3 Days in London for a Young Couple
This is a trip report of a 3 day visit to London. This is the first stop of a 2 week trip that my girlfriend and I took in late Sept ’12. We do a big vacation every year and this year it was a trip all over Italy (Tuscany and South Italy). We decided to stop by in London for 3 days since we had a layover anyways. Our plan was to eat, do light sightseeing and take in the pub scene. I travel more for food and the local experience than for museums but got a good balance in London since there are some really cool, free museums.
I had heard that food in London has improved beyond its reputation. I suppose it did but I am still looking for REALLY good food in London. Let me know if we just looked in the wrong places. All in all, London was a lot of fun and as a big, metropolitan city with a lot of history there is a lot to do and see. I would come back to hang out with friends. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this trip report and find it useful for your planning.
- Day 1 Summary
Day 1
My girlfriend and I are in our mid-twenties and have been going on 1 big trip per year. This year its a trip all around Tuscany and South Italy. We decide to do 3 days in London since we had a layover here anyway and it seemed fun. She's been here for work 2x but not for fun. I've never been so this was a good time to check out one of the major cities in the world. It turned out to be a good choice. Check it out!
View London Day 1 in a larger map- Belgravia
Stayed in the Belgravia Neighborhood
We stayed in the Belgravia neighborhood next to Victoria Station. It was a nice spot and convenient but we had to transfer many times at Green Park to the Picadilly line since Picadilly line has more stations for where we went
View Belgravia in a larger map- Airport to Hotel via National Express Coach
- Airport to Hotel via National Express Coach
The National Express Coach from Heathrow costs only 6 pounds. Takes about 50 minutes but dropped us off at the Victoria Coach station which is right next to the Victoria Station which was <5 minute walk to our hotel. About 3x cheaper than the other options (express train and tube). We weren’t in a hurry since we couldn’t check in early anyway.
- Full English Breakfast at Patisserie Valerie
- Full English Breakfast at Patisserie Valerie
We arrived early in the morning so couldn’t check in yet. After dropping off our luggage, we explored the neighborhood for food. We found Patisserie Valerie which looked good and served full English breakfasts at a reasonable price. It tasted as good as it looks.
- Westminster Walking Tour
Westminster Walking Tour
We adapted Rick Steve's Westminster Walking Tour after breakfast. It starts from the Westminster Station. When you step out from the underground, you see several major sites at once including Big Ben / Parliament, London Eye across the river, Westminster Bridge and Pier. On this walk, we knocked out a lot of casual sightseeing including Westminster Abbey, 10 Downing Street (Prime Minister's House), Horse Guards, Admiralty Arch(the gate to Buckingham Palace) and ended at Trafalgar Square.
View Westminster Walking Tour in a larger map
- Hanging out in the National Gallery
- Hanging out in the National Gallery
Once we got to Trafalgar Square, it really started to rain hard. Luckily, the National Gallery is on Trafalgar Square and has free admission (donations appreciated). No photographs allowed but worth the visit because it has many, many famous Western European paintings (including those from Michelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo, Raphael, van Eyck, van Gogh, Rembrandt, Monet, etc).
- Dinner at Yalla Yalla (SoHo)
- Dinner at Yalla Yalla (SoHo)
We went back to the hotel after National Gallery. It’s a huge museum so we just hit the highlights but were still exhausted. After resting, we went to dinner at Yalla Yalla in SoHo district for Beirut Street food. It was pretty decent and close to a lot of bars and pubs.
- Pubbing in SoHo / Picadilly Circus
- Pubbing in SoHo / Picadilly Circus
After dinner, we checked out the London pub scene in SoHo / Picadilly Circus area. It’s a very unique London feeling. Some of the traditional pubs that we hit up included The Duck and the Dog and The French House. After a healthy amount of drinks, we took the underground back to our hotel.
- Day 2 Summary
Day 2
The day started out raining a lot but the weather ended up great by late afternoon. Earlier in the day we hung out at 2 indoor places including Covent Garden Market and the British Museum. When it cleared up, we walked along the South Bank and watched a Shakespeare play at the open air Globe Theatre.
View Day 2 London in a larger map- Fish and Chips Lunch at Rock and Sole Plaice
- Fish and Chips Lunch at Rock and Sole Plaice
We had to try the London Fish and Chips. Rock and Sole has been around since 1871. It’s really good and they serve a huge fried fish. It’s a lot cheaper to order to go than to eat in (eating in is ~30% premium). We had to eat in because it was raining outside. The cod was very good but the fries could’ve been better.
- Covent Garden Market
- Covent Garden Market
Nearby Rock and Sole Plaice is Covent Garden Market, a covered mall with small shops and also stands selling old things like telephones, telegraphs and other collectibles. It’s a neat place to get out of the rain and grab a snack and browse for knick-knacks. There were enough cool shops to keep us entertained and also music performers.
- World History at the British Museum
- World History at the British Museum
World History was one of my favorite classes in high school. It’s really cool to be able to see first hand some of the artifacts that have shaped the course of history. The centerpiece of this gigantic British Museum is the Rosetta Stone but also here are pieces from The Parthenon, the huge statues of Ramses II and more. We came here again to escape the rain but best of all its free (donations appreciated)!
- Snack at Punjab for Indian Food and Shopping on Dean Street
- Snack at Punjab for Indian Food and Shopping on Dean Street
We’re still fighting jet lag so after getting through the British Museum and having a coffee in the really awesome courtyard area of the Museum, we went over to Dean Street, a popular and trendy shopping street. We stopped at Punjab to snack on some Chicken Tikka Masala and garlic naan. We heard the Indian food in the UK is a must try but we prefer the Indian food in Silicon Valley still.
