It has always been a dream of mine to go to London, England. My dream came true this past spring when my husband and I took our two oldest kids to Europe for two weeks. Three of those days we got to spend in the city of London, and it was truly amazing!!

I gained such an appreciation for the UK and its culture and way of life. I wish we could’ve stayed a month! We packed a TON of activities into the three days we had. We wanted a taste of everything so our activities included historical landmarks, incredible entertainment, delicious food as well as a Broadway show.

Here is how we fit it all in!!

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Important tip!!!

Before we get into the day, I can’t say enough about The London Pass!! We saved so much money using this pass, not only in savings for attractions (gives you access to 80+ locations), but also in transportation costs. Make sure you buy your London Pass BEFORE you purchase your Tube (metro) tickets (Oyster Card), since one of the perks of The London Pass is some money in Tube fares. We bought the 2 day London pass.

Where we stayed

We stayed in an AirBNB in Canary Wharf (business district) because it had reviews as a very safe, clean area, as well as great access to public transportation. We used the Tube and DLR train everyday. It was a very quick and easy way to get around. We were near the Jubilee Station and there is a great underground mall there that has lots of restaurants to eat at. We especially liked eating at Nando’s and Wagamama.

Let’s get get started with Day 1 !!!!

London Day 1

We started the day at the London Bridge. We were a little underwhelmed, but we were able to get on The Big Red Bus Tours (hop on hop off bus- we took the red route) there using The London Pass. We drove around learning all about the city until we got to Big Ben where we got off. Sadly, Big Ben was closed for renovation, but we walked just a bit further and explored the breathtaking Westminster Abbey.

Westminster is a royal church that offers daily services. It holds over a thousand years of history where royal weddings and coronations have taken place. You will also see tombs of royalty, memorials for those who gave their lives in war, along with other famous people who were buried or commemorated there. You can also take a virtual tour here. Some of my favorites to see were William Tyndale, George Frederick Handel, Jane Austen and William Shakespeare.

From Westminster, we went to Buckingham Palace. We were unable to do a tour, but we loved being on the grounds and watching the palace guards.

We hopped back on The Big Red Bus Tours and drove over to Trafalgar Square. We needed a bathroom, and saw the National Gallery right there in the square, so we stopped in there. I am SO GLAD we did!! The National Gallery was incredible!! We saw works of art by Da Vinci, Manet, Monet, and many others. The collections were amazing.

We then headed to Piccadilly Circus, which is like a small scale Times Square (if you’ve been to New York City. More NYC travel tips here!!). There are tons of neon signs, cinemas, and shopping. We enjoyed just browsing through the stores. One of the shops had a bunch of American food, which to us was ridiculously over priced. We saw Skippy PB and Hershey’s Syrup bottles for 12 pounds each, a box of Twinkies for 10 pounds- whoa! It was fun to see how our regular foods here in America are novelties there.

We headed back to the Canary Wharf area for dinner. We love watching the tv show, Master Chef with Gordon Ramsay, with our family. It was a dream of ours to go to one of Gordon’s restaurants. We were able to go to one: The Narrow!! We had a gorgeous sunset dinner right on the Thames. The fish and chips were a masterpiece. I really loved the mushy peas, too.

From there we hustled to our last stop: Wicked, playing at the Apollo Victorian Theater!! In the morning before we left our AirBNB, we purchased tickets on the TKTS website and were able to get them 50% off for same day purchase!! It was a gorgeous theater and the show was fabulous!!!

This was definitely my favorite day in London.

Quick Sum Up of Day 1:

London Bridge
Big Red Bus Tour
Big Ben
Westminster Abbey
Buckingham Palace
Trafalgar Square
National Gallery
Piccadilly Circus
The Narrow (Gordon Ramsay Restaurant near Canary Wharf)
Wicked at the Apollo Victorian Theater

Actions to take before you start on your day 1:

Purchase The London Pass
Purchase your Tube (metro) tickets
Purchase your TKTS discounted broadway tickets

London Day 2

On our second day we continued to use The London Pass. We started out at the Tower of London. I never realized the Tower of London was not just a tower, it was a castle! I also learned the first zoo in London was in one of the turrets of the castle!! You can also see the crown jewels, battle armor through the centuries, and the prison (Which has a pretty brutal history! The most recent executions were just after WWII).

From there we walked over to the Tower Bridge. It was incredible to go up to the top of the bridge and to walk across. Heights make me a little nervous, so I couldn’t quite get the guts to walk on the glass floor, but I loved the view! The construction is remarkable.

We jumped on the Big Red Bus and rode over to St Paul’s Cathedral next. It is beautiful in architecture and decor. While Westminster Abbey is a church for the royalty, St Paul’s is a church for the people. I loved seeing both.

The British Museum was next and is free to the public. The most fascinating exhibit there for me was the Egyptian area. It was amazing to see the mummies! Cleopatra and other famous Egyptians’ sarcophagus’ were displayed.

We used The London Pass to hop on an Uber Boat to cruise down the Thames River back to Canary Wharf to finish up our day.

Quick Sum Up of Day 2:

Tower of London
Tower Bridge
St Paul’s Cathedral
British Museum
Uber Boat Cruise down the Thames River

London Day 3:

Our main event this day was the Harry Potter Studio Tour. Amazing!!!! The Harry Potter Studio Tour in London houses sets, costumes and props from the eight Harry Potter movies. Some of the sets were actually used in the movies, while other’s were replicas recreated for the tour. The attention to detail on the costumes and props are mind blowing. We have LOTS to say about that in this post.

The other highlight was spending the morning strolling through Hyde Park. It’s gorgeous with the meandering walking paths, bubbling water falls, duck ponds, and bright flowers.

We also went over to Baker Street to see the Sherlock Holmes Museum Gift Shop. There is a tour you can take of the museum, but we were short on time.

Quick Sum Up Of Day 3:

Harry Potter Studio Tour
Sherlock Holmes Museum on Baker Street
Hyde Park

Food we ate in Canary Wharf:

Wagamama Restaurant
Nando’s Restaurant
The Narrows (Gordon Ramsay Restaurant)
Tesco (Grocery store)

If you have an extra day:

If you are a Pride and Prejudice Fan and have an extra day, or are planning on driving North, make sure you go see Mr. Darcy’s house (Pemberly) which is actually called Lyme Park, which is in the Peak Disctrict, in Disley, Cheshire, England. More about our exciting experience there in this post!!

Wish List!!!!

Sadly, we just couldn’t fit in all the things we wanted to do. Maybe you will have more time than we did. These are some of the things we want to make sure we hit next time: