June 25, 2018

London 4 Day Itinerary

Hi everyone! I am finally starting to post a little bit about my trip to Europe! First up is how we spent our 4 days in London! I wrote this on the train to Paris when everything was very fresh in my mind. I didn't do this after Paris or Amsterdam (totally wish I had...) so the format for those cities will end up being slightly different. I'll probably highlight just my favorite things.

I thought this would be helpful though in case any of you are thinking of traveling to London soon!


Day One:

Our flight got in at about 7am and we took the underground to our Airbnb about an hour away. I was surprised by how easy it was to take the underground from the airport. With large suitcases, it was easy to navigate and the most inexpensive option for transportation from the airport. Something to keep in mind is that you’ll probably encounter some sort of stairs, most likely only about 20 steps or so, at the tube station you get off at.

Our Airbnb was located in Holborn, at Russel Square. The area was quiet but convenient to get to other areas of London. It did take about 15-20 minutes to get to most places.

Once we got situated, we took the tube over to Borough Market to get something to eat. Walking around and looking at the market was fun and the stalls offered good options. We decided to get some fish and chips and it was delicious.

From there, we walked across Tower Bridge and over to the Tower of London. I’m glad we didn’t have really any set plans on our first afternoon so that we could leisurely explore some of the city and try our bests to fight off jet lag.

However, I did make a reservation in advance at Bob Bob Ricard for dinner. You might be familiar with this restaurant because of their “Press for Champagne” buttons at every table! It was so cute and requesting a glass of champagne with the press of a button was very fun.


Day Two:

We got out around 11am and went over to Harrods before a reservation for tea at Sketch later in the afternoon. We ended up wandering around Harrods for a full two hours and I’m so glad we didn’t eat anything before getting there because the food hall is amazing!! There’s something for everyone and the food is delicious.

Once we made our way out of Harrods, it was time for our tea at Sketch. You also probably have seen Sketch’s pink tea room or bizarre egg bathroom stalls on Instagram. It’s definitely a photo-worthy spot, but everyone I was traveling with agreed that the tea was subpar.  The tea itself is pretty expensive and the food was just alright. Instead, try heading to the bar for a drink and popping into the bathroom.

After tea, we were so full and needed a walk. We decided to walk through Mayfair to Kensington Palace and then headed back to our Airbnb to rest before dinner. We went to a late reservation at Hakkasan, which we all agreed was probably not worth it.


Day Three:

We unintentionally stayed out pretty late the night before and only got out of the house around 2pm. Since we were all pretty hungry, we started our day with Lunch at Dishoom. There are a few locations, but we decided to head to Kensington. The food was really great and since most of us had never tried Indian food before we decided to split a few things so that we could try as much as possible. I loved the Chicken Ruby and Chicken Tikka Masala.

The location perfectly led us to walk over to Kensington Palace and Hyde Park. The weather was beautiful. It’s crazy how different the city feels in the rain or overcast versus the sunshine! I then made my friends walk over to 23 Egerton Terrace, the house from the parent trap! I loved seeing it in person.

We had dinner that night at La Bodega Negra, which is a Mexican restaurant behind what appears to be a sex shop. Ha! The neon signs at the storefront may be misleading, but the restaurant is cozy and the food was pretty good. It was definitely a fun place to eat before going out.

At our waiter’s recommendation, we went out in Shoreditch. It was great because there’s a ton of bars and clubs all right next to each other so you can try a bunch of different spots easily to find the right place for your group. We ended up at Barrio, which was where we spent most of our night. I would recommend checking it out!

As the bar was closing at 2am, we walked to Duck and Waffle, a restaurant/bar that’s open 24/7 on top of a building. It’s a pretty nice restaurant so it’s wild to think it’s open all the time. I had to order the duck and waffle and it did not disappoint.


Day Four:

Our reservation for breakfast was at 10:15, which we definitely we’re regretting after our late night. We eventually made it over to Ivy Chelsea Garden, which was just beautiful. It’s completely covered in flowers and very picturesque. I ordered the ham and cheese omelet and it was aaaaamaazing. Best omelet I think I have ever had!

After we walked through Chelsea over to Peggy Porschen Cakes, another picture worth spot. I’m glad we walked there because we passed through a lot of cute stores on the way.

It was our last day so we had to make sure to fit in a trip to the London Eye. When you pay for your ticket you receive a time that your ticket will be valid for entry. We had to wait about an hour before we could get in line, so we went to a cafĂ© nearby. When we did get in line it moved pretty quickly. The views are cool and definitely worth seeing. The ticket is valid through the end of the night, so if you don’t want to wait around you could always go somewhere else and come back much later.

I really wanted to get a sort of traditional Sunday roast while in London. From my research, it seemed like The Orange was a good option. This was definitely the cutest restaurant we went to. There’s a pub downstairs where a few people were having drinks, but we sat upstairs for dinner. All of the windows were open and the neighborhood was pretty quiet so the restaurant has a very quaint feel. The roasts were amazing and it was nice to have a hearty meal. The green beans were particularly delicious.

Stay tuned for more about my trip in my next posts! I can't wait to share more of what we did in other cities!



June 18, 2018

Europe Instagram Roundup


I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to travel for a bit after graduation before starting my job! I haven't had the chance to write up a full post about everything we did while in London, Amsterdam, and Paris but I plan to very soon!

 

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