Seeing London
This post is dedicated to my good friend Brittany who is moving to London next month! I wanted to give her (and you) some suggestions for where to go and what to see in London. Let's dive right in.
Museums I took one study abroad course in art history and spent two weeks in London and a weekend in Paris. During those two weeks I thought I had seen every museum in London. That's not true, because there are actually hundreds. But I did see a lot, and these are the ones worth checking out:
The British Museum Here you can see the Rosetta Stone, the Elgin Marbles from Greece, Egyptian artifacts and tons more. Oh, and did I mention it's free?
The Natural History Museum Dinosaurs, fossils, planets...and in the winter you can ice skate outside.
The National Gallery Not only is the National Gallery full of famous works of art, but it is located in Trafalgar Square, one of my favorite places in London. Trafalgar Square is also the home of the Fourth Plinth. Almost every year a new sculpture is commissioned to sit on the Fourth Plinth. I have seen two, and Britt, you'll get to see a giant blue chicken!
The National Portrait Gallery So many portraits! Also, when I was there they had a very cool photo portrait exhibit going on, hopefully something cool is happening there when you visit!
Serpentine Gallery This unique gallery is located in Kensington Gardens in Hyde Park. It is constantly changing its exterior appearance and the exhibits inside, usually focusing on contemporary works. Don't miss this one!
Tate Britain If you want to see an expansive collection of works by J.M.W. Turner, Millais and William Blake, this is where you should go.
Tate Modern Probably my favorite museum in London. Entry is free but any special exhibits will cost you extra. One of the coolest things about the Tate Modern is that every year they let an artist transform their huge entrance hall however they want. One year slides were installed that you could actually go down. When I was there I saw Shibboleth by Doris Salcedo. She dug a giant crack in the floor, it looked like an earthquake had hit just the entrance hall. Today you can still see where the crack has been filled in. There's also a kiosk to make a video you can send to your friends and family back home.
The Victoria and Albert Museum The thing I remember most was the giant Chihuly sculpture in the entryway, and that's worth seeing alone.
Historical Most of these you'll already know to check out, but I'll provide any tips I can bestow.
Big Ben If you're in Central London, just look up. You'll probably see it.
Buckingham Palace Check out the Changing of the Guard at least once. You'll be crowded by tourists from around the world, but the British invented pomp and circumstance, so the fanfare is a must-see. Check out the official schedule for days and times.
Tower Bridge You can't miss it. Also, I think you can go inside one of the towers, but I've never made it there. Someone check it out and let me know how it is!
The Tower of London One of the coolest historical places you'll see. There are torture chambers, ravens, people dressed up as beefeaters and Crown Jewels! You can't beat that.
The Globe Theatre The new Globe Theatre is not built in the same spot as the original before it burnt down, but it is a pretty good replica. Take a tour of the inside or go see a show!
Millennium Bridge It's a pretty cool walking bridge and you'll have to cross it to get to the Tate Modern.
Westminster Abbey So you can relive the Royal Wedding fever. It's also very pretty.
St. Paul's Cathedral
Day Trips You can't stay in London forever, so get out and take a day trip to some of these destinations.
Hampton Court Palace Another beautiful palace with expansive gardens, people dressed up in period costumes, and a maze made of ivy you can get lost in.
Stonehenge You can't miss this popular destination. I recommend not paying for the audio tour, because basically you'll hear a lot of different theories about what it was used for, but (spoiler alert!) nobody actually knows. Nor do we know how those huge stones got there. So go and come up with your own theories instead of paying for someone else's.
Bath A very cool city that was home to Jane Austin in the 1800s. There are good restaurants, a lot of shopping and beautiful buildings to take in. Bath also got its name from the Roman Bath house built there. The water in the bath is a sickly green color now, but it is still worth checking out the architecture that has been uncovered.
Gloucester Cathedral Not only is this a beautiful cathedral, but for any Harry Potter buffs, you'll recognize this Cathedral from the early movies! You'll even find the wall where Ginny wrote her warning that the
Chamber of Secrets had been opened.
Chester It's been a while since I visited Chester, but I remember it being a beautiful city filled with Tudor-style buildings and lots of shopping.
