What to do in London. Part 2

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So this is part 2 out my series of things to do in London. This time i'll tackle some paid activities for adults and children too and the ones where I take most of my visitors!!!

Churchill War Room

Out of all the activities in London the Churchill War Room is hands down my favourite activity!
The Churchill War Rooms are the actual bunkers were Churchill worked during the WWII and where all the plotting to take down the Nazis took place!
You not only get to know what happened underneath the streets of Westminster during the Blitz but you get to listen to Churchill's speeches, find out how they decoded secret messages during the war, get to know their plans and strategies, hear from people who worked down there and get to know more about Britain's time during WWII.

The £22 entrance fee (£11 with the art pass) might be a little scary if you are on a budget but is absolutely worth it! Highly recommended to book online ahead of time so you are not standing in the cold in the very long line.

The Map room!

London Eye

It only took me 4 visits to London and a year of living here to finally go on the London Eye.
Why the wait?!?! Well, mostly because when I had come to London I was always on a budget and the £36 for a 20 minute ride on the London Eye was never at the top of my priority list.

When my mom came to visit I wanted to take her there and because it was summer even paying for the extra fee to skip the line has a long wait. I decided to get a ticket with a guide so that way we skip the lines and we had somebody to tell us what we were seeing, each ticket came down to £41 which wasn't much of a difference from the regular price and definitely worth it.

The view was amazing but was it a mind-blowing experience? Not really.
One thing to keep in mind when deciding to go on the London Eye is the weather! Luckily we got a beautiful afternoon that was clear but with booking in advance there is always the possibility of rain and yucky London weather!

Hop-on Hop-Off Bus

To be honest I am not a massive fan of hop-on hop-off busses because I feel like you spend so much time stopping and waiting for people to get in an out and you waste a lot of time just waiting for the bus to arrive at different bus stops when you could have walked and be there faster.

One option that I loved though was the MegaBus Sightseeings bus because it is a non-stop bus tour and takes you for two hours seeing the main sights that you would probably see in a hop-on hop-off without taking too long. The bus departs and returns from the street behind the London Eye which makes it very convenient for sightseeing.

Another great thing about this bus is that it has a GPS commentary in English through the speakers so you are not stuck having to wear earphones (the down side is that the commentary is only in English!)

The best thing about this MegaBus ticket is that it won't break the bank! You can find tickets as low as £5! I paid £20 for 4 tickets a couple of months in advance! Highly Recommended!

Loved the view from the open top!

Thames River Cruises

I love taking a boat down the River Thames from Westminster to Greenwich!

The cheapest way to do this is to go to the docks at Westminster and hop on the Thames Clipper using your oyster card for £8.20 one-way (don't forget to tap in and out!)

For me the best view is from the back platform of the boat... although a little chilly!

View of the Tate and Shard from The back of the boat!

Arriving at Greenwich Pier!

Once in Greenwich it is nice to go up to the Royal Observatory and check out the view from of the city from up there.

Also, one can visit the Cutty Sark which is right outside the pier or go on an underground tunnel that takes you underneath the Thames... so cool!!!!

Churches

London has so many churches some are free and some are paid. The two that I highly recommend are St Paul's Cathedral and Westminster.

St. Paul's Cathedral

Who can remember Princess Diana's long wedding dress tail spread through the steps of St Paul's cathedral?! Actually... who can't?!?!

St Paul's is one of the most famous sights in London and can be visited with an audio tour for £18 or people are welcome to attend one of their services for free.

Rick Steves has a St. Paul's Cathedral free audio tour on his app that also explains the exterior for those who can't get in.

Westminster Abbey

Photo from the Westminster App

I remember back to 2015 when my friends and I wanted to visit Westminster Abbey but then didn't because the price was £16! Well, now is £23 and worth every penny!!!

If your schedule is flexible then I highly recommend booking a ticket ahead for their Wednesdays Late for half price! For £11 you get to visit Westminster between 4:30 and 6:00pm. The only bad thing about this is that not all rooms are open so you have a more restricted visit BUT there is an exception!!!

Volunteers run FREE tours of Westminster at 5:30pm and they take you to the closed rooms and even to restricted areas!! This tour has probably been the best free tour I have ever been to! The volunteers are not only passionate about Westminster and its history but so knowledgeable!

