London
JAN 26 - Friday - Landed
In LondonLunch at Cantina del Ponte (Amazing Gnocchi and it's Vegetarian. The manager, Antonio, is the sweetest human being alive. Extremely personable and made the experience memorable.)
Walked along the Thames River to the Airbnb - Great views of the Tower Bridge
Checked in + Picked up Groceries for breakfast
JAN 27 - Saturday - Explore & Photo Spots
Purchased the 7 days Oyster card (Zones 1-2)
Took the Tube to Waterloo Station
Walked over the London Bridge (Great views of London Eye + Big Ben)
Took the Tube to Waterloo Station
Walked over the London Bridge (Great views of London Eye + Big Ben)
Pick up London Pass (3 days)
Lunch at L'ulivo (fish n' chips special)
Trafalgar Square (shopping on Strand Street)
Piccadilly (it's like a much smaller scale Times Square)
Houses of Parliament - watch debate? (didn't get to)
Dinner (ordered in from Just Eats - Lebanese)
Golden Tours Hop-On, Hop-Off Bus Tour
Pub - Hung, Drawn & Quartered
Tower of London (my favorite thing this day)
Lunch - Coppa Club Tower Bridge (The waiter kept insisting that we get the fish stew special and I am so glad that we did. It was really delicious. I am just sad that we didn't get to sit in one of the outside bubbles.)
All Hallows by the Tower
St Paul's Cathedral
The London Bridge Experience (didn't get to)
View from The Shard
Dinner - Draft House - Tower Bridge (Aussie Bar)
Shakespeare’s Globe Exhibition & Theatre Tour (we slept in)
Take the city cruise to the next location
Westminster Abbey
Lunch - Dishoom (Delicious Indian Food)
The Courtauld Gallery (wasn’t that exciting)
The London Bridge Experience and London Tombs (an informative haunted maze)
The Wimbledon Tour
Dinner at Davies - Mug House (K got the sausage & mash - traditional english meal)
Missed Wicked...
Breakfast - Stranhope Arms (Traditional English Breakfast - LOVE)
The National Gallery - Some amazing Masterpieces. I recommend the £5 audio tour. K and I shared one between the two of us.
Afternoon Tea - Soho Hotel - Slow service and boring, plain sandwiches. Good scones and the tea we selected was yummy. Good price.
Wicked @ Apollo Victoria Theatre 7:30 pm - We read the tickets wrong (honestly don't even know how that happened) and missed the show... It had been on the 30th. The Theatre (Apollo Victoria) didn't notice our tickets had the wrong date and let us in but then the people whose seats it was showed up and the theater didn't let us stay even though they had so many open seats. Really Disappointing.
Drove to Salisbury & Bath
Walk around Bath& See the Roman Bath House (we plan to do the bath house on our next UK trip, we love the city of Bath)
Drive back to London - We listened to "Born a Crime" by Trevor Noah on Audible. Amazing book and great production by Trevor. We started it on the plane and finished it on this leg of the trip.
Brit TV & Movie Location Tours (Harry Potter Walking Tour) - I am a pretty big fan of HP... I give the tour 3 out of 5 stars. The tour guide was entertaining but the stops/scenes weren't that great. I really wanted to see 9 and 3/4 but it wasn't part of the walking tour. I would have much preferred the bus tour but it isn't offered in the winter.
Return Car Rental to the London Airport (before 9 pm)
Dinner at Smith's - Food was delicious but the service level wasn't what I am use to. I sat at the table for 45 minutes and the waiters didn't come to take my order or fill my water cup even though when I sat down, the hostess mentioned that I would have to give up the table in 2 hours because it was a Friday night and they do get busy. When I talked to the first manager about this, he was not apologetic and said that they didn't want to rush me and was waiting to be called over to the table. Talked to the owner because I didn't like that I wasn't being paid attention to and I realized that it was a cultural difference. After some time he did apologize for the confusion and gave us free drinks and dessert. It was a weird night and dining experience.
Lunch at L'ulivo (fish n' chips special)
Trafalgar Square (shopping on Strand Street)
Piccadilly (it's like a much smaller scale Times Square)
Dinner (ordered in from Just Eats - Lebanese)
JAN 28 - Sunday - Transportation Tours
Breakfast - Pret a Manger (They are everywhere...)Golden Tours Hop-On, Hop-Off Bus Tour
- (red/blue & orange lines) - The orange line isn't worth it and the Blue line is best because it is the only line with an actual guide. For the other lines you have head phone in and listen to an automated system that frequently cuts out. Not my favorite bus tour.
