What we did on our 4-night family trip to London, England! (Part 1 of our UK adventures!)
Our family of three just returned from a big summer trip to the UK. We planned this trip several months in advance and had been looking forward to it so much. I’m actually pretty sad it’s over, but we’re so grateful we had the opportunity to make it happen.
On this trip, we spent four nights in London, England and three nights in Edinburgh, Scotland. I’m going to separate the posts on each city, so this will be part one — just covering London.
And before we begin, let me preface this by saying we loved this trip, and we really soaked up being able to do it. A trip like this takes a lot of planning and research (literally entirely done by Dave), and also requires a big investment and time off of work. We made a lot of memories and likely won’t take a trip this big for a while. Thanks for stopping by to read about it!
Let’s talk about our 4-night family trip to London, England …
Here we go …
We stayed at St. Ermin’s Hotel in Westminster
We splurged on a four-star hotel in London, and we don’t regret it at all!
We had a junior suite, which was perfectly appointed and comfortable for our needs (even though we didn’t spend much time in the room). But what we loved the most about the St. Ermin’s Hotel was the evening happy hour entertainment. We didn’t even know that this would be taking place, so it was a surprise-and-delight amenity.
Monday through Saturday, St. Ermin’s hosts a one-hour happy hour for hotel guests on the front patio, and they not only serve free appetizers and drinks, but they also bring in local entertainment. One night there was a balloon artist, one night there were English dancers and one night there was an acoustic guitarist. We spent the entire hour three nights in a row soaking up this fun activity. And Brady and I even got invited to join in with the English dancers. After walking all day long, this was a great chance to rest our legs and sit back (outside of the one dancing experience) and soak up being on vacation in London.
Our hotel was in the Westminster area, and so we were able to walk most places we wanted to go (even if the walk was pretty long). The lobby and common areas of our hotel were just incredible, and we just loved this place so much.
St. Ermin’s is from the Autograph Collection and thus a Marriott property, and we almost always stay at Marriott properties to accumulate loyalty points. Highly recommend this hotel if you can swing it!
We did a Peter Pan Tea experience at The Shard
One of my girlfriends had just come back from a family trip to London and she recommended the Peter Pan Tea experience at The Shard to us. Once we booked it and started talking about it, I found out I knew other people who had done it too. This was another one of our “splurge” experiences, and I’d say it was worth it, although we wouldn’t do it again and instead would do a more traditional English tea.
The Shard is a pointy and very tall skyscraper in London (named The Shard because some people think it’s an eyesore), and the restaurant where the Peter Pan tea took place, Aqua Shard, is toward the top of the building, so the views are truly incredible. While this tea is certainly geared to families, it’s still quite fancy and buttoned up, and we noticed plenty of groups of adults, as well as couples, enjoying the light Peter Pan theming.
We had a bunch of tasty little bites (it worked out to fill us up like a full meal), all the hot beverages we could ask for, and our desserts came out on a Peter Pan pirate ship misting with steam — which was so cool!
By the way, Brady knocked over two drinks during our time in London, and one of them was at this tea.
We walked about 8 miles a day
I kid you not, we walked so very, very much!
Brady (who is 7, almost 8) did all this walking with us too. Every once in a while he would complain about tired legs, otherwise, he was enjoying the journey along with us. I mean, city walking is in my blood from years of living in San Francisco, and it’s absolutely my preference when traveling, if weather allows. (Side note: Weather did allow! We were prepared for rainy days, but our London weather was mild and pleasant, and it only drizzled once our whole time there. YAY!)
(My dress, shoes, sunglasses and purse.)
We had three full days in London, and we spent most of them on foot from destination to destination. Dave used his phone to guide us, and I loved this aspect of our trip, as we could see so much of the city. We took an Uber a couple times home, but otherwise, we walked.
I brought three pairs of sneakers on our trip, and one of them was new. I bought the Cole Haan Grand Crosscourt sneakers that are supposed to be super comfortable for walking (based on quite a bit of Google research). And well, they were comfortable, but the right shoe in particular rubbed on my heels so badly on day one that I ended up with a bloody heel. I had to switch socks with Dave on that first day and get some band-aids, and I spent the next few days both worried about and trying to keep that injury covered. (Honestly, other than a small train travel issue, my heel was really the only hiccup of our trip!)
