Dear London,
You did it. You sparked my interest. You pulled at my heart strings with the phrase, “what do you fancy?”, classic, black taxis and the vibrant, yet historical, urban setting which is perfect for someone like me whose passion is taking photos of a bustling city.

Usually in photos, we see your skyline adorned with the Eye, the Shard, and the epic Tower Bridge which kept grabbing the side of my face and pulling me to look……one.... last....time. 👀 I pray Big Ben gets fully restored before we return. Little Ben was so cute though. Your parks were pristine and filled with precious wildlife. Buckingham Palace was a sight to see. We didn’t see your Queen, but we know she was home because no one could enter. Perhaps next time we can visit her humble quarters. I do hope we meet again soon. Until then, cheerio!

Our London trip was the second weekend in October and it was raining, windy, and cold. I loved it! That’s probably not what you thought I’d say. I make it a habit to know what to expect for weather, culture, and cost, but anticipate surprises. We were in downtown London for a day and a half. It was a whirlwind trip! We didn’t see Tate Modern, National Museum, or any other museum, and we didn’t ride the London Eye. But, BUT, we did see THE LION KING! That was MARVELOUS!! The theater wasn’t too shabby either. I could not take pictures during the play, but the costumes were indeed creative. I was like 😲. Team Ropati highly recommends it.

Continue reading to uncover how the heck we did London in a weekend!

Where did we stay?

Holiday Inn Express London - Stansted Airport

In efforts to show off how thrifty I am, we stayed at Holiday Inn Express London - Stansted Airport for free. We had just enough points for a room outside of the swanky, expensive (for my taste) downtown area. The HIE offered free breakfast and a shuttle for 3€ each from the airport to the hotel. The next morning we took the same shuttle back to the airport and proceeded to the Standsted Express train.

Best Western Peckham Rye

Some would refer to Peckham Rye as ghetto, but I would say it had an urban vibe and was culturally diverse. That urban vibe did have me stay a little closer to my husband and hold my cross body bag a little tighter. I’m kidding! Kind of. ;) The facade of the BW seemed very well suited to the English architecture. The rooms were quirky, comfortable, and clean with thin walls. I heard the laughing hyenas next door until about 04:00.

What did we do?

Ryan Air flew us to Standsted Airport (for 70€ each) on a Friday evening around 18:00, so we decided to stay in Stansted that night. We woke up at 05:00 Saturday morning for an early start. I wasn’t bothered that our actual London tour wouldn’t start until Saturday morning, because upon arrival it was tipping down (British phrase to describe heavy rain). I can understand why someone might ask why we chose to fly on Friday evening to do nothing but eat and go to bed. My response would be: the flight was cheaper on Friday, the room was free, and we didn’t miss anything that night because of the rain. If we had been downtown, we would’ve paid over 150€ for a room that night, went out to eat, and went to the room anyway. It all worked out.

Knowing we would arrive downtown early Saturday morning and would need luggage storage while we toured the city before checking into the hotel, I did some research to find a place near the train station. Low and behold the same store that offered luggage storage was near the train station and the Hop On Hop Off (HOHO) bus stop and sold the HOHO tickets. Furthermore, she gave us a discount on both. The luggage storage was 10€ a day for our two bags. Can we say #winning?! That’s not to say you’ll score but we did. wink wink.

Saturday - Hop On Hop Off Bus & River Cruise

Team Ropati rode the HOHO for the purpose of seeing the city. We did not get on and off for the purpose of seeing museums, etc. Sightseeing was our thing this weekend. In my opinion, the HOHO is most useful for those who want to see the city in a short amount of time or have issues walking long distance. In addition to the bus, we also took the HOHO river cruise. We rode a couple different bus lines so we could see more of the city, then took the bus to the harbor to board the river cruise. You should know, there is only one hop on and hop off on the river cruise and that’s at the beginning and the end. We rode from the Tower of London to Westminster Pier by Big Ben. There is no doubt about it; between the bus and the river cruise you see London in all its glory. Once we finished the river cruise, we hopped back on the bus to finish the bus tour for the closest line. Just map it well so you aren’t wasting time. The discounted HOHO tickets were 30€ each.

Saturday evening - Jubilee Market

After a long day of riding the HOHOs, we hopped on the train to Peckham Rye and checked into our hotel with just enough time to get ready and catch the bus back into London for dinner (see below - The Coal Hole) and a show. We had some time to spare after dinner so we walked through Jubilee Market. There was art, handcrafted wooden items, jewelry, live music, food, and a clown show. The clown show brought a smile to my face. Mostly because the people sitting across from me were very photogenic with their outbursts of laughter. They look so carefree.

Saturday evening - The Lion King at Lyceum Theatre

This activity was certainly a splurge for us; one we will never forget. We bought tickets rather late and they were £110 each (or $144 USD). Once the play started we could not take photos, but I did what I could beforehand. I imagine any show in such a nice theatre would be worth seeing but this one astounded me with Rafiki’s voice and the creative costumes. You can see the Lion King trailer here.

Tip: Don’t buy the wine at the theatre. It’s expensive, but cheap wine served in a small plastic cup. Not to mention it made me very sleepy.

Sunday morning - Royal Quarter Cafe, Buckingham Palace & St. James Park

Ahhhh our last morning in London. We took the train into downtown, then walked to the Royal Quarter Cafe for breakfast. Following breakfast, we took the road by foot to see Buckingham Palace. Even though we didn’t go inside Buckingham Palace, it was nice just roaming the grounds and taking photos of the exterior.

St. James Park is in front of the palace and is rather large. A marathon was happening and they passed through the park, so we watched, cheered people on, and laughed at their silly attire. The park is very well maintained, filled with wildlife, and if you’re lucky, you’ll get that desired IG photo of you feeding a squirrel. There are small cafes in the park, if you need a drink or snack. Restrooms can also be found in the park. This is a great location for a relaxing and scenic walk.

Then came the time to catch the train back to Tottenham Hale, transfer to the Standsted Express to go to the airport, and board our flight home. It was a fulfilling weekend with my hubs. We missed so much, but we saw far more than we thought we would.

What transportation did we use?

Stansted Express to Tottenham Hale, then London Underground to Victoria Station

SE cost around 18€ each and took about 36 minutes to Tottenham Hale. I can’t recall the price of the London Underground, but it was cheap. The whole trip was about 50 minutes.

City Train

We took the train to/from Peckham Rye - 30 minute ride.

City Bus

Which looks like a double decker tour bus, but it’s the city bus. We took the bus to downtown London Saturday evening. It was super easy with the Oyster card.

Tip: Purchase the Oyster card.

The Oyster Card can be purchased for 7€ at the train station. If you return the card, you can get your deposit back. Read details regarding prices and how to use it here.

Lastly, these good ol’ two feet!

Where did we eat?

Borough Market

Fish & Chips / Fish Cakes

The Coal Hole

AKA Nicholson’s Pub on Strand. I gobbled up a beet root quiche and husband had a shepherd’s pie.

The Royal Quarter Cafe

Simple Breakfast

I apologize there are no breakfast photos here, but I was smitten by the beautiful creatures below. They passed by the cafe while we were eating. I grabbed my camera and ran out in the rain to snap some pictures.