My advice would be to download the Westminster free app before your visit and get there at 4:30 when it opens and have the time to go through the whole digital tour on your own and take your time and then join the free tour!

The lady Chapel- picture from the app!

Afternoon Tea

Literally there are hundreds of places to go for afternoon tea in London!
For a budget solution it is always advisable to check out Groupon to find some discounted tea options or even an afternoon champagne tea with an amazing view of London.

The only two places I have visited (at least twice each) and love are the Four Seasons at Park Lane and Trinity Square.

Out of the two my favourite is definitely Park Lane, although more expensive, the service is much better and less crowded!

Park Lane

Tea with the girls

Special Edition Afternoon Tea!

How cute is that?

The trinity Square Four Seasons is convenient for sight seeing as it is right by Tower of London but tends to be busier and harder to get a reservation.

Pastries inspired by the Crown Jewels!!!

So pretty!

For the holidays they created a Christmas menu!

Christmas themed Afternoon Tea!

With my mom at the Rotunda, at 10 Trinity Square.

Castles, Castles, and more Castles!!!

The UK has so many Castles but the must see in London (or near) are: Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, and Hampton Court Palace.

Buckingham Palace

This is the primary residence for the queen therefore open only during 3 months while the queen is away from mid July to mid September. The price might seem a little high but you get to use your pass for one full year. I opted for the Royal day Out which allows entrance to the State Rooms at Buckingham palace, the Queens Gallery with changing expositions through the year, and the Royal Mews where you get to see the Royal Cars and Carriage... all three for £49! All of them come with an audio tour and I got one of the free tours at the Royal Mews that was fantastic!

For me it is an absolute most! The State Rooms at Buckingham Palace are magnificent, you get to see the throne room, the ballroom and listen to stories and the history behind the palace!

Windsor Castle

Windsor Castle is an easy train ride away from London and open year round (with some exceptions so check out their website.)

Windsor Castle is the oldest and largest occupied castle in the world! Here you can go through the state Rooms and listen to the story of the fire in 1992 and look at pictures and videos on your audio guide of how it was reconstructed.

As you enter you can join a free tour from the Castle Wardens that gives you a little bit of background on the castle, its history, and how the castle is used nowadays.

Here you can visit St. George's chapel where Prince Harry and Meghan got married!!!

Photo from Historic Royal Palaces website

Hampton Court Palace

This one is at the bottom of the list and probably not really a must see but a nice one to see if you got time and a good one for children as they have an outdoor play area and a maze!

This was Henry the VIII's residence and one can visit the Tudor kitchen as well as the State Rooms and get to learn about Henry the VIII many wives (a total of six!), the creation of the church of England, and much more!

Henry VII's kitchen

Hampton Court has many activities throughout the palace such as people showing you how they cooked or made spices back in the day!

Visit the Great Hall and admire the many Tapestries hanging in the room!

Last but not least... the amazing garden!

Tower of London

Photo from Historic Royal Palaces website

The Tower of London holds the very famous Crown Jewels! and it is a must see!

With your entrance ticket you can go on a walking tour with one of the Yeoman Warder who will explain some of the history of the Tower of London. Tours are every 30 minutes!

Tip- Get there as soon as it opens and head straight to the Crown Jewels otherwise you can be waiting in the queue for 1+hr just to see the jewels! After you see the jewels you can go back to the entrance and catch one of the many Yeoman tours.

Kew Gardens

Kew Gardens is London's botanical garden and it is BEAUTIFUL!

I have gone a couple of times and I absolutely love it! It is a great way to spend the day and always check for their night events!

Christmas at Kew!!!

The Christmas at Kew Event is simply magical! I absolutely love how they transform kew gardens into a winter wonderland full of lights and christmas music!!!!
Be warned.... tickets go almost as fast as they put them up so better be on the lookout for release date tickets!

The best part: Roasting Marshmallows!

The West End

Well, this is probably my favourite thing about London... Musicals and Plays!!!

