This blog post is about three days in London, covering street food, walks, free attractions and much more.
In late March I spent a few days in London with my wonderful girlfriend. I’ve decided to blog about the experience and along the way, provide plenty of information for those looking to spend time in London. I hope you enjoy my blog post.
The beginning
It was a beautiful morning as my wonderful girlfriend and I sat on the top deck of the 7:47am catamaran journeying across the Solent. It was an excellent start to an adventure. Our catamaran tickets, including a return journey cost £52.80 (GBP).
Below is a video I recorded of traveling to Portsmouth from Ryde.
We walked off the catamaran and through the Wightlink terminal, into Portsmouth Harbour train station. The station was quiet and as we boarded the train, we had a pleasant conversation with the conductor. The train departed around 9:30am and we rolled into London Waterloo train station after 11am.
Walking to Borough Market
We had previously purchased Oyster cards and used the tube trains to reach Blackfriars tube station. We then strolled to the Millennium Bridge and probably should of started our London walk at St Paul’s tube station, rather than Blackfriars.
Millennium Bridge
Our cameras were out and we embarking on a photo walk, joining the groups of tourists strolling across the footbridge. Some people were part of guided tourist groups, others were school children being herded by teachers. A man was on his knees bent over, drawing on the bridge floor.
We sat outside the Tate Modern for a while and then walked to Shakespeare’s Globe. The Thames river was on our left and at a corner a lady with an impressive voice was singing.
We stroll past the Clink Prison Museum and took a moment to look at Winchester Palace. My girlfriend took a photo of me, and later we realised a Sunday morning TV presenter was also in the photograph.
We took a few moments to look at the Golden Hinde, before finding our way to the incredible Borough Market to enjoy the food and atmosphere.
Below is a Google Street Map for a similar walk:
Borough Market (London)
My girlfriend and I had been looking forward to visiting the market and we were not disappointed. We are both vegetarians, but leaning more towards vegan preferences these days and there was plenty of suitable food on offer during our visit.
There was too much temptation on offer and we were not that hungry. We began by buying a cheese straw to share. Afterwards we headed to Gujarati Rasoi, selling Indian food. There was a queue, but everyone was polite and waited patiently and the staff were friendly.
The Indian food looked amazing and we purchase an onion bhaji and a couple of samosas. We wandered over to a quieter area to enjoy our food, with the bhaji being the best I had ever eaten. Afterwards we found our way to London Bridge tube station.
Where we stayed
Later we arrived at Tower Hill tube station and sat in the nearby Tower Hill Garden, enjoying the view and a sit down opposite the Tower of London. We stayed at the nearby Travelodge (London Central Tower Bridge), which we found to be an excellent choice for a London hotel on a budget.
The double room cost us £64 for the night we stayed and the staff were friendly and helpful.
St Paul’s Cathedral
We left our backpacks in our room and rushed to St Paul’s Cathedral for the Choral Evensong, which is free service to attend. After the service We lingered after the service absorbing the surroundings, which are incredible.
Below is a video about St Paul’s Cathedral.
Chinatown
Again on the tube network, we arrived at Leicester Square, and headed to the busy Chinatown and purchased a couple of drinks from a convenience store. We enjoyed the sights and listened to buskers.
Leicester Square music, pizza and Covent Garden
The sun had set by the time we strolled into Leicester Square. We shared a pizza slice and sat drinking hot drinks, whilst listening to music. We were upset by the homeless situation we saw and we chatted about it for a while.
Harry Marshall was singing an impressive cover of Hallelujah. The video below created by someone else, is of Harry singing Hallelujah at Piccadilly Circus.
Onwards to a quiet Covent Garden at night. As a busker sang whilst playing his guitar we slowly danced. We strolled around the quiet streets and popped into a shop and purchased some drinks. Below is an interesting video by someone else about Covent Garden.
Back at Tower Hill, hardly anyone was around as we walked to our hotel.
Day 2 in London
We woke up, in no rush to head out and relaxed in our hotel room. We each ate a container of porridge (that we had purchased elsewhere), before heading out for a stroll.
We found ourselves opposite the Tower of London, standing on the area where people were executed.
St Dunstan-in-the-East & Riverside walk
Onwards we ventured to St Dunstan-in-the-East Church Garden, which is a small public garden, set in the ruin of a church bombed during WW2. A person was cleaning the small area and a tour group arrived.
