So, from Pisa Airport in Florence, we took Easy Jet at 6.15 PM and landed at around 7.25PM in London's Gatwick Airport. How fast and convenient was that! From the airport, we then took a cab to our accommodation and it was a really good start to our time in London, as everyone was really friendly! Now i know these few past trips wasn't the most relaxed of travels, however, due to us wanting to travel all around in a short span of time and with my not- exactly- the- most energetic self, it was all pretty good! There's a mix of eventful days with more relaxed days!
WHERE TO STAY
As previously we changed our trip and decided to stay 2 more Nights in London, we had 2 accommodations!
1. Citadines South Kensington (Link)
35A Gloucester Road, Chelsea
The neighbourhood is awesome as well! Such beautiful and clean buildings! It was really close to the Kensington Palace and gardens too! Too bad we didn't spot any royalties there!
2. The Cavendish London (Link)
81 Jermyn Street
This was higher on the luxury scale! We were upgraded and were given a wonderful room! The bed was extra plushy and they even gave us Champagne, chocolates and a card to Welcome us on our honeymoon! What was best was one of the mornings, after a heap load of walking the previous day, we called in breakfast.. and it WAS AMAZING! Breakfasts in bed is just one of the most wonderful feelings, don't you think!
The Cavendish London was just situated right opposite Fortnum & Masons! You can buy all the cookies and tea you like and go right back to your hotel! It's also very conveniently located in the city and a walkable distance to most of the sights! Buckingham palace, St James Park, Piccadilly & Oxford street where all the shopping is at! I would probably stay here again if I do come by another time! Remember to book early, as prices go up by quite bit nearby the dates! It really was such a comfortable and wonderful stay here!
DAY 1
We Spent 5 Nights in London and as we landed at night, we just checked into our hotel and washed up all our dirty clothes!
The Next day, after a wonderful sleep, we were all ready to explore London!
This one one of the first sights we saw walking out of Citadines in South Kensington to Kensington Palace! Such beautiful buildings and apartments! I would love to stay in London for a few months if I could!
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| Kensington Palace- The Orangery Restaurant |
We came to the Kensington Palace -
The Orangery Restaurant (Link) to have lunch! I highly recommend this place especially for lunch or tea! It's such a beautiful place to have a meal and just soak in the whole ambience! The food was really good with awesome service too! I ordered the salmon and it was DELICIOUS! Moist and so fragrant with the accompaniments. I just absolutely love all the dining ware they use in London! The pretty flowers that adorn the beautiful ware just adds that extra thing to your meal!
The Orangery Restaurant (Link) to have lunch! I highly recommend this place especially for lunch or tea! It's such a beautiful place to have a meal and just soak in the whole ambience! The food was really good with awesome service too! I ordered the salmon and it was DELICIOUS! Moist and so fragrant with the accompaniments. I just absolutely love all the dining ware they use in London! The pretty flowers that adorn the beautiful ware just adds that extra thing to your meal!
After a delicious meal and all relaxed up, we strolled around the Kensington Gardens, bird and people watched! It really was such a beautiful day in London, as I heard usually on most days, the weather in London can be quite gloomy? What a relaxing day indeed!
And for our next destination... To the Bicester Outlet (Link) we go for some shopping!! We took the train there and it was really convenient! We asked the info desk at the train station and got our tickets! You can also take the shopping express coach, but for us it was pretty convenient to just take the train!
It wasn't too crowded and not as great of a sale as I thought it would be! But the prices are better than those in the stores! However, I think of all the Shopping Outlets, The one in Florence is still THE BEST! Best to grab your haul there!
But of course, every shopping day is a wonderful day! That however, does not go for Traveller J who just hates shopping! He says it sucks out all of his energy! Hah!
After spending half the day there, it was time to head back for a delicious meal!
Four Seasons (Link) for some Chinese food is defo the way to go !! The duck is SO delicious!! MY MY! Everything we ordered there was really so fragrant and yummy! The sweet and sour soup is just what we needed as well for the cool night! Now i really got to start planning another trip back! haha! What an irony.. wanting to go back for chinese food!;P They have 4 outlets to date, so check out where is the most convenient for you to go!
Are you drooling yet?:) Well that's all for day 1 in London!
Day 2
The next morning, we checked into the beautiful Cavendish Hotel London as I wrote above! It really was a wonderful hotel to stay in!
The Ritz London (Link)
Afternoon Tea @ Palm Court
As we had booked the 11.30AM seating for afternoon tea at the Ritz London, we were on our way out as soon as we had enjoyed the room for awhile! It was just a short walk from our hotel! Remember to book for your afternoon tea online as they have a 15% discount promo if you head over for the 11.30AM or the 7.30PM high tea @48.45 Pounds (as of 2018). I was extremely excited as it's been always something I wanted to do in London! High tea at the Ritz! Wohoo! Now don't you all have that on your list as well?
Also, for guys you've got to suit up with a tie! Traveller J wasn't too pleased to know he had to bring a suit just for this high tea;) However, it was well worth it wasn't it! You could also borrow some suits and tie from them if you didn't wear one! Traveller J borrowed their tie as he didn't bring it on our trip! For us lovely ladies, just dress up in some awesome high tea outfit like you normally would:D
The interior was gorgeous with sparkling chandeliers & shiny mirrors! You will definitely feel like royalty- another wonderful place for a date!
The afternoon tea was absolutely lovely at the Ritz London! One of the best I had! I love the traditional British high tea with beautiful scones & clotted cream, an array of absolutely delicious sandwiches and pastries with tea in beautiful silver and tea ware! There were cakes in trolleys which were pushed around by their suited up butler staff which you can add to your high tea too! I really loved all the sandwiches and scones! The textures were just right! What a wonderful experience to have when in London! The service once again was superb as well. We asked one of the staff to help us take a picture and he was an expert.. He took so many in different angles for us:D I love London!
