Where we stayed: The Kensington area.
It seemed pretty centrally located and we were able to walk to everything- i.e. Notting Hill, Kensington Palace, Buckingham ext.
Then again, we’re used to walking a lot. So maybe we weren’t centrally located at all and I had no idea? That’s a definite possibility. We also jumped on London’s subway quite a bit, the Tube. Public transportation is amazing. Never be afraid to use it. Also I was super impressed with how clean everything was in London, most specifically their public transpo. That could also have something to do with the fact Chicago’s is pretty filthy. It’s a good day if I don’t sit in urine. And it’s still an okay day if I do.
What we did: everything.
Chris is an exhausting travel buddy. He likes to see and do everything. Seriously everything. I like to see and do everything as well, but sometimes I can be lazy and just like to go sit in a pub. I blame this trait on my dad. Luckily Chris and I found a middle ground- a hop on hop off bus.
We could see all of the city from the comfort of our seat- and with a travel size bottle of wine if necessary. This became our favorite way to explore. Chris loved getting a history lesson by the tour guide and I just loved riding with my head out the window. I’m kind of like a dog in that way, I love a good car ride. When we came to a spot we wanted to see more of we just hopped off and got back on at another stop.
I’m not going to tell you we bought a selfie stick just for this trip… But we bought a selfie stick just for this trip. You can judge me, I judge myself. But we were actually really glad we had it. And now I’ll put it away for safe keeping until our next vacation. It will NOT come out in Chicago at a bar or something, I’m not that person. Yet.
What we liked. Pretty much all the touristy stuff. I’m not even going to try to deny it, we ate it all up. And why not? We’re tourists after all.
Trafalgar Square– seen above.
It was close to Piccadilly Circus which seemed like a pretty cool area too, a bit Times Square-ish but whatever.
London Tower.
Buckingham Palace. Not to sound like a total snot, but I was a little unimpressed with Buckingham. I couldn’t even get close enough to the infamous guards to take a ridiculous photo that I would most definitely regret later.
What to wear.
As expected, it was cold in London. Cold and rainy and grey. Just like Chicago pretty much. Next time I go to Europe I’m going in the summer. Enough of this early spring bullshit.
I know it’s way past time to retire the plaid blanket scarf for the season, but it’s the warmest scarf I own so I was definitely glad I brought it. I wore warm coats and big scarves every day and was still cold.
Right here I’m probably wondering why in the hell we chose to go Europe instead of the Bahamas.
Where we drank.
We pretty much slipped into any cute pub we could find. Our favorite was recommended to us by Kelli on Instagram and it was Churchill Arms Pub.
And I think that’s just about enough London talk for now. Cheerio. I’ll probably change the subject tomorrow and talk about something else for a bit. Most likely about Harlow.
I feel semi-normal now knowing you were not impressed with Buckingham Palace. My fiance we guiding us everywhere and when I got there I said "This is not buckingham palace. You read the map wrong." Boy was I wrong. The Mary-Kate and Ashley movies made my expectations too high!
I was wondering who took all these pics- love it! I hope my list was somewhat helpful! Looks like y'all did it right!
I wasn't that impressed with Buckingham either! I'm assuming it's because there wasn't a prince there to casually fall in love with the clumsy stranger (isn't that how it ALWAYS works in the movies?)
The selfie stick. That explains the magnificent selfies. You are the second person I know to buy one for their most recent vacation so I guess it's the cool thing to do now. It worked well. I'll expect a bar selfie with it any second now.
Ummm…what exactly is a selfie stick? I have never even heard of it…until now. The things I learn here. Haha. Guessing I need to get up to speed on all of the "selfie accessories" available!
I keep telling my boyfriend I'm getting a selfie stick for our next trip and he thinks I'm crazy, but I know he'll thank me for it after. Buckingham Palace was never my favorite either. Sort of one of those things you have to see, but probably won't spend a lot of time on. I've never been inside though, so you never know. I think you can only go in during the summer. I really enjoyed Windsor Castle, but you guys probably didn't have time for that and there's already so much to see and do in London. Not sure if you went in or not, but the Tower of London is one of my favorite attractions!
I LOVED the Tower of London. Probably that was my favorite part. We stayed in Notting Hill, which was so quaint. Gah! Now I wanna go back!
Even if you were cold, you still look fabulous in your photos! I want to go to London so badly!
Ah, I just went to London in February, and I think I fell in love.
This looks amazing! London is on our travel bucket list — but something about it keeps getting pushed below places like Rome, and Greece. Your post makes me rethink that (and selfie sticks) — should we push it up?!
For this being your first selfie stick trip you make it seem like you're not even using a selfie stick. That's like skill level 100. I'm also saddened for all readers of your blog that you didn't get close enough to the Buckingham Palace guards to take a regrettable picture – that alone would've probably been worthy of one full post.
I went to London two years ago this month, and it was SNOWING. I definitely under-packed and was cold the whole time. The touristy spots were my favorite too!
It looks like you had a brilliant time! I blog by night by work at the British Embassy during the day, which basically means I'm a big Anglophile!
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It looks like you guys had a great time
xo
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Sounds absolutely amazing, I am going to take my selfie stick on vacation now too! I never thought of that…I got it for Christmas and we always have a good time taking pictures at holidays with the family, but I usally forget to use it. Love your pictures of the trip!
my husband totally just came home with a selfie-stick and i was like 'i cannot be seen with this.' however, i'm reconsidering now that you use one and your pictures came out pretty darn cute!
my husband totally just came home with a selfie-stick and i was like 'i cannot be seen with this.' however, i'm reconsidering now that you use one and your pictures came out pretty darn cute!
Yay, so happy to see one of my favorite cities again! All of your outfits are spot onnnnn too!
Umm Kensington is a great place to stay. Im glad you went and saw it all, London is fantastic! Trafalgar square is great and I was unimpressed by the Palace too … meh
yeah you were staying in the best spot! I live in london so know all the best places, looks like you had a lot of fun:)
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