We departed the church grounds and headed a short distance to the river for a riverside photo walk. We saw the Monument to the great fire of London and then entered the nearby Monument tube station.
Free classical music
Another tube journey and we attended an amazing free classical Concert at St Martins-in-the-Field Church. We sat in the church as the three musicians of Trio Carducci from Italy played their instruments and the acoustics of the Church were superb.
Germana, Matilda and Sara playing violin, cello and piano and their 1pm lunchtime concert was well worth the attendance. We gave a donation at the end of the short concert. If you are visiting London, I recommend finding out who is performing during your trip.
The video below isn’t the trio playing at the church.
Street food and a vegan donut!
We decided to head to Berwick St Market and arrived just in time to purchase a couple of falafel boxes from the Jerusalem Falafel stall.
The staff were friendly and due to our late arrival they kindly topped up the boxes with extra falafel. One of the best food stall lunches I’ve ever eaten!
Nearby we found vegan donuts at Crosstown, located at 4 Broadwick Street in Soho. We shared an egg-free vegan donut and it was delicious.
Paintings
Next we headed back to Trafalgar Square and visited the National Gallery (free to visit), which is an incredible building, filled with impressive art work. A highlight for me was seeing Joseph Mallord William Turner’s paintings. We also saw Vincent Van Gogh’s Sunflowers and artwork by Rembrant. We were among the last to leave the building, and afterwards we sat on a wall outside the building, listening to a busker.
Dinner at Earls Court
We then took a journey during rush hour to Earl’s Court, with the train jammed packed full of people. Glad to disembark the carriage, we strolled along and found Café de Beirut at 170 Earls Court, which serves Lebanese food.
The staff were friendly and we purchased two delicious vegetarian wraps. The number 58, a fried vegetable wrap containing cauliflower, new potatoes, aubergine, salada and sesame sauce. The second wrap we purchased was the number 59, Batata Harra, a wrap containing cubes of potatoes fried with fresh coriander, peppers, garlic and spices. We shared the wraps, and the number fifty-nine wrap was our favourite.
We had a 20:30 train to catch to the Midlands to visit family, but we would be returning to London upon our return journey. We took a train to Kings Cross station, purchased chocolates for relatives and began our next journey.
Day 3 in London
We arrived back in London towards the end of a Thursday morning and purchased a snack from a Moroccan street food stall outside Kings Cross station.
Roman Amphitheatre and Guildhall Art Gallery
I’m a history junkie and didn’t realise until recently that there were some Roman Amphitheatre ruins in London, which are free to see.
We strolled around the dark room containing the remains, and whilst it’s a short visit, I’m glad we took the time. Then afterwards we looked around the free areas of the Guildhall Art Gallery, taking our time to take in the scenes that were depicted. There were some interesting London scenes amongst the work on display.
Vegan food at Leather Lane Market
Plenty of large businesses in this area and at lunch a popular market to grab a bite to eat. There was plenty of food choices available, and we already knew what stall to visit.
A friendly lady took our order and along with her colleague, we were served Astro Polenta e Fagioli at the Astro Vegan stall. Again we shared a portion of vegan food and it was delicious and filling. We paid £6.50 GBP for the food and ate it nearby. Afterwards we took a short stroll around the area to explore.
British Museum
The weather had turned and it was raining, so we decided to visit one of our favourite places. There was a queue at the British Museum (free to visit) and my backpack was searched. The museum was busy and on this occasion we started at room 72, looking at the Ancient Cyprus items.
We stayed until closing and outside, people were busy vaping. Around the corner we purchased some cheap postcards, chocolate bars and cans of San Pellegrino. I had become addicted to the drink brand during my time in London and drank numerous cans over the few days.
Waterloo Station
Now in the Waterloo train station vicinity, nearby we found a small supermarket and purchased wine and flowers. There were no bags for the flowers, so I used a carrier bag and an elastic band I found on the ground to wrap the stems.
We entered Waterloo train station and went to the first floor, where I purchased a couple of hot drinks and we sat chatting, occasionally looking at the live timetable screens. There were many people grabbing a drink at the end of their working day, before catching a train.
Leaving London
Shortly we were heading off on another train journey, this time to visit family in the south of England, before our eventual return home.
The next time my girlfriend and I visit London, it’s likely we will spend our time differently. Not because we didn’t enjoy our stay, but because there is so much to do.
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