Back in 2022, we took our first vacation in four years and headed across the pond to London. London remains one of my favorite cities, and I loved the chance to visit again. This was my third trip to London and the first where I wasn’t part of an organized group. I planned our itinerary to be a combination of places I hadn’t visited before and some of the must-see destinations for Mac (this was his first trip to London).
Where we stayed in London
We booked our trip through American Express and purchased a vacation package that included flights and our hotel. We stayed at The Standard in a Queen’s Standard room. It’s a funky boutique hotel, and the London location is decorated with a 1960s mod vibe. While the room was small, it was functional for us during our trip. The Standard sits across the street from the King’s Cross and Saint Pancras train stations, so the location is convenient. The hotel offers a wide variety of services, including a restaurant.
What we did in London
We planned our whole vacation around the Broncos – Jaguars game on Sunday afternoon. Mac (gladly) handed the trip planning reins over to me, so I went a little overboard visiting places I hadn’t visited on my previous trips to London. One seemingly permanent holdover from Covid: most tourist destinations (like the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey) offer or require reservations. Depending on the day, you may book tickets for admission any time during that day, or you may need to book a specific time slot to visit. While it can make planning your overall itinerary easier, you do lose the spontaneity of popping into a place you walk by. We opted to book reservations for 1-2 sites a day (one in the morning and one in the afternoon) to allow us enough time for travel and meals. We also used the London Underground as our main means of transportation, and we purchased 7-day Oyster cards to save money.
Day 1
After our overnight flight, we headed to the hotel to drop our bags. Luckily, our room was ready, so we checked in and freshened up before heading out. We hopped on the Tube and rode over to Kensington Palace. After walking around the Albert Memorial and the Serpentine, we took our scheduled tour of Kensington Palace. Another Tube ride took us to Trafalgar Square, and we walked across the Thames at the Embankment. Our day ended with a tour of the Benjamin Franklin House.
Day 2
We got an early start for our 9 am tour of the Palace of Westminster and the Houses of Parliament. This is definitely a worthwhile stop, even if they don’t allow pictures of most of the interior. It was interesting to walk through the Great Hall a month after the Queen’s passing. Next, we headed across the street for a tour of Westminster Abbey. It was incredibly crowded. We opted to add the Queen’s Gallery tour, which allows you a spectacular view of the Abbey from above and has a few cool items from the archives on display. Interested in the funeral effigies of the Tudor monarchs? Me, too. We took a long train ride out to Hampton Court and wrapped up with a tour of the palace.
Day 3
I made a bit of an oopsie to start our third day. The British Museum offers out-of-hours tours for a variety of their permanent collections. This is a great way to see exhibits up close without the crowds. I booked the Ancient Egypt tour, but we showed up on the wrong day. The staff kindly let us join the tour. We then headed out to Wembley Stadium for the Broncos game. It took an hour to sort out an issue with our tickets and get Mac into the game, but the Broncos won.
Day 4
We headed to the Tower of London to start Day 4. After our tour, we took a water taxi down the Thames to explore Greenwich. We hiked (sorry to my feet) up to the Royal Observatory to see the Prime Meridian. Then we toured the truly stunning Painted Hall. We opted for a river cruise back to Central London which I highly recommend. The sun set while we were on the river, so we were able to see the lights of the sites along the river.
Day 5
Day 5 was a book-focused day. We walked down the block from our hotel to see the special collections room of the British Library. Their collection includes a copy of Magna Carta, a Gutenberg Bible, and Anne Boleyn’s copy of an English New Testament. Another site that I highly recommend. We then visited Daunt’s and Hatchard’s, two of the oldest book stores in London. From there, we took the National Rail to spend the night at Hever Castle.
Day 6
Our stay at Hever Castle included access to the gardens and a tour of the castle. I’ve read about Hever for years, so this was one of my trip highlights. The B&B was delightful, and it was well worth the trip from London.
Day 7
Our final day ended with a trip to the British Museum. We toured a few of the Egypt exhibits and then visited the special exhibit celebrating the 200th anniversary of deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs. The Rosetta Stone was the centerpiece of this exhibit. From there, we made our way back to our hotel, grabbed our bags, then took the Heathrow Express out to the airport. After a stop in the Centurion Lounge, we boarded our flight and headed back to the DC area.
