General Information
6/17/2025 - 7/01/2025
We left Bradford-on-Avon on 6/17/25 and drove back to London to drop the car at Heathrow airport. The drive was actually really easy, even getting into Heathrow. We were admittedly a little worried about getting from Heathrow to our apartment since, like most Americans, we don’t use public transportation very often. But that turned out to be crazy simple! The underground (they don’t call it the Metro here!) comes right into Heathrow. It was just a matter of following the signs in the airport and going down an elevator. Figuring out the ticket machines is often a pain in the ass, but that is also super simple in London… no tickets! You just tap your credit card on the way in and again on the way out. We jumped on the Piccadilly line and got off at our stop after about an hour. Fortunately for us, there were hardly any passengers when we got on, so getting seats right next to open space for our luggage was easy. We also didn’t have to make any changes/transfers which was nice. We did have to haul our luggage up one flight of stairs when we got off at our stop, but that’s not bad! Our apartment was about three blocks from the tube station (you can also call it the tube – just not the metro!), so a pretty easy walk with our luggage.
Our apartment was in the Islington borough right by Emirates Stadium - so a bit further out, but perfectly fine for us. The area certainly isn’t as pretty as some of the others, but it still felt safe even after dark. We had a grocery store less than a block away some good restaurants and a wine bar within walking distance. The location suited us in terms of price – lodging that is closer to city center or some of the more trendy boroughs is absurdly expensive, and with such good public transportation, we could get anywhere we wanted easily and pretty much as quickly as if we were closer in. And, most importantly, we liked the apartment. It was a cute, decent sized one bedroom with a full kitchen and a little balcony. This was our home for two weeks.
More on London for anyone considering a visit… London is HUGE – it is divided into 32 “boroughs” plus the city center (known as Central London or the Square Mile). Each borough is technically considered its own little city. Using public transportation is a MUST. But the public transportation is outstanding. You are literally never more than a few blocks from an underground station or bus stop. Google maps is your best friend, just que up your destination to determine which station or bus stop to go to and where to connect. Everything is really well marked and, when on the tube, they clearly announce every stop (not always the case in some countries!). Getting on and off is so easy, just tap your credit card – no farting around trying to figure out ticket machines or loading/re-loading cards and trying to figure out how much you might need. If using a bus you only tap on the way in – the price is set. And you need to pay attention and push the stop button when approaching your stop (we missed that once!). Trains have ticket counters – depending on your destination you can typically just tap in and out, but it's best to ask at the counter to confirm. We bought paper tickets because Grady had bought some type of rail pass that gave us a discount on the tickets, so we couldn’t just tap our credit cards or we would be charged full fare. The tube is occasionally delayed, but google maps will tell you if it is delayed so you can choose a different route. And at times it can be very crowded (and a little stinky!)
You know you are in Central London (or the square mile) if the bollards along the sidewalks are painted black and white with red stars. Otherwise they are solid black. There are also random little dragon statues as you are entering the city of London.
Restaurants, pubs, and wine bars – your options are literally unlimited! This is a GREAT city with so much diversity and literally every kind of food imaginable. If you like Indian food, this is the place! Best Indian food in the world (except India of course). We ate at a little Georgian restaurant around the corner from our apartment and it was SOOOOO yummy. As you would expect, plenty of great pubs. And, of course, wine bars – we are keeping count of how many wine bars we visit. As of June 27th, we have been to nine. Plenty of good options in London, but our favorite is Vagabond. It is a chain, so there are multiple locations and we visited two of them. They are big and really cutely decorated with lots of seating both indoor and outdoor, but still manage to feel cozy. They have self pour wine stations with a huge selection. Which means we didn’t have to wait around to be served, nor did we have to wait around for a check. And best of all, our red wine was actually the proper temperature. Unlike the US self serve wine bars, we didn’t need to purchase a special card – just tap your credit card! And for food, just scan the qr code to order and pay and someone shows up with it.
Tours – you have unlimited options. We did several walking tours, most of which were really good. The Jack the Ripper Tour was our least favorite – turns out that walking around hearing about gruesome murders isn’t as entertaining as I thought it might be. A few others we did were “Palaces and Parliaments”, “Beatles”, “Three Markets and Indian Food”, “Free Monuments” – all were pretty good. We can’t really recommend any of them specifically as it totally depends on the quality of the guide you end up with!
London Pass – We purchased the London Pass for 2 days. Grady bought it in advance when it was on sale over Memorial Day. If you plan your days well and really cram a lot in, you can definitely save some money. We would suggest using it during weekdays. We made the mistake of doing Sunday/Monday and some things ended up being unavailable on Sunday. You don’t need to book reserved times for most attractions, you just go straight to the line as if you have pre-purchased tickets and show your London Pass. That said, there are a few things you need to book reservations for (specifically the walking tours). I would recommend starting one day with the Tower of London. Get there before it opens and get in the que early. After Tower of London, go straight to Tower Bridge (since they are close to each other and both pricey). After that you can walk about 20 minutes and do The “Three Markets Tour” - this tour was from 3p-7p and contained A LOT of info/history, 3 markets, and ended with dinner in an Indian restaurant. If you cram this into one day, you will have already more than gotten your money’s worth! It makes sense to start the second day with St. Paul’s Cathedral because it opens earlier than any other attraction. Then cram in everything else you are interested in.
And finally, the people… they are so incredibly nice! I honestly didn’t expect that! I expected big city rudeness and British aloofness. I couldn’t have been more wrong! People were nice and extremely helpful everywhere. We felt completely safe wherever we went. The only area that felt a little sketchy was a very small area referred to as Whitechapel or East End which is northeast of central London (part of the Tower Hamlets borough near Truman Brewery Market) – it is where Jack the Ripper did his killing, and is the one area I didn’t think I would want to walk around after dark. So, if you ever visit, I wouldn’t suggest you choose lodging there! I am sure there are other sketchy areas (it’s a really big city), but that is the only one we saw.
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