Big Guide to LONDON: What to See, Visit, and Taste for an Unforgettable Experience! – part 2

How is your planning going? I hope you got some inspiration from Part 1 of Big Guide to London! Let’s keep discovering…

3. Parks

Hyde Park

The biggest park in central London, full of fountains and ponds and trees, is simply beautiful. Must see is the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain – a fountain dedicated to the memory of the favorite princess.

St. James’s Park

Located between Buckingham Palace and Royal House Guards. Thousands of tulips and daffodils blossom here every spring and it is dressed to all that pumpkin-vibe colors in the autumn. All this is accompanied by ducks, swans, and fearless squirrels, which will come to your feet. They are used to get food from tourists.

Regent’s Park

London has its own Zoo, as well as the majority of large cities in the world. This one is located in Regent’s Park, close to Camden town. Other than that, you will find everything you expect from a park here – large grasslands, a lake, and many playgrounds for various sports activities.

4. Museums and galleries

British Museum

Offers more than 7 million exhibits – ranging from a magnificent statue of Easter Island to tiny teaspoons of China’s empires. If you don’t want to spend a week here, check the exhibitions and pick the rooms you want to see ahead.

My recommendations

Parts of the Pantheon from Ancient Athens, Rosette stone, a copy of the gate of Babylon, Egyptian mummies, wooden totems from Canada, statue from Easter Island.

National Gallery

Building on the top of Trafalgar Square. It’s nice to spend some time here even if you aren’t an art lover. You can see more than 2000 paintings here and visit a nice gift shop.

My recommendations

Sunflowers by Vincent Van Gogh, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Madona in Rocks by Leonardo da Vinci.

Tate Modern

A modern art museum, located in the visually interesting building of an old power station. If you are like the modern art of the 20th century until the present, you will be in heaven here. The museum offers many temporary special exhibitions.

My recommendation

There is a coffee shop at the top level of the museum, from which you have a beautiful view of the city. You can enter even if you won’t buy anything. The gift shop at the exit of the museum is full of books about art but also about photography and creativity. Yes, I bought 2 books there.

Science Museum

An interactive museum full of space, physics, transport, volcanoes, and an unbelievable amount of information. My brain was overheated after a few hours spent here. But in a good way! Expositions are modern and well explained, enjoyable for adults and kids as well.

The best exhibit here? To see the rock from the Moon and modules, which have been in space. 

Natural History Museum

There is a skeleton of a Blue Whale (currently the biggest animal on Earth) hanging from the ceiling in the main hall. There are many more skeletons in the museum, skeletons of dinosaurs, and mammoths, but also “regular” animals. Expositions of minerals, stuffed animals, and many more.

My recommendation

Exhibitions about earthquakes include the earthquake simulator and casts of people, who died during the volcano eruption in Pompei.

WHAT’S THE MOST SURPRISING ABOUT ALL THIS?

Entry to all these museums is free! Temporary exhibits are the only ones you need to buy an entrance ticket for, they are changing a few times a year.

5. Restaurants, bars, street food, grocery shops

Before going out to taste local flavors, you should know at least the basics of typical British cuisine. High in calories, food is cooked, fried, and made from local ingredients. Sauces accentuate the flavors rather than disguise them. Typical meals always made me feel warm, comfortable, somehow cozy, and satisfied. They are perfect to eat when the typical British weather hits, they warm you up from the inside while there is fog and rain outside.

Typical British food includes:

• Fish & Chips
• Full English Breakfast
• Sunday Roast
• Yorkshire Pudding
• Shepherd’s Pie

Wetherspoons

Popular in all of Great Britain. I believe you can find more locals than tourists there or tourists who have been recommended the place. Why? The food is cheap and fast, but it isn’t typical fast food. You can get fine steak, panini, burger, typical pub food. With a pint (approximately half a liter) of beer or cider on tap. It’s usually crowded and noisy. 

The tricky part is that it rarely has a sign Wetherspoons, every restaurant of this chain has its name. But Google Maps are great, they will find you these places anyway. To make it easier for you check their website and click on the button in the upper right corner where you can find the restaurant around you.

