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London March 2022

London Trip Report
Hello everyone. Long time reader, first time poster. About me: I am an experienced traveller and live in the Netherlands, have been to London twice before, and appreciate history, good food, and lots of walking during my travels.

Hotel:
Decided to stay right in the middle of things for this trip. Travelodge Covent Garden had an unbeatable price, and a great location. The only con was that our days were so planned out that we left early in the morning and didn’t return till well into the evening. Lesson I learned: If you have jam-packed schedule, paying more for a centrally located hotel may not be worth it if you won’t be stopping in at the hotel during the day.

Notable activities:
Ceremony of the Keys - Tower of London
I would absolutely recommend this as a night-time activity, especially for travellers who are not necessarily bar or pub types. It is a 30 minute ceremony at the Tower of London that they have been doing for 700 years! They lock up the main gates - it used to be practical, and now just ceremonial. It was equal parts spooky and enchanting to be in the Tower complex in the stillness of night. It must be booked well in advance, however!

British Museum - After hours tours
33 GBP and worth every single penny. Do this tour! I did the Ancient Greece tour, and it was a once in a life time experience. To see the museum completely empty, to get up and close and personal with the objects. It was amazing. I also recommend listening to the British Museum podcast before you visit. There are so many cool little stories and things to look out for once you know where to look. I also did the RS Audioguide for the museum and also recommend this 110%. It made the museum so approachable. All in all, I spent 4 hours here and still can’t wait to come back!

Day trip
Brighton
What a fantastic change of pace from London. Easy to reach on Southern Rail from Victoria Station. I had mixed feelings about doing a day trip because there was still so much to see in London, but I am so happy I did. The shopping and boardwalk were just lovely. We spent a good hour in the thrift store Snooper’s Paradise alone. Bill’s Restaurant had the best price for a three course meal I have found in a long time - I think it was around 20 GBP. Just lovely.

Shoes
I recently invested in a pair of good running shoes - Brooks Glycerin GTS and these may have been the key to the whole trip. I was easily able to do 25,000 steps a day, when with other shoes I started to have serious pains after 2 hours. I remember reading somewhere on here, if you are spending so much money on the trip, why wouldn’t you spend an extra 25 dollars on a travel guide to get the most out of it? And I feel exactly the same way about these shoes. It was my first trip with a good pair of walking shoes and what a difference! Never going back to poorly fitted, unsupportive shoes after this.

Food
This was a bit of a miss for me. I am keen to hear anyone’s advice or tips about where to find reliable reviews for London restaurants. We went to Borough Market - I got an Italian pork sandwich that was equal parts dry, tough, and cold. Did not even finish it. Honest Burger was another disappointment despite great reviews on Google. Perhaps I am spoiled after living in Toronto and its variety of cheap, good eats, but overall I found the prices steep and honestly the flavour lacking at some very well reviewed restaurants! I used Google and Tiktok (mistake!) to source reviews, and did not use the RS book. Not sure what I was thinking in retrospect ha!

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Transportation
The TFL website notes that some Dutch bank cards are not accepted as forms of contactless payments. For anyone else with a VPAY ING card - mine worked, no problem.

To summarize:

Hits: Ceremony of the Keys, British Museum After Hours tours, Brighton, proper walking shoes

Misses: Too jam packed of a schedule, relying on TikTok for food recommendations

Rating: 10/10! Can’t wait to go back.

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1056 posts

Thank you for your report. I’ll be in London soon with my granddaughter, on her first trip to Europe. I remember attending the ceremony of the keys years ago with my sister and my mother. It was a hauntingly beautiful experience.

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1936 posts

Definitely agree on the Ceremony of the Keys. Great fun and so atmospheric after dark when the tourists leave.

I usually use Yelp for restaurant reviews, but I have to agree that I’ve never been wowed by British food.

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1259 posts

I recently invested in a pair of good running shoes - Brooks Glycerin GTS and these may have been the key to the whole trip. I was easily able to do 25,000 steps a day, when with other shoes I started to have serious pains after 2 hours. I remember reading somewhere on here, if you are spending so much money on the trip, why wouldn’t you spend an extra 25 dollars on a travel guide to get the most out of it?

But why not spend $100-250 on medically sound and truly superb footwear? They will work in all countries.
Seriously, if your feet hurt, you should have a podiatrist look after them. They are remarkably complex structures and, if you've been skimping on footwear for decades, you could require remedial appliances to stop further degradation. Personal experience talking.

Thank you for your thorough and encouraging narrative. I had not heard of the Keys or Museum options before. I amplanning on London in the future.

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8572 posts

Unfortunate you didn’t enjoy the variety of food options that are in London.

Might I suggest avoiding TikTok.

Instead look at sites such a Eater London, Time Out London, https://www.londoncheapeats.com/ a Lady in London and The Londonist.

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1281 posts

Bea, thank you for your great trip report on your time in London. My trip to Scotland and London is 8/25-9/15. Your mention of the Ceremony of the Keys being one of your highlights and I am considering the event for myself. The official website to purchase tickets shows no ticket availability for July going forward. I’m wondering if they only load the calendars two months ahead because it does show that May is almost fully booked and June with few dates available. Do you know anything about timing of the ticket purchase? Thanks