This past May, Keith and I finally went to visit London for our twenty-second anniversary. We planned to go to London for our twentieth anniversary, but that was in May 2020 and we had to cancel because of COVID. This was our first opportunity to make good on those plans!
This trip was a dream come true for the both of us. We weren’t able to see some of the more traditional tourist sites (i.e. Buckingham Palace) because they were in preparations for the Queen’s Jubilee celebration. But that made this visit even more special because we went to some places we might not have seen otherwise.
Here is a quick run down of our three days in London…
Day 1
We arrived fairly early in the day and were able to check into our hotel and head right out to begin exploring. We stayed at The Park City Grand Plaza Kensington Hotel in Kensington and loved it! I would highly recommend this hotel, especially because of its fantastic location!
We did a lot of walking around different areas of the city. We ate a delicious lunch at Cafe Concerto while we were out walking around. We eventually made our way to Portobello Road for some antiques shopping and then over to Notting Hill where we purchased some books from the Notting Hill Bookshop.
We finished our day by walking through Harrods department store and then having dinner (Fish ‘n Chips, of course) at the Bunch of Grapes Pub.
Day 2
This was definitely our busiest day!! We started our with breakfast at McDonald’s. Yes, McDonald’s–my husband loves visiting the yellow arches when he’s traveling. It is really interesting to note the different foods that are offered in different countries around the world! I enjoyed a very pleasant english muffin for breakfast.
We had tickets to visit the Sherlock Holmes Museum, but we were a bit early arriving, so first we had a nice stroll around The Regent’s Park. It was absolutely beautiful!!! I’m so happy that this was a part of our day!
The Sherlock Holmes Museum was quaint and lots of fun! I especially enjoyed or tour guide at this small niche museum.
We also visited the Charles Dickens Museum. This was another really small museum, but it was very interesting to learn about this famous author and his life. We had lunch at the Pickwick Cafe in the museum. This was a rainy, overcast day and our lunch of soup and bread was pure perfection!
We ended the day with a visit to the National Gallery Museum and Hatchard’s Bookshop. We had dinner at Fortnum and Mason after walking through their beautiful store!
Day 3
After enjoying breakfast at a cafe, we walked to Kensington Gardens where we strolled through the parks and then stopped to read and have coffee. This was one of our favorite thing that we did together and it was what I looked forward to the most. just sitting in the park reading on a quiet morning was so delightful!
The main event for our third day was visiting Royal Albert Hall. We toured this amazing concert hall which opened in 1871 and also had afternoon tea there that was a highlight of our trip.
After tea we visited the National History Museum. It was incredibly interesting to walk through this enormous museum located on Exhibition Road in South Kensington.
Before heading to dinner at a pub to end our day, we found the Tardis, which is a must for any Dr. Who fan visiting London!
We also visited the Victoria and Albert Museum before making our way home on our fourth day, but I didn’t take photos there and just tried to focus on savoring our last moments in London.