Cultural Okay, so we've covered the historical and educational places, but where do you go for fun?
London Eye DO NOT GO ON THIS IF YOU ARE AFRAID OF HEIGHTS! Otherwise, check out the best view of London from this giant ferris wheel.
West End Theatre District The West End is the Broadway equivalent in London. I saw "Chicago" here last summer and it was amazing! It was kind of funny hearing British actors doing an American/Chicago accent, but amazing nonetheless. The theater scene in London is incredible, I also saw "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)" in London and it is still one of the funniest plays I have ever seen. And if you've never seen the play "War Horse," don't let Spielberg's movie fool you, the play is fantastic.
Covent Garden Food and shopping! Pubs and clubs! Street performers! This will soon become your favorite place in London, too.
Hyde Park & Kensington Gardens One of the most beautiful parks you'll ever see. There are monuments and puppies everywhere and a pond where you can feed swans. It's a good place to take a walk, read a book or have a picnic.
Platform 9 3/4 I know Britt is a Harry Potter fan so this is for her and any other fans out there. You'll find it in King's Cross Station if you look hard enough. Just go and get your picture taken pretending to run through the wall, you won't be the only one.
Abbey Road A short ride on the Tube and you've arrived at one of the most famous places in musical history. Sign the wall and cross the road, and ignore the locals honking at you and wishing they could run you over for interrupting their commute.
Picadilly Circus London's Times Square and just as crowded, but worth seeing nonetheless.
Camden Market More shopping in more of a flea market setting and awesome examples of London's street art scene. Can you spot a Banksy?
Harrod's Ah, the hub of London fashion. Even if you can't afford anything, take a stroll through the racks and imagine a richer, more fashionable you.
Foods to Try
Beer Or ale, rather. Don't be freaked out if they serve it to you warm, you can also ask for it cold.
Fish & Chips with Peas Get the mashed peas! They may look gross and remind you of baby food, but they're good! Try it!
Tea Yes, you can get coffee, but coming home a tea drinker wouldn't be the worst thing.
Crisps What we call chips are called crisps in the UK and they have different flavors than we're used to. Try a Prawn Cocktail or Worcestershire Sauce flavored bag of crisps if you're feeling adventurous.
Phrases to Know They may be speaking English, but that doesn't mean you understand what they're saying. Here's a little help.
Queuing up This means lining up. So, "are you in the queue?" means "are you in line?" "Que up here" = "Line up here." "We're queuing up" = "We're lining up." You get the idea.
Crisps Chips
Chips French fries
Biscuits Cookies
Loo or Water Closet Bathroom
"You look well fit" "You lookin' good"
The Tube The Underground
Football Soccer. Don't say soccer. Ever. What we call football is called American Football.
Extra Tips
Learn the Tube I found the Tube to be one of the easiest subway systems to navigate. Pick up a free map, it's mostly self-explanatory. And each train entrance tells you what the stops are, so it's actually hard to get on in the wrong direction. And on the map, anywhere that lines cross and have a large, open circle, that means you can transfer to one of those lines. See, easy.
Familiarize yourself with the currency Don't go digging in your purse looking for a crisp one pound bill, you won't find one. One pound and two pounds are in coin-form. Which may make your change purse a little heavier, but how convenient is it to have a two pound coin?!
Find the closest Tesco, Marks & Spencer or other grocery store All of the food options you could ever possibly need, pick up a sandwich to go or ingredients for dinner that night. And try new flavors you'll never find in America! Except vegemite, that ish is gross.
Always have an umbrella I've never made a visit to London when it didn't rain at least once. Carry an extra one with you at all times, no matter what the weather prediction. And preferably one that can handle wind.
Fun Fact Your fun fact today comes from the Tower of London. As I mentioned above, the Tower of London has its own colony of ravens (a group of ravens is called an unkindness, poor ravens) because of an old superstition that if the ravens ever leave, the Crown will fall and Britain will fall with it. There are always at least six ravens at the Tower and they are well-fed and taken care of. However, their wings are clipped, just in case.
