Yesterday i got back from London and uploaded a few pictures. Today i’ll upload a few more and review what we did day by day…
Day 1
We normally get the stansted express train in to liverpool street because it’s quick and easy. It comes with a hefty price tag though. This time, our hotel was right beside victoria bus station so we opted for a terravision bus direct from stansted to victoria. Journey time: 1hour 15mins. Price – £14 return. The stansted express takes 45 minutes but it’s £24 return. Plus it drops you at liverpool street which usually means a tube ride somewhere (unless you happen to be staying within walking distance or should i say walking distance with bags).
The journey in from stansted was pretty smooth and we got to see the o2, canary wharf, london bridge, big ben etc… all the touristy stuff so it’s a much more scenic route than the train and probably worth it if you’re heading to london for the first time.
Our hotel was about a 5 minute walk away from victoria bus station. Same to victoria tube & train station. Excellent location. Buckingham palace was about a 10 minute walk away, Big Ben maybe 20 minutes. So most of the major tourist attractions were all within walking distance of the hotel.
We arrived at about 11.30am, got checked in to one of our two rooms & headed out for the day. Baked alive for most of it too. Not sure what temperature it was but it was well in to the late 20’s and it stayed that way for the next 3 days.
We walked up to Buckingham Palace, through St James Park and the Admiralty Arch in to Trafalgar Square where i got some great photos. From there we headed down Parliament Street past Downing Street and on to Westminster & Big Ben. After that it was a stroll across the Thames to the London Eye where we seen the new 4D experience before joining a MASSIVE queue for the London eye. Took us about 45 minutes of hard queuing in sweltering heat & sunshine before we got on. Of course i’d been before but i was with my gf’s sister & mother who’d never been to London before, hence why most of our time was spent visiting the major attractions & sights.
After that, we hopped on the Thames Clippers beneath the London Eye out to the O2. From there you pass London Bridge, St Pauls Cathedral, Canary Wharf etc… like an open top bus tour only from a river. We had dinner in the o2 & got the tube back to the hotel. Day 1 was complete.
Day 2
Less waffle, more summary after i’ve rambled on too much about Day 1…. On Day 2 we had; Zoo, Shopping in Regent Street, Piccadilly Circus, Chinatown, Leicester Square and then back to the hotel before hitting Aldwych where we grabbed something to eat before taking in ‘Dirty Dancing’. That’s what happens when you go to London outnumbered by females. After that we walked back to the hotel. About a 2 mile walk but it was nice to see the city at night all lit up.
Day 3
London Bridge, Canary Wharf, Westfield Shopping Center & ‘The Lion King’ (another west end show).
Day 4
Buckingham Palace , Changing of the Guard, Bus, Airport, Plane, Drive home.
Overall
Overall, we had a great time. I’d say this was the first time i could walk everywhere without maps or needing to look up at sign posts. Name a famous landmark and i can get there on foot, not just by tube 🙂
So that’s my third time in London this year. Probably my last. Will i be heading back to London again in the future? Probably. I’d like to get over to the Olympics in 2012. On the way back to Stansted on the bus we passed the new Olympic Stadium & Village. It all looks very impressive and helps the giant city that is London sprawl even further outwards.
I’m still settling down after being away, so it will be Monday before i get back in to any sort of blogging or working rhythm. Keep an eye on my flickr stream where i’ll be uploading more pictures constantly. Most of ’em were shot in 10mp so they’re about 5mb each, which is why i’m so slow getting them all uploaded. Normally, i shoot in 2mp but now that i’m armed with about 30GB of SD cards, the more mega pixels the merrier 