London’s calling…

This is my 5^th trip to London in the last 19 years. Since I am stuck in a hotel for another 5 days, I figured maybe I should take stock of what I have learned on previous visits. There will be a few pictures, but they are from previous visits- most of them from our second honeymoon visit in 2019.

A brief overview of my previous visits, as I will likely reference them and it’ll make it less confusing.

Trip 1, aka The Honeymoon (May 2002)- technically it was a couple months before we got married as I wanted to go immediately after graduating nursing school and prior to starting a new job. We travelled around the UK for 2 weeks and actually only spent 3 days in London.

Trip 2, aka The Girls’ Trip (May 2005)- I travelled with two other nurses and an ED doctor. We stayed in London for almost 2 weeks, with a quick overnight in Paris.

Trip 3, aka Michael’s Trip (Late July-early August 2008)- we stayed in London for 10 days (and spent two days trying to get home, but that is another, very-involved story).  I wanted to bring each of my children when they were teens for an individual trip with Mom. Unfortunately, life has a way of changing our plans.

Trip 4, aka The Second Honeymoon (Late July 2019)- Thanks to my lovely mother-in-law, we were able to sneak away. We had no idea it would be our last chance to go anywhere for quite a while!

Do’s for London:

– Do use public transport. It’s easy and goes everywhere. I suggest buying a week’s Visitor Travel Card. I forgot for this trip and will kick myself at least once a day every day we are in London. You CANNOT buy the same card once you are in London. It has to be mailed to you before you get here. I will have to pay more. I call this kind of extra payment for forgetting something the Stupid Tax -and I end up paying it fairly regularly because I’ve lost track of some detail or other, like a due date for a bill or a library book.

– Do make sure your hotel includes breakfast. Of my four previous visits, two did and two did not. There is a larger proportion that do in London, in my experience. On the Girls’ Trip it wasn’t nearly as important as it was on Michael’s trip. We get a great breakfast buffet here, packaged in takeaway dishes for consumption in our room at this point. Sightseeing the way I do it is hungry work. Eat well before you start your day. A nice view is also a perk, although I have only managed that one once.

– Do be forewarned that a lot of the smaller hotels will not have ice machines and air conditioning. If those are dealbreakers for you, check out an American chain hotel- they may still lack an ice machine but will have AC. On trip 3, we had no AC and I was 6 months pregnant with Eli and it was August… not a good combination, lol! It is rarely as hot here as it is in most of the US, but it can be rather humid when it is hot.

– Do make a list of what you want to see and plan your days accordingly. It is so much easier if you plan to visit, for example, The Globe Theater, The Tate Modern, and St. Paul’s Cathedral on the same day since they are very close to one another. On my first trip- the one Rob refers to as “The Great Walking Tour of London” we ended up walking miles because of my poor planning and overwhelming desire to see EVERYTHING!

– Do visit markets. You can’t hit them all but do hit as many as you can fit in! Spitalfields has areas for new clothing designers and another for vintage clothing. There are amazing food markets for either cooked food or ingredients. There are antique markets and markets full of boot sale items. (Much like a yard sale but sold from the boot/trunk of the car.)

Don’ts-

– Don’t be afraid to politely ask for directions. I have always found Brits to be helpful and polite.

– Don’t be afraid to go it alone. I have wandered the streets of London alone at all hours of the day and night and never felt unsafe. Of course, be aware of your surroundings but overall it is safer than most of the US. The murder rate for 2018 (the most recent year that I could find reliable sources for statistics for all of the following) was 1.4 per 100,000 people according to the London Metropolitan Police. Per FBI statistics, the US average is 4.96 per 100,000 and the SC average is 7.71.

– Don’t think you need to eat every meal in restaurants. I love to eat out, but the groceries are cheaper here than at home and lunches bought at Tesco and eaten in Regents Park taste lovely AND save money! And cheap takeaway places are also good options.

– Don’t feel the need to do all the tourist things. There is no reason to buy the Hop On, Hop Off bus pass when the public buses work well for that purpose and come in the double-decker variety, too!

– Don’t discount something just because it’s a tourist trap, either, though. Covent Garden is lined with booths selling tourist stuff and I doubt that there are any locals visiting there, but the buskers are incredible and definitely worth the trip! Take coins to drop in their hats.

– Don’t try to include too much outside of London. There are many places billed as “day trips” from London. The choices are overwhelming and it is hard to do just one, plus they take time away from the many, many things to see in London. On my first and second trips I tried to add too many other places and my time in London suffered. If you definitely want to see Stonehenge or Paris, be prepared to make a longer trip instead of shortening the London portion.