A return trip to a favorite location - Ten days in London (May 2025)

PRE-PLANNING:

We decided on London initially for this year’s trip, since friends of ours had never been and asked if we could play tour guide for them. We were delighted to and began the planning process. A month in, however, issues came up on their end and they had to back out. Since we had only started to book things, all refundable (no plane tix yet), we could have opted out as well. But by this point, dh and I were getting excited to return to one of our favorite cities and decided to just switch to a smaller hotel and keep the rest of the trip, using it to celebrate our 32nd wedding anniversary.

Day 0: (Monday, May 5) Our travel day

We had booked an early evening business class flight out of Newark on United, when I saw a good deal come up, and were able to pick our seats right away. They never once changed, something I had an issue with when we last flew on British Airways. (I did check every Monday morning just in case, though!)

Not wanting to deal with parking at the airport, we asked our daughter to drop us off at one of the NJ Transit stations (Hamilton) and had a relaxing and stress-free ride to the airport station, then a quick 20-minute hop over on the AirTrain (included with the transit ticket.)

We were a bit nervous about Newark’s travel woes in the week leading up to our departure. All the news stations around were happy to run stories of Newark’s “issues” (air traffic blackouts, long delays, many cancellations) and it didn’t help that United kept pushing notifications that we could change our flight with no cost penalty. If you’re on the East Coast, you were probably aware of the situation. We decided to just ride it out, whatever came up, since we had no actual scheduled events on our first day in the UK anyway.

We had no checked luggage and had checked in the night before at home, so we ate an earlier supper in the lounge first, before heading to our gate. Neither of us sleep very well on planes, but I think we each managed to get about four hours sleep. Despite the rainy, somewhat foggy weather, our plane took off only about thirty minutes late, mostly due to waiting for a bit in a rather large departure queue. But we made up the time going over and landed at Heathrow early the next morning, right on time.

Day 1: (Tuesday, May 6): Lots of walking

Knowing we had to keep moving today to get over any jet lag, we first headed to the United arrivals lounge for a relaxing shower (no wait to get one!) and a small snack (breakfast on the plane was filling and actually very good) before leaving the airport. We were staying at the Locke at Broken Wharf, a new location for us, and I was a bit hesitant about the tube ride. In the past, we stayed in the Earl’s Court area, a straight shot on the Picadilly line. But no worries. We took the Picadilly line as usual, then easily switched to the District line at Barons Court; we rode another eleven stops and got off at Blackfriars.

Google maps suggested getting off at the Mansion House station, but others had suggested Blackfriars as it was near a lift down to Paul’s Walk, the path that led directly to the hotel’s entrance. We found out later that getting to the hotel from the Mansion House station involved walking down three flights of stairs, not so good with luggage.

Happily, our room was ready when we arrived, so we dropped off our bags, pulled out and added a few items to one of our string backpacks, and were on our way again. This time, we did leave from Mansion House, the station we would come to consider our “home” station this trip. From the hotel we did have to slog up those three flights of stairs in the morning, but we usually were well-rested and are able-bodied, so it was never an issue. Those with physical limitations will probably want to use Blackfriars.

Just a quick note: taking the tube from Heathrow to the hotel, we used our phones to tap in and out, but once at the Mansion House station we went ahead and added a 7-day travelcard to our old Oyster cards. We also were able to check our Oyster card balances (leftover from a past stay in London.) Around £40 each, used later in the trip.

I’ve seen questions come up many times as to using credit cards vs. Oyster cards, as well as whether adding the travelcards is worth it. But for us it was a good option:

-we did not have to pay £7 each for Oyster cards, since we had old ones already.

-we would have only gotten a six-day cap with cc (only good Mond – Sunday) and it was already Tuesday when we started out; but the travelcards extended that cap through the following Monday (seven day cap from the day you start, ie Tues – Monday).

-And it did provide small peace of mind as we weren’t taking our credit cards or phones in and out all the time. I bought lanyards with a plastic holder (like what people at business conferences wear) to carry our Oyster cards and they worked well. The signal went through the plastic no problem.

