London Called
- Caroline
- 15 hours ago
- 4 min read
I had been wanting to take a trip to London for over 10 years and it was everything I had hoped for! My friend Rachel and I booked our flights about 5 months out and our hotel 2 months out. We took a direct flight on British Airways from Nashville, which was the way to go! We had an idea of what we wanted to do, made a few meal reservations, and figured out the rest when we arrived.
STAY
We stayed at the Z Hotel in Covent Garden for 4 nights. I absolutely loved the location, but our room was very small. I wish we had a little more space, but it worked.
DAY 1
Our flight left Nashville on a Wednesday night and we arrived in London around lunchtime on Thursday. We took the train in to London and luckily, the hotel had a room available for us. We were able to drop off our bags and explore. We walked around Covent Garden and grabbed coffee and pastries at EL&N before going to explore Harrods. As a fashion major, I was in heaven and I could spend all day at Harrods! Before leaving, we stopped in the Prada Caffe. I had a coke and Rachel had some gelato! We had dinner reservation at Jacuzzi. It’s a beautiful Italian restaurant that truly makes you feel like you are in Italy! I had a limoncello and ravioli.
DAY 2
We went on a day trip outside the city. Check out the full itinerary HERE.
We did have fish and chips and a drink at the Old Bank of England when we returned to London! If you are looking to eat, it's probably best to make a reservation. It was very busy on Friday night, but definitely a pub worth visiting. The Beer Garden had a double decker bus you could sit in and bring your drinks. The staff members were very kind!
DAY 3
We started our day with brunch at Sketch! I have wanted to go to this restaurant for years and it was stunning! Each room within the restaurant is a different theme/concept. We had brunch at The Glade. The food was good, service was excellent, and the ambiance was incredible!
After brunch, we took the tube towards O2 Arena and an uber boat out to Greenwich to the Old Royal Naval College to see Painted Hall. We purchased tickets when we got there. It was stunning! We got lucky, because we made it just in time before there was a wedding. This area was so cute and I wish we explored a little more! After Greenwich, we made our way to Notting Hill. It was very busy, but another spot I am glad I got to see it. The biggest let down was that the bookstore from the movie Notting Hill is actually a souvenir shop. We walked pretty far to find that out. There were a lot of places to buy old watches and jewelry. I bought a Notting Hill tote bag. We went to The Churchill Arms, which was an authentic British pub. It felt like a hallmark movie!! I am not a beer drinker, but I had the Jubel peach beer and I really liked it! We went back to our hotel to change and stopped by Neal’s Yard and a few shops on the way back. Neal’s Yard is an area in Covent Garden on the inside of the main street with various shops and restaurants. We had dinner at Blackbear Burger and I loved it!! I had the Black Bear Burger. They give you a complimentary mini soft serve ice cream cone after you are done eating! We went to the Brixton location, because that was the easiest one to get to by train and they had an open reservation. It didn’t seem like the best area, but it was a quick walk. After dinner, we stopped by Outernet. It’s a free immersive experience. We walked back towards our hotel and ended the night getting Gelato at Venchi.
DAY 4
Our plan was to have a touristy day and do the Double Decker Bus, but unfortunately there was a marathon and they weren’t running. We booked it through TopView and they wouldn’t give us a refund, so I don’t recommend them. This threw a curve ball in our day, but we still ended up getting to see the main attractions we wanted to.
We took the tube to see Big Ben, the parliament and the London Eye.
After that we grabbed lunch at Peggy Porschen and we walked to Buckingham palace after and sat in the park for a little. The weather was so nice!
We walked through Borough Market (near the London Bridge). There were so many different food vendors. If we hadn’t already eaten, we definitely would have found something there! We walked across the bridge and had a drink at Coppa Club on the River before heading to our dinner reservation at Circolo Popolare. It just opened in February. This was our favorite meal in London. We had the Fried Mozzarella, Spaghetti Carbonara, and the Lemon Meringue Pie! I am still dreaming about the pie. After dinner we checked out the bar across the street from our hotel. It was called Blame Gloria.
CLOTHING
I packed a trench coat, leather jacket, and lots of neutrals! We were so lucky with the weather. It didn’t rain a drop.
TRANSPORTATION
We used the Tube to get around, which was easy an inexpensive. We used Apple Pay on our phones each time we entered and exited the train stations. We took 1 Uber to get to the airport since the train wasn't operating around 4AM.
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