When my friend Clodagh told me she was moving to London, I was so sad to see her leave New York, but excited about visiting her once she was settled.  I found a super cheap flight on Norwegian Airlines and booked a trip for early March.  As luck would have it, London had a massive snowstorm hit the day I arrived, The Beast from the East.  I was worried I wouldn’t even make it out of the US, but thankfully transatlantic flights were a-go and I was on my way.

Like New York City, there is an endless amount of things to do in London, no matter how many times you have been.  This was my third trip to London (the last time with my mom on her birthday trip) and I still enjoyed it as much as the first time.  It can be hard to narrow down what to do on a trip with limited time, but here are my top recommendations.

Top 5 – London

1 – The Making of Harry Potter Warner Bros. Studio tour

I have been wanting to do this tour for years and was so excited to have the opportunity to finally go.  I tried to get tickets directly to the studio a couple of months in advance, and was beyond bummed to see that it was sold out for the dates I was visiting.  However, I learned that many tour companies in London buy tickets and will sell them (with a hefty up-charge) with transport to and from Central London.  We bought tickets from Get Your Guide tours, but drove ourselves and had them leave the tickets for us at the studio ticket window.  It cost extra, but it was the only way to get our hands on tickets for the tour during my trip, so it was well worth it.  The studios are quite a bit outside of Central London, so if you’re visiting and without a car, the tour companies may be the best/easiest way to go.  Although, if you are able to secure tickets directly from the studio, you can drive and park for free or take a train and a bus, which ends up being cheaper than the tours.  My advice, whatever way you can get a ticket, get it and go!

The tour is done incredibly well, with tons of real sets, costumes and props from all 8 films.  It’s hard to believe how many individual props and costumes there were for all the films. I just assumed most of it was CGI, but I was mistaken.  It makes you look at the movies so differently, but in a good way.  They say the tour should take you around 3 hours, with the record being 14 hours (what!?).  We finished in just about 3 hours, which allowed us plenty of time to wander and see everything, and stop at the cafe for a Butterbeer.  It’s such a fun day and something every Harry Potter nerd needs to experience.

2 – Afternoon Tea

I had the best babysitter growing up. She is English and introduced all of us kids to tea time in the afternoons.  Anytime I have an opportunity to have some kind of formal tea, I jump at the chance, especially when in England.  Clodagh booked us the Wyld Afternoon Tea at Dandelyan at the Mondrian Hotel and it was the best.  The vibe in the restaurant is kind of retro and really cool, with big, pink couches and mirrored tables.

We chose the boozy tea (obviously), which included 4 perfectly crafted cocktails, a pot of tea (your choice) and both savory and sweet bites. It cost £55 and was totally worth it.  The cocktails were strong and delicious and probably nothing I would have ever ordered on my own, which made it even more enjoyable. The tea was great, and the food, particularly the desserts, were amazing.

We were seated at a corner table, overlooking the Thames.  It was a cold, snowy day in London and afternoon tea was the perfect way to spend it.  We leisurely sipped our tea and cocktails and enjoyed the view, tea, cocktails, sandwiches, and sweets.  It was the perfect way for Clodagh and I to catch up, and enjoy a truly authentic English tradition.

3 – Shakespeare’s Globe Theater Tour

I have always wanted to visit the Globe Theater.  Of course seeing a play would have been ideal, but as it is an open air theater, live performances are only done April – October.  However, the tour of the theater is offered year round, so it was on my list of things to do.  It’s a short tour, about 30 minutes for the actual guided portion, plus another 30-45 minutes to independently explore the exhibition inside.  I found the tour to be very interesting, learning about the history of Shakespeare, the history of theater, and how the Globe Theater came to be.  One of the more interesting facts I learned was that they keep the lightening in the theater during productions so that it always appears to be daylight, because shows in Shakespeare’s time were during the day.  If the scene takes place at night, the actors may hold lanterns and/or will identify the setting with a line (it was a cold, dark night…).  Makes sense to me now why Shakespeare in the Park in NYC is well lit and done in the open air.

