the middle of the road and the cars just stops and patiently waits, you will never here them honking their horns. And so I joined the crowd and crossed the Abbey Road back and forth..hah!!
Check the pictures below for some funny shots..
” The Abbey Road Moments “
The Tower Bridge
” London Bridge is falling down, falling down, my fair lady ” I literally grew up singing this song while doing ring around the rosie. It has stayed me since then. And NOW, I’m finally here. Felt like a child all over again. To just finally get here and experience walking on the bridge is a dream come true for me.
Just before you get to the bridge, there are some souvenir shops where you can buy mugs, cups, key chains, fridge magnets etc. They are not that expensive. I bought 4 mugs for $12.oo and they are beautiful. The only thing going to this bridge especially at night is the traffic and if you are using Uber, they might reject you as we learned they don’t wanna go in this area at night. We we’re rejected by Uber like more than 10x but I was persistent and we made it. It was worth it especially if you go at night.
Just a tip: So when you visit London, to take a better picture of the bridge you have to go down the bridge, you can see people down there posing and taking pictures. We didn’t because it was too cold..we are Floridians..lol..
What did I miss? I wasn’t able to go to the Tower Bridge’s high level glass walkway, I’ll make it easy for you. You can book your ticket CLICK HERE.
Gordon Ramsay Bar & Resto Grill, Mayfair
And last but not the least, we wrapped up our last night by dining @ Gordon Ramsay’s Bar and Grill Resto in Mayfair courtesy of Jay B, my bff’s birthday!! Of course, we want to try his ever famous Beef Wellington. Was it good? YES. The food was great, the staff was exceptional!! They even let me bartend for a night..my pic speaks for itself!! Nah!! Kidding!!
And the other times, we spent sleeping, eating, shopping a little, going to Harrods, meeting with friends and a little trip to Paris.
So these are the places we explored in London, our vacation might be short but we had fun!! And I’ll do it all over again.
Did we enjoy our trip? Absolutely YES, but a 4 day trip isn’t enough to savor the moment and take time to walk around, check the museums etc. I would say at least 1-2 weeks especially if you plan to go to Paris also which I would recommend. We did it just for a day.
Did we miss something? YES. A lot. We really did not have time to explore the whole London, we just made the most out of it and had fun with it.
Given the chance, I would have loved to experience going to the Sketch Shop Restaurant, sip some wine, dine and I am actually after the bathroom selfie in their egg-shaped toilet pods or per instagram the infamous ” egg bathroom ” where a lot of Hollywood celebrities like Kylie Jenner, Serena Williams and Bella Hadid takes a bathroom selfie. If time permits, this egg shaped bathroom is a must-visit!! This is a unisex bathroom and it is really cool for photos. You can find this at ” the east bar & pods “ Their ” the Lecture Room & Library ” is their 3 Michelin Star Restaurant for lunch/dinner.
But, there will always be next time and if ever I get on the plane to go back to London again, I will surely spend time checking out their museums, the glass floor walkways @ The Tower Bridge, The Shard, Tower of London and other castles open to the public.
Until then, I will cherish the memories I had with my bestfriends on this London trip as one of the main reasons we flew to London is to celebrate our bff’s birthday so Happy Birthday Jay B. I hope to have more travels in 2023 with them.
I hope you enjoyed this blog and learned something if you plan to visit London. Pls. leave your comments down below and let me know if you have any questions or suggestions.
Pls. don’t forget to check out my other blogs.
Cheers!!
Until next time,
Author: Sheila
I am a Physical Therapist by profession who loves loves to travel and blog. I am a fur mama to my little girl Little Bit. Life is beautiful!! Let’s travel the world together!!
wow hope to see more!
Thanks so much!! Pls. stick around for more!!💕
Bonggabells gwapa super love it 🥰 enjoy!
Thanks Pogi!! Glad you love it!! Will be posting our Paris soon!! 🗼💕
This is so beautiful Shelia. Thank you for taking us to your adventure.
Keep it coming girl.
Mama L
Aww!! 🥰 Thank you Ms. Monique!! Will be posting our Paris trip soon!!💕
Wow!! This is nice honey. So glad you got to enjoy your vacation with your friends. Post some more, we’re here waiting!!
Barb
Aww🥰 thanks so much Ms. Barb!! I knew you would love this post!! Paris coming up soon!?💕
Hi! I also enjoyed this one, also hoping to go soon! Glad to have found your blogs!
Thank you so much!! Me too, glad you found my blogs!! Will post more soon!!😍😍😍