London in 3 Days: Our New Favorite City
Our 10-year anniversary could not have finished in a better city than London! This city exceeded all of our expectations, and we only had 3 days to fit as much as we could in.
All of our stories and related pictures are below, but with almost 400 photos, there are plenty I could not fit, so if you want to see all of our pictures, you can check them out here on Google Photos!
Table of Contents
Friday, Day 1
We started our weekend bright and early on Friday to disembark from the cruise ship in Southampton, UK. If you haven’t read our adventures in Paris already, just know that we didn’t exactly get a lot of sleep the night before, but we were ready for our next adventure.
With our luggage for 2 weeks of travel, we decided to walk to the Southampton Central Station, where we would board a train to take us into London.
Ticketing was a little confusing, but Nathan was able to get it sorted out, and we had about a 30-minute wait for the next South Western Railway train to arrive.
Since we had about a 2-hour train ride, we decided to upgrade to first class.
This turned out to be a little tricky, as there were only 2 first-class cars and A LOT of people coming off the cruise ship and all of their luggage. Unfortunately, the train is not designed with luggage in mind, so besides a small cubby up top for something the size of a carry-on or backpack, there wasn’t anywhere to put larger luggage besides seats, walkways, and doorways. We finally got it worked out and sat down, but it was a tight fit!
With the first class upgrade, we had better seats and a table between a pod of 4 seats. This made for a nice, comfortable ride, and we got lucky with great seat neighbors.
They were a local couple coming into London for the weekend to celebrate his birthday, and they had a fascinating history working in places like Dubai and raising their kids there. We assume that he had to be in oil/gas to live like that and have the money they clearly had.
Once we were close enough, we switched from the train to local transit, starting with the Overground and then moving to the Underground.
It took us a few rides to get our routine down, but we LOVED the transit system in London and took it everywhere we could.
It was clean, on time, plenty of communication, and all around the best way we have seen to navigate any city, even Chicago!
Plus, they had Express Transit, so you could just tap your phone to the turnstiles and it automatically charged the fee without having to open your physical or digital wallet for a card.
We made it to our hotel, but we were still too early for check-in, so we dropped off our bags and headed out to explore for a few hours.
One of the surprises we had was the number of 5 Guys burgers that were everywhere! We easily saw 6 or more, whereas we only saw one, maybe two, McDonald’s the entire time. This worked out perfectly for me and my weird diet because I could comfortably eat somewhere, even if it wasn’t exciting and fancy.
While we had a goal of going to the Apple store to get another international converter, it was easy to get wrapped up in everything there was to see in London. First up, we made our way through Hyde Park, which was across the street from the hotel. Even though it was the middle of winter and dead, it was still a gorgeous park with tons of bike and walking trails, and things to see and do throughout. We both wish we had access to something like that at home.
London looks exactly like you would expect, and we loved it! The brick row houses and just classic style that you see in all the movies. Plus, they had train stations everywhere, and each one was just a little bit different and unique.
After a few hours of walking around the city, we went back to the hotel to get settled in our room. While we stayed with our normal go-to, Hilton, this was not a cookie-cutter hotel that you normally have in the US. The elevator was TINY, and we laughed every time we used it. Plus tons of fire safety features that were clearly retrofitted. The hotel was beautiful, it was just so different from what we normally experience.
After resting for a bit, we still had plenty of energy before we went to bed, so we hit the town. This time, we had the unique view of the city from the dark, which I quite enjoyed. Our goal was to explore the east side of downtown and visit some of the iconic sights like Tower Bridge, Millennium Bridge, and others. To make the night even better, we found tons of other cool historical sights and things I didn’t even know to look for, like the Tate Modern and Shakespeare’s Globe.
On more than one occasion, we found ourselves going down odd alleyways and decided to just go with it! There were so few people around, and even though it was dark, we felt very safe; instead, it was like we were getting to explore the city alone, and it was beautiful.
Once my legs were exhausted, we stopped to grab some dinner at a restaurant called Keepers (website here). I was able to get food that fit my diet, and Nathan ordered some wings as well as fish and chips. Nothing crazy, except the sauce they provided with the wings was apparently the best sauce ever. He wanted to buy a whole bottle 😂.
After we had a break and our bellies were full, we decided to take the Underground back to the hotel since it was getting late and we still had plenty of walking to do the rest of the weekend.
While we weren’t able to stop and visit a lot of places, we made sure to get pictures of some of the iconic names and stations we passed. I also tried to get a picture of the way a train approaching would cause a wind tunnel effect, causing everything to go flying around, hair included!
We also had one of the funniest experiences on the train going back to the hotel, and we still have no explanation for it. For context, part of the reason we loved London transit is that they do an incredible job communicating things, even better than that, it is clear and easy to understand over the speakers.
So we hop on the train and all of a sudden this is what we hear…
🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣
It was some kind of distorted children’s character doing the announcements, and we have no idea why!? Other passengers looked just as confused as us, and occasionally it would be a normal announcer, so we knew it wasn’t a busted sound system.
Honestly, after a magical day exploring, this was just the perfect end to give us a memory that makes us smile and laugh every time.
Lucky for us, we still had two more days to explore!
Saturday, Day 2
Our morning started with a delicious breakfast at the hotel. Nathan was really impressed that they had a whole warming tray of over-medium eggs ready to go. Plus, we had to laugh a bit at their “bacon”.
Our goal for Saturday was to finish exploring the “downtown” of London, including Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Battersea Power Station, and many other locations.
We walked through Hyde Park again and through a few memorials for WW2, which were beautiful to see.
