2 Days and Half in London

Hello my dear Routers !

So, there is a “Route” for London, a city where we keep coming back. With this path that we’ve made, you’d better be prepeard to walk, and walk, and walk a little longer.

1st Day

So, the beginning. We arrive in London through Gatwick Airport in a morning fligth. We get on the Gatwick Express, bought our OyesterCards (for public transportation), and made the check-in at our hotel to leave our backpacks and we started our walk.

We start in London City, to see the newests buildings in the city.

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From here, we pass the London Bridge to go the the Deck Observation The View from the Shard, the highest building in the City.

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Don’t forget that, in London you need to get lucky with the weather and we visisted it in January. Lots of cold and a litlle bit of rain.

From The Shard, we’ve passed the London Bridge again to go to the Tower of London. Pay attention because in the Winter the attractions close earlier.

So, Tower of London, the place where are the Crown Jewels are kept and one of the most important castles and fortresses of the city.

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The contrast that you get between the old history and the new history of London is giant, because, from certain points of the Tower of London you can see the new part of town. It’s a must see point.

After that, we took a great walk along the river. We crossed the Tower Bridge and walked along all the new buildings in the other side of the river until we got to Tate Modern Museum of Art. It’s nigth by now, so we go in to see the Museum and, the best part, it’s for free. YES!!! You do not pay to enter in a big bunch of museuns in London. You can see them here.

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After check Tate Modern Museum, it was very late by now. So we started looking for a place to eat. We chose Covent Garden. It’s like a market that has a lot of restaurants that you can pick. We’ve eaten pizza!

In the way to Covent Garden we passed by a lot of pretty places.Y ou can see some photos below. One of them is the huge Saint Paul Cathedral.

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Dinner done, time to go to Leicester Square to go to one of the biggest comercial attractions in London: the M&M’s store !!!!! That’s like… the smell’s so good inside.

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Next stop? Picadilly Circus before resting a little bit in the hotel. It’s the most technological square in Londo and, of course, a must see for eveyone.

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2nd Day

To start, Nothing Hill and Portobello Road to see the street Market. To get there we get the underground from Hammersmith to Ladbroke Grove Station. It’s a very pretty place with colourful houses and a lot of stores that you can see. It has a lot of street artists having the statue show.

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After a long run thorugh all the streets and all the roads, it starts to be a little busy, so we decided to go and take a long walk at the Hyde Park, take pictures at the entrance of Kensington Palace, check Diana’s Memorial and Royal Albert Memorial, with the Royal Albert Hall in the background.

Passing another street market onto Harrod’s Shopping Center. Get so fancy so fast ! Then a stop for lunch at the iconic Hard Rock Café of London. Pay attention ! It’s an expensive spot but on this day we didn’t have dinner, just a quick bite before returning to the hotel.

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After that big and tasty lunch we went down the street to Buckingham Palace. Being a lot of times in London, never got the chance to see the change of the guard.

After checking the Buckingham Palace, we kept going down the street until reaching Trafalgar Square: the Square of the Lions (dear for us because of our Football Club in Lisbon xD).

Down the way, we got to the see Prime Minister’s Residence, the Memorial of WWII, the statue from one of the most important man in the History of London and the UK: Mister Churchill. After all of that, seen the outside of the Westminister Abbey (were all of he Royal weddings happen), see the Parliament Houses and the Famous Big Ben ! This one was being recovered at the time (January 2018).

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From now, you can the that we’ve walk a lot. But didn’t end by now.

This nigth we’ve get back to Leicester Square, to see Lego Store and visit Carnaby Street and ChinaTown. Iconic places that you should not lose in Lodon.

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After all that walking, we were dead by then. A lot of cold made us return to the hotel room to recover for the 3rd Day.

3rd Day

So, we started the day with Madame Tussauds Museum. Really, all of us know that it’s very similar but you need to see them with your own eyes. It’s an expensive visit but, if you can, you should take this oportunity.

After that, King’s Cross Station where you can find the Harry Potter Official store and a very tasty lunch at Nando’s.

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Taking in consideration that Madame Tussauds took us most part of the morning, we’ve took the afternoon to meet the peculiar zone of Camden Town.

Here you can find the most alternative things to do and see in London. A lot of alternative art here too. I give you some pictures:

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After this stop, it’s time to pick up our backpacks and go to Heathrow Airport and get back to real life in Lisbon.

From Hammersmith to Heathtrow Airport by Underground you take about 30 minutes to get there.

We really enjoyed this city break, despite it taking us down: a lot of back pain and we will not talk about our feet. But it’s really worth all the steps that we’ve taken.

We really hope that you enjoyed this and please give us some feedback about it…

Instagram Page: routingtheworld01

So… It just gets left to say… See you next time, London !

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Our best tips:

• We arrived in London by the Gatwick Airport. To get to Central London we caught the Gatwick Express, which is very fast, if you want to save time. Not the most economical way, but, for sure, the fastest one. It took less than 20 minutes.
• We’ve booked a room not in Central London, because it’s very expensive. We stayed in the Sapphire Boutique Hotel, it’s very clean and has a nice breakfast. To go everywhere you can get the Underground at Hammersmith Station.
• To visit Tower of London and Madame Tussauds Museum we bought the tickets at Ticmate.pt. It’s a fiable website and sometimes you can get ticket combinations that can be cheaper and make a good deal.
• We didn’t the to London Eye because it was closed to maintence. However we went to The Shard and we bought the tickets at the oficial website of The Shard.
• The best expresso coffe was at Caffé Nero and was not too expensive.
• Please be careful, London can be very cold even if you walk a lot. It’s not easy to get warm in the street so, take a lot and good clothes for Winter.
• London it’s not a cheap city, so… Be prepared !