Shopping
That was already our lunch for the day! After our 'afternoon tea'/ lunch, we had a relaxing day just wandering around our area, picked up some tea and cookies from the famous Fortnum & Mason (Link). I spent such a long time there with such a wide ranges of delicious stuff! It was just right opposite our hotel (The Cavendish) as well! I really love the convenient location of our hotel! It's literary in the middle of everything & walkable distance to all the famous areas within London!
We also had a short stroll to Oxford/Bond /Regent street for some shopping! Debenhams (link), Burberry, Marks & Spencer , Chanel, Victoria Secret, Zara, Primark (link), Hugo Boss and all are all around that whole area! People recommended me Primark for pretty cheap stuff, however when I saw the queue in, I decided to skip this place! I would want to pop by if I do come by again!
We also went to the iconic Harrods (Link) on our last day, as it wasn't really the same area as the whole shopping street!
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| Fortnum & Mason! |
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| Burberry! |
We wanted to end the day with a great meal for dinner and my friends recommended me the awesome Burger & Lobster (Link)! They have quite a few outlets to date, so just go to the nearest outlet! It really was a wonderful place to grab your lobster cravings at a pretty reasonable price! It's no wonder that everyone recommends this place! The Lobster is absolutely succulent, with crispy thin fries and a refreshing side salad with this superbly delicious sauce!! Absolutely YUM!
Goodnight London! That ends another wonderful day in London with some bubblies and a view from our hotel!
Day 3
Today's itinerary is dedicated to sightseeing in London!
For our first destination, we made our way to Buckingham Palace for our Buckingham Palace-State room tour! The Buckingham Palace is where her Majesty the Queen resides in, as well as serves as her office as well. We were able to step inside the wonderful palace, and view the 19 magnificent state rooms! It really was a great experience and the furnishings inside was just of splendour! Do note that this tour is open during summer usually from July- September! So do plan to come around those months if you would like to step inside the palace!
We booked through the Royal Collection Trust website (LINK). To date, on the website it is 25 Pounds per adult! Check their website for the updated prices or for children etc!
Another note is that No pictures are allowed inside as well!
A few weeks before our trip, we bought the 24+24 hours Free Hop on Hop off Bus tour & Tower of London ticket from Golden Tours (LINK) It's around 48 Pounds per adult to date. It was really easy and convenient to get to all of London's attractions! There's even a free sightseeing cruise- my favourite way to travel! You get from point to point, yet able to travel in style, with the wind in your hair!
Check out this map from Golden Tours and it will show you all the sights you can visit! (LINK)
Here are some of the places we went!
1. London Eye
2. Big Ben
3. Westminster Abbey
4. Parliament
5. 10 Downing Street
6. Southbank area
7. St Paul's Cathedral
8. London Bridge
9. Trafalgar Square
10. Tower of London
If you're sightseeing halfway near the embankment area, you could stop by All bar one-Villiers Street (link) for some food! The fish and chips with mushy peas was delicious!!
After passing all the sites in the main city, we headed over to the Tower of London which is a UNESCO site, for our Beefeater Tour! Their nickname- Beefeaters is another name used for Yeoman Warders! They were originally part of the Yeoman of the Guard- the Monarch's personal crack bodyguard! According to their website, today's Yeoman Warders require at least 22 years of military service as well as have reached the rank of warrant officer and is to be awarded the long service and good conduct medal! How cool is that!
Most importantly, we could see the crowned jewels! The tower of London was actually originally built to subdue and terrify Londoners as well as to deter foreign invaders!
It was really informative and the Beefeater we had was really funny!
It was a very eventful day indeed! After our extremely informative tour, we decided to watch a musical- The Phantom of the Opera at her Majesty's Theatre! I've watched it before, however, I absolutely love the story line and the music so we decided to just go for it again! The tickets here was pretty reasonably priced as well!
We had a quick and lovely dinner at Brumus Bar & Restaurant (Link) opposite the road from her Majesty's Theatre where the Phantom of the opera was showing. The ambience and food was really nice!
We were almost late and dashed across to her Majesty's Theatre to catch our musical! The voices of all the casts were all exceptionally breathtaking! The ambience, cast and orchestra was just amazing!
The music of the night sure left us breathless alright!
Day 4
This was our last day in Beautiful London! As previously I had mentioned, we ordered in breakfast in to our room and it was one of the best experiences ever!! Someone please serve me a widespread breakfast in bed everyday Please!
After breakfast, we went back to Buckingham palace to watch the Changing of the guards which starts at 11 am. Be there early, as crowds sure build up fast! Also, do check the schedule to see when this will be on! (Link) It was really cool to watch the guards! Love their outfit and how organised they are! After the show I saw one guard just leaving the palace!
We decided to take our last day easy. We headed over to Harrods to shop and chill around! I love harrods! It's antiquely posh with beautiful interiors! Even the elevator was so cool! The Godiva cafe served awesome cold drinks and desserts as well! A great way to rest those legs of yours after all that shopping!
Here's a whole list of food/desserts recommended by friends & from my search if you need more options!
1)Patisserie Valerie
2)Hummingbird Bakery
3)Pierre Hermes
4)Konditor and Cook
5)The Savoy
6) Le Pain Quotidian
7) Tarte Tartin
8) Borough London Market
9) Worsley
10) Maze by Gordon Ramsay
11) Jamie's Italian
12)Story Deli Pizzas
13)Flat iron
14)Bonnie Gull Seafood Shack
15)J Sheekey
16) Patty & Bun
17) Kua Aina
18) Blacklock
19) The albion
20)Hawksmoore seven dials
XOXO My Lovely Travellers!
