London - this city has charm, history with a contrast of modern touches, beautiful streets lined with stone buildings which transport you to another era and stories tied to monuments that sometimes ignite your imagination and sometimes give you shivers, glad you were not there. :) (Tower of London stories)
Day 1: We got off at the Westminster tube station and ascended the steps to find the majestic Big Ben towering in front of us.
Out came our cameras and they enjoyed the sunshine all day long. We walked left towards the Westminster bridge and got a view of the Parliament buildings, Westminster Abbey and Big Ben altogether. Definitely a good spot to start your London tour. We walked across the bridge and made our way to the London Eye ticket office. We bought a combination of the London Eye and the river Thames cruise tickets. There is a fixed time schedule for the river cruise and you need to choose the time at the ticket office. With our tickets in hand, we stood in line for the London Eye first, as we had chosen to do the river cruise second. It was a weekday during peak season, but the wait was not more than a half hour and we were off to see the sights of London from our little capsule.
The ride lasts for half hour and we were happy to see the familiar sights.
From there, we walked to the dock (right by the London Eye) where the river cruise started. The boat goes towards East till Butler's Wharf just past the Tower Bridge. Where once nobody wanted to go or live, today it is populated by smart apartments and trendy restaurants by the waterfront.
After the river cruise, we were hungry, having missed our lunch time, (which by the way, is a by product of getting lost in seeing new sights :), took a stop at the restaurant Great British Fish and Chips. Not that many options by the London Eye. (why are there never any awesome/ local/ tasty food restaurants near popular tourist spots?)
Right after our pit stop, we started on the path towards Trafalgar Square.
Walk back across Westminster Bridge with the London Eye on your right, walk past the Westminster station, and take a right on Whitehall. Walk down Whitehall, and you will see the Horseguards Museum and grounds, (the soldiers standing in attention outside the gate, or on horses), then Downing street (fenced and guarded), and after about a 10 minute walk straight down, you will see the symbolic Trafalgar Square with Nelson's square (built to commemorate Admiral Horatio Nelson who died in the Battle of Trafalgar ) flanked by the four lions (called Landseer lions after the artist who created them). Legend has it that if the Big Ben chimes 13 times, the lions will come to life.
We moved onto Leicester Square (pronounced "Lester") with it's movie theatres and souvenir shops and finally to Piccadilly amid bold billboards, throngs of tourists and the feel of being in central London. Maybe also imagine Harry Potter, Hermoine and Ron narrowly missing a bus in the Deathly Hallows movie which was filmed right there.
As we were still not done, :), we ventured onto Regent Street with it's line of stores and decided to make a stop at Hamleys, the famous toy seller. Five floors of toys - we browsed through several sections before feasting our eyes on the Harry Potter, Game of Thrones, etc, collection.
Finally we were done with our first day in London and caught the tube back home from the Oxford street station.
Some quick points regarding the Underground:
It is extremely easy to see London using the Underground train system.
Get an Oyster card (deposit 5 pounds) and charge it up for your underground travel for your duration in London.
When you enter and leave a station, you scan the card at the turnstile, so that it can record the right fare. If you fail to scan and leave, then it could fine you the maximum fare as penalty.
Most stops for the main sights are along the Central "Red". line
Going from Zone 6 (for eg: West Ruislip, last stop on the west side of the Red Line) to Zone 1 (for eg: Westminster on the Green Line - closest stop for the Big Ben) will take about 1.25 hours after taking in time for a train line change.
Day 1: We got off at the Westminster tube station and ascended the steps to find the majestic Big Ben towering in front of us.
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| Big Ben |
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| Big Ben and Parliament buildings |
The ride lasts for half hour and we were happy to see the familiar sights.
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| Tower Bridge of London - the cruise turns around near here |
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| London Eye |
Right after our pit stop, we started on the path towards Trafalgar Square.
Walk back across Westminster Bridge with the London Eye on your right, walk past the Westminster station, and take a right on Whitehall. Walk down Whitehall, and you will see the Horseguards Museum and grounds, (the soldiers standing in attention outside the gate, or on horses), then Downing street (fenced and guarded), and after about a 10 minute walk straight down, you will see the symbolic Trafalgar Square with Nelson's square (built to commemorate Admiral Horatio Nelson who died in the Battle of Trafalgar ) flanked by the four lions (called Landseer lions after the artist who created them). Legend has it that if the Big Ben chimes 13 times, the lions will come to life.
We moved onto Leicester Square (pronounced "Lester") with it's movie theatres and souvenir shops and finally to Piccadilly amid bold billboards, throngs of tourists and the feel of being in central London. Maybe also imagine Harry Potter, Hermoine and Ron narrowly missing a bus in the Deathly Hallows movie which was filmed right there.
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| Piccadilly Circus, London |
Finally we were done with our first day in London and caught the tube back home from the Oxford street station.
Some quick points regarding the Underground:
It is extremely easy to see London using the Underground train system.
Get an Oyster card (deposit 5 pounds) and charge it up for your underground travel for your duration in London.
When you enter and leave a station, you scan the card at the turnstile, so that it can record the right fare. If you fail to scan and leave, then it could fine you the maximum fare as penalty.
Most stops for the main sights are along the Central "Red". line
Going from Zone 6 (for eg: West Ruislip, last stop on the west side of the Red Line) to Zone 1 (for eg: Westminster on the Green Line - closest stop for the Big Ben) will take about 1.25 hours after taking in time for a train line change.
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| London Underground map - sorry, the font is so small.
To view a large, clear map of the London Underground, go to:
http://diagrams.org/images/png/large/f00022.html
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