Travel Diary: 4 days in London, England, for the Holidays
I've said before that I think any city gets even better during the holiday season... and London is no exception!
Note: This post contains affiliate links. That means that if you make a purchase after clicking on a link, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
London was one of the cities I visited the first time I traveled to Europe, and it seemed more familiar (and thus a little less... exciting?) to me than the other cities like Rome or Porto, which felt like entirely brand-new experiences.
But, wow, is London incredible during the holidays! We had the most magical time visiting for a few days after Christmas.
After one of my friends told me about the Warner Bros. Harry Potter Studio Tour in London and that the studio is decorated for the Yule Ball and the Christmas holiday in winter, I knew I wanted to experience it! Harry Potter and Christmas are two of my favorite things.
And then it turned out that my husband's office closed the week between Christmas and New Year's Eve! So we began to plan a trip to London, but I wanted to add one more city or country to our week if possible. Since Scotland was only a train ride away, we'd never been there before, and the country celebrates the last day of the year with "Hogmanay," we decided to take the train from London to spend New Year's Eve in Edinburgh.
Honestly, I am usually almost always happy with our trip itineraries and what we prioritize seeing and doing, but our London trip was truly perfect. It felt like it was just what we needed to close out an unexpectedly difficult year.
Afternoon tea at the Ritz
tips and general info
- If you're visiting London in winter, there are various Christmas markets and lights that run from November to January.
- Christmas markets include Hyde Park Winter Wonderland, Southbank Centre's Winter Festival, Leicester Square, Trafalgar Square, London Bridge, and Borough Market. Since our plane arrived in London on Boxing Day, a few markets had already closed, but we were able to visit Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, and Hyde Park Winter Wonderland.
- Christmas lights to visit include Regent Street, Oxford Street, Coal Drops Yard, Marylebone Village, Kew's Royal Botanical Gardens, Seven Dials, Covent Garden, Carnaby Street, Bond Street; click here for more information (and photos!).
- This is always good practice for visiting European countries but especially important around Christmas: Make reservations in advance and check whether restaurants, stores, and activities are open. Many places are closed for the holiday and the days around it, and we experienced at least one restaurant running low on ingredients or out of stock entirely.
itinerary
We left the U.S. on Sunday 12/25 (Christmas Day), arrived in Monday 12/26 (Boxing Day), and left for Edinburgh by train on Friday 12/30.
We stayed in the Victoria neighborhood, which I thought was incredibly convenient, as we could walk to many of the most well-known tourist spots, and the Victoria station was close by to catch the tube or buses.
Monday:
- Dinner at George IV (we made a reservation in advance)
- Trafalgar Square and Leicester Square to see the Christmas markets
Headband: Amazon (affiliate link) | Shirt: J. Crew Factory (affiliate link) | Jeans: Old Navy (affiliate link) | Combat boots: Sam Edelman (also available here, affiliate links)
Christmas market at Trafalgar Square
One of the things I love about traveling is seeing all the different gifts and traditions between the nations. It really helps to highlight that we're more connected than we realize.
Tuesday:
- Late breakfast at Ruskin's Cafe (no reservation, we walked in)
- The British Museum (which has free admission)
- Westminster Abbey (we paid for our tickets at the door)
- Drinks and light snacks at Churchill Bar and Terrace (we made a reservation in advance)
- Dinner at the Queens Arms (no reservation, we walked in)
One of the only photos I took at the British Museum
The British Museum is among the most recommended museums in the world, but I honestly struggled to get into it — maybe because so many of the items were taken from all over the world, not just present-day England. I did enjoy spending time in the rooms on medieval Europe, though!
After leaving the British Museum, we walked over to Westminster Abbey.
Westminster Abbey has an audio tour that you can listen to at your own pace.
If you're knowledgeable about the American Revolution (or just a fan of Turn: Washington's Spies on AMC), John André's remains are at Westminster Abbey. My husband and I find him fascinating, so my husband made sure we saw his marker! (To the point that we had to ask one of the staff members to let us into a roped-off area toward the end of the tour to see his marker.)
I found out after we left Westminster Abbey that C.S. Lewis, one of my favorite authors, is buried there! C.S. Lewis is the author of the Chronicles of Narnia, and I'm so sad we didn't have the opportunity to pay our respects.
