London was the fourth city on my individual Europe tour, and the second city that Roon and I visited together. I’ll be honest, visiting London directly after Paris made it tough to love London as much. Paris certainly set a high bar. But that being said, with each day I spent in London I came to enjoy it more and more. Airbnb Abroad For the third time this summer I stayed in an Airbnb. The first two times were in Montreal then Quebec back in July. When Roon and I realized how expensive hostels and hotels (and everything!!) is in London, we looked towards Airbnb which did in fact end up being the cheapest option for us. It was very impersonal, more business-y Airbnb and less personal host-y Airbnb (Interesting article about this click here) but it worked perfectly fine for us. It was located right near an Underground station and it had a kitchen which definitely saved us money on breakfasts. If traveling alone or traveling with the desire to meet lots of new people a hostel is definitely the way to go. The social scene of youth hostels is unmatched by any other type of accommodation. The Airbnb, however, was perfect for Roon and I in London because all we really needed/wanted was a place to sleep and keep our stuff. We would leave before 10am in the morning and not be back until at least 8pm. These two types of accommodation both have their places in college-age travel, its just a matter of choice what type you want in each city, and also what your budget allows. Activities Tate Modern - Our first day in London was rainy (surprise!) so we opted to see some of the city’s free museums. The first of which was Tate Modern, a modern art museum. It had some interesting exhibits, my favorite of which was an architecture exhibit where sculptures were half art, half architecture and you could walk through them and interact with them, rather than just look at them. For free entry it was not a bad way to spend a few hours on a rainy London afternoon. The British Museum - The second museum we saw during the rainy day was The British Museum, most notable for housing the Rosetta Stone, which we saw. There were also ancient Egyptian mummies and ancient Greek ruins and Indian artifacts. With free entry and amazing contents it was no surprise that this museum was PACKED and very hot in some of the popular rooms. Additionally, the museum’s temporary Summer exhibit was on Hokusai who is most famous for his painting The Great Wave. I would have loved to see this exhibit but it was sold out for the whole summer, which was definitely a let-down. That let-down in combination with the crowds definitely frustrated me a bit but again, free entry and shelter from the rain, so why not! Sandeman’s Free Walking Tour - Fourth city, fourth free walking tour. What can I say, I love em! Best/cheapest way to learn about a city’s history and culture in one morning. We did a Sandeman’s tour again, and as usual it was awesome. We saw Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and many other famous London buildings and parks. Buckingham Palace / changing of the guards - I coerced Roon to walk back to Buckingham Palace with me after our walking tour because I wanted to take a picture with the guards that don’t smile, and 3/4 of a mile later when we arrived back I learned that they are not in front of the gate so it’s basically impossible to try to make them laugh or take a photo. Wicked bummer. Another wicked bummer; the changing of the guards. This ceremony takes place three days a week and literally thousands of people come out each time. Roon and I went (total tourist trap) and waited in a huge crowd for over an hour just to see a few guards march towards the palace at 10:30am and then march back at 11:30am. It really did not live up to the hype. Wimbledon - I had a few hours to kill one afternoon so I took the Tube out to Wimbledon, home of the famous 'The Championships, Wimbledon' tennis tournament. Although I’m not very good at playing tennis, I do have tennis pipe dreams and very much enjoy watching the sport. I always watch Wimbledon in the summer, definitely my favorite tournament to watch. I went to Wimbledon so that for the rest of my life when I watch Wimbledon I will have seen it in person, and now have a more genuine real-life reason for it being my favorite tournament. There was a bit of construction, and it was a bit of a walk from the Tube, but I’m glad I went because it was surreal to be there in person. Covent Garden - A great spot for lunch, Covent Garden is basically a bigger, cleaner, and newer Fanieul Hall. Lots of great shops, restaurants, and street performers fill the area. It was lively both times Roon and I went. Sandeman’s walking tours met in this area so we did go there twice. I would recommend this area to anyone visiting London for lunch or an afternoon snack. Sandeman’s Old City Walking Tour - As usual Sandeman’s Free Walking Tour sold us on one of their not-free tours. In this city it was the Old City tour which included the city of Temple and The Knights Templar history, St. Paul’s Cathedral, London Bridge and Tower Bridge, and Tower of London, among others. It was an awesome way to see so many famous spots in one afternoon while learning about the history of all of them. Kew Botanical Garden This deserves it’s own section. Kew is the fifth biggest botanical garden in the world, the garden I saw in Montreal is 13th. I had high expectations going into this botanical garden visit, and my feelings are mixed after spending the day there. First, it is definitely huge, but as I have just learned, biggest does not necessarily mean best. There was a ton of wide open grass space, which is great for picnics and reading and whatnot, but as far as my interests go it was a bit of a letdown. I want to see every square foot of a garden packed with plants from all over the world and amazing displays that are agriculture, architecture, and art all mixed into one. Open grass space does not quite fulfill this hope, but I will say that the parts of Kew that had more than grass and a few trees were quite amazing. We saw a bamboo garden, treetop walkway, bonsai collection, lily pond, and amazing flower beds. My favorite part of Kew was the Princess of Wales Conservatory, which was a greenhouse that had 10 different rooms, each with a different climate and plants native to that climate. Tropical, desert, and rainforest just to name a few. My favorite of these was the Tropical Desert, because it was a huge room with so many different types of cacti. I do very much enjoy a nice cactus, and this room was simply over the top. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in this garden, it was the fourth botanical garden I have been to this summer. My official opinion ranking of the ones I have seen so far is as follows:
Overall
I found London a tad boring. Perhaps this is because I had just come from Paris, the world capital of quaint charm and rich culture. But also maybe it’s because I’m from New England, which I now understand the name of. England was truly just like home, same foliage, similar weather, and same language (although I do love British accents!). I was not quite wide-eyed like I have been in other travel destinations, and for that reason I was not totally enthralled by the city. Honestly even as I proofread this post I’m a little bored by it, but maybe that’s more my fault as a writer than it is London’s fault as a city. Despite this, Roon and I managed to hit all of the major tourist attractions and wander around the city a good amount. London is an obvious hub to visit when in Europe, so I’m glad I’ve been there but it is not on my list to return to as soon as I can. We are headed to Rome now, and we are both very excited to eat a ton of Italian food. I took Latin for 4 years in high school, so I’m about to totally geek out, this should be fun! Comments are closed.
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