London is a fantastic city and anybody who has time to go, should. For Roman and I, this was really a stop-over as we made our way to continental Europe, however it was amazing afternoon. I had seen London 2 times prior to this trip but this was my first time coming back in 10 years. For Roman this was his first time!

Flight

From Chicago O’Hare we flew direct on a Norwegian 787. This is a new route that recently just opened up and I’m so happy they now exist due to the low cost. For us this is a convenient, cheap way to get ourselves over to Europe. The plane itself is modern with the latest features and the ticket price cost us about half of the competitors. Our flight ended up being on-time, although I knew the potential this flight would be delayed, so we were happy about that.

Gatwick to Victoria Station

Norwegian flies into Gatwick and from here it’s really easy to get to downtown London. There is the Gatwick Express which is a 38 minute train service from Gatwick Airport to Victoria Station. It’s quick, comfortable and relatively inexpensive.

What they don’t tell you is that there are several other local trains that travel to Gatwick. We ended up taking one of these trains to Victoria Station and it actually was about the same time as if we had taken the Gatwick Express. On our way back, we had to take the local trains again as the Gatwick Express was not operating at the time we needed to leave. Either way both ways work and got us to downtown London relatively quickly.

Westminster Abbey

Our first stop and pretty much mandatory stop was Westminster Abbey. Near the parliament this iconic Abbey has existed for over a century (established in 960 ad). To me that’s mind-blowing to have something like that survive in the middle of London for nearly a century. Westminster Abbey is where coronations for all British monarchs take place as well as a burial ground for royalty and famous British figures.

First off we bought our tickets online and cruised right into the entrance instead of waiting in the cold. Westminster is massive and it will take about 45 minutes to an hour to learn and understand the highlights of the Abbey. We grabbed an audio guide and I think that was the best way to explore the Abbey.

For me there are many iconic parts about Westminster Abbey including the burial grounds of Elizabeth the First as well as her sister Mary the First. Princess Diana’s burial took place at Westminster Abbey although she is not buried at Westminster. There are also tombs dating back to when the Abbey opened including ones of Edward the Confessor, Edward the First and Henry the Third.

The middle part of Westminster is also where all coronations of British monarchs happen and in its own is probably the most iconic part about Westminster Abbey. When stepping on that part, you’re really stepping on a century of history and that’s cool in its own right.

I really enjoyed my time at Westminster Abbey and I loved the history.

Two Chairmen Public House

Getting hungry we wanted to eat really quickly before heading to the British Museum. So I looked up the local “pubs” in the Westminster Abbey area and found the Two Chairmen Public House. It was highly recommended and all we were looking for was some beer with fish and chips.

This place was great and a perfect first restaurant choice in London. It maybe a little cliché to eat fish and chips in London but who cares; I recommend it to anybody who is traveling to London. The food was really good and the local beer was everything we’d thought it would be.

The inside was decorated like a traditional English pub, designed for standing around chatting with high-tops and chairs for eating. It was a little place but the kind of place you’d love to stumble upon. Overall highly recommend.

The British Museum

From here we walked for about 25 minutes north to the British Museum before it closed. After some beer and food I was actually feeling rather sleeping during this visit but none the less I’m glad we paid a visit to this museum. It’s probably one of the most important in the world and has hundreds of unique works. We only saw a few like The Rosetta Stone, Colossal Granite Head of Amenhotep III, Bust of Ramesses and Parthenon.

There are thousands of items to see in The British Museum and we really didn’t have time to see them all. I was tired, needed a rest, and needed a coffee break bad. So we went right across from the museum and sat down to have some cake and coffee. It actually woke me up and allowed me to keep going.

St. Paul’s Cathedral

From The British Museum, we took the tube and went to St. Paul’s Cathedral. We didn’t actually go inside, it was closed, but we were still able to take pictures from the outside and walk around the grounds. It’s a beautiful cathedral and the one where Princess Diana and Prince Charles married.

London Bridge & Tower of London

From here we took the tube again and went to the Tower of London and London Bridge. Both of these sites were closed for touring but can still be easily seen from the outside and offered great pictures. It’s unfortunate that everything in London closes pretty early so we really could only stop by two of the major sites to tour.

The Tower of London is an ancient fortress that houses that Crown Jewels and has had a turbulent past. It was the site of many gruesome deaths and was once used as a prison. Before that it was actually a Royal Palace. It would have been great to show Roman the inside but they weren’t open past 5:30 pm.

The London Bridge sits right next to the Tower of London and is working active bridge. We walked about halfway across the bridge over the Thames and then returned to the north side of the river. It was actually pretty breezy and chilly on the bridge.

Cleopatra’s Needle

From here we took the tube back towards the west to visit Cleopatra’s Needle. It’s an obelisk dated well before Cleopatra was even alive at around 1300 BC. It’s actually a sister obelisk with the other one being in New York City. Roman really wanted to come here and see it so we did. This spot does offer great views of the surrounding Thames River area.

Buckingham Palace

From there we crossed Trafalgar Square and walked over to the Buckingham Palace, the royal residence of Queen Elizabeth. It is possible to get tours inside but that wasn’t an option while we visited so we just took a few pictures from the outside. We only walked so I could show Roman and so we could get a few pictures from the outside. It’s historical!

Fuller’s Kitchen at The Sanctuary House

Our day was wrapping up and so we walked back towards our hotel. The light was still out but at this point we walked around 13 miles and my knees were killing me. All I wanted was some beer and a place to sit. This place was close to our hotel and perfect to sit down and have a pint of beer. British beer is better while in a British pub in my opinion.

Review

Like all global cities around the world, London shouldn’t be missed. To be it’s the gateway into Britain and yes it’s can be touristy but the history that it offers is amazing. We only had a half a day to see the highlights of this wonderful city but it was enough to make us satisfied and want to return. We stuck with a plan and tried not to over do it, although we did, and had an amazing time. I don’t think we could have had a bad time in London and on my 3rd time return, it didn’t disappoint.