London is one of my most favourite cities. It could be my English heritage, or that fact that I love the Royals, or that I love the cuisine and pubs that serve it, and the multitude of museums and art galleries to browse through, and West End theatre and castles and…well you get the picture. I love London!
This was our fourth opportunity to spend time in the city so we were able to set an itinerary that allowed us to explore new things while still enjoying our old favourites. We divided our time between sites in the city and tours that took us out into the countryside. London is a great home base from which to explore central and southern England with a number of tour options and companies.
Walking is the best way to see London, just not all at once. We pre-purchased the Oyster card for tourists, (https://tfl.gov.uk/travel-information/visiting-london/visitor-oyster-card), loaded it with ₤50 for each of us and used the public transit system for the Underground, the iconic double decker buses and a train from the airport. We could leave our apartment each morning and pop up in whatever neighbourhood we wanted to visit.
We did a morning walking tour through Westminster, stopping to see Westminster Abbey, the Parliament Buildings and Big Ben. On another morning we spent a couple of enjoyable hours in the National Gallery. The building itself is as much a work of art as the collection contained therein. Right next door is the Portrait Gallery, also worth a look. It is tempting to spend all your time in galleries and museums while in London as entrance is free, but pace yourself as it can be overwhelming all in one visit.
This year we added something new to our itinerary; tickets to two West End plays. The first was a moving two man show starring Ian McKellen and Roger Allam, entitled Frank and Percy. The play opened the weekend of our arrival for a limited run and we were thrilled to get tickets to see such amazing actors in person. We also saw the musical Wicked again, which never loses its appeal. It’s well staged with amazing lights, costumes and songs that I hummed for days afterwards. If you are interested in getting tickets we used https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/.
We took two tours outside of London, both with Evan Evans Tours. They offer a number of exciting itineraries which can be found at https://evanevanstours.com/. We did a half day visit to Windsor Castle, which I will talk about more next week, and a full day tour that included Warwick Castle, Stratford Upon Avon and Oxford.
It was a lot to fit into one day, but along with time at Warwick Castle, we had time to visit the birthplace of Shakespeare, a half timbered house built in 1564 and preserved as a museum in his honour in Stratford, followed by a tour of Oxford and its many Colleges. There we walked among the many spires and architectural styles of such buildings as the Bridge of Sighs, Trinity College, the Ashmolean Museum, the Bodleian Library and The Sheldonian Theatre. The exteriors of the sandstone buildings displayed sculptures of ghoulish gargoyles along with figures from literature and history. Oxford is the filming location for many television shows and movies, including the Harry Potter series.
Each day we would stop in a pub for lunch and a pint and generally soak up the ambience of the city. If you are thinking of a trip to Europe I strongly recommend you start in London. Its easy to find your way around, it offers an abundance of museums and galleries, all free, and some of the best theatre in the world. It is also a jumping off point to see so much more of England. And they speak the same language we do, just with a different accent.