- Bankside Walk during Sunset
- Bankside Walk during Sunset
The weather really turned nice but the sun was setting. We decided to do an abbreviated version of Rick Steve’s Bankside Walk. We took the tube to the London Bridge where you can see many key sights including the Tower of London, St.Paul’s Cathedral, Millenium Bridge and of course, the Thames river. Taking this walk during sunset was actually perfect for enjoying the London skyline.
- Taming of the Shrew at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre
- Taming of the Shrew at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre
We ended our walk at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. We had wanted to see Tate Modern but it was closed by then. It turned out that Taming of the Shrew was playing and tickets were only 12 pounds (for upper deck) so we decided to stay for the show. I’m not a big fan of plays (the GF is a huge fan) but Shakespeare is actually really entertaining even for common folk like myself.
- Late Night Dinner at Wagamama
- Late Night Dinner at Wagamama
The play was 3 hours long so by the time we got out it was almost 11pm. We were starving so went to the nearby Wagamama, a noodle house chain that is pretty popular in the UK and expanding to other countries. I had wanted to try it anyways having heard so much about it. It was decent but again, I was not 100% satisfied. But we were happy to have the opportunity to try it just as they were about to close.
- Day 3 Summary
Day 3
Our last day in London and the jetlag was really getting us. We woke up really late today. We took it pretty easy with a stop at Harrod's, picnic at St.James Park. We went off the beaten path by stopping by a few of Banksy's street art. Ended up in the artsy neighborhood of Shoreditch and had to try Vietnamese food for dinner after hearing so much about it.
View Day 3 in London in a larger map- Shopping at Harrods
- Shopping at Harrods
We woke up really late so decided to have a lazy day. We had to check out Harrods. It’s a huge department store with a ton of fancy stuff. We spent most of our time in the Food Hall scoping out all of the crazy artisanal foods. It was pretty close to the hotel by bus so worth checking out but is probably skippable if you aren’t into this type of thing.
- Picnic at St. James Park
- Picnic at St. James Park
We took some of the foods that we bought at Harrods and supplemented with some more sandwiches from Pret A Manger and Eat (just like Pret) to picnic at St. James Park. This is a very underhyped park. It was really, really beautiful. Just look at this picture. Definitely worth a stroll through.
- Buckingham Palace
- Buckingham Palace
We went from East to West through St. James Park (30 minute leisurely stroll). At the West end is Buckingham Palace. We didn’t go in but it was still very impressive from the outside. Changing of the Guard is here at 11:30am every other day in the offseason.
- Finding Banksy Street Art
- Finding Banksy Street Art
We watched Exit Through the Gift Shop, a documentary about Banksy and street art, a few months back. We are fans of his work so we decided to go scout out some of his pieces in its natural habitat. We found four pieces between St. James Park, Canary Wharf and Shoreditch. See the Day 3 Summary map for the locations or this more comprehensive map.
- Happy Hour at Canary Wharf
- Happy Hour at Canary Wharf
We decided to stop by Canary Wharf for Happy Hour and to check out the ultra modern scene (3 underground shopping malls). Canary Wharf is considered the new downtown London where all of the major financial institutions have offices now. There are great happy hour deals here for the bankers in the area (2 for 1 drinks). We stopped by Smollenskys for a couple of drinks in between our hunt for Banksy.
- Vietnamese Food at Song Que (Shoreditch)
- Vietnamese Food at Song Que (Shoreditch)
After finding our last 2 pieces of Banksy art in Shoreditch neighborhood, we decide to get Vietnamese food. We have also heard a lot about Vietnamese cuisine in London so decide to try it. We decided that we weren’t going to make the same mistake we made in Germany and ONLY try to seek out English food. Song Que was highly touted by Time Out so we decided to check it out. Conclusion: Decent but California has really great Vietnamese food.
- Slide 2
Flying Out to Pisa just to get some Pizza
So that wraps up our fun stop in London. A very fun city with a lot to do but we're still looking for "Wow that's good!" food here. Next stop is Italy. We took the EasyBus from Victoria Coach Station (Buckingham Palace Road) to Luton Airport (~1 hour ride for 10 pounds) to catch a flight to Pisa in the early, early morning. Tune in for our trip reports from Italy!
Hi there,
I really enjoyed your trip report! The pics are great and the maps are a brilliant add! I’ve been to London 5 times and about to take my 6th. I’ve had some great meals but all of them were randomly stumbled upon. Some of the best food I’ve found has been on the street or in Borough Market. You just can’t go wrong at Borough Mkt! The pasties in pubs are great and go perfectly with a pint. The best sit down, fancy dinner I’ve had was at Dean Street Townhouse. I still think about it! 2nd best was an Indian restaurant in Soho. I love the breakfast at Cafe Continente in West Kensington and the owners are lovely. I could go on and on! Living in San Fran, you may be a little spoiled (food wise) as I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad meal in Nor Cal! Happy travels…
Thanks Janene! I’m glad you enjoyed the trip report. Wish I would’ve talked to you before our trip. I guess I can always go back. Look to hear all about your London trip #6 – maybe with lots of photos and embedded maps too!
I got the link for your trip report on London from Trip Advisor. I normally don’t write on people’s websites or blogs but I HAD to tell you that this was by far the most interesting and enjoyable trip report I’ve ever read – short and simple yet relevant details given, and an amazing format which does NOT bore!
Bravo