From Mansion House, we tubed (is that a word?) over to Tower Hill, one of the few concessions we made today, to save our legs the extra walking. Tower Hill is one of our favorite areas of London, and we just meandered a bit taking pictures and enjoying being back.

Suddenly, dh pointed out several military vehicles coming down the road right near the Tower. Very important looking, and they were pulling some rather large guns (modern cannons?) So, being ever the nosy people we are, we followed along until they went through a side gate into the Tower area and set up along the Thames.

Along with about fifty other equally curious souls, we found a gate nearby, offering excellent views of the event. Turns out, they were there for a 62-gun salute to celebrate the King’s coronation day (two years already!) It was exciting to watch – for the first twenty or so firings. After that, we gave up our places to others in the crowd.

A bit later as things wound down, we got more pictures from inside a nearby souvenir shop, as all the dignitaries lined up. Even though we spent more time in the area than we thought we would, we felt lucky stumbling upon such an event. We’d again be just as lucky later in the trip

This is a fun read! I hope there is more coming.

Yes looking forward to more!

Plenty more coming!

Day one, cont'd

By this time, morning clouds had given way to bright sunshine, but it was chilly with the wind coming off the water – mid-upper 50s F (about 10+C.) It was well past lunchtime, so we grabbed a few sandwiches and some hot drinks at the nearby Pret, before crossing over Tower Bridge, taking many more pictures along the way - it’s just such a picturesque area.

Next stop - Borough Market. A return visit for me, it was new to dh, so we took some time to really see the whole place. It was moderately crowded to walk through, but we never had an issue reaching vendors and only waited a few minutes at most to buy food.

Since we both love mushrooms, I suggested sharing a bowl from the mushroom risotto stand (yum!!) Dh agreed it was very good. We also picked up some fudge and a meat pie for later. After shopping, we got off our feet for a while at a nearby pub, with a Pimm’s cup for me (apparently made with ginger beer – delicious!) and a pint for dh. We also had a nice conversation with a gentleman on his own for the day, as his wife wasn’t feeling well and stayed back in their hotel room.

Now recharged, we visited the nearby Southwark Cathedral, something I had wanted to do on my last visit but ran out of time for. It was so peaceful and beautiful, and an organ was playing in the background as we wandered through. We made a small donation as we left the building.

Then it was back along the Queen’s Walk, heading toward supper at Doggett’s Coat and Badge pub, a favorite. We had wanted to stop along the way at the Tate Modern for the upper-level view of St. Paul’s, but the museum was closed. Probably a good thing, though, as our energy was quickly waning. Even though we had made a supper reservation, Doggett’s wasn’t very busy. We asked to be seated early, and they were happy to oblige.

When dh told me I had fallen asleep for a minute while pondering the dessert menu, we knew we needed to head back to the hotel. The walk to and across the Millenium Bridge, and then along Paul’s Walk, woke us up a bit, but it didn’t take long for us to collapse in bed. Total steps for the day: 21,262.

I have added photos from our trip to my personal website, through the link below. If you’re interested in viewing them, I would suggest reading each day’s trip report first then scroll to the photos for that day, for them to make the most sense. I will re-post the link at the end of each day’s report.

Photo link:
https://www.notallwhowanderarelost.us/2025-london-trip.html

Can't wait for the rest of your report! We're spending a week in London in September, and like you, plan to revisit favorite sights, but add a few new ones. I'm definitely bookmarking, for the mushroom risotto, if nothing else!

You’re in one of my favorite cities! CN’t wait to read about the rest of your trip.

Thanks for following along, guys! Lots more to come.

Jane - dd and I went to London two years ago in September (2023) and I recently added my digital scrapbook from our trip to my website. If you're interested in looking at that, too, it might give you even more ideas/tips. Here's the link:
https://www.notallwhowanderarelost.us/our-motherdaughter-sept-2023-london-trip.html

And that mushroom risotto was awesome; if you linger near the stall long enough, they will probably give you a sample, too!

Claudette - London is special, isn't it? It's our family's favorite city as well!

