London has been on my bucket list for a long time, probably since high school I’ve been dreaming about going. I mean, it’s London! Union Jack, Queen (both Liz and Freddie Mercury), tea at every waking hour – sounds good to me! This was my first international mother-daughter trip where it was just the two of us. Girls trip!
Day 1 – Free London Walking Tour + Wicked
Free walking tours are a personal favorite of mine. Not just because they’re free (but that helps!), but I’ve actually found that the tours given by the free guides were usually a lot better than the paid ones. That’s not to say there aren’t good paid ones, I just really happen to enjoy these walking tours.
Our tour took us around the city of Westminster, which is most of what people consider to be London. I also thought that the whole area was London. The actual City of London runs along the River Thames until the Royal Courts of Justice in the west, Barbican in the north, and Spitalfields/Whitechapel/Tower of London in the east. The tour was around 3 hours and was pretty interesting. We passed by a Brexit protest and saw a naked guy get yelled at by police to put some clothes on. Big Ben was still a couple years under construction at this point and wouldn’t be finished for another couple years, so I guess they took some pointers from Israeli construction.
We made our way around the area down the Mall, stopping at various spots along the way. There are so many palaces and royal buildings in this city I’m surprised there’s any room left for regular people. We saw St James’s Palace, where my Tudors knowledge really came in handy. We did hit all the major spots as well: Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and 10 Downing Street. It was nice to see some smaller landmarks as well as the better known ones.
Although it’s one of the top landmarks in London, we didn’t actually make it inside Buckingham Palace since it’s only open to the public during the late summer months.
Many jokes were made a la Friends visiting London. Sadly, I did not make it into the map like I had planned to.
The tour concluded at Trafalgar Square, where I’ve never seen so much going on at once. Giant panda taking selfies with tourists, free frozen cocktails, chalk drawings everywhere. It was insane and I loved every minute of it.
Neal’s Yard was only a 10 minute walk away, so we checked it out. This little hidden area is so cute and definitely worth a visit to. It’s mostly shops and cafes, but the colorful buildings and multitude of plants and trees scattered made me feel really calm and was a nice place to sit and relax.
My mom is not a theater person. She doesn’t hate shows per se, but she doesn’t usually find them enjoyable. She asked me before the trip if I wanted to see a show, and I’ve been dying to see Wicked since middle school, so that was that.
Y’all.
I can’t believe it took me this long to see this show. It was so amazing and magical. I’ve seen dozens of productions over the years, but this one really was something to remember. My mom even was impressed by Wicked and kept saying how much she enjoyed the show and maybe we should see something else too.
Day 2 – Hyde Park, London Zoo, Camden Town
I am a huge animal lover, and I try to go to a zoo every time I visit a new city. Birds are definitely my favorite, as you’ll come to see. In a Facebook group, I saw someone posted about going to Hyde Park and the wild parrots would come right up to them if you fed them. Right on the itinerary it went. Seriously, these little guys were so friendly – if you had the goods. To find the parrots, if walking south through the park, you need to pass the Peter Pan statue and keep going about 80m or until you get to the fork in the road. Turn right into the grass and keep walking until you get to a circular enclosed fence. You’ll probably see other people already there feeding them.
From Hyde Park we hopped on the 274 (top deck front window, of course) and made our way to the London Zoo. We got to see some familiar faces, and some new ones. The butterfly garden was spectacular, and you could walk right through it, getting up close to see the beautiful butterflies and plants. We also got to see some penguins, which I’m always down for, and there was a petting zoo and got to make friends with some goats. It is a nice zoo, but nothing too out of the ordinary.
Walking through Camden Town, I honestly thought I was on South Street in Philly. The giant, flashy multi-colored stores jumping out at you and the loads of people everywhere bustling in and out of cheap stores, it could be the same street. As soon as we stepped foot in Camden Lock I hear Omer Adam’s melodic voice blasting from the speakers. Which song? What else but Tel Aviv. Ya Habibi! Of all songs they could play, this is the one they choose. *insert facepalm here* It was time for lunch so we went to the food stalls. I ordered some delicious spicy ranch fried chicken and my mom got fish and chips. The markets are so much fun and the little shops are so cute to peek into.
Day 3 – Natural History Museum, V&A
Because it was Shabbat, we are not allowed to spend money. It’s a day of relaxing, so my mom and I decided to check out some of the many free museums available in London. The Natural History Museum is one that my mom and I really wanted to go to. We both loved the one in New York, and had been several times. I mean, what’s not to love: dinosaurs, beautiful architecture, taxidermy animals, giant whale? The museum has so many different exhibits to see and each floor is filled with new things to explore.