Thank you for reading everyone and I hope you got some tips for your next trip to London! And good luck to Brittany who is going to have a FABULOUS time working and learning there! I will miss you and maybe I can scrounge up enough money to make a trip to visit you!
Don't forget to check out this post's Pinterest board, and because I'm always on the lookout for travel tips, here are some free printables I found on Snapfish. Along with fun summer printables, they have travel-specific things like a Travel Checklist, Luggage Tag Inserts, Travel Sticker Tags, and Tie-On Luggage Tags.
Also, I loved all of the feedback and suggestions I got on my last post! So if there is somewhere you love in London that I missed, let me know so I can include it! And, if anyone knows a better way to insert pictures, I'll take any suggestions. I'm not thrilled with the way Blogger handles text wrapping around photos, I'm a little disappointed with the way this post looks.
Thanks for reading everyone! I hope you come back next time!
-Sam
Museums I took one study abroad course in art history and spent two weeks in London and a weekend in Paris. During those two weeks I thought I had seen every museum in London. That's not true, because there are actually hundreds. But I did see a lot, and these are the ones worth checking out:
The British Museum Here you can see the Rosetta Stone, the Elgin Marbles from Greece, Egyptian artifacts and tons more. Oh, and did I mention it's free?
 |
| Ice skating outside the Natural History Museum |
 |
| The Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square |
The National Portrait Gallery So many portraits! Also, when I was there they had a very cool photo portrait exhibit going on, hopefully something cool is happening there when you visit!
Serpentine Gallery This unique gallery is located in Kensington Gardens in Hyde Park. It is constantly changing its exterior appearance and the exhibits inside, usually focusing on contemporary works. Don't miss this one!
Tate Britain If you want to see an expansive collection of works by J.M.W. Turner, Millais and William Blake, this is where you should go.
 |
| Chihuly Sculpture |
The Victoria and Albert Museum The thing I remember most was the giant Chihuly sculpture in the entryway, and that's worth seeing alone.
Historical Most of these you'll already know to check out, but I'll provide any tips I can bestow.
Big Ben If you're in Central London, just look up. You'll probably see it.
Buckingham Palace Check out the Changing of the Guard at least once. You'll be crowded by tourists from around the world, but the British invented pomp and circumstance, so the fanfare is a must-see. Check out the official schedule for days and times.
 |
| Tower Bridge |
The Tower of London One of the coolest historical places you'll see. There are torture chambers, ravens, people dressed up as beefeaters and Crown Jewels! You can't beat that.
 |
| Millenium Bridge |
Millennium Bridge It's a pretty cool walking bridge and you'll have to cross it to get to the Tate Modern.
Westminster Abbey So you can relive the Royal Wedding fever. It's also very pretty.
St. Paul's Cathedral
Day Trips You can't stay in London forever, so get out and take a day trip to some of these destinations.
Hampton Court Palace Another beautiful palace with expansive gardens, people dressed up in period costumes, and a maze made of ivy you can get lost in.
Stonehenge You can't miss this popular destination. I recommend not paying for the audio tour, because basically you'll hear a lot of different theories about what it was used for, but (spoiler alert!) nobody actually knows. Nor do we know how those huge stones got there. So go and come up with your own theories instead of paying for someone else's.
 |
| Bath |
 |
| Gloucester Cathedral |
Chamber of Secrets had been opened.
Chester It's been a while since I visited Chester, but I remember it being a beautiful city filled with Tudor-style buildings and lots of shopping.
Cultural Okay, so we've covered the historical and educational places, but where do you go for fun?
 |
| The London Eye |
West End Theatre District The West End is the Broadway equivalent in London. I saw "Chicago" here last summer and it was amazing! It was kind of funny hearing British actors doing an American/Chicago accent, but amazing nonetheless. The theater scene in London is incredible, I also saw "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)" in London and it is still one of the funniest plays I have ever seen. And if you've never seen the play "War Horse," don't let Spielberg's movie fool you, the play is fantastic.
Covent Garden Food and shopping! Pubs and clubs! Street performers! This will soon become your favorite place in London, too.
 |
| Hyde Park |
Platform 9 3/4 I know Britt is a Harry Potter fan so this is for her and any other fans out there. You'll find it in King's Cross Station if you look hard enough. Just go and get your picture taken pretending to run through the wall, you won't be the only one.
