During the sunny month of June my sister and I took a short one night/two day trip to London, and we had such a lovely time that I wanted to share the details here. There were a few reasons why it was such a lovely trip. Firstly, the weather was gorgeous, which meant we could enjoy the outdoors in all its glory. And secondly it ended up being a really chilled trip, because we made a conscious decision to pick a hotel in an area we wanted to explore and we stayed exclusively in that area. This meant absolutely no tubes or transport needed at all – we just walked around at our leisure and soaked in the atmosphere!
If this relaxed sort of London trip sounds up your street, take a look at our lovely 2 day itinerary below for inspiration. Bear in mind that we have been to London plenty of times before so we didn’t have any specific tourist sights to cross off our list. We just had a couple of fixed plans and then the rest of our time we wanted to take as it came.
Where to stay in London
Finding a cute hotel in the perfect location is the absolute dream for a short stay. We chose Bedford Corner Hotel in Bloomsburg because it was a nice-looking contemporary boutique hotel within our budget, but also because it was within walking distance to our theatre and restaurant bookings, as well as to Euston train station (which is how we arrived in London).
We stayed in a Superior Double room, which was spacious and light and had a huge comfortable bed. The bathroom was stylish and came with eco-friendly toiletries. We didn’t spend much time in the room though, as you’d expect with a one night stay in central London.
Breakfast was not included in the room price, but the hotel was right next door to the popular Gail’s Bakery (you can even see through to Gail’s from the reception!) and we enjoyed an afternoon treat there on our arrival day as well as a tasty breakfast the next morning.
Day 1 in London
Exploring Bloomsbury
After arriving by train into Euston we explored the literary Bloomsbury district of London on foot on our way to the hotel. There is plenty to see on a walk around this area, including leafy green parks, beautiful London architecture (check out Woburn Walk – a cute pedestrianised Georgian side street), cute cafes and bars, bookshops including a lovely huge Waterstones, and of course, The British Museum.
Dinner, Drinks and Theatre
After checking into our hotel at about 4pm we got ready for our evening plans, which were all pre-booked.
On this trip we were lucky enough to enjoy a fancy dinner at the Savoy (a prize I won at work), and this was a twenty minute walk down Tottenham Court Road to The Strand. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this for your itinerary as it’s a very pricey dining experience – definitely once in a lifetime for us – but there are plenty of other dinner options in The Strand area, near the Thames, or just within walking distance of Bloomsbury.
After dinner we wanted to squeeze in a trip to the Theatre Café Diner, a diner and bar in the heart of Theatreland in London. We booked a spot at the bar for a couple of cocktails, and really enjoyed the theatrical memorabilia and the singing waiters/waitresses who perform live musical theatre classics.
And we ended our day with a trip to the theatre, which I think should be part of every good London trip. We had tickets to watch Les Misérables, which was as good as I remembered it and brought back a lot of nostalgic feelings. And The Sondheim Theatre was just 15 minutes walk back to our hotel, which was ideal!
Day 2 in London
Breakfast and Exploring
We started our day with a light breakfast at Gail’s Bakery next door to our hotel, and then we set out walking in the direction of Covent Garden. On our way we passed the busy shopping street Tottenham Court Road, and an interesting art installation at The Outnet; the colourful courtyard Neal’s Yard; and the quirky cobbled streets and backstreets of Seven Dials full of cafes, salons and cute shops.
Covent Garden and Shopping
We then spend quite a few hours soaking up the atmosphere at Covent Garden, from the pretty shops and market stalls of Covent Garden Market to the surrounding stores, and even enjoying an Aperol spritz while watching a street performer. It’s one of my favourite places to visit in London, even after visiting plenty of times before and even though it is always busy. As well as the Covent Garden Shopping Centre, we also spent a few pounds in the Jubilee Market Hall next door, which also had some nice stalls.
Royal Opera House
Something new for this trip and something I’d recommend is a visit to the Terrace Bar inside the Royal Opera House. This quiet, leafy bar overlooks Covent Garden, and because it’s not particularly well known, is never too busy. It was a nice spot for a glass of Pimm’s and a peaceful sit down with a view. Plus we got to explore a bit of the beautiful building on our way up, and the gift shop on the way out.
Lunch at Wahaca
There are quite a lot of eateries around the Covent Garden area, and we decided to head to Wahaca to try out their Mexican street food – it didn’t disappoint! We chose the Favourites set menu, which was £23.50 each and included 7 sharing dishes. It felt like great value for money in central London and it was all delicious – my favourite dish was the Devon crab tostadas.
Victoria Embankment Gardens
And to finish off our afternoon before heading back for the train home, we explored a bit of the North Bank, spending some time soaking up the sun on the deckchairs Victoria Embankment Gardens before walking through the leafy park. I’d never visited this corner of London before and it was nice to explore it at leisure in the sunshine.
What I took from this trip was that is really nice to explore just one area of London rather than trying to get about to different areas to see a lot of things. If the weather is dry I’d absolutely recommend exploring a city on foot this way – it’s far more enjoyable and you get so much more of a feel for a place. We found it very luxurious not trying to see and do too much but soaking up the atmosphere instead, and it made for a particularly memorable trip for us.
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