The Victoria and Albert Museum, or the V&A, is a museum filled with fashion, design, and artwork from all over the world from different eras. When you walk inside from the Cromwell Entrance, look up at the intricate hanging glass chandelier, it’s absolutely gorgeous. The museum was filled with art students sketching away, getting inspiration for their next piece. I always like to take a look at the historical dresses, all the different colors and fabrics and designs just captivate me.
Day 4 – Sky Garden, Tower of London, London Bridge, Brick Lane Sunday Market
The Sky Garden is definitely something to visit, if not just to have a great view of the city. Entrance is free, but tickets need to be reserved ahead of time through time slots. However, between 10-11:30am walk-ins are allowed, and it’s possible to just show up and head straight to the top! We had booked tickets for the 11 am timeslot, thinking it would take us longer to get out of the hotel room. We arrived as soon as they were opening, a bit after 10, and we asked if we could be able to enter the Sky Garden a bit early. We were told no, since they knew now we had tickets we had to wait until our designated time. If we hadn’t said anything, we could’ve just been able to go in as walk-ins. My mom was not having this and politely asked if there was anything else they could do. Another worker overhead our conversation and told us he would check. He did his magic and let us right on through. It doesn’t hurt to ask!
The Tower of London was probably the place I wanted to see most when coming to London. There’s so much history that happened on these grounds. With how much TV and movies make it out to be, it seemed like this was a place for weekly executions, when if fact up until WWI only seven people had been executed at the Tower. During a tour at the museum (free tours around the grounds every 30 minutes), they explained that most of the executions took place at Tower Hill, just outside the Tower walls. The Tower was originally a palace, and over the centuries the use changed to a fortress and then to a prison.
Besides the bloody history, there were a few other exhibits that were pretty interesting. You can see the Crown Jewels (the exhibit is presented by moving walkways and photos are forbidden), where they used to keep the wild animals that were kept as pets, the monument to the soldiers who perished in WWI, and if you’re lucky you can see the resident ravens hopping around the grass. The ravens are thought to be the protectors of the Tower – and the Crown. There are 7 ravens (the Tower is required to have 6, plus a spare!) that live on the grounds and you can see them moving freely about or hanging out in their aviary.
Two of the ravens can be seen here
The Brick Lane Sunday Market should be a landmark in and of itself. The bustling crowds, the delicious smells of all the different cuisines, the cute street art on the walls. There are Sunday markets all over the city, but I heard this one was the best. You can get anything here, from underground vintage clothes to one of a kind artwork to the best curry you’ve ever had.
London has such a rich and fascinating history, and I’m so grateful I got the chance as well to see where my ancestors used to live. No, I’m not British, or anything close to it. At this point, whatever geographical heritage I have has been muddled down through generations in America. My mom’s dad’s dad’s family had immigrated to England from what’s now modern-day Ukraine in the late 1880’s from what I researched. My great grandfather was born in Spitalfields, London, and lived there until finally making his way to New York at age 19. My mom was able to find the address of his family’s London flat and even though the building, nor the original street still exists, it still was exciting to see where everything started.
Day 5 – Churchill War Rooms, St James Park, River Boat Cruise, Chinatown, Picadilly Circus
Today was a packed day and we saw a ton in one day.
We arrived at the Churchill War Rooms just in time for the changing of the guard in front of the museum and boy, was that a sight. All the guards changing on horses and circling the grounds.
When researching things to do in London, I came across recommendations for the Churchill War Rooms several times. The secret WWII bunker turned museum was so interactive and not at all what I was expecting. With an audio guide, you make your way through the bunker, which is laid out exactly as it was during wartime, and pass through all the different offices and rooms that were furnished exactly how they were at the time. All the maps, signs, documents – everything was authentic as possible. There are a few secret things hidden among the tour. Towards the end of the bunker there was a room with the actual sugar cubes in the desk of a commander from 1945 that weren’t discovered until the 1980s when the museum was being remodeled for the public. Also worth checking out is the Churchill Museum, where you can see the life story of Winston Churchill, from birth until his death in 1965. The exhibit displays his clothes, love letters to his wife Clementine, his various oil paintings, and even an electronic timeline of his life with different animations if a certain date is chosen.
Once you leave the War Rooms, you end up on the outskirts of St James Park, where you can see the various wildlife strutting about among the people. Take a visit to the Duck Island Cottage, it is the cutest little house I’ve ever seen. You might even catch the Queen’s pelicans waddling around, and if you stick around in the afternoon you can see them get their lunch.
My mom talked about us doing a river cruise, and came across one while walking along The Queen’s Walk. Both of us were entitled to a discount so we paid £11 each for a roundtrip ferry. The ferry is part of the TFL, so it’s public transportation, but the captain gave us a tour of all the landmarks we passed along the way. He gave a really good commentary and we learned some interesting things about the buildings on the riverside. Fun fact, the bridge that most people think of when they hear London Bridge is not actually that bridge. London Bridge is actually very plain, and Tower Bridge is the big fancy one.
Chinatown is really something that doesn’t really change no matter what city you’re in, but still nonetheless is a great place to visit. Chinese food is honestly one of my favorite types of cuisine (well whose isn’t it?) and it was the Chinese New Year just the week before so all the decorations were still up. Every single restaurant we passed by had such a mouth-watering aroma and we could only pick one to eat at. Hardest decision I ever had to make, everything looked so good.
Picadilly Circus is exactly like Times Square: flashing billboards everywhere, too many people standing around staring at them, and tourist traps everywhere you look. It is fun to see all the ads and the lights, but that’s pretty much all there is there. From here it’s walking distance to get to the theaters, Chinatown, Covent Garden, and St James/Trafalgar/Leicester Squares, even Buckinham Palace is only really a 15 minute walk away.
Day 6 – Notting Hill, Kensington Palace and Gardens, Ghost Tour
Starting out the morning we opted to walk to Kensington Palace and see the different neighborhoods along the way. Notting Hill is so cute, and I love the pastel colors of the houses. Any street you walk down the houses are all different brightly painted colors. Along the way, if you happen to walk through Bayswater, pass by 23-24 Leinster Gardens and see if you notice anything different about that particular address compared to its neighbors. Can’t figure it out? It’s a false facade. From the side of Porchester Terrace you can really see it. Underneath the facade is the London Underground rail tracks, which were built over a hundred years ago. This address needed to be torn down to be able to build the railway, but since the trains at the time were steam trains, they needed sections of open air track. A fake front was built to cover the unsightly hole in the ground, and even after modern trains began to come into use, the facade still stands.
Kensington Palace drips luxury. The palace has been the residence for the royal family for centuries. Currently, Prince William and Kate, Princess Eugenie and her husband, and several first cousins of the Queen live here. Queen Anne made this palace her home and while we visited we could see the costumes for the movie The Favourite which had just been released. Queen Victoria was born here and lived here until after becoming queen. Princess Diana and Prince Charles had even lived here during their marriage, and Diana up until her death. Even though it still is a residential palace, there are sections that are open to the public, and have been that way since Queen Victoria’s time as a way for the royals to be seen in a better light.
Kensington Gardens was right outside the palace, so we made a quick stop and feed the birds one more time and take a nice walk through the park. These ones were a lot less friendly than the ones we’d met a few days earlier. One thought my thumb was an apple and took a bite out of it. That was a fun time.
Since London had an abundance of free walking tours, we decided to join in on a ghost tour. London is haunted, that’s a given. So much blood has been spilled trying to gain control of the empire. As soon as it got dark out, we began our walk towards the Royal Haymarket Theatre, the most haunted theater in the world. Many famous actors who have made their way onto this stage have claimed to have been in the presence of poltergeists. The royal parks as well are not safe from hauntings, in Green Park legend has it that a trees were planted above a Plague burial ground and in certain spots the trees would grow. One tree in particular is the most haunted of them all and especially dangerous, but no one knows which one it is.
Day 7 – British Museum, Brick Lane
Sadly, my time in London was coming to a close, but I still had one full day left before my flight back to Israel.
I decided to check out the British Museum, since it was on my list and seemed like a good way to spend the afternoon. Since it’s a free museum, it attracts a lot of people. Even if the middle of February on a random Wednesday it was still packed. I’ll let you in on a little secret I found out when I came to the museum. The main entrance is on Great Russell St, however if you walk around to the opposite side of the building, there’s a separate entrance on Montague Place. When I got to the museum, there were massive amounts of people and I had no idea where to walk. I asked one of the guards where the line started and he told me just walk down the street and make a left and keep walking, there was an entrance that was a lot less crowded. It was a bit tricky to find, and I had to ask another guard if I was going the right way (this place was MASSIVE) and he directed me to keep walking. Once I found the entrance there were maybe four other people there and we all were able to walk straight in. I probably would’ve been standing in line for over an hour if I didn’t know about this.
The museum itself was fantastic, and I could lost in there for hours, but I had to keep my eye on the time to make sure I could get back to the hotel in time to get my suitcase before heading to the airport. There’s so many different aspects of the museum that there really was something for everyone to appreciate.
After a week getting my fill of all that London goodness, I really wished I could stay longer. We barely scraped the surface of all that there is to see, and I want to see it all.
Follow me on my next adventure!
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International Itinerary 