For any theater person, visiting the Globe Theater in some capacity is a must.  I can’t wait to come back in warmer weather and take in an actual show.  But until then, I’m so happy I was able to at least see the inside of the famous theater in person.

4 – Sightseeing

No trip to London would be complete without seeing all the amazing sights.  London is such an old city with a tremendous amount of history.  I didn’t do it this time, but I highly recommend the double decker bus tour to take you around the city, as it provides lots of great information and makes it easy to get from place to place.  Another great way to see many of the sights, is a boat ride down the Thames.

Most places require some kind of entrance fee, but even seeing them from the outside is great.  I’d recommend looking into the London Pass, as it allows entry into many of the major attractions for a set price and will save money in the end.  A few places that are must sees are:

The Tower of London and the Crown Jewels

The Tower Bridge

Westminster Abbey and Parliament

Big Ben (although he’s under construction for the next 3 years)

The London Eye

St. Paul’s Cathedral

Buckingham Palace

Kensington Palace

Royal Albert Hall

5 – London Parks

There are so many parks throughout Central London and its many neighborhoods to explore or relax in; Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens, St. James’s Park, Green Park, Regent’s Park and many more.  Wander through the parks for leisure or for exercise, stop at an outdoor cafe and have a tea and a scone, bring a picnic, or just bring a blanket and relax and people watch.  It’s a nice way to take some time away from the busy city.  Many are centrally located and easily accessible, when visiting spots like Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace or Royal Albert Hall.

Honorable Mention

West End Theatre

Of course I have to include the West End theater as a recommendation for anyone visiting London.  Broadway and the West End are the major theater Mecca’s of the world and you’d be remiss to not take advantage.  This trip, we had tickets to Young Frankenstein, as it had come highly recommended to me by my best friend, Ryan.  Because I trust his judgement in shows more than anyone, I knew it was one I had to see…and it did not disappoint.  It was funny, witty, and creative, with a great sound track.

We had only planned on seeing the one show on this trip, but then The Beast From The East hit, cancelling tons of flights and rendering people unable to get out and about.  We decided to use this to our advantage and investigate the Hamilton cancellation tickets situation.  We stopped by the theater initially, only to be offered £200 premium tickets, which we passed on.  After leaving the theater, we stopped for a coffee and while sitting in the coffee shop, decided to look for tickets on Ticketmaster, just to see what was out there.  I was literally shocked to find 3 tickets in the center balcony, for £37.50 each.  I quickly purchased them and kept checking and rechecking to make sure it wasn’t a scam or a dream, but it wasn’t!  We saw Hamilton with its Original London Cast at a fraction of the cost of a Broadway ticket.  I had seen it already, but Clodagh and Kyle had not, and both loved it.  It was interesting watching a Pro-American, semi Anti-British musical in England.  But thankfully everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and had a good laugh.  So moral of the story…it’s ALWAYS worth checking for day of tickets for any show on Broadway or the West End, particularly in bad weather, because you never know what you’ll be able to get!

And a tip….London theater also uses Today Tix as a way to get discounted day of (or a few days in advance) tickets to a show.  Check it out and see what’s available!

Museums

My last day in London I decided to check out a few of the museums, which I had not done on previous visits.  Like Washington, DC, the museums in London are free to enter, which is such a perk.  Free admission takes away so much pressure for feeling like you need to see everything inside.  I checked out the museum maps before I went and just decided to see a couple areas in each.  I visited the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum, as they are all within a couple minutes walk from each other.  I’m not a huge museum person, but each one had some interesting things to see and was a nice way to spend a portion of my day.  Also, they are gorgeous buildings and if nothing else should be seen from the outside.

 

There is so much to see and do on a London vacation and I feel so lucky I’ve had the opportunity to go multiple times now.  London is a must-see for any European vacation and a great jumping off point for visiting other places in Europe.  I’m so grateful to have such wonderful friends that allowed me to come visit and stay with them this trip.  It was great exploring Central London, but also some areas that I probably wouldn’t have otherwise, such as their neighborhood, Chiswick.  THANK YOU Clodagh and Kyle!  I’ll definitely be back for a future visit and look forward to seeing you on your trips back to NYC as well!