Day 2 (Wednesday, May 7): St. Paul’s Cathedral and the Imperial War Museum

Not through any forethought on my part, but just by sheer luck I had scheduled our St. Paul’s visit for the one day of the week when the Cathedral didn’t open until 10a. A good thing, too, since after all the walking yesterday, we ended up sleeping very soundly through the night, a solid 10 ½ hours.

Now completely re-energized, we were out of the hotel in record time and on our way to a leisurely breakfast at a nearby Gail’s, on the way up the hill to the Cathedral. After staying near Earl’s Court in the past, it was a novelty to have so many of the attractions in London much closer to our hotel this time, something we will definitely consider for future visits.

After lingering over a yummy breakfast at Gail’s - a couple Americanos (dh) and cappuccinos (me), plus a few pastries - we completed the brief walk to the Cathedral entrance, where after a quick bag security check, we were let in. I had printed our tickets out, just in case, but the digital ones worked fine.

With our behind-the-scenes Triforium Tour scheduled for noon (and with now well-rested legs), we decided to make the climb to the top of the Dome first. I won’t ever call the climb easy but will just say that there are plenty of resting spots along the way. And in some of the trickier spots it’s a one-way hike up; no need to feel you are hindering others behind you or those wanting to come back down.

Just a warning though: the stairs start out very innocent looking, with only a small rise to each. After the first gallery, though, the rise gets taller and a bit harder to climb. At the top, stone stairs transition to a wrought iron (see-through) circular staircase. This see-through nature makes some people (like my dd, on a prior visit) very nervous. My suggestion: just take your time and go slow. There are plenty of handrails.

Sadly, no photos are allowed in the Whispering Gallery, but we got more great shots at the other two levels. Although it didn’t get very warm today – low 60s F by now (about 16C) – the breeze at the two top levels felt refreshing, as we did get a bit sweaty after climbing each set of stairs.

We had some annoying moments at the very top, when a small family of tourists insisted on having a complete photo shoot right at the outside entrance to the Golden Gallery (the last level). Twenty photos I can handle. A hundred-plus, no. We were on the verge of just pushing through (and we are usually very polite people) when they finally finished and slowly moved out of the way. Dh and I just shared an eye-roll with the others behind us who were as (polite but) stuck as we were.

We took our time getting our own photos, all the while mindful of others since the walkway around the outside of the Dome was rather narrow but did get caught in a bit of “traffic” at one point when a large tour group of German students arrived. We needed to suck in our stomachs a bit to get by each other, but they, at least, were all very polite.

Back on level ground, we found the meet-up spot for our Triforium Tour, and after waiting a few minutes for midday prayers (over the loudspeakers) to finish we were on our way. Limited to fifteen people, iirc, the tour starts with a climb up (sigh) about 150 stairs to the Triforium, or as I’ve heard it referred to, the church’s attic.

Our tour included: the wide open Triforium itself, with many displays (“important clutter”); a huge collection of broken stones - Cathedral remains from the Great London Fire in 1666 carefully arranged by architectural style; the beautiful old library, re-opened after renovations in 2023; the fantastic circular Dean’s (or geometric) Staircase; Sir Christopher Wren’s gigantic model of the Cathedral; and what has been called the “BBC view” of the nave, the prime camera spot for filming events, like royal weddings, at the Cathedral. It was my second time on the tour, dh’s first, and we both highly recommend it.

After the tour, we grabbed a bite at the café in the Cathedral’s crypt. It had not been open two years ago when dd and I visited, so it was nice to have this place to sit and get off our feet for a bit. And as we’ve found in the past, these public sites - whether castles, cathedrals or museums – all generally have very good food, usually better than what we would find in similar places here in the US.

Never ones to let valuable vacation time slip by, we next headed out to spend the rest of the afternoon at the Imperial War Museum. After consulting Citymapper, we saw that some buses were running behind schedule, so we took the City Thameslink (same cost as the tube) two stops to Elephant & Castle (not going to forget that stop, with a name like that!), and walked about ten minutes to the Museum.

Having seen the WWI section with dd on our last visit, I asked dh if we could concentrate on the Holocaust section. We spent over two hours here; it was a somber visit, and we couldn’t help but draw so many parallels with the state of things in our country currently.