Parts of London to enjoy particular cuisine

London is home to numerous nationalities and cultures. You can taste meals from around the world thanks to that.

• Chinatown – the best place for Asian cuisine in London
• Camden Town – check the information in the previous article in the section about parts of London outside of city centre
• Little Italy – part of London I still haven’t had a chance to visit and taste its delicious pasta and pizza

Grocery stores with sandwiches, wraps, and ready-to-go fruit:

• Sainsbury’s
• Tesco Express
• Carrefour

My favorite ready-to-go meals, which you can eat in or take away:

• Starbucks
• Nero
• Pret-A-Manger – I can recommend amazing soups and other warm food, it is great, especially during typical British weather.
• Itsu – sushi, rice, noodles, fruit

I rarely sit down and have a meal in a restaurant during my traveling, I prefer takeaway food and spots where you can enjoy the view or I take the food on the way home. Because I want to see as much as possible.

6. Shops

TK Maxx

Outlet, which you can find in many locations in London and around Great Britain. You buy here everything you can think of – cosmetics, electronics, things for the home, sunglasses, shoes, suitcases, and mainly clothes, brands like Tommy Hilfiger, Gap, Calvin Klein… For such funny prices, that I sometimes didn’t believe it until I paid for it.

Hamleys

Have you ever been to a 7-floors toy store? Yes, I visited it twice. This one. Even though I am not a child anymore, the walk around this toy store is magical. Toys are not only in the packages, people working here are showcasing them, they are playing with them. That’s an amazing job, isn’t it? There is a toilet on the top floor, without a fee to pay and without a queue.

Lego store

I am not a fan of Lego, so I never visited this store. I noticed that there can be a queue to enter the store. Pretty sure that this shop is as great or even better than my favorite…

M&M’s

Colorful, smells like chocolate. A couple of floors of clothes, souvenirs, and sweets of course – all the colors and flavors, you can mix them by yourself.

My recommendation

There can be a huge queue at the cashier. Try to check the other cashiers in other parts of the store or on other floors. 

Oxford Street

Huge Primark, Disney store, Zara, New Balance, you find whatever your heart desires. The location is great as well, there are a couple of tube (underground) stations to catch the train back to the hotel/airport when you don’t have any more room to carry all your goodies.

Souvenirs

They are completely everywhere. The closer to the city center, the more expensive they become. But also more types, colors, and sizes. If you don’t have much space in the luggage and an extra budget for these, buy a magnet or keychain, they are nice.

Bonus: What to see in a day

Start at 1) Victoria Station – you can travel there by bus, train or metro from any airport, town in Great Britain and hotel in London.

Why to begin here? It is situated only a few minutes walk from 2) Buckingham Palace. From there, you will go to 3) St. James’s Park, cross it to the other end and you will find yourself in 4) Royal House Guards.

Turn left and walk to 5) Trafalgar Square, check the National Gallery, and continue up the road directly behind the gallery – doesn’t matter if you take the road on the left or right, you will come to 6) Leicester Square. Visit M&M’s, Lego store, and Chinatown, and continue to the left to 7) Picadilly Circus. Walk Regent Street on the way to Oxford Street, stop by 8) Hamleys, walk through 9) Carnaby Street, and check 10) Liberty London.

You can download this route to your Google Maps using this link.

Take the London Tube from Oxford Circus to Green Park (the next stop) and from there change the line and go to Westminster (also the next stop). 

Cross the river Thames to visit the 11) London Eye, then walk back to stop by 12) Big Ben and the 13) Palace of Westminster, and visit 14) Westminster Abbey if you have any time left. From this point, you can walk back to Victoria Station, the walk takes only about 20 minutes. There are many small coffee shops and places to buy food, so you can grab something on the way.

The link to this part of the route is here.

I walked the same route on the days when I wanted to breathe the London vibes – sure the fumes and many people are there too. It is a pretty decent walk, but I can promise you, that you won’t regret it.

More to come…

I covered all the important places to see and visit, what to eat and where. One more part of this guide is right here! Recommendations about how to get around London and how to not to be caught in tourist traps. A little comment about special days and events and what to expect. And one more surprise. Let’s read more!