Fun fact: Because we were on foot so much, I don’t feel like I stayed as hydrated as I would have liked — simply to avoid needing to go to the bathroom a lot and carrying around big water bottles. Still, I was a big fan of all the walking.
We toured St. Paul’s Cathedral and took the stairs to the top
This beautiful and historical church was an excellent place to spend a couple hours.
We knew were going to visit St. Paul’s Cathedral, but for some reason, we didn’t know you could go all the way to the (literal) top. But with some tickets, you can.
This trip to the top was actually a little bit of a nerve-wracking adventure, as it took a while to scale the 528 steps. But boy, was it an incredible 360-view of London at the top of the dome. We spent so long inside the steep-and-winding staircase that the fresh outside air was a treat — until you looked straight down.
Honestly, it felt very precarious up there, and I was surprised they let patrons circle the exterior of the dome, with only a small railing around it. There was one security guard up there making sure people were moving along, and I asked him if he spent a lot of time up there, and he said he had been up there for four hours so far that day. Don’t sign me up for that post!
Brady had never done tours inside an old church like this with Crypts, so we talked about the plaques, tombstones and memorials of the people laid to rest there. And he kept saying, “is that another dead person?” A bit cold and insensitive, but I know he was just processing it. By the way, we listened to the self-guided audio tour in each room (which was very well done) so we had some context on the setting, and that was interesting. We also enjoyed a live choir performance while there, which was just lovely.
St. Paul’s Cathedral is breathtaking from the inside, and I would keep this on your list of must-dos when visiting London as a tourist.
We rode The London Eye for a 360-view of the city
One of the things we had purchased tickets to in advance of our trip was The London Eye. This attraction is very popular, and we’re glad we did it. Apparently this year is the 25th anniversary of The London Eye as well.
We had a reserved time to arrive, and yet, when we arrived, we still had to wait in a line for about 45 minutes. There were also VIP tickets available to purchase which guarantee a quicker entry, and we’d probably spring for that if we ever went again. If you’re planning to go, I’d choose the VIP route.
About 10 to 15 people ride in each pod, and the pods are quite spacious, with a bench for seating. No matter where you were in the pod, you could see the 360 views of the city from more than 400 feet up at the top.
One thing I will point out about The London Eye, outside of the line, was that the entry and exit are very quick. So you must be ready to hop on and off when the pod comes around, as it only stops for wheelchairs.
This was our most “touristy” to-do in London, I’d say, and being in the line waiting for it was also our longest line in London. But it was still worth doing.
We enjoyed a traditional Sunday roast at a restaurant
We probably wouldn’t have known about finding a traditional Sunday roast if it hadn’t been for our neighbors, who moved from London to Charlotte last year. They gave us a lot of advice and tips before our trip, and having a Sunday roast was a great one.
Our Sunday roast was on our last full day in London, and we enjoyed it at about 4pm at Hawksmoor Restaurant. The restaurant was full at this time, and every person seemed to be having a roast meal too. Our roast included rump steak, potatoes, Yorkshire pudding and some sticky toffee pudding for dessert. The food was delicious, and it felt like a warm and comforting experience in the late afternoon on a Sunday.
We (mostly) enjoyed our food and dining experiences
I’ve got to be real with you: We didn’t really think the service at most restaurants was all that good, but we did have some good meals.
Some of our favorite places were The Ivy Victoria (decent food, but incredibly cute setting), Farmer J (we had small breakfasts and lattes from here three times and loved it all), St. James’s Cafe (tasty brunch food and the best plates to eat off of in the sit-down portion), The Leicester Arms Pub (for fish and chips in a real pub setting) and more.
I wouldn’t say we ate all that healthy for lunches or dinners, but we mostly liked what we ate. The sticky toffee pudding from our Sunday roast may have been my favorite bite in London.
Fun fact: When ordering burgers, we found out that all meat has to come well done in the UK. I usually get my burgers or steaks medium, and that’s not a thing there.
