My trip to London was one of my favorites by far. I had heard great things about the city and knew it was a popular place to visit but didn’t fully understand why until I saw it for myself. Here is my list of things you have to see if you visit London.
- Big Ben
Now, of course, when we were there Big Ben was under construction but nevertheless I’m grateful to have been able to see it in all its under-construction-glory.
- London Eye
While I’m sure the view from the top of the London Eye is absolutely incredible, looking out at it over the banks of the River Thames definitely isn’t too shabby either.
- Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey is an absolutely majestic gothic style building located right by both the London Eye and Big Ben. Over 17 royal weddings have taken place here including that of Prince William and Catherine Middleton.
- St. James’s Park
St. James’s Park was quite possibly one of the most beautiful places I saw in London. The park, which is one of London’s eight royal parks, is located in front of Buckingham Palace and was absolutely swarming with wildlife. I’m talking the meanest looking geese I’ve ever seen, swans, even baby swans (I almost died), squirrels that will literally eat out of your hand (no, I didn’t feed the wildlife, I promise) and all kinds of ducks. Which brings me to my next point…
- Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace is absolutely beautiful and where the Queen resides. There were guards (called the Queen’s Guard) posted out front of the palace, which I thought was very cool to see.
- Piccadilly Circus
Piccadilly Circus is essentially the Times Square of London. It is much smaller than Times Square but nevertheless has a similar feel with large electronic billboards and street artists. Piccadilly Circus, unlike Times Square, has a really large and beautiful fountain in the middle of it called the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain.
- Chinatown
Chinatown was by far my favorite thing about London. Stepping into it felt like stepping into a completely different country. It had so many cool shops and restaurants that all looked like they had been picked up directly from China and placed in a cluster in the middle of London. The lanterns were seriously so cool and covered all of the streets. I even got to meet a giant Panda. 🙂
- Trafalgar Square
Just a short walk from Chinatown, Trafalgar Square sits in the City of Westminster, Central London. It is the home of the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery, which was our next stop. Trafalgar Square has a very large fountain and several statues in it worth checking out.
- The National Gallery
With a large collection of Claude Monet and Vincent Van Gogh paintings, this may have very well been my favorite national gallery that I’ve been in. (If not, it’s a close tie with the one in D.C.) I would definitely say it was more impressive than the one even in Dublin, though.
Here’s one of my new favorite paintings called Les Terrasses de Monte Cassino by John Russell. The colors in it are so seriously so breathtaking.
Please enjoy this beautiful artwork.
You can find more info about the National Gallery here.
- Kew Gardens
Kew Gardens are a part of the Royal Botanic Gardens and were worth every penny we spent getting in. This was the only thing we paid to see and that my friend can remember (their website doesn’t list prices right now because they are closed due to COVID-19) it cost us each about 8 pounds for a student ticket. (That’s $9.92 for all my U.S. friends.)
I personally love botanical gardens so I thoroughly enjoyed walking all over the grounds. They have a ton of nurseries and more plant life than I think I’ve ever seen in one place in my life. Here’s a few of my favorites.
Click here for more info about Kew Gardens.
- Camden Market
Camden Market has soooo many cool shops and delicious restaurants. It has some of the coolest, most unique vintage thrift shops I’ve ever been in. One section of it is packed to the brim with pop up shops with everything from artwork and jewelry to records and hats. There’s so many shops in so many little nooks, it feels sort of like a maze that I very much enjoyed getting lost in.
- Camden Town
Camden Market is located in Camden Town. The town itself is just as cool as the market. The streets are lined with a ton of unique shops – most of which have some of the coolest 3D art I’ve ever seen emerging from the tops of the buildings.
Here are some of my favorite buildings we saw.
- Platform 9 ¾’s at King’s Cross Station
This stop was just one for satisfying the Harry Potter stans in all of us. The platform is located inside the King’s Cross Station and is right next to the Harry Potter Store. If you love Harry Potter like I do, this is a fun and worthwhile stop even though it’s mostly a tourist trap.
- Tower Bridge
The famous London Bridge. I highly recommend walking over this at night while it’s raining if you can manage huddled under an umbrella, arms linked with your lovely friends. It really puts you in your feels.
- Chinatown
(Yes, again.) Go back for lunch if you didn’t get to eat there the day before.
- The National Gallery (again)
(Also, yes again.) Go back a second day if you feel like you didn’t have enough time to fully appreciate all the artwork the first day you went.
- The Palace Theatre
If you feel like you didn’t get enough Harry Potter from Platform 9 ¾ you can always check out The Palace Theatre where Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is playing. (If you can’t afford to watch the show like us, you can always just go check out the theatre because even the outside is still really cool.)
- St. Paul’s Cathedral
This cathedral is absolutely breathtaking. Unfortunately we also didn’t want to spend as much as tickets were to get in but one friend who did go in informed the rest of us that the inside is even more incredible than the outside.
And did I mention, Prince Charles and Lady Diana got married there?
- Millennium Bridge
This was a really cool one for me. Does anyone remember in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince when a bridge in London gets destroyed by a group of Death Eaters? If you answered yes to that question, you probably would have geeked out as much as I did walking over it.
- Tate Modern
Tate Modern is a free modern art museum located right across from the Millennium Bridge. Now I really enjoy art (clearly), including modern art, and therefore would highly recommend you check this place out. There were a lot of really interesting pieces and the most amazing fountain I’ve ever seen. You can find more info here.
London was by far one of my favorite trips I took while abroad. Because of the Tube we were able to see a ton in just the few short days we spent there. A lot of the sites were also really close together which also made things much easier. Here is a map of everything to show you how far things are in relation to one another.
London was an incredible adventure that I’ll always hold near and dear to my heart. My friends made the trip, especially our lovely tour guide Lucy who asked us trivia questions while she showed us around the city and gave us candy for each one we answered right. (Or when she pitied me because I’m not what you would call a trivia wiz.) I’ll most definitely be back.
Sierra Sage 
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