Abbey Road A short ride on the Tube and you've arrived at one of the most famous places in musical history. Sign the wall and cross the road, and ignore the locals honking at you and wishing they could run you over for interrupting their commute.
Picadilly Circus London's Times Square and just as crowded, but worth seeing nonetheless.
Camden Market More shopping in more of a flea market setting and awesome examples of London's street art scene. Can you spot a Banksy?
Harrod's Ah, the hub of London fashion. Even if you can't afford anything, take a stroll through the racks and imagine a richer, more fashionable you.
Foods to Try
 |
| Vegetarian but still want the Fish & Chips experience? My dish has fried cheese instead of fish! |
Fish & Chips with Peas Get the mashed peas! They may look gross and remind you of baby food, but they're good! Try it!
Tea Yes, you can get coffee, but coming home a tea drinker wouldn't be the worst thing.
Crisps What we call chips are called crisps in the UK and they have different flavors than we're used to. Try a Prawn Cocktail or Worcestershire Sauce flavored bag of crisps if you're feeling adventurous.
Phrases to Know They may be speaking English, but that doesn't mean you understand what they're saying. Here's a little help.
Queuing up This means lining up. So, "are you in the queue?" means "are you in line?" "Que up here" = "Line up here." "We're queuing up" = "We're lining up." You get the idea.
Crisps Chips
Chips French fries
Biscuits Cookies
Loo or Water Closet Bathroom
"You look well fit" "You lookin' good"
The Tube The Underground
Football Soccer. Don't say soccer. Ever. What we call football is called American Football.
Extra Tips
Learn the Tube I found the Tube to be one of the easiest subway systems to navigate. Pick up a free map, it's mostly self-explanatory. And each train entrance tells you what the stops are, so it's actually hard to get on in the wrong direction. And on the map, anywhere that lines cross and have a large, open circle, that means you can transfer to one of those lines. See, easy.
Familiarize yourself with the currency Don't go digging in your purse looking for a crisp one pound bill, you won't find one. One pound and two pounds are in coin-form. Which may make your change purse a little heavier, but how convenient is it to have a two pound coin?!
Find the closest Tesco, Marks & Spencer or other grocery store All of the food options you could ever possibly need, pick up a sandwich to go or ingredients for dinner that night. And try new flavors you'll never find in America! Except vegemite, that ish is gross.
 |
| A cheap umbrella will only cause more heartache. |
Fun Fact Your fun fact today comes from the Tower of London. As I mentioned above, the Tower of London has its own colony of ravens (a group of ravens is called an unkindness, poor ravens) because of an old superstition that if the ravens ever leave, the Crown will fall and Britain will fall with it. There are always at least six ravens at the Tower and they are well-fed and taken care of. However, their wings are clipped, just in case.
Thank you for reading everyone and I hope you got some tips for your next trip to London! And good luck to Brittany who is going to have a FABULOUS time working and learning there! I will miss you and maybe I can scrounge up enough money to make a trip to visit you!
Don't forget to check out this post's Pinterest board, and because I'm always on the lookout for travel tips, here are some free printables I found on Snapfish. Along with fun summer printables, they have travel-specific things like a Travel Checklist, Luggage Tag Inserts, Travel Sticker Tags, and Tie-On Luggage Tags.
Also, I loved all of the feedback and suggestions I got on my last post! So if there is somewhere you love in London that I missed, let me know so I can include it! And, if anyone knows a better way to insert pictures, I'll take any suggestions. I'm not thrilled with the way Blogger handles text wrapping around photos, I'm a little disappointed with the way this post looks.
Thanks for reading everyone! I hope you come back next time!
-Sam
I loved the Bath experience and also my travel to Bath by a taxi in London.
ReplyDeleteAwesome! Thanks for the tip about the taxi service!
DeleteWe had a great day there on a long road trip- such a surprise because we had no idea what a fun city it is. The farmers market was one of the best that I have seen anywhere in The UK Destination
ReplyDelete