London
A trip to London, originally unplanned, provided unexpected adventures. From exploring famous landmarks like Piccadilly Circus and Harrod’s, to immersive experiences like Shrek’s Adventure and Hamilton, the family enjoyed sightseeing, shopping, and parks. Memorable outings included Covent Garden, Camden Market, and a girls’ day exploring the Victoria & Albert Museum.
Go London
Like many places we’ve visited on this trip, London was not part of the original plan. I have been a few times before, and while I LOVE the city, we predominantly tried to prioritize places that none of us have visited before. However, I miscalculated the number of days we were within the Schengen zone, so instead of exploring some cool hikes in Germany, we had to get outside the EU for a bit. London was a great choice as it was a) a fast and easy train ride from Belgium and b) a place that Sean has wanted to visit for a while.
We missed our intercity train out of Antwerp due to a last-minute track change that we didn’t hear of until it was too late, so we scrambled to reschedule our Eurostar out of Brussels while simultaneously trying to get on another intercity. Crisis averted, we successfully arrived in London’s St. Pancras Station (which I CANNOT say without adding the “e” that instead makes it into a saint of the similarly-monikered digestive organ).
Our rental flat was in Golders Green, which was one Northern Line Tube stop from Hampstead Heath. It was a great little place for us, and its high street had a cute array of restaurants (Turkish-cuisined Hosh was delicious), cafés, markets and shops.
Our first full day, after a great workout at a nearby community centre, was spent taking the Tube to Leicester Square exploring from there. We took the requisite photos with the Paddington Bear statue and strolled through one of the colourful, lantern-strewn lanes of Chinatown before coming into Piccadilly Circus. It was a rush being there again! I have fond memories of Piccadilly’s Lillywhites, where my dad bought us official Premier League football shorts (Manchester United for me, Tottenham Hotspurs for my sister). After watching a very acrobatic street performer for a bit, we wandered off down Piccadilly and through the lovely little Halkin Mews and around fancy, embassy-laden Lowndes Square in Knightsbridge on the way to visit Harrod’s.
Oh, Harrod’s. It was packed and ridiculous, but I have such vivid recollections of the Food Halls as a child, so it was special taking my own kids there. Such eye candy! From the beautiful wall of rainbow-tinned teas to the glass cylinders of infused olive oils to the rows of gorgeously golden pastries to the stacks of marmalades… we were in foodie heaven. We ended up grabbing a quick bite at the basement café followed by the most delightful desserts from a stall back up in the Halls. It was then onto a charming afternoon stroll through Hyde Park which led us to a great playground, along the Serpentine, and to the Italianate Gardens before walking up the Bayswater Road past the Marble Arch and back to the Tube station.
The next day, the boys decided they both wanted (needed!) a haircut, so off they went to the Golders Green high street in search of a hairdresser. Kieran must have hit it off with his barber, because the rest of the time when I asked, “what would you do if Dad and I were at a workout and there was an emergency that you needed to leave the apartment for?” he said he would head straight to the barber shop to ask for help. Once the boys were shorn and back home, we all headed to a day on Hampstead Heath. What a glorious way to spend a day in London! The Heath is huge and lovely and perfect for a tromp around. We took a picnic lunch and played on playgrounds and wandered through leafy trails. We took pictures of bees and climbed trees. We found the one of the three swimming ponds (there is the Kenwood Ladies’ Pond, the Highgate Mens’ Pond, and the Hampstead Mixed Pond, as well as the Parliament Hill Lido and a Paddling Pool) but alas, you need to book your swim spot in advance, which we hadn’t thought to do.
Unfortunately, the next day dawned a little dimmer… I woke up feeling completely groggy with some sort of bug. Because Sean was heading off to Helsinki the following day for a four-day getaway to meet a friend, I took the time to rest up while Sean entertained the kids out and about. I was still feeling blah the day Sean left, but well enough to head into central London to take the kids on a hop-on, hop-off bus tour. We got some delicious tea and macarons from the Piccadilly TWG and the kids were pulled into a street performance (to their delight) before we headed to the meeting point. The tour was a great way to see and learn about a bunch of the ‘main tourist sites’ with the kids, especially because I wasn’t feeling 100%. We wound our way past Canada House and Trafalgar Square, around Parliament Square and Westminster Abbey, up to St. Paul’s Cathedral and past the monument to the Great Fire of London, over Tower Bridge and alongside the Tower of London, back past Waterloo Station (we learned that the only bridge crossing the Thames that came in on time and under budget was Waterloo Bridge, which was the only one built predominantly by women… coincidence?!), and hopped off at County Hall where we enjoyed a beautiful afternoon tea in The Library; the children remained on their best behaviour.
