London

What to do at Buckingham Palace

Going inside and taking the guided tour is obvious, but there are other things you can do on the grounds of the Buckingham Palace, see photos and captions below for some insiders tips!

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Us in front of the caption for an obligatory couples’ shot 😉 Notice the flag is flying high, which means the resident is home (aka the Queen!)

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Another photo from the front of the palace

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No photos are allowed inside, but once you exit you will see The Garden Cafe. Take a moment, have a tea and cake and relax overlooking the perfectly manicured grounds.

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Once you leave The Garden Cafe, don’t exit the grounds, walk around the gardens on a self-guided tour and take in the beauty of the palace and its surroundings.

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The exit

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And, before you leave, take a moment and buy a single serving of Windsor Castle ice cream. Have a seat on a bench and enjoy, whats the hurry when your surrounded by such beautiful nature?!

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If You Love Sherlock….

…Get to London ASAP and follow the below directions, you will be ecstatic you did!

  1. Hop in a cabbie (you’re in London, you have to at least once….) and go directly to the Sherlock Holmes Restaurant
  2. Order a pint of the Sherlock Holmes Ale on tap
  3. Sip
  4. Enjoy
  5. Repeat

As huge Sherlock fans, we stumbled across this English Pub around 4pm, exhausted and tired of walking, so we took this finding as a sign from the heavens that we should rest our feet 😉 We walked in and instantly felt like we were in 221B, the pub feels like what 221B Baker Street would be in pub form. [Secret: It even has a replica of the living room upstairs] We ordered said pints and then another….needless to say, this little pit stop made the British Museum a lot more entertaining!!

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It was just so good that we went back for lunch the next day. We ordered the “Hound of the Baskerville Toad in the Hole” (a traditional English meat and potato dish) and the classic “The Retired Colourman’s Fish & Chips”. Clever names! Check out the rest of the brilliant menu items here!

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Fish n Chips (top) Toad in the Hole (bottom)

Wonderful Windsor

We recently stayed at a beautiful little Airbnb right outside of London, in Windsor. We fell in love with the quaint little town and really got used to the beauty of Windsor! Our host was a wonderful woman who was so friendly and full of British humor. She chatted with us about everything from the Windsor Castle being “the only important castle” (ha!) to the Last Night of the Proms (which by the way, we had no idea the UK did such a cool little event, why doesn’t America have this?!?!) We had tea and coffee with her and she really gave us a true English experience 😉

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While we weren’t drinking tea in the Sitting Room, we were exploring Windsor (and of course London). Some things you must do in Windsor:

  • The Windsor Castle (beautiful!) but go early, the queue gets very long by the time it opens at 10:00. (see the queue below!!)IMG_5662
  • See the changing of the guard, it happens every other day, and they march right down the middle of High Street. It is a big deal, roads are closed and people stand watching on either side of High Street to catch a view. It is opposite of the Buckingham Palace’s schedule. It usually takes place around 11:30 with streets closing around 10:45.IMG_3900
  • Any of the parks/gardens, there are a few optionsIMG_5627
  • We heard the following were wonderful as well: St. George’s Chapel, Windsor and Eton Brewery, Theatre Royal, Horse Stables (the following is a photo taken from the outside on High Street)IMG_5651

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AND of course, there is a beautiful little pedestrian-only street right off of High Street with a slew of restaurants and great shopping! On our last night, exhausted from walking around London, we ate at a little Italian restaurant called Carluccio’s. Highly recommend. It was very intimate and romantic, yet delicious and filling. It also has a separate deli shop that is open during the day.

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Transportation to London is a breeze. You would take the rail from Windsor to London, with one easy change in between. The rail from Windsor Central Station is a direct route, only stopping in Windsor and Slough. Simply take the rail to Slough, then change platforms (we went to London Paddington) and simply hop on the Paddington rail! It will take you to Paddington, and from there you can go anywhere. This is the simplest route, although there are many options. For the two of us, it was approximately $25USD, not bad for a full day in London 🙂 If you are going from London Paddington to Windsor for the day, it would be the reverse (at Slough, hop onto the Windsor Central Station rail).

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London in Photos

Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.

-Samuel Johnson


Photos of our recent trip to London, my new love ❤

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