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London Calling

Weekend Trip, Day 1

By Martyna DearingPublished 4 years ago 4 min read
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Anyone who knows me at all knows that I’ve got a little kind of unhealthy obsession with one city. It all started when I was 14 and my only dream was to get out of Poland and travel the world. At that time I couldn’t even dream about travelling to the USA so I kept it more ‘low key’. I hang a huge canvas picturing the Picadilly Cicrus on my wall and kept starring at it for hours to make my parents feel sorry for me and buy my a trip to London.

It worked! At the age of 15 I went for my first language camp to England and I absolutely fell in love in every single part of that city. It was also the first time when I felt the need of getting lost and discovering on my own. It was the first place I felt like I found my home.

It took me 5 years and few other sightseeing trips to finally move there. For some reason I never saw London as a big city. It doesn’t feel like New York or other American metropolis at all. It’s full of amazing architecture, fascinating history and quiet neigbourhoods so different from the main touristy sights.

If someone let me talk about London for days, believe me, I would. As I said, a little obsession has developed. But let me try to be useful. Based on my experience and knowledge from a year of living in that city, I’m going to plan a weekend trip for a first time visitor including all the most important and touristy sights that in my opinion are must do’s before you move towards more local ‘to do list’.

First of all: using the tube system in London is super easy. Just look at their map as often as you can and I'm sure you'll never get lost! Remember, you can either buy single tickets which after few rides will get very expensive. I advise you to get a weekend pass, a 3-day pass or anything they offer at that time and it suits your trip!

Let’s assume you get off at Westminster station. You walk out of the tube and the first thing you see is the Big Ben. Unfortuantely it’s still under constrution so many of you who travel any time soon won’t be able to see it. Walk towards the bridge and you’ll be able to see the London Eye right away. Take same photos, walk a bit further down the bridge to see Westminster from a different side and come back walking down the street towards St. James’s Park. It’s a very short walk and the park is really pretty. Right behind it you’ll see the Buckingham Palace. It’s not my favorite sight but it’s very important for English people, so I guess you need to see it as well.

Walk back towards the Big Ben and take a left once you get to it. There will be 10 Downing street where the current British Prime Minister lives. Walk straight until you get to Trafalgar Square. It’s a great place to hang out, with a lot of opportunities to get some food. Also there’s the National Gallery and its entry is for free.

Moving forward after another 5 minute walk you’ll get to Piccadilly Circus. Have you ever seen all these big screens and red buses on pictures from London? That’s the place! It’s usually very crowded but another must do in the city for all the turists. If you take right (facing the screens) you’ll get to Leicester Square where you can visit my favorite store! M&M’s world is absolutely amaizing and worth every minute. Again, it could be very crowded during the day tho. That’s why I’d go there in the morning or as early as possible. Right behind the store my favorite Chinatown (out of all of the other big cities’ Chinatowns)begins. It’s really cool, very authentic with their own grocery stores and dead/ baked animals hanging in the window. A true experience, that’s for sure!

Seeing Piccadily Circus on a cold January morning at 7AM was awesome! That's the only time I've ever seen it so empty.

If you walk from Chinatown up the street towards SoHo at some point you’ll finally get to Oxford Street. On your way you’ll also be able to see many SoHo stores, gay or strip clubs, and other places like that. It’s a great spot for nightlife! Many good and pricey restaurants.

Oxford street is definitely over rated but it’s another place to be at least once in your life if you’re visiting London. They’ve got a huge Primark which is very fun to shop at, some other regular European retail stores and loads of souvenir shops.

If you’re lucky enough to have any time of the day left you should hit the British Museum. It’s about a 15 minute walk from Primark. Maybe even less if you walk fast. There’s this amaizng pancake/crepe place on your way. It’s called My Old Dutch. It’s not super expensive and they’ve got some truly delicious stuff! They’ve got few locations in London.

Still got some time left? Take a Disctrict Line (the green one) and see the Tower Bridge by night! Or maybe you wanna stay in the center… then come back to London Eye area and walk down the waterfront. Maybe get some food and sit by the water on the other side of the river (opposite London Eye). The view is way better than youcould ever imagine…

Wow, that took way longer than I thought it would. Let’s plan Day 2 tomorrow then! Do you feel like you need to visit London right now though? I do! Have a good weekend and hit me up with any questions!

europe
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About the Creator

Martyna Dearing

Martyna Dearing joined vocal right after COVID started in April 2020. Since then she got a few Top Stories, republished her book "Green Card Marriage", and is about to release another one titled "Loved, Death, and In Between".

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