London Itinerary
From london with love
London is a beautiful city and a must-see of Europe. It’s just a short 6-7 hour plane ride from NYC and there is so much to see and do. We were only able to stay for 5 days but we will definitely be returning in the near future! The layout of the city is unique with the mix of modern architecture and historical structures. We chose to stay in Shoreditch to be around all the young people, food and bar scene. Another popular place to stay and hang out is SoHo, but it’s a little pricer. So here is our itinerary from our five days in London!
Friday in Shoreditch:
First off, take the tube from the airport. Do not under, any circumstances, take a black cab unless you want to end up broke within the first hour of arriving in London. Don’t ask me how I know this, it’s a sore subject
We checked into our Airbnb and then immediately went to Dishoom Shoreditch for a late lunch. I could write an entire blog about how amazing Dishoom is. I still dream about it. It was so good we went twice during our time in London. Lunch and dinner is tapas so we got a ton of food. We tried the chili chicken, chicken tikka, lamb raan bun and chicken ruby curry with garlic naan and of course the amazing bottomless chai tea. All of it was ridiculously good
A few other places that were recommended to me but we didn’t get to go were Gloria’s for Italian, Smoking Goat for Thai food and Smokestak for BBQ
After maxing out on Indian food, we explored Shoreditch a bit and ended up at Box Park Shoreditch. Box Park is a cool mix of bars, food stands, and clothing shops all in one place - you definitely have to go!
We continued drinking and bar hopping through Shoreditch, mostly on Shoreditch High Street. There are so many bars and restaurants! Nikki’s on Hoxton St was super fun!
Saturday:
We woke up early and headed over to King’s Cross Station to find platform 9 3/4
There was a massive line just to get a photo and it was really underwhelming. If you must see this, get here before 9 am to beat the crowds but I would not even recommend it
We then ate breakfast at German Gymnasium, it has a cute vibe and is right next to King’s Cross!
From here we decided to walk around and make our way to the Covent Garden area. We stopped into a lot of the stores and pubs. Two streetwear stores worth checking out are the Selfridges Mall and Dover Street Market
We tried to find the gateway to “Diagon Alley” aka Charing Cross Road in London’s west end right by Covent Garden and it turned out to just be a cobblestone street with some local businesses that were not Harry Potter related at all. They did have some cool bookstores and antique shops though so check it out if that interests you
Kingly Court on Carnaby street is a huge shopping area with stores like Patagonia, Vans, Puma, MUJI, etc. I suggest stopping into Monki, it’s a cute store with relatively cheap and sustainable clothes! Also try Ben’s Cookies - it’s a huge chain throughout London and their cookies are bomb (edit: I discovered they also have Ben’s Cookies in New York so joke’s on me)
After this long day of walking and drinking beer and cider we decided to skip the nightlife scene and got yummy ramen noodles at Shoreyu in Shoreditch before calling it a night
Sunday:
We woke up early and headed over to Westminster to beat the crowds. Here we got breakfast and walked around. This area has the London Eye, Big Ben under construction (ugh), the Palace of Westminster, Westminster Abbey and a ton more. Of course this area is a must see but going early is definitely the move
From here we made our way over to the London Bridge and Tower of London area. The London Tower Bridge is beautiful. We spent awhile in the area on the cobblestone streets before heading across the bridge
We tried to go to Borough Market but it’s closed on Sundays so we went to Leadenhall Market, which is also closed on Sundays. Neat. It’s still a cool area so we got a drink at one of the pubs that was open
We then made our way back to Shoreditch while stopping in the pubs and made it to the Spitalfields Market where we had the famous London chain Poppies Fish & Chips and shopped around at all the cute vendors
After this we went to Brick Lane to see the awesome street art. Apparently the curry houses here are a must try but we were too full at this point so we had to skip it. Surprising, I know. Brick Lane is a trendy, unique place filled with artists of many forms. We watched a girl beat-boxing on the street and it was one of the coolest sounding things I’ve heard
We got a few drinks in this area and then went to find some of Banksy’s art on Rivington St before grabbing dinner
Monday:
We returned to Dishoom for round two, this time for breakfast. Get the bacon naan, it’s quite literally to die for
After having no self control at breakfast, we headed to Buckingham Palace for the famous Changing of the Guard. It takes place in the forecourt of Buckingham Palace at 11:00 sharp following a march by a detachment of the Old Guard, with music. This lasts approximately 45 minutes and it one of those things you have to do while you’re in London
We took a nice long walk from Buckingham Palace through Hyde Park. We found the Diana Memorial Fountain and some other interesting structures
We then ubered to the Borough Market - it’s THE street market in London and was recommended to us by multiple people. It was awesome and you must go. Stop in by Oliveology, the owner is very personable and chatted with us for awhile. We left with some great snacks to bring back to NY with us. He told us that not all the stalls are open on Monday-Wednesday, so the best time to come to see it all is Thursday-Saturday even though it will be busy
Coffee: the famous Monmouth or The Cause Coffee. The Cause Coffee is run by people who are experiencing homelessness and the proceeds go to helping the homeless in London. Great coffee for a phenomenal cause
We got pizza from Turnips and some oysters from the seafood stand. Everything was so good. You can’t go wrong with any of the food at this market!
After this we went to afternoon tea at Dalloway Terrace! Afternoon tea is a must-do while in London, it is such a fun experience. We had the most amazing scones, cakes and finger sandwiches with our tea. Sketch was highly recommended to us but it was booked up for weeks out and I couldn’t get us a reservation. Definitely book afternoon tea well in advance before your trip to London
Once we were done with tea, we met up with a friend and spent the night out in SoHo. It was a great way to end our fabulous trip!
Tuesday:
We walked around Brick Lane some more, got some breakfast and then got on the tube to head to the airport!
Our London trip was wonderful and we will definitely be returning. There is so much to do and see and the vibe of the city is nothing short of amazing. If London isn’t on your bucket list, definitely change that and let me know how much fun you have. Better yet, I’ll come with you!