London Skyline

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My time in London was less structured than my time in Paris. I had been twice before, and seen most of the major sites. The one major place I had neglected to visit was the British Museum, so I knew that had to be my priority.

I arrived in London on Friday a little before noon, and first went to scout my AirBNB location. Since I couldn’t check in for a few more hours, I decided to have lunch at a lovely cafe, King of Falafel. I relaxed there until it was time for me to check in. Once I had settled in and showered, I had used up my free time and it was time to head to my Thames river cruise!

London England Falafel King

Eye Spy…

By the time I made it to the cruise I was one of the last ones in line, and thus was delegated to the interior of the boat. At first I was upset, but as it turns out, those sitting on top can’t move, and thus can’t change sides of the boat when something interesting pops up. I took full advantage of my mobility to wander around!

London England Boat Tour Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge
London England Boat Tour
The Houses of Parliament
London England Boat Tour Thames
Piers of the Original Railway Bridge

After returning to the docks, I walked over to the London Eye. 

I was skeptical of the attraction – it was relatively expensive, and seemed very touristy. While both of those things were true, it did offer some stunning views along with a novel experience.

Tip: Wait to take your Houses of Parliament pictures until the way down.

  • England London The London Eye
    The London Eye
  • England Portrait London The London Eye
    On the London Eye
  • England London The London Eye
    The Houses of Parliament from the London Eye
  • England London The London Eye
    London Skyline from the London Eye
  • England Portrait London The London Eye
    On the London Eye, featuring the Houses of Parliament

After getting off I crossed the river to see Cleopatra’s Needle (a true cryptid… an artifact the British didn’t steal!). 

London England Cleopatra's Needle
London England Cleopatra's Needle
London England Cleopatra's Needle
The inscription reads: “This obelisk quarried at Syene was erected at On (Heliopolis) by the Pharaoh Thothmes III about 1500 B.C. Later inscriptions were added nearly two centuries later by Rameses the Great. Removed during the Greek Dynasty to Alexandria the royal city of Cleopatra. It was erected there in the 18th year of Augustus Caesar, B.C. 12.”

The West End

London England Six Musical Program Inside Theatre
Ready to begin!

From there I headed to Vaudeville Theatre to catch that night’s showing of SIX: The Musical. It was great, and only about 90 minutes, which was perfect since I was so tired! I had only listened to the opening number, and I definitely recommend not reading up on it before going. 

London England Six Musical Outside Theatre
What a great show!

SIX is currently on tour in North America!

The British Museum

Saturday was devoted almost entirely to the British Museum.

London England British Museum
London England British Museum
London England British Museum
London England British Museum
London England British Museum
London England British Museum
The tour took us through several galleries, most notably to the Parthenon Galleries, but also through the Mycenean room, the Nereid Monument, and the Mausoleum of Halikarnassos.

I began the day with the Out-of-Hours tour, “An introduction to the ancient Greek world”. In my opinion, it was definitely worth it to be able to get into the museum an hour earlier than anyone else!

London England British Museum
An early depiction of Helen and Paris?
London England British Museum
The Nereid Monument
London England British Museum
Objects from the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus

After the tour I went to see the Rosetta Stone, which was already surrounded…

London England British Museum
The Rosetta Stone is very popular!
  • London England British Museum
    Egyptian Statues
  • London England British Museum
    Assyrian Lamassu
  • London England British Museum
    Samurai Armor

I did a quick pass through Egypt and Mesopotamia, then went up to Japan. If you’re looking for a quieter gallery this is it! It was much less hectic than the downstairs galleries, and I appreciated the quiet and calm. Once I finished walking through the upstairs, I headed down to have a quick lunch in the cafe.

After lunch, I went on the free Assyria eye-opener tour – which was great because the relief galleries were closed by the time I realized they were only open for a few hours each day! It was lovely to be in such a beautiful space with hardly anyone else. 

London England British Museum Portrait
London England British Museum
London England British Museum

Tip: the British Museum offers many free tours to visitors!

I continued exploring the museum until it was time for the Ancient Rome eye-opener tour. After the tour I went back to see a few more objects, and stayed almost until closing!

  • London England British Museum
    Garuda
  • London England British Museum
    Bust of Ptolemy I
  • London England British Museum
    Room 1
  • London England British Museum
    Discus Thrower
  • London England British Museum
    The Parthenon Galleries
  • London England British Museum Portrait
    The Parthenon Pediment
  • London England British Museum
    Roman Gallery
  • London England British Museum
    Lewis Chessmen
  • London England British Museum
    Easter Island Head
  • London England British Museum Portrait
    Easter Island Head

St. Paul’s Cathedral

I headed to St. Paul’s Cathedral next. Due to my schedule, I couldn’t tour during open hours. Instead, I attended the Easter Liturgy.

Tip: You don’t need to pay to enter a church! Going to service is always free!

I ended up having to leave early in order to make it to my dinner reservation, but it was very interesting to sit through an Anglican service. I even got to sit next to Horatio Nelson!

London England St. Paul's Cathedral
London England St. Paul's Cathedral

The Sky Garden

I was blown away by the Sky Garden. It was absolutely beautiful, and contained two bars and two restaurants. As I waited for my dinner time, I got a mocktail (Raspberry and Rose Cooler, for the curious) and sat down to relax. It was pretty amazing to be sitting on a terrace above seagulls! They have free water as well, and the drink prices seemed reasonable. The best part is that it’s free to enter!

London England Sky Garden
London England Sky Garden
London England Sky Garden
London England Portrait Sky Garden
London England Sky Garden

I made my dinner reservation at the more affordable of the two restaurants, the Darwin Brasserie. From my table I was able to see Tower Bridge, and I’m sure other seats with a slightly different placement could see the Tower itself.

London England Sky Garden Darwin Brasserie
London England Sky Garden Darwin Brasserie
London England Sky Garden Darwin Brasserie

For my meal, I ordered the breadbasket and gnocchi. The bread came warm, and the tray with the butter was warm too which I thought was a nice touch. And then my gnocchi came before I could take more than one bite of bread, not even 15 minutes since I had sat down! The gnocchi (pesto) was delicious, I would definitely recommend it.

Goodbye, London!

I had no London plans on Sunday, aside from making my way to St. Pancras and the Eurostar. I wish all travel was so easy! Security and passport control were super fast, and once we arrived at Gare du Nord in Paris, it was as simple as walking off the train!