I am an avid theatre goer and you can find me sometimes a couple times per week catching one of the many shows London has to offer! The list of shows is endless and includes: Matilda, Lion King, School of Rock, Wicked, Hamilton, Mary Poppins, Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables and so many more!

The West End just like Broadway shows can get really expensive but there are always ways to gets things on the affordable side:

Go to the theatre an hour to 10 mins before the performance:

At this time all the want to do is sell tickets so you are looking at a very good chance to get the best seats for a low price. The down side? You might not get a ticket! (My friend got premium seat for Matilda for £30 five minutes before the performance!)

Day Seats

If you are one to wake up early and queue, then most London theatres sell day seats at 10am. Depending on the show you could look at a queue that starts as early as 5 or 6am (I'm looking at you Lion king! Although I took a friend to the Lion king queue at 9:30am on a saturday and she got amazing stall tickets for £20)

Many theatres don't have a queue and you can show up mid day and ask if they have any day seats and you might just get lucky. Most day seats go for £20 but you can only get 2 per person!

Want to know a trick? Check out the days that have a matinee and a night show on the same day to double your chances of getting a good seat!

Today Tix

Maybe my favourite app of all times!!!

This app sells discounted tickets and have amazing deals for great seats for as low as £15-£25!

Rush Tickets- Today tix sells rush tickets for some performances at 10am every day so you better get on your app at 9:59am and make sure you are quick with your fingers!!! (Maximum 2 tickets per person) Just FYI, rush tickets are very hard to get a hold of on saturdays!

Last minute ticket stands in Central London

There are quite a few of these stands near Leicester square selling last minute tickets for a lot less than the regular price. If you don't know what you want you get there and they tell you what they have and their opinion on seats and best shows for that one night (If you are set on one specific show I would recommend to go straight to that theatre and to go early!)

Lotteries!

Many theatres hold a weekly or daily lottery for some shows!

For example, Hamilton has a £10 lottery that you enter every day for the performance in 2 days and the app lets you know if you have won one day in advance and have to call within the hour to purchase the tickets.

The down side?!?!?! Gazillions of people enter it and statistics show that you have a chance to win every 2.5 years!!!!!!!

Return Tickets

Some of the sold out/ very popular shows have a queue every night for last minute return tickets (Hamilton is one of them). At 6:30pm a staff from the ticket office will come out as tickets become available and ask people in line if they are interested!

Harry Potter Studios

Minerva McGonagall entering the studios!

If you are a Harry Potter fan then a visit to the Harry Potter studios is a must!!!!

Tickets are hard to get a hold of but not impossible. If you are very organised and can get them directly from the website a couple of months ahead then that's the best option possible.

If there are no tickets left and you are freaking out... There are always tour companies that will sell you tickets for about double the price and include transportation! I actually do not recommend this because it's way more expensive and 6 days before any date more tickets are released at the Warner Brothers Website

Getting to the studios from London?!?!
Super Easy! Take a train from Euston station to Watford Junction and then take a 15 mins shuttle (£3 return) to the studios!!! More instructions on their website.

Some tips?!?!
If you can get the 9am (10am in winter) timed entrance ticket then do it! That way you are part of the first wave of people to enter and it is not as crowded!
Do not hang around the entrance, go directly through the ropes and make sure to be the first ones to enter!

Audio Tour or No Audio Tour?
It depends how long you want to be there! I did the audio tour but it has so much it is almost impossible to listen to everything and keep on moving. If you have the whole day I would say get the audio tour! If you only have 3-4 hours I would say skip the audio and just enjoy the experience and read all the information provided!

Butterbeer anyone?

There is only ONE PLACE to buy your butter beer so make sure not to miss it! (after the Hogwards Express and before the going outside where Privet Drive and the Knight Bus are)
Also... make sure the lady adds some of the foam... it was hands down the most delicious part of the Butterbeer!

Last but not least... Make sure to take A LOT OF SILLY PICTURES!

Don't forget to bring your wand!

So many things to keep everybody entertained in London you can never be bored!!!!

About Post Author

Andrea

Hi! It's me... Andrea! In 2016 I decided to drop everything and take a year to enrich my life and travel around the world. It turns out the world is just too big for 12 months! Still on the road and sharing my experience as a solo female traveler around the globe!

1 comment:

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