London Trip | 2016

Hey Guys!

Back on the 18th July 2016 my boyfriend and I went on a little trip to London for a mini holiday. We stayed there for three days and two nights and did a lot of touristy things. We have both been to London before with our families, friends and did most touristy activities then, so this time we did all the things we weren't able to do when we were in London prior to our visit. I love visiting London as its one of my favourite cities so to be able to visit with my boyfriend was really fun! This was our first trip together so I'm glad we got to do a lot and have great weather throughout the trip! :) 

Day 1- Arriving in London 

On the Monday we had a very early morning and had to catch our train at 10:30am so we were up relatively early and arrived at London St. Pancras at 12:30pm. We couldn't check into our hotel till around 3pm so we had to wonder around with our suitcase and bags for a bit which was a nightmare haha ;) Trying to carry a suitcase when it was around 25 degrees and I was hungry and tired was not easy! Seeing as we didn't have anything to do for two hours and a half we decided to go to Leicester Square and look around for a bit and grab some lunch, so we jumped onto the underground and made our way over. 

When we arrived we wondered around for a bit and ended up on Oxford Street and by that point I was so hungry and complaining so we stopped off at a Cafe Nero and grabbed a sandwich and panini which cost an arm and a leg haha! But it satisfied my hunger so instead of being roasted alive in a cafe we decided to carry on walking around even though at this point we were severely overheating! It got to the point where we were getting very tired and our bags were becoming very heavy so we got back onto the underground and headed over to the Seven Sisters station. Our hotel was a Travelodge in Edmonton, so it took a while to get there considering we had to go on the overground as well but the area around the hotel was really nice and there was an Asda just next door which was so convenient! (Especially when we were hungry at 11pm and I was sunburnt). Once we checked in and dumped all our bags we were able to go over to the Asda and get some snacks and drinks for our room. The Travelodge at Edmonton I would highly recommend! Its a bit of a pain to get to and it probably would have been cheaper to stay closer to the city but it was still a great place to stay for a couple of nights :)

That night we had tickets to go to the Majesty's Theatre and see Phantom of the Opera ( which I got Dennis for his birthday present) so we got back to our hotel room and changed to something more formal :) We then made our way over to Piccadilly Circus to queue to get into the venue and get to our seats. I'm surprised at how quickly the queue went down and how quickly we actually got to our seats! We got there around 7pm and we had about half an hour to kill so we just took some photos and got some drinks for the show and waited. 

The show was amazing! This is the second time I've seen it and it was even better than the first time :) The show finished around 10/10:30pm so afterwards we all filtered out of the theatre and ended up back at Piccadilly Circus. At this point Dennis and I hadn't had anything to eat since we left the hotel so we went to a little shop just next to the underground steps and got some bagels :P (toasted tuna and sweetcorn bagels are the best!) 

After eating and looking around Piccadilly Circus we jumped onto the underground and went home. Luckily we left when we did as we ended up getting the last overground train to Edmonton, otherwise we would have had to get a taxi or find a bus. But we were lucky so we went to the Asda to get some snacks and settled down for the night :)

Day 2 

The next day we had to have an early morning as we had a lot planned and needed to start around 9am, so we went to the Asda to grab some water as it was going to be a hot day and then got the tube to Leicester Square. Our first activity for the day was to get a sightseeing bus to Westminster where we could get off and go to the Sealife Aquarium. We had pre-booked our sightseeing tickets with The Original Tour prior to going down to London so all we had to do was choose which line we wanted to go on and what time we wanted to start. Getting to the stop at 9am we chose the red line and went on to the open top bus (which wasn't a good idea considering how hot it was). The red line on the sightseeing bus was great and it was so hot but better than I thought it would be, it took around two hours to get to Westminster and we saw so much!

 The tour went around Leicester Square, Nelson's Column and Trafalgar Square, Covent Garden, Monument, London Bridge, The Tower of London, the Horse Guards Parade, Downing Street, Big Ben and Parliament, Westminster Pier and then we got off at the London Eye stop so that we could check out the Thames, Big Ben and head over to the Sealife Aquarium which we had bought tickets for. It was so hot I had to borrow sun cream from staff off the bus haha! Going on the sightseeing bus is a really good idea if you want to see all of London in a short amount of time with little walking. Luckily it didn't rain and we were able to take some great photos :)

We got to Sealife for around 11am and got in straight away as we pre-booked tickets. I've been to a lot of Sealife places around the UK before and considering this one was located in London I thought it would be much bigger but it was actually quite small. It also didn't have as many varies of fish as I thought it would, however it was still a great experience and I had a great time seeing the penguins and rays. When we were in the gift shop the fire alarm went off and we all had to be evacuated which frustrated me and Dennis as we were looking to buy mugs for our family but by the time we were outside we couldn't be bothered and decided to just leave it. 