One busy day was followed by another, as we struck out to discover Soho and Covent Garden. We stopped for – I needed – a coffee at the Seven Dials before heading to explore the stalls in Covent Garden’s Apple Court and the dahlia-festooned market halls full of toy shops, souvenirs, sweet treats, leather satchels, handmade jewellery, perfumes and more. The kids each chose a hand-crocheted stuffie by Roseshah (Squirtle from Pokémon for Kieran, and a bee with different outfits for Grace) and we had a small lunch at Pivot Bistro before enjoying a cup of (TikTok-viral and consequently overpriced) strawberries with molten chocolate. Worth every pence.
The next day was Sunday, and we were accordingly lazy. I was back to feeling lousy after two busy days and Sean was still in Helsinki; too much screen time ensued.
Our next Sean-less day was another jam-packed one. We had tickets to two “interactive and immersive walkthrough experiences”: Shrek’s Adventure! and the Paddington Bear Experience. After we’d successfully saved Shrek from Rumpelstiltskin’s witches and found the missing marmalade just in time for Paddington and the Grubers to celebrate Marmalade Day, we walked to Love Sushi Waterloo and then had to jog back in order to meet our ticket time for The London Eye. From 135 metres up in the air, we saw the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, The Shard, Big Ben, London Bridge, the HMS Belfast anchored in the Thames… and a great-looking park down below the ferris wheel’s base. We ended our busy day there with a slushie, photos with various ‘live statues’ (deemed both creepy and cool by Kieran) and a huge playground runaround.
Our last day sans Sean was another under-the-weather day for me. The kids, who have gained a ton of independence on this trip, went out down the road solo for a few groceries and were very proud of themselves. Sean arrived home late in the day bearing gifts of Moomin books and Finnish gummies, and Grace made a nourishing spread of sandwiches, veggies, and dips for dinner.
We had two huge walking days during our last week in London. The first took us along Camden High Street, past the Camden locks where we stopped to watch some river boats come through, Camden Market where we sampled juicy sausages and mini donuts, up the Chalk Farm Road and across to Primrose Hill and the Shakespeare Oak, over to Queen Mary’s Rose Gardens in The Regent’s Park and past the huge, beautiful London Central Mosque. Then it was along the Regent’s Canal Towpath and past all the fun houseboats moored there to a lovely canal-view lunch at Café Laville in Little Venice. We followed all that with a meander through Maida Vale and past the Lord’s Cricket Ground to Abbey Road Studios, and then to Portobello Road Market and finally home via the Tube station at Notting Hill Gate. The second huge walking day wound us through the East End and Tower Hamlets: a start at Shoreditch with coffee and donuts at Spitalfield’s Market, onto the colour (and three-week-fresh Banksy monkeys) of Brick Lane, up past the Columbia Road Flower Market and through the animals and workshops of the wonderful Hackney City Farm. Then onto the fabulously empowering Vagina Museum (which was “founded with the intention of busting the stigma of the gynaecological anatomy and be part of a societal shift from bodily shame to celebration” – yesss!) in Bethnal Green, through Victoria Park and back to a nearby Tube station for home. Sean and I had JUST enough energy to walk to Hampstead that night to sample the delightful dishes at Ottolenghi but the kids were more than happy to stay home with take-out.
had a wonderful day on my own towards the end of our time, taking the Tube to the Tate Modern and exploring there, as well as enjoying a fancy gallery lunch overlooking the Thames. I followed that by poking around St. James’ Park and sneaking in an early dinner at the Victoria Market Halls before my self-date night at the Victoria Palace Theatre to watch Hamilton. No words… just, such an excellent and powerful show. Highly, highly recommend! (Sean and the kids took in the Crown Jewels and the Tower of London during my solo day).
And finally, Grace and I had a girls’ day on our last full day in London. We started at the Victoria & Albert Museum where, to our delight, there was the “Taylor Swift Songbook Trail” on display – an exhibition of thirteen iconic outfits worn by Taylor during the Eras Tour. What made it brilliant was the way the curators laid out the thirteen stops throughout the four floors and multiple other collections, so it was a great way to roam through the most stunning furniture, fashion, jewellery, tiles, textiles and design housed in the museum. We followed the tour up with a cappuccino (me) and sparkly Swiftie cupcake (Grace) at the opulent Victorian-era Garden Café, which was the world’s very first café inside a museum (!). After relaxing in the “glittering expanse of colourful ceramic, glass and enamel” and listening to some very talented pianists playing the café’s baby grand, we bought too many art postcards (I can’t help myself in a museum gift shop) and headed on our way. We walked through Belgravia and found the cutest little brunch spot called The Buttery inside a tiny, converted townhouse-turned-boutique hotel. Then it was over to the Apollo Victoria Theatre just in time for our Wicked the Musical matinee. Meanwhile, the boys took in a footie match at Wembley (Man U vs Man City) and ate a giant roast-beef-and-Yorkshire-pudding meal wrapped up like a burrito (yup, it’s a thing).
And then it was onto yet another train from King’s Cross / St. Pancr(e)as, snacks in hand, toward Paris. À bientôt!