A quick stop for a cup of tea and a shared pastry, plus a little time in the souvenir shop for dh (while I had a nice chat with the security guard at the main entrance), then we were again off. Supper was in Leadenhall Market tonight, and we wanted to get a few pictures beforehand.

We picked up a bus close to the Museum, heading toward Monument Station. It was a longer ride in traffic, about twenty minutes, but gave us time to chat with a fellow rider; an older woman, she was riding with her Lab dog, Bertie, and offered dh the seat next to her. Dh didn’t want to squish the dog, but she said Bertie wouldn’t mind. And, indeed, he was the quietest, friendliest, most well-behaved pup.

After a few moments, we started chatting, and learned she used to live in London, lives further north now, and still comes into the city for work two days a week. She asked about our trip and gave us some great tips. We had a wonderful conversation and before we knew it, we were at our stop.

Once at Leadenhall, we explored some of the nooks and crannies, taking a few pictures at the Market and of the nearby Gherkin. Even though the pubs here were teeming with the afterwork crowd in their business attire, most of the shops were closed for the night by now.

We picked Lamb Tavern for our evening meal and were not disappointed. Since the restaurant part is on the upper level, we requested a table by the window, to look out over the Market. The view – with the lights coming on as it got darker – was beautiful.

We went traditional tonight, with sausages and mash, delicious, cooked cabbage, and another Pimm’s for me (this one had prosecco in it so different taste); and fish and chips, and a glass of rose (which he said paired surprisingly well) for dh. We did indulge for dessert – sticky toffee pudding (my favorite) for me, with a glass of port; and an apple crumble and a glass of muscat for dh.

Sufficiently stuffed, we headed back to the hotel, stopping on the way at a small Sainsbury’s Local near Mansion House station for a few groceries, since our room came with a small kitchenette and fridge. Steps today: 14,341.

Photos link (scroll down to) Day Two: https://www.notallwhowanderarelost.us/2025-london-trip.html

... gave us time to chat with a fellow rider; an older woman, she was riding with her Lab dog, Bertie, and offered dh the seat next to her. Dh didn’t want to squish the dog, but she said Bertie wouldn’t mind.

I'm enjoying your TR so much but this was the particular detail I especially delighted in and wanted to thank you for sharing!

Hannah - thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying the details; I like to think they really give a sense of what the vacation was like. We had several longer conversations like this throughout our ten days and it really made it a much more satisfying trip. Dh says I can carry on a conversation with anyone, anywhere. I haven't quite lived up to that yet, but I'm trying! :)

Day 3 (Thursday, May 8): Spitalfields, the British Museum, a tour and a play

Today began early, as I wanted to get to Spitalfields Market first thing at opening (8 am.) The Market is specifically dedicated to antiques and vintage items on Thursdays, and after visiting on my last trip, I was eager to get back.

While I’m certainly not an expert, I have a weakness for silver and happily found a few small pieces I really liked, along with a box of paper memorabilia. It also gave me a chance to use up some of my cash, left over from a prior trip.

Dh isn’t fond of shopping, but he good naturedly offered to be my porter. I told him the lack of luggage space stopped me from buying anything too large – translation in his terms, expensive. He was happy to hear that.

I asked him if he could search through the area and scare us up some breakfast while he waited. He was happy to have something to do, and we soon were sitting at one of the tables provided by the Market enjoying pretty decent egg/bacon/pork/avocado sandwiches, and coffee.

Dh was good about keeping track of time for me (translation: he finished surfing on his phone and was getting antsy to move on) and after just shy of two hours I had seen every booth and was ready to go as well. Next - on to the British Museum.

The last time I went to the Museum (with dd) we accidentally stumbled onto the back entrance on Montague Place. This time, dh and I arrived at the Museum from the front, and after one look at the hordes waiting to enter, deliberately went around back.

To be fair, it was early still - only half an hour after the Museum opened - and the bulk of the crowd were various school groups, but we wanted to see our favorite Egyptian section and knew how crowded it could get. Of course, many people had the same idea. But true to our last visit, the Montague Place entrance was much less busy, and we made it through security in just under ten minutes.

