The Best of London

 
(London Eye and Sherlock Holmes)

We visited almost everything on foot or by subway in London. It is very easy to move around the city. We went straight to the Big Ben, by the way, we began our city tours there almost every day. It's quite an emotion to be in front of the most famous clock in the world, even though we have got a bit disappointed. It is much smaller than we expected. However, it is wonderful! We also took a walk to the London Eye Ferris wheel. We could not ride it because it was closed the whole time we were in town. We passed by Westminster Abbey, the church with glorious medieval architecture where the funeral of Princess Diana, the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and the wedding of Prince William with Kate Middleton took place..

 
(Big Ben - Busy metropolis!)

Walking a little further, you will arrive at Buckingham Palace. It is really beautiful and very impressive. One must stop there for a few hours. The kids loved the guards moving around and were mimicking them outside. After enjoying our time at the palace, we headed toward St. James's Park. It is the most elegant park in London although much smaller than Hyde Park. The boys loved the squirrels who came eat on our hands.

 
(Buckingham Palace and St. Jame's Park)

When we go somewhere for the first time, the best thing we do is to take a city tour to get a general idea of the area. A city tour, for a day at least, is a great option, especially if we have just a few days for the visit because this way we can stop and get off at tourist areas and later on catch another bus using the same pass for 24 hours. We've already taken several city tours in different cities around the world, but in London we thought it was really worth it. We chose to ride double decker buses with open top floors. Of course, as soon as the boys hopped onto the bus, they ran to the second floor, even if it were raining and freezing cold. One advantage of freezing up there was that no one went upstairs, so we were with all seats just for ourselves and we could change places depending on which side of the bus the attraction was.

 
(Freezing tour)

We walked to Trafalgar Square, too. It is a very busy square with fountains, crowded with people and full of life where events take place all the time. It features the statue of Nelson, who defeated the Spanish fleet at the Battle of Trafalgar. The National Gallery is the museum is located in Trafalgar Square and its admission is free. One or two hours in this museum is enough.

 
(Trafalgar Square and Westminster Abbey)

Of course we enjoyed the attractions on the bank of the River Thames. We took the chance to go on a boat ride on the river as well. It's well worth it! It was very good! And the kids loved it!
There was some light snow at times. Nothing that could discourage our strolling around. It usually snowed heavier the night when we were at the hotel.

 
(Strolling by the Thames)

One evening we went to the theater to watch the play The Lion King. It is a must-see musical and an experience that certainly made our trip to London unforgettable. The actors were fantastic, the animated characters coming to life on the African savannah was a bliss and the world famous Elton John song just struck us.

 
(Watching Lion King)

If you like museums take the opportunity to visit one of the city's many museums: the British Museum , Science Museum, Natural History Museum, Imperial War Museum , London Museum, the Design Museum , Victoria & Albert Museum , Geffrey Museum (indoor architecture), Wellcome Collection (Medicine and science)... But be careful! Needless to say that it is impossible to visit them all in just a few days.

 
(Endless fun!)

TIP: If you ara a Harry Potter fan, visit the Warner Studios in order to feel inside the movie. A must see!

For more information about some important attractions in London, click on one of the links below: