My husband Harrison and I just returned from a wonderful and activity-filled three week trip in Europe. We stayed in London, Versailles, the Champagne region, Paris, and Amsterdam; I’ll recap each in a separate blog post. We both started and ended our trip in London, a beautiful city that I just loved and absolutely want to return to one day and explore further, as I know there’s so much to see and gems to be discovered. As my first trip to London, we had to visit some of the main sights.
The very first thing we did when we arrived on June 3 was head to Westminster Abbey which was truly something to see with so much history and impressive architecture.
We then simply strolled and explored, seeing Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, and the nearby parks.
I loved the charming parks, buildings, and little details. Everything struck me as so classic and lovely.
With not even 24 hours in London at the beginning of our trip, we returned on June 19 for our last few days. I loved this view from our hotel room. Since Harrison works with some Hilton properties, we primarily stayed at those hotels and chose the London Hilton on Park Lane in Mayfair here which ended up being in a great location.
We took the tube (using Google Maps for easy directions) to Tower of London – which was pretty spectacular but crowded – and saw Tower Bridge. Just a note that we had advanced timed entry tickets for all of our tours and museum visits, and I definitely recommend doing this to save time, especially when traveling to popular sights or during busy times.
We then enjoyed a beautiful walk to…
Peggy Porschen Belgravia for afternoon tea!
We had made a reservation for a gluten-free tea for me and a classic for H, and when we arrived, they were prepared for us. I found the experience just delightful and so special; everything was simply delicious!
After the tea, we continued strolling the gorgeous streets, and popped into Harrods for a vibrant shopping experience, especially loving the food sections.
We made our way through Hyde Park and The Flower Walk in Kensington Gardens, and we admired the exterior of Kensington Palace.
That evening, we enjoyed our walk to and from a festive final dinner at The Ganton Arms in lively Soho. After, we even popped into nearby Hamleys on Regent Street just for fun.
The following day was our flight home. For one last London experience, we attended the Changing of the Guard, made extra special by the band playing Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off”, as she was performing in London that night and over the weekend.
London was just a dream. I look forward to going back someday and sipping more delightful tea and admiring more gorgeous buildings. Have you been to London? What would you recommend?
