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Trip Report: Five Days in London for the first time

We spent 5 days in London, independently, between two RS tours.
Where we Stayed Pride of Paddington pub, right next to Paddington Station. Our double room had a refrigerator, couch, nice bed and recently updated bathroom. Yes, we heard noise from below til closing, but earplugs helped. There was no lift, but we'd packed light. Location and price were excellent - and we could just go downstairs to eat. There was a laundromat within a few blocks, grocery stores in Paddington station, and all manner of dining options nearby. We'd definitely stay there again.

Where we went We wanted a slower pace than RS touring, with time for lollygagging, so we just bought advance tickets for the Tower of London, Westminster Abbey, and St Paul's, for the first possible time slot of the day. The Abbey and St Pauls weren't very crowded that early, and entry was smooth. The Tower had us all line up in the rain, whether or not we had a ticket already (boo) but we moved quickly once it opened. We enjoyed each of these places.
* Tower: went to the Jewels first, excellent plan to avoid lines later. Our pre-read of the RS guide was very helpful. Had lunch in the really good onsite cafe - so many food options, lots of room.
* Abbey: Excellent audio guide (the UK does these so well). We paid L5 more for the Queen's Jubilee Galleries - well worth it for Abbey historical items, royal treasures, and the view from above.
* St Paul's: another excellent audio guide, appreciated the encouragement to stop and meditate as I toured. Climbed the Dome to Whispering level - that is a LOT of steps, shallow though they may be! Very cool inner view of Dome closer up. Then to the Stone level (loved going outside to cool down), steps tighter and more claustrophobic. My knees voted against going up to the final Gold level.
* Boat ride on the Thames - after joining the throngs around the Eye. Great value, very fun. I walked up the hill in the sunshine to the Greenwich Observatory, through the lovely park. Didn't plan enough time for the interesting observatory before needing to return to catch the boat back to Westminster dock.
* Changing of the Guard: Got a front row spot by arriving at 9:35. Congenial crowd, timely start, lots of marching around (who were all those random people entering and leaving by the side doors? inquiring minds...) Indeed, every tourist in London was there.
* Churchill War Rooms: We found the museum layout confusing and it was crowded but overall it was excellent and informative.
Where we ate Mostly pub food, which was easy and good. One really nice dinner at The Shed (in the RS book) - excellent farm to table food, pretty setting, near a Tube stop. We also ate Sunday Roast at the Pride of Paddington pub and it was great.

**BEST THINGS EVER*
* I used the Packtor app - Lisa at RS was right, this helped me remember everything
* Sainsbury's in Paddington Station: excellent source of room picnic food including chewy granola slices, fruit, yogurt, beverages
* tapping our card everywhere. No need to buy Tube tickets or passes - system automatically calculates it all
* Verizon 1 month phone plan - we used Apple Maps constantly (where is the closest Tube, how do I get there, which entrance? closest food? Also used the Flush app to find bathrooms, and National Rail app to buy tickets)
* Senior Rail Card - L30 to get 33% off on all our train rides. Splurged on first class from Scotland to London, worth it.
* Travelon cross body bag - perfect size for essentials. I'm normally a money belt person but never felt the need with this bag.
So many things to see next time we are in London - this was just the start.

Posted by
9239 posts

Thanks for your report.

London is always changing and always the same.

Favorite city on the planet that never fails to provide sites to explore

Now you that you’ve experienced it do hope you’ll return for a longer period of time. So much to see and do.

Posted by
14761 posts

Thank you so much for your TR! I'm not familiar with the Packtor App so I am going to go look. Is it a packing list app?

There are so many things to see in London and if you read the forum long enough you'll have a never-ending list. Honestly, I just keep adding to the bottom and know I'll never get everything seen, lol!!

editing to add: I just went to the Packtor website and started a packing list. I checked the box for did I want to pack extra light. The list it created starts with TEN pr of underwear, lol!! Plus 10 pr socks and 10 shirts. Yikes. I've got my packing list on GoogleDocs that I've honed thru the years so I was just curious to see if I was missing anything. I DO recommend you go back thru your Packtor list and revise it based on what worked and what didn't work this trip!

Posted by
468 posts

Wow--would I recognize it? Really enjoyed London but haven't been there since 2009. The need for pre-booking is certainly a big change all over.

Posted by
2047 posts

Prebooking has definitely changed since the pandemic. I went multiple times in the 2010s and the only things I had to prebook was theatre tickets/tour of Elizabeth Tower/Big Ben and the tour of Parliament. The Tower of London/all the churches and abbeys, etc we just got there early..

Ah well, hopefully next time you can go on a London Walk. I always recommend these because they are probably the best walking tours in all of Europe with great guides(most are actors so they know how to keep your attention).