London has been my dream destination for almost my entire life. I am definitely an Anglophile… I love all things Great Britain, especially in the realm of pop culture (The Beatles, Love Island, Harry Potter, Princess Diana…).

Our flight was $328 round trip on TAP Air Portugal, which I felt like was such a steal! With TAP Air Portugal, you get an option for a 24+-hour layover in either Lisbon or Porto. We chose to fly Boston to London, with the 24-hour stopover in Lisbon on the way back, and I loved this option.

Where We Stayed

We stayed at the The Westminster London, a Hilton Curio hotel. It is a 15-20 minute walk from the major sights (Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Parliament, Buckingham Palace), but tucked away on a little street right next door to MI5 headquarters and Burberry headquarters, which was very nice!

Our room was around $900 for 5nights/6days, which Ro and I split and paid for 4 months before our trip. This was nice because all we had to pay for when we got there was the incidentals on the room, which would fall off our card about 24-hours after checking out.

The room itself was small, but fine! I’m not sure I’d stay in the hotel again, just so I could see other neighborhoods, but this was a great location for my first visit.

We also were very close to the Pimlico Tube station, which is only one stop past Victoria Station. So if you fly in to Gatwick, you can get to this hotel fairly easily using the public transportation.

Where We Ate

The first night we got to London, we immediately hit the road and walked toward Covent Garden and Trafalgar Square. We were going to eat at Dishoom in Covent Garden, but their line was out the door and around the corner. We continued walking and had a little bit of a tough time finding a restaurant that looked appealing to me. We ended up at an Albanian restaurant tucked in an alleyway behind a theater. It was okay!

We had lunch at Harrods at the Pizzeria & Pasqua which I would not recommend. I was SHOCKED at how expensive this was… Ro and I both got a salad and garlic bread each - so 2 salads and 2 garlic breads, I got apple juice, she got a glass of wine, and it was 100GBP… Around $115. I should’ve known with it being Harrods and London, but wow I almost fell out of my seat.

That evening, we ate at sketch in The Gallery. We knew this would be a more expensive meal, but I believe it was worth it! We got 2 cocktails each, bread, I got the black rice risotto as the entree, and Ro got the sea bass. We gave it a 10/10 for service, 8.7/10 for ambience, and 6.9/10 for food!

I would definitely recommend going for a cocktail or wine, but maybe wouldn’t eat there. Or maybe go for Afternoon Tea.

We got breakfast at Tiffany & Co. Blue Box Cafe in Harrods and this was such a wonderful experience! We opted for the Moet & Chandon champagne breakfast, which was 67 GBP, which I felt was worth it.

You get your choice of a croissant (lemon curd, raspberry jam, or chocolate), a main, and a fruit cup. Ro got the raspberry jam croissant and New York style pancakes, I got the chocolate croissant and crab muffin. It was all so good. Honestly, the food could’ve been half as good and it still would’ve been such a great experience.

We made a last minute decision to eat at Flour & Grape and wow… this was such a great meal! It is fresh, homemade pasta and everything was so delicious. We had a 45-minute wait, but they have a cute bar downstairs. So we waited at the bar and got a salami plate and bread. It was SO GOOD. When our table was ready, I ordered the pappardelle with ragu and Ro ordered the truffle pasta. Both were so amazing.

We had lunch at Dishoom, which was highly recommended to me by multiple people. Hot take: I didn’t love it. It was okay! It is Indian food, and maybe I just don’t like Indian food? But it was just okay to me!

We ended our London trip with dinner at Palm Court Brasserie in Covent Garden. It is on the prettiest street with Jo Malone, Reformation, the cutest bars and shops. Loved it. I got an onion soup (divine), and fish & chips. We loved it.

Things We Did

I feel like we were constantly going, but also didn’t get to see too much.

Our first night we went to the Christmas Market in Trafalgar Square and it was so nice! We had the best hot chocolate of my life! We also saw Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and Parliament this night.

Our first full day, we visited the British Museum, but give yourself PLENTY of time to get in line and get in. We had a 10am entrance, and we got there at 9:45 am. We didn’t get inside until 10:30 am. If you are dying to go, go as early in the morning as you can so it isn’t too busy.

my failed blowout an hour after I got it

We spent too much time at Harrods. I had a blowout scheduled for that afternoon, but I wanted to visit the mall and walk around Knightsbridge (the neighborhood Harrods is in). After we left Harrods, we went to a second hand designer store, Sign of the Times.

After we looked around Sign of the Times, I went back to Harrods for my blowout. The blowout was $85 and lasted me less than an hour because London is humid and I had no idea!!! The experience was lovely, but I would be lying if I said I didn’t cry on a corner in London lol.

We went to the Harry Potter Studio and this was probably the highlight of my trip. Wow what an amazing experience and incredibly well done and preserved. If you enjoy Harry Potter or movie-making in general, this is such a great stop. Be prepared to spend 4-6 hours though between travel to the studio and actually visiting the studio.

We did also add a day trip to Paris during our trip, utilizing the eurostar chunnel.

We were planning on doing another day trip to York, but decided against it last minute so we could explore more of London. Our last full day, we went to MinaLima (a must for Harry Potter fans), walked through Chinatown, visited Dishoom in Kensington and walked to Churchill Arms pub.

Churchill Arms is so pretty on the outside and a quintessential pub on the inside. It offers some Thai food (a unique choice), but Ro and I just got a pint each and hung out. It is dog-friendly, so I hope you see some cute pups when you visit.

After Churchill Arms, we went by Buckingham Palace. There were a ton of people videoing a car leaving the palace gates, so I thought we may be seeing a royal! Nope… Royal Mail lol. Right around the corner are a few souvenir shops. I wanted a Paddington stuffed animal so badly, but I could not find one for less than $50. I ended up getting 2 ornaments - one of Buckingham Palace and one of the Queen’s Corgi :)

After Buckingham Palace, went to the Tower of London. We got to the Tower of London too late to actually go inside, but we saw the Tower Bridge and the Shard, which was cool!

I would’ve loved to have seen Abbey Road, the LEGO store, be able to go inside Tower of London, and a few more places, but am mostly happy with everything we saw!

Tips

We paid for the majority of our big ticket items ahead of time: hotel, chunnel to Paris, Harry Potter studio, and also made reservations in advance. This helped so much.
We also used Wise, similar to paypal, but allows you to create bank accounts and transfer money in the currency you choose. Then you can get an actual debit card to use. Ro and I both put in a little bit of money here and there in British Pounds and Euros, then used the card for our big ticket meals.
Use public transport or walk! We used Uber quite a bit, but their tubes and buses are great - I wish we had used them more. The very first night (a Saturday), we went through Victoria Station and it was PACKED and that stressed me out. I think if our first experience wasn’t as hectic, I would’ve used to tube more.
Try booking excursions, things to do, and restaurant reservations in the same neighborhoods. I always mess up by going across town multiple times in a day and we waste so much time doing that.