After leaving Sealife we strolled along the Westminster Pier and took some photos of the London Eye and of each other and then made our way over to the River Cruises boats as we had free passes for a river cruise along the Thames.  We did have to wait for a while once we were in the boarding queue but that was just because two of the cruises were out already. I did struggle a bit in the heat because there was no shade and I'd drank all my water but once we got on the boat we were fine. I've never been on a river cruise before but it was really good and the weather was amazing ( so amazing that I managed to burn both of my arms even with sun cream on haha) so it was definitely worth it! We went to the Tower Bridge and then docked at the pier and got off for some lunch. I experienced Subway for the first time and since then I haven't refused a meatball marinara sub! Before I was never really bothered about Subway but considering how close by it was and how hungry we were we just saw that as the best option. Dennis has always liked Subway and to my surprise I really enjoyed it and it was way cheaper than any of the other restaurants/ fast food places.

Next we got back on the sightseeing bus and headed towards Oxford Circus so that we could do some shopping and look around for some things we wanted. I really think the sightseeing bus was such a good idea and we got to see so much! Once we arrived around Piccadilly Circus we jumped off and headed towards Oxford Street.

We spent quite a while shopping and managed to buy quite a bit! And we were able to get dinner and get home in good time so that we could relax and chill for the rest of the evening and pack up for our last day.

Day 3

We woke up early, got ready, finished packing all of our belongings and then made a trip to the Asda across the car park. We got some last minute things like water and snacks and went back to the hotel. Before we checked out we went into a mini shopping centre that we had discovered around the corner from our Travelodge and went and saw what was around. After finding the JD Dennis got some Stan Smiths and looked at some tops and then we went back and collected all our things so that we could check out and head back into central London. 

We checked out and got onto the overground to Seven Sisters and then went over to Kings Cross so that we could drop off our luggage at the storage facilities and then once that has been sorted we got back on the tube to go over to Westminster as we had tickets for the London Eye. Once we arrived at Westminster we walked over the bridge and queued up to board the pod. Queuing didn't take too long and because we had pre-booked tickets we got to go through a priority line. Once we boarded we were on the pod for about 45 minutes to an hour and it was amazing! It was way better than I thought it would be and even though I'm not too keen on heights I would do it again! Dennis wasn't too keen either on the height of the wheel but after a while he found it easier to bare and by the end we were both really enjoying it and taking loads of pictures. 

Once we got out of the pod we went over to the gift shop and brought some souvenirs and postcards for our friends and family. Once we had finished in the gift shop we walked along the pier and made our way over to the tube so that we could make our way over to the Tower of London and get some lunch. 

Once we got there we grabbed some lunch and then went and got our tickets changed for entrance tickets (as we had Tesco Clubcard tickets) and then went over to the gates to get in. I wasn't really too bothered about going to the Tower of London but it was so much better than I expected and I rate it very highly! If you are ever in London you definitely have to check out the Tower of London :)  

After we finished touring the Tower of London we took some more photos and then left, watched the London Bridge open up for a boat coming in to dock and then went and sat near the entrance to the Tower of London to get a drink and some ice cream. 

After chilling for a bit and people watching we went and got some last minute souvenirs and then decided to get some Fish & Chips before heading to the train station. I can't believe how expensive fish and chips are in London. Two portions came to £14! I knew London was expensive but geez!

We finished eating and looking around and got onto the tube back to the station to pick up our luggage in storage. Seeing as we had put our luggage in the Kings Cross storage thinking that it was St. Pancras we had to go and collect it and then carry all of it over to St. Pancras to wait for our train. Seeing as we had about 45 minutes to wait ( we got there early just in case) we went to Marks & Spencers and got a snack for the train journey home and sat and talked while we waited. 

After waiting around for a while and looking around the shops in the station we boarded our train and headed back to Sheffield. The journey back home wasn't too bad and went quite quickly so our final day was brilliant! 

This was mine and Dennis's first little holiday/trip together and it was amazing! We had so much fun and made so many memories! 3 days in London were the best couple of days away <3

I can't wait for our next trip/holiday! :) 

If you would like info on how we booked our trip and what companies we used, just leave a comment below and let me know!

See you soon lovelies!

Amy xx