First stop, as noted – the Egyptian section. Even though signs in the area prohibited tour groups from coming in, since the rooms were much smaller and narrower between the display cases, it didn’t stop the school groups from entering en masse. We gave it an hour, then moved on to quieter areas.

Having both visited the Museum in the past, we didn’t feel the need to re-visit too much, although I did want to see the Lewis Chess pieces (only got a glance last time) and especially the Sutton Hoo Hoard again – this exhibit especially, since I had recently started watching a Time Team show about ongoing excavations at the site.

We also touched on some of the Assyrian and Greek sections, and spent some time looking over all the timepieces – watches, clocks, etc. – for dh.

In place of lunch, we opted to have afternoon tea, somewhat of a tradition for us now, and I had made reservations for 12:30p. The restaurant got progressively busier as we sat there. While we enjoyed everything that was offered, dh did ask me if he could trade me his salmon sandwich for my ham one.

Out of all the food, we both enjoyed the scones (and clotted cream, yum!) the best, which I found funny later looking back at a picture I took of the menu. They were supposed to be rhubarb, but I never got that flavor while eating them. They were still delicious. We requested, and were charged for, another pot of tea. Not a problem, since we thoroughly enjoyed it, but just something to note for others who might want the same.

Afterwards, we had time to check out a few more areas of the Museum and stop quickly at the gift shop (one of our favorite places to get souvenirs; the quality and choice is great), then it was off to the Baker Street station to meet up with our afternoon tour (next to the Sherlock Holmes statue near the station entrance).

Offered through the London Underground Museum, our Hidden London Tour was called Baker Street: The World’s First Underground. As the title states, the station was the home to the beginning of the London metro system, which opened in 1863. We learned the history behind the original underground rail system, which was interesting, and did get to tour some closed-off portions of the station, but I think the online description was a bit more enthusiastic than what we actually experienced. Plus, the cost - £45 each – was a bit steep for what was offered.

The Underground Museum offers other tours too, but the ones we thought sounded more interesting weren’t offered when we were there. The guides were well informed and engaging, though, so I can’t fault them.

Once the tour was over, we headed to the West End (Covent Garden), for a snack before our evening play. We didn’t need much, since we had the larger afternoon tea, but wanted to check out the tiny little Champagne and Fromage, a few minutes’ walk from our show, “The Play That Goes Wrong.” It was just what we wanted, and both the drinks and cheese dishes were delicious, in a nice, relaxed setting.

We didn’t need to rush through our meal to make our curtain, but others had suggested getting to our seats a bit early, to see some of the “pre-play activity.” I won’t spoil it with details but suffice it to say that if you like moderate slapstick humor, you will enjoy this play. It kept us laughing the entire time.

We opted to take the bus back to the hotel and got off almost directly in front of St. Paul’s Cathedral, which made for some wonderful nighttime photos. We didn’t linger too long, since it would be another early wakeup the next day.

A lot of steps again today: 19,223

Photo link Day Three: https://www.notallwhowanderarelost.us/2025-london-trip.html

I am enjoying your travelogue so much! Making notes for our October visit to London. The play sounds marvelous--hoping it may still be there during our trip.

I’m planning a week in London with my daughter in August, so I’m following your report with great interest.

k1jschultz and Barbara - thanks for following along!

k1jschultz - I can't say for certain if the play will still be running, but It's been going on for quite a long time. For example, when dd and I visited London in Sept 2023, we saw it then, same theater and everything.

Barbara - that's awesome! Mother/daughter trips are so special. Dd and I still reminisce about ours from two years ago.

Day 4 (Friday, May 9): Hampton Court Palace

We wanted to get an early start to Hampton Court Palace today, a place neither of us had visited before, so we were up and out of the hotel by 8am. Our tube travels this morning – Mansion House to Victoria to Vauxhall stations – went so smoothly we were at the rail station even before the platform for our desired train was listed on the boards.

The station doesn’t offer much seating unless you are waiting on a platform, but we found a small alcove off to the side where we were able to enjoy sausage rolls and sodas (we had coffee and yogurt earlier in our hotel room) while we waited for our train to be listed.