- about 3 hours on each line - We spent a whole day doing the different colored lines. We really only needed to do the beginning of the red line and all the blue line.
Pub - Hung, Drawn & Quartered
JAN 29 - Monday - Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge ExhibitionTower of London (my favorite thing this day)
Lunch - Coppa Club Tower Bridge (The waiter kept insisting that we get the fish stew special and I am so glad that we did. It was really delicious. I am just sad that we didn't get to sit in one of the outside bubbles.)
All Hallows by the Tower
St Paul's Cathedral
View from The Shard
Dinner - Draft House - Tower Bridge (Aussie Bar)
JAN 30 - Tuesday - Memorials & Lost Chances
Westminster Abbey
Lunch - Dishoom (Delicious Indian Food)
The Courtauld Gallery (wasn’t that exciting)
The London Bridge Experience and London Tombs (an informative haunted maze)
Dinner at Davies - Mug House (K got the sausage & mash - traditional english meal)
JAN 31 - Wednesday - London Theater (Lots of disappointments)
Changing of the Guards - They cancelled it 10 min before because it started to sprinkle, also don't buy the hot cocoa from the food trucks around Buckingham palace. Its watery and gross.Breakfast - Stranhope Arms (Traditional English Breakfast - LOVE)
The National Gallery - Some amazing Masterpieces. I recommend the £5 audio tour. K and I shared one between the two of us.
Afternoon Tea - Soho Hotel - Slow service and boring, plain sandwiches. Good scones and the tea we selected was yummy. Good price.
Wicked @ Apollo Victoria Theatre 7:30 pm - We read the tickets wrong (honestly don't even know how that happened) and missed the show... It had been on the 30th. The Theatre (Apollo Victoria) didn't notice our tickets had the wrong date and let us in but then the people whose seats it was showed up and the theater didn't let us stay even though they had so many open seats. Really Disappointing.
FEB 1 - Thursday - Salisbury & Stonehenge (My Favorite Day)
Pick up the rental from London City AirportDrove to Salisbury & Bath
- Windsor Castle - Had breakfast at Limes (Love English Breakfast) & we saw the parade leading up to the changing of the guards.
- Salisbury & More - We parked the car in the lot at Malting's and walked over to the Salisbury Railway Station to catch the bus for the Stonehenge tour (don't add in the cathedral, it is free to go in and you can make the donation yourself when there). Stonehenge is a must see and we had a great time walking around the cute town of Salisbury
- Drive to Bath & Check into Harrington's - This was the cutest room and the staff was so friendly. They had left us a really sweet note and a box of chocolates for our anniversary. When you book with the hotel, you get free (also very yummy) breakfast and the hotel was very reasonably priced.
- Dinner at CAU - They were extremely accommodating and tucked away in a little shopping center. We arrived early and were seated right away. They provided us with complimentary champagne and the food was amazing. The restaurant has an Argentinian flare. The beef dishes are extremely well done as well as their cocktails.
FEB 2 - Friday - FREE DAY (K’S PLAN)
Breakfast at Harrington's - We got the english breakfast (because we love it) and the smoked salmon, avocado, egg toast. Both were fantastic.Walk around Bath
Drive back to London - We listened to "Born a Crime" by Trevor Noah on Audible. Amazing book and great production by Trevor. We started it on the plane and finished it on this leg of the trip.
Brit TV & Movie Location Tours (Harry Potter Walking Tour) - I am a pretty big fan of HP... I give the tour 3 out of 5 stars. The tour guide was entertaining but the stops/scenes weren't that great. I really wanted to see 9 and 3/4 but it wasn't part of the walking tour. I would have much preferred the bus tour but it isn't offered in the winter.
Return Car Rental to the London Airport (before 9 pm)
Dinner at Smith's - Food was delicious but the service level wasn't what I am use to. I sat at the table for 45 minutes and the waiters didn't come to take my order or fill my water cup even though when I sat down, the hostess mentioned that I would have to give up the table in 2 hours because it was a Friday night and they do get busy. When I talked to the first manager about this, he was not apologetic and said that they didn't want to rush me and was waiting to be called over to the table. Talked to the owner because I didn't like that I wasn't being paid attention to and I realized that it was a cultural difference. After some time he did apologize for the confusion and gave us free drinks and dessert. It was a weird night and dining experience.
FEB 3 - Saturday - Fly Home
Fly back to the USPRICE BREAK DOWN
Flight - $1,190.40
Accommodations (Airbnb & Hotel in Bath) - $865.66
Activities - $339.22
Transportation - $314.20
Food - $1032.63
Retail/Gifts/Other - $89.33
TOTAL - $3,831.44