After Westminster Abbey, we headed to our 5pm reservation at Churchill Bar & Terrace.
The outside terrace — once I saw blogger Alyson Haley describe it as Narnia-esque, I knew I wanted to go!
We sat inside near the fire and ordered some light snacks with our drinks — the burrata was my favorite.
Headband: J. Crew Factory (affiliate link) | Earrings: Kate Spade (affiliate link) | Sweater: J. Crew Factory (affiliate link)
Wednesday:
- Afternoon tea at the Ritz (our reservation was for 11:30am)
- Imperial War Museum (which has free admission)
- Hamilton at the Victoria Theatre (we purchased tickets a few days before)
Wednesday was one of my favorite days! It was a perfect day from start to finish.
We started with tea at the Ritz, which was lovely — the hotel was all decked out for the holidays, the food and service were impeccable, and there was even Christmas caroling.
Peacoat: J. Crew | Scarf: J. Crew Factory | Combat boots: Sam Edelman (also available here, affiliate links)
Our afternoon tea menu. Ted Lasso should come here for some fantastic-tasting tea!
.jpg)
We took public transportation to the Imperial War Museum and could have stayed there much longer than the 3 hours we had. We toured the exhibits for World War I, then the Holocaust, before finishing with World War II before the museum closed at 6pm.
If I had to pick between the British Museum or the Imperial War Museum, my preference is the Imperial War Museum!
And then... it was time for Hamilton!
We hadn't initially planned to see a show during our trip. But our hotel was in the Victoria neighborhood and we kept walking past the Victoria Palace Theatre, so we impulsively checked to see if any Hamilton tickets were available. We were shocked by how much more affordable they were than the prices we'd seen in the U.S., so we bought them on a whim. We thought it was hilarious to see Hamilton surrounded by Brits... and it seemed like King George was definitely the audience's favorite character!
Thursday:
- Churchill War Rooms (we purchased tickets in advance)
- Hyde Park Winter Wonderland (we purchased tickets in advance the day before)
- Warner Bros. Harry Potter Studio Tour (we purchased our tickets months in advance!)
I didn't think anything could top our Wednesday... but Thursday was just as perfect.
We started our morning at the Churchill War Rooms. We'd visited the museum on our last visit but hadn't had as much time as we would have liked, so we wanted to go again to take our time... and we'll probably go again if we ever return to London!
Then we made our way to Hyde Park for the Winter Wonderland — which was much larger than I was expecting.
.jpg)
When the studio closed at 10pm, we made our way back to London to pack and prepare for our early morning train (out of King's Cross!) to Edinburgh.
For more information and photos from the Harry Potter studio tour, click here.
where to eat and drink:
As always, visit the restaurant websites to check the hours and whether reservations are required.
- The George IV pub
- Churchill Bar & Terrace
- The Queens Arms
- Gordon's Wine Bar
- ROKA sushi
- The Crown & Anchor pub
- ROKA Charlotte Street
- Coppa Club igloos
- Masala Zone
- Donut Time
- Flat Iron
- Mayfair Chippy
- Ritz-Carlton
- Four Seasons
- Fortnum & Mason
- Rosewood
- Oscar Wilde Lounge
- Peggy Porschen
- Liberty 2/F
- The Shard
- Wolesley
- Orangery
what to do:
- Christmas markets!
- I will always recommend the Churchill War Rooms, the Imperial War Museum, and the Big Bus tour
- Christmas caroling — the Advent and Christmas services at St. Paul's Cathedral was one thing I was so bummed we didn't get to! Here are more options.
- Ice-skate at Somerset House, Tower of London, or Natural History Museum
- See the Christmas decorations outside Harrod's
- Foyles bookstore on Charing Cross
- View from the top of the Shard
- The Wallace Collection to see weapons
- You can also take day trips to Windsor Castle, Bath, or Oxford, among other places
links I used or recommend:
- Alyson Haley: "What to do in London during the Holidays"
- Extra Petite: "London Travel Diary: Activities, Shopping, and Food"
If you have the chance to visit London around the winter holidays... don't miss it!
To read about the rest of our trip, click here for my travel diary of Edinburgh!
love from
Comments
Post a Comment