I had ordered train tickets from home and used Greater Anglia to do so, as that was what I was used to from prior trips. (I liked that with them you could get e-tickets immediately, along with versions to print at home.) I also created an account to purchase the tickets. Because of something that happened with a train ride on a prior trip (see below), I always purchased the most flexible tickets possible, even if it was a bit more cost-wise.

(Two years ago, dd and I took a rail trip out of London, using inexpensive, but limiting, advance tickets (a set time) only to find the site we went to visit was unexpectedly closed. Since we didn’t have an account, we couldn’t switch the advance train tickets to anything else, didn’t want to hang around until the return time we had chosen, and had to buy all new tickets to get back early, at an additional much higher cost.)

Not that I believed we would have issues going to the Palace today, or anywhere else we wanted to go this trip, but once burned, twice shy. It was interesting to note, though, the train ride to the Palace today was the one journey where selecting an anytime day return ticket (more flexible) was cheaper than getting single out/return tickets for a set time.

And, yes, I went ahead and printed out copies of the tickets even as I added the digital version to our phone wallets. I am getting more used to - and enjoy the ease of - digital travel but am still a bit nervous of “something” happening to such tickets. A paper copy backup just seemed to be a good idea, although when we got there our digital tickets worked fine.

The rail journey took just over half an hour, and we were surrounded in our train car by a large group of students from what I believe was a private girls’ school. Very talkative, but not too loud. It was fun to listen to them and remember our daughter at that age.

After arriving, we took a moment to use the train station restrooms, then walked a short distance from the station, over the bridge to the Palace gates.

Today was the first time on this trip we were using the Days’ Out 241 offers for admission to an attraction, and it worked fine. (Dd and I used it on our prior trip several times.) I had printed out the required voucher at home (one of the few times this trip we needed a real piece of paper and not a digital copy), and this time, the Palace staff actually wanted to see our (digital) train tickets too (they don't always care.) Amount saved: £28

We spent the next several hours roaming through the Palace, before heading outside to meet up for a noon garden tour. Listed as an hour-long tour, it covered only a small section of the vast Palace gardens – including the Privy Garden, the Pond Gardens, and the Great Vine – and turned into an almost hour and a half long walk. I was thrilled, dh not so much. But at least he wasn’t bored.

With the weather nearly perfect - temp mid 60s F (about 18C), a gentle breeze, no noticeable humidity whatsoever, and full sunshine - and having heard through others that the on-site café wasn’t the best, we opted to grab lunch from one of two lunch carts on the edge of the gardens. A pulled pork sandwich and slaw for dh, and brisket over fries for me made for a very tasty meal, and you couldn’t beat the scenery.

As we hadn’t seen everything inside the Palace before our garden tour, we took another two hours to finish up there. We visited the gift shop briefly, before again heading outside, this time for me to check out the massive kitchen garden. (Dh checked email on his phone while I wandered.)

The plots held an immense variety of plants, and as much as I like to think I am up on my plant knowledge, I found myself referring to the handy signage several times. Some of the vegetables were historic including sea kale, salad burnet and something called Good King Henry, apparently a “poor man’s spinach.”

As our supper reservations weren’t until 5:30p (17:30), we sat for a while on one of the nearby benches, charging up our phones (portable battery packs) and basking in the sun. Later, as we headed for the exit, we passed by huge beds of old-variety roses, sweetly perfuming the air. Heady smells, indeed.

We walked just across the street from the Palace entrance to where we would eat tonight – the Mute Swan. Amazing food, including a delicious, shared charcuterie tray to start, and a shared raspberry white chocolate crème Brule to end the meal.

We caught the 7:54p (19:54) train back to Vauxhall. It was a relaxing train ride, but once back at the station we were thrust into the hustle and bustle once more.

Our hotel came equipped with a washer/dryer combo, and we decided to throw in a small load before bed. The washing part was fine, but no matter how much we read over the dryer instructions, we just couldn’t figure it out. It wasn’t a problem, but we quickly ran out of hangers and lived with damp clothes scattered throughout the room for the next day or so. It was still worth it for us to have clean clothes.

Total steps today: 16,021

Photo link again, Day Four: https://www.notallwhowanderarelost.us/2025-london-trip.html