Travel Guide: London, England « Tanya & Victor

Travel Guide: London, England

In our last weeks before we take off on ‘holiday’ to Guatemala, we couldn’t help but reminisce about our brief time in London during our European travels. Everything we saw was almost from another world, and we can completely understand why it gets its famous ‘Old World’ title as many travelers refer to it. I stepped off the plane, and the London Fog and its forecasted colors immediately greeted me. It was the middle of July, so sunshine was not quite in the picture, but it was London, and that’s all I cared about. Victor and I had just toured Rome for about 5 days so and before that beautiful Paris. I didn’t quite have expectations for London since we would only be there for 2 days. However, out of all the sights, we saw in Europe, London felt like home. Almost too familiar. Every street looked like a scene in Selfridges, and suddenly flashbacks of Downton Abbey were so vivid.

By the end of our European tour, we flew out of Heathrow so we scheduled a couple days to get to see a little bit of London. We stayed in a suburb called Wimbledon, and it was a short 20-minute train ride from London. We loved our Airbnb flat, and it was the perfect way to get fused right into the English town side. We were given recommendations by our host for great breakfast places, and the nearest grocery store so we can cook (by this time I was just craving for some chilaquiles). Instead of opting for Uber or car rental we used the very efficient public transportation and rode on some of the iconic red double-decker buses. We used our £5 pound oyster card (purchased at the airport), and it became much cheaper to get around while being able to see more of London from a local’s perspective. We loved that some museums were free and the bikes parked at almost every corner were easy to get around. The bikes felt safe, cheap and a thrill to ride. We were a little strategic with both our plans and our budget since we already spent our travel fortunes in film.

Here are 5 tips to see and experience the old town of London in just mere 48 hours:

1. Get an Oyster Card – the oyster card allows you to board on all of the available transportation in England. The trains get you from point A to point B so much faster than a Taxi and Uber. It’s also less expensive, allowing you to stretch your pounds in other touristic things.
2. Opt to go to local coffee shops and pubs for quick breaks or for a quick bite to go. There are so many parks and beautiful sites where you can sit and drink in the history. For bigger meals, we decided to have breakfast and dinner at our Airbnb kitchen.
3. We said it once, and we said it twice, but if you can, lodge in an Airbnb. If you get an Airbnb, try to get your hosts recommendations on sites, ways to get around, and places to eat. You save so much time from scouring the Internet and getting lost if you just heed their advice. We can honestly say that we had an incredible experience because of the host, Sammy’s advice.
4. We only had 2 days, so we grouped all the things we wanted to see by areas within the city. Plan locations ahead of time and route accordingly. Instead of using our Oyster cards to get around to the nearest areas, we rented bikes to get to and from places much more accessible. It was the best exercise while only spending a couple of pounds (pun intended). We saw Big Ben and those very popular areas first, and the second day we went as far as the Tower of London making our way back down to London’s eye.
5. In like most Europe, having spare change is so crucial especially for things like water or to use a public toilet. Most London charges for restroom use and having extra pounds will save you.
{Last tip} Get outlet converters for your stay in the UK away from the touristy shops. They’ll have them for so much more pricey and lesser quality than in non-touristy locations. I bought 2, and both broke.

Where we stayed: Our Airbnb Flat (Sammi’s the best host you’ll ever have)
Café we loved the most: Lupo Bros
Our Favorite Attraction: Big Ben (Victor’s), Victoria and Albert Museum (Tanya’s)
Budget Eats: Sainsbury’s Local & Whole Foods!
Attractions we saw: Kensington Castle, Kensington Gardens, London Eye, London Bridge, The Tower of London, Victoria and Albert’s Museum, Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Shakespeare’s Globe, Buckingham Palace, and many monuments within walking distance to name! Bleeker Street too!
Transportation: The Overground, TfL Rail, Light Rail and Tram and Santander bikes

Shot taken around 9pm! There was still a lot of daylight at night! Waking into the London BridgeJust outside the Kensinton palaceVictor enjoying his first bike ride in decades Who says most of London is dark and dreary?
walking through the gardens and my take on the bridgeOne of my favorite monarchs in history is Queen Victoria and she’s definitely visible in many ways throughout the City.
Playing tourists loved all the tea rooms!The view of our flat in Wimbledon This capture was taken on while crossing the London Bridge The Famous London Eye!The seas of tourists followed us everywhere we went!Something I really appreciated was the Gothic architecture in the Westminster Abbey And iphone captures….We were a little bummed that the Palace guards were not right outside the gates, but Victor still got this capture!The famous tower of London known for its infamous prison but it wasn’t built to be one. Roses from the Kensington gardens and of course Big Ben.I felt so inspired leaving this place. They had so many exhibitions but my favorite they were displaying was the fashion one. It was almost enchanting. This was about the time that the London Bridge was pulling apart to make way for a big ship to cross through More views from our Airbnb FlatThis was right around the corner where Meghan Markle and Prince Harry made their engagement announcement! Wimbledon Those beautiful gates too…

Gear used: Pentax 645n, Canon 1V and iPhone

Scans: The Richard Photo Lab

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