Experience London in Three Days

For Christmas we took our children to the UK for 17 days. We had alot of family to visit but we wanted to make sure they had time in London to see as much as possible. My husband, while usually laid back and a fly by the seat of his pants kind of guy, is the king of presentations and planning when it comes to his work. Thankfully those skills came to use when it came to planning our 3 day trip to London.

Here’s where he mapped out the places we wanted to see. And in 3 days, we saw nearly everything listed. We did make a few changes as the days went on but we were more than happy with what we accomplished in a short amount of time. 

And his itinerary

 

First up! Kensington Palace. When I explained to my husband how important it was for me to visit this place…he thought I was crazy. He’s from England and just didn’t see what the big deal was. Um, HELLO!!! Princess Diana lived there and I absolutely adored her as did most all other American women. We happened to visit at the right time. They actually had several of her dresses on display while there. Here are a couple of my favorites. Do you recognize them?

The Palace was full of history and I greatly enjoyed my visit there. I, of course, loved this photo hanging on the Palace walls.

Next on the list was the House of Parliaments which we ended up skipping as we spent so much time at Kensington Palace. We ended the first day at Big Ben and what I’ve been told is the most photographed phone booth in the U.K.

That night and the next morning we also visited Buckingham Palace and the Queen WAS home! My youngest daughter was very upset we couldn’t have lunch with her. “Mommy, why can’t we meet her?!”

The detail on the gate was pretty incredible

If you are  soccer fan, Stamford Bridge is a must see in London. We kept the secret that we would be going for a tour of the Stadium. Our son is a HUGE Chelsea fan. Here’s his face when he realized where we were.

The tour was pretty cool. We were able to see the stadium, walk thru the locker room, press area, and a museum which held all of their Championship memorabilia!

Our oldest daughter is a horse rider and couldn’t wait to see the changing of guards. Right before a heavy downpour that had the horses running….I was able to snap a few good photos.

Unfortunately, the London Eye was closed for maintenance while there-I had some very disappointed children!

One very cool experience was Tower Bridge which was built in 1886.

Harlow had no fear of the glass floor inside of Tower Bridge

During the trip, we also saw the Tower of London however we opted out of taking a tour as cameras aren’t allowed inside. But, we did take a Duck Tour of the city, visited Trafalgar Square, as well as the British Museum. I wish I had days to spend in the British Museum. It’s massive and SO interesting! Oh, but let me warn you. The two headed snake from Night at the Museum does not exist. My son was convinced therefore we looked for that stupid snake for 2 hours until a guard informed us it wasn’t real and that he gets the question often. That’s the LAST time I listen to my son! HAHA!

You see, it really is possible to get in a great deal of sights while in London. Just takes a little bit of planning and walking shoes! Here are a few more of my favorite photos (out of 100s!) that I took on the trip.

My husband and children near Big Ben

Trafalgar Square

This is me standing in front of Westminster Abbey. On my next visit, I want to take a tour inside!

Found this on the side of a building. LOVED it!