We watched the Changing The Guard at Buckingham Palace
So this is sort’ve funny, but apparently the Changing The Guard happens four times a week at 11 a.m. at Buckingham Palace. We wanted to buy tickets to get into Buckingham Palace for a tour, but they were sold out on the day we had available for that. Instead, we marched over there through the park and walked up right as the guards were marching down the mall (which is a big beautiful street lined with flags). That day, they ended up beginning the process earlier than usual, and it worked out to our favor, because the crowds started dispersing early, and we could get a good spot to watch. Good thing we hadn’t been informed of the change, because it worked out well for us.
(My dress, similar shoes, sunglasses and sling bag.)
I loved this activity, because it felt so special to see something I’ve heard about for many years. The Foot Guards are from different areas in the UK, and there are little intricacies in their uniforms based on where they are from. I’m a sucker for tradition and pageantry, and this delivered. We had beautiful sunny skies on this day, and it is a must-do London activity.
We ran into one of Dave’s coworkers from Charlotte while walking down the mall, which I find simply crazy. We knew this guy would be in London for a night or two before heading out to the countryside for a wedding, but had no idea where he would be. What are the chances we would be walking in the same area at the same time.
A few other things we did on our 4-night family trip to London …
We walked around Harrods and Selfridges. This was an experience. Harrods is like a Las Vegas shopping mall, but maybe even more overwhelming. While I loved seeing some of the fancy brands available at this luxury department store, I actually felt like I would never want to actually shop there. It was just too much for me. I liked Selfridges department store a little more, but still — these massive multi-level stores are just maybe a little too big for my comfort and prefer more of a smaller boutique-setting. I felt like there was so much there, I had no idea where to really dig in. Not to mention, most of the stuff was a bit above my price range. Brady and I liked spraying fancy perfumes on ourselves though, and we did that a few times.
We walked by Big Ben, we walked by Westminster Abbey, we walked over the Tower Bridge, and we walked through Green Park, Hyde Park and Borough Market. Being on foot was great, because we could knock a lot of sight-seeing off while heading to our final destination of the day. We didn’t spend a lot of time at any of these places, but at least we felt like we saw them.
We shopped a bit, but not much. I bought this super-cute bag from a UK brand, Strathberry at the Burlington Arcade (which was neat open-air mall place). But overall, we didn’t buy that much on our trip at all. All I got were socks (to cover my blister), a scarf and my cute purse (and I’m so happy with my purse). I like shopping, but on a family trip, it just wasn’t the focus.
We waited in line for the Leicester Square LEGO store. We always get Brady Legos from the locations we visit, and he gets his LEGO passport stamped too. The London LEGO store delivered on all accounts, but we did have to wait in a line for a while to get in. Luckily, it’s next to a McDonald’s, so we could take turns going to the bathroom, and we got Brady a little happy meal there too.
We took an Uber Boat ride on the River Thames. We wanted to book a sunset cruise, but never got around to making that happen. So on our last night in London, we walked down to the water and rode the Uber Boat, and it was entertaining. I wouldn’t recommend this as a relaxing boating experience, but it was an experience nonetheless. The Uber Boat system is mostly for locals and commuters, and that’s what it felt like. Yet, at least we didn’t have to leave London without having been on the water. Probably don’t add this to your tourist list of to-dos though.
Overall thoughts on our 4-night family trip to London
Our time in London flew by! It’s a shame we were so tired from travel on our first day, because I feel like that day is a bit of a blur.
We were super pleased with the weather, we were very much happy with how busy we kept our days, and we definitely loved where we stayed and where we ate too. I’d call this London trip success!
Both Dave and I had to been to London before, but I still felt like nearly everything I saw was new. I’d 100 percent go back to London to spend more time in the future. But I’m also excited to tell you about the next leg of our journey …
While one single blog post certainly can’t capture everything, I think I’ve hit the London highlights for you! I hope you enjoyed.
Here’s a video about beautiful things in London too!
Other posts you may like
Questions of the day
Have you ever spent any time in London?
What’s one city you’ve always wanted to visit?
