Last week I spent a few days in London with a girlfriend of mine - it was more a spontaneous and last minute decision. I´ve already been to London many times and every time I go there I love it even more. There are so many things to see and to do - I´m sure this city has something for every kind of taste. Only the weather can be quite annoying sometimes but if you carry a small umbrella with you, you´ll be perfectly equipped in case of an emergency. I decided to share some of my favourite spots with you. |
Sights
Of course there are the main sights like Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, London Eye, Westminster Abbey, Oxford Street aaaand so on. If you don´t have a lot of time you should probably visit those places - because well you haven´t been to London if you don´t. But there is so much more this city has to offer.
Of course there are the main sights like Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, London Eye, Westminster Abbey, Oxford Street aaaand so on. If you don´t have a lot of time you should probably visit those places - because well you haven´t been to London if you don´t. But there is so much more this city has to offer.
- Camden market. There are legs and shoes coming out of the facades of the buildings and you see quite – let´s say – interesting people walking down the street. It´s more an alternative area in London with a big market.
- Shoreditch. Situated a bit beyond the city centre is a district with an artistic flair. Many artists have settled there in the past years so it became a quite trendy area with great galleries and cosy cafés. You can take a stroll on Shoreditch High Street starting from Liverpool Street underground station.
- Spitalfields Market is just around the corner from Liverpool Street Station. There are great restaurants and you can take a look at the work of young and individual artists and designers. Great place to get some witty souvenirs.
- Notting Hill. We all know the oh-so-romantic movie with Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant. This is a really cute area, easy to access from Oxford Street Station. When there you should stop by at Recipease (http://www.jamieoliver.com/recipease/), which is a Cáfe/Restaurant/Bistrô/Shop by Jamie Oliver with extremely cute cookies.
Not far away is the Portobello Road Market, which is a great place for vintage clothing and accessories. During the week only the stores along the street are open – the market itself takes place every Saturday.
- Kensington. I like taking a stroll at Kensington Gardens when everything is green. Near the tube station is a delicious Crêperie. And obviously Harrods is in that area too. It´s pretty amazing to walk through this monstrosity of a department store – but be careful you´re pretty likely to get lost in there.
- Tate Modern is also a great place if you like contemporary art.
Food
- London has many markets but my favourite one is Borough Market. You´ll find delicious food and pastries there and it´s great for having lunch. Even though it´s highly frequented by tourists (especially on Friday and Saturday) the prices are really more than acceptable.
- Yauatcha is a Chinese restaurant with great Food in the heart of Soho. You definitely can have dinner somewhere else for less, but well you shouldn´t. The dishes are more than worth the price!! (Of course only if you like the Chinese cuisine). But make sure you arrive early or make a reservation, as it is very crowded.
- You will also find nice restaurants for lunch at Covent Garden and its side alleys. Just walk around and see what appeals most to you.
- What is England without its Afternoon Tea? The Tea Terrace is a really cute place located on Oxford Street to be British.
Shopping
- Oxford Street might be the Nr.1 place to go shopping since you´ll find almost every kind of store (some even twice or three times) amongst several department stores and it´s in the city centre.
- Looking for tea? My privileged spot for buying tea is The Tea House – it tastes great and isn´t as overpriced as it might be somewhere else in London.
- Westfields Shopping Centre. Benefits: Looots of stores & you´ll stay dry if it rains. But depending on where you are staying it is quite a journey to get there and you can be really happy if you are able to get INTO the tube when leaving.
- When it comes to souvenirs - besides the markets – I really love Cool Britannia. Not much because of the souvenirs but rather because of the store, which actually is an attraction itself. This is why the souvenirs there are more expensive than anywhere else. Souvenirs are quite a big deal for me since I like to buy them as a memory of every place I´ve been to. When travelling I like to go into almost every souvenir shop I see, because no there aren´t the same things in each shop (I mean ok some things might be similar but at least not all of them…)
Going out
Unfortunately everything closes very early (especially when compared to to Vienna) and the public transport system isn´t that good at night (tube usually closes at 0.00). Although there are night busses we weren´t really able to find our way home so we just took a cab. But if you want to go to a club, stop by at Mason Club (Soho) it has a very nice atmosphere and good music.
If you are looking for bars Soho and Shoreditch would be the best areas, depending on the clientele you prefer. And what I especially love about going out in London is the fact that smoking is forbidden almost everywhere so your clothes and hair won´t smell like you´ve been living in a smoke cloud for the past 3 days (if that´s even possible).
Hope you can use some of this post when visiting London yourself. I´ll definitely be coming back because
even though I already have been to London 6 times I haven´t seen everything - which I guess is impossible anyway.
Rebecca xx