If you are looking to make the most out of your trip to London (aka you only have one or two days there) then you have come to the right blog post to help you see the major sites of London in just one day! Since you are fitting so many things in to one day, this itinerary isn’t necessarily designed to allow you to go in and tour every single item. Like you may have noticed from some of my other posts, I am ok with looking at a landmark, taking some photos, maybe reading something informational about it outside the building and moving on. Honestly, I can read about the landmark on my own time.
Itinerary:
- Breakfast on the go – Pret a Manger
- Breakfast on the go is key with just one day to do everything you will do today. My favorite quick breakfast spot is Pre a Manger. They have a ton of vegetarian and healthy options! My favorite thing to grab every morning was a green juice! You will find that a lot of the restaurants are meat and carb heavy so getting in some veggies in the morning helped to kick off the day.
- Walk through Trafalgar Square
- Trafalgar Square is right in the middle of a lot of things in London. Initially most of the area of this square was courtyard of the Great Mews stabling serving Whitehall palace. Formerly the site was known as Charing and after the formation of memorial cross it is now known as Charing Cross.
- Head toward Westminster
- Next, make your way by foot to the Westminster area. It will take about 15 minutes to walk from Trafalgar Square to Westminster. Here you will find:
- Check out Westminster Abbey
- Check out Big Ben
- Check out the parliament building
- Check out the London Eye
- I would recommend spending about 1.5 hours here, tops. Everything is in the same area and unless you are carving out time to tour anything you shouldn’t need more time in this area.
- Hop on a Thames River cruise that will take you up to the London Bridge
- Next, hop on a river cruise that will take you all the way up to the London bridge. The river cruise will give you some of the best views of the bridge from the water!
- Travel Tip: Try and get on early and grab a seat right at the railing on either side of the boat. You will be able to get the best photos from this seat.
- Explore London Bridge
- If you plan some time, you can walk over to the London Bridge and get a better view.
- Explore St. Paul’s Cathedral
- Something I learned from planning this day trip on a Sunday is that St. Paul’s Cathedral isn’t open for tourism on Sunday’s (I should have known that) due to service. You are able to go sit in on a service, but don’t expect to be snapping a bunch of photos and wandering around.
- Eat lunch
- Once you have made it this far, this is a great place to stop for lunch. We found a great sushi place ( a bit expensive) but it was near St. Paul’s Cathedral.
- Check out Buckingham Palace
- Take the tube to Buckingham Palace. If you are ok not taking the time to take a tour of Buckingham Palace, take some time to walk the grounds, try and make the guards laugh and admire all the gold!
- Bus over to Kensington Palace
- You can take the bus just a few miles over to Kensington Palace. Before you head to Kensington, grab a beer at one of the cool bars right outside the gates. There is also plenty to see on the Kensington grounds!
- Have high tea at the Orangery
- This is something you need to make reservations for ahead of time. If you are following my itinerary, I recommend making your high tea reservation later in the afternoon. Try for any time after 5pm! If you missed it, check out my post on my high tea experience!
- Walk to Churchhill Arms
- You have probably seen the photos all over Pinterest, but there is a cool bar covered in flowers and plants with a super divey feel. The bar has been around for years and is a place to try have a beer! We were there on a Monday night and it was so crowded
#london #itinerary #oneday #england #europe #passport #international