As we approached Buckingham Palace, we quickly found where all the tourists had been hiding out on our trip. Since we were using the Underground and walking around the business side of town at night, we felt like we were getting exclusive access to London, but no more. Though it was still way less busy than it could have been since it was only January.
As we were walking to Trafalgar Square, which was one of the numerous places that didn’t end up on the list, but we were happy to find it regardless, we noticed that London does a significantly better job with construction.
There were a handful of buildings like this that you almost had to look again to realize it wasn’t the actual building but a realistic photo while they worked on it.
Once we got to Trafalgar Square, we were surprised to see the number of police in the area. This had been a discussion earlier at that palace that there were only a handful of officers in the area, and they were soooo helpful! Giving directions, helping people orient themselves, etc. So, to have multiple cars and dozens of police here started to feel odd… so we went to take a look and see what was going on 😜.
It didn’t take long to figure out we were at the edge of a big ‘Free Palestine’ protest! Given where we live, we haven’t actively participated in protests before, so it was a fascinating experience to do so in another country.
We were incredibly impressed at how peaceful and safe we felt the entire time. There was a kids’ area, people handing out plates of free food, and the only minor trouble we ran into was in the really congested areas, where it was hard to move through the people, but that would be the same for any large gathering.
Had we realized how much of the road was actually closed off for this, we probably would have picked a different route, but honestly, I am glad we didn’t and were able to experience this for a short time.
Since we still had plenty more to see and do, we kept moving to our next destination.
Which included the infamous Westminster Abbey and Big Ben! Both of which were huge and absolutely gorgeous buildings! While I love something modern, the time, detail, and attention spent on these buildings is incredible.
We had to walk across Westminster Bridge to go to our next destination, and it also provided a great view of Big Ben and the Palace of Westminster. To our surprise, though, there was another protest! This one was for another great cause, Women’s Rights, and was moving through the city with truly hilarious signs and chants. I wish we had more time to participate in all of them!
Next up was a very different vibe from history and politics, and we got to see some street art. Like I said on Friday, we walked down some sketchy-looking alleys, but it always turned out great, and this was no different.
It was time to take a break, get some food, and jump on a train to go see Battersea Power Station. So, we found the closest underground station, and it just happened to be Waterloo, which is the largest train station in London and connects the railway and the Tube (Underground).
This station is so large that they had grocery stores, restaurants, and more. It was like a mall, but partially outdoors, so still cold 😆.
Battersea was one of Nathan’s requests as a nod to Doctor Who. However, it really is a beautiful building. They recently renovated it to be a shopping mall with a massive condo building around it. We wandered the stores for a bit and got some new beanies because it was definitely cold, especially in the evenings.
While it may look like it is super late now, it was only like 5:30 pm by the time we finished up at Battersea. So, while we were feeling the effects of a day of walking, we still had a few things we wanted to check off our list.
We hopped back on a train to go to the business side and see Diagon Alley, or at least where they filmed it, including the Leaky Cauldron. Then all the way back to the other side of the city, in Notting Hill, to see the classic blue door.
Unfortunately, neither of these were at exactly convenient locations, so by the time we had checked those off, we were exhausted and ready to get some sleep!
Sunday, Day 3
We debated a little bit on how much we wanted to on our last day. While we had a few things we still wanted to do, we could have done more museums or something that required more time than just a quick photo. Given how much we had already done, I was looking forward to a slower pace day and knowing that we would 100% be back to see more of the city.
Being morning people, we were up relatively early and quickly found out that it was too early, at least for a Sunday. Many of the shops didn’t even open until 10 or 11, and we were out by 9 am. So many of our stops were just looking from the outside.
We did get to see Chinatown as well as Leicester Square and Garden, where they had statues for a variety of films and writers throughout history.
We went to the Covent Garden Market, thinking it would be like a lot of the food and vendor markets we have grown to love, but this was a little more like a small business market. Beautiful but not quite what we thought it was.
This was one of the few times we ran into during this trip where bathrooms were a little difficult to find. The train stations don’t always have them, and while we have no problem paying for a restroom, the ones here were crazy expensive and looked a little sketchy. So, Starbucks to the rescue! Plus, Nathan was able to get another Pastel De Nata at a local shop, and they were just as good as they were in Lisbon.
Since that was a bust, we decided to head over to King’s Cross and do our final Harry Potter stop of the trip.
The station itself is beautiful and unique, just like every station has been.
It is also no surprise that due to the attention Platform 9 3/4 received, they had to section it off and require a ticket to enter. Instead, they built an entire shop and a dedicated photo-op, which was a great compromise to give the fans what they want while still letting the station operate like normal.
We also went shopping in the store and picked up some Butterbeer and a wand for Nathan.
Since we had lunch reservations, we had to kill some time, so we walked around the entry to King’s Cross and also saw St Pancras International train station, which is right next door.
While this next bit is entirely for my benefit, I cannot tell you how excited I was to go to a restaurant that not only was dedicated to gluten-free food but also had a low-FODMAP menu. My diet is so difficult, and to have a restaurant that specializes in it was incredible.
The food was amazing! We couldn’t tell at all that there were medications or adjustments to fit those dietary needs. If you are in the area and need those specializations, definitely check our Niche (website)!
After our delicious lunch, we decided to call it for the day and head back to the hotel. We snacked on our treats from the cruise and stops in London and just relaxed for the afternoon.
BTW – Butterbeer was terrible! Won’t do that again, and we will stick to our DIY recipe.
It didn’t take long for Monday to come, and a full day of travelling home again. Thankfully, we didn’t run into any issues, and we were able to end our trip on the highest of high notes.
London, we will be back, and hopefully sooner than later!!
