Here’s how we spent our 3 days in London

Day 1 

We were staying relatively close to central London (about 25 minutes train ride). We started the day by taking the tube to Piccadilly Circus and making our first stop at the Hamleys toy store (this stop was more due to nostalgia, but it did help to get my 8-year-old motivated for the rest of the day).

TIP: Prior to your London trip, decide on all the sights you want to see and determine if you are better of buying a pass (e.g. London Pass). The pass though expensive, covers a lot of attractions, and if you are planning to visit most of those, you may be better off buying the pass.

It was a Sunday, and Regent Street (major shopping street at the west end of London) was bustling with events and activities. We took the tube from here to Victoria station and got tickets to the hop on/off London Big Bus. Though, we did not plan this initially, in hindsight, this was a very good decision as it allowed us to see a lot of the attractions very conveniently and saved us a lot of time, that we would have otherwise spent commuting from one spot to another. We rode through the Parliament Square and got down at St. Paul’s cathedral. We have seen most of the famous cathedrals across Europe, however every time I step into one, I am always in awe. St. Paul’s was no different and is easily one of the most famous and recognizable sights of London. Though we did not opt to go to the top of the dome, you can get some incredible views of London from up there. After spending some time here, we walked across the Thames on the Millenium Bridge. This pedestrian footbridge is one of the coolest bridges in the city. It was also featured in the Harry Potter movies and you can take photos on the bridge with St. Paul’s in the background for an interesting perspective.

We walked in front of Shakespeare’s Globe (theatre which was reconstructed based on the original Shakespeare’s Globe from 1599) and caught some great views of the Shard from across the river. We came back south on the Southwark Bridge and hopped back on to the bus at London Bridge to ride it all the way back to Victoria. Along the way we stopped at Parliament Square Garden and took some pics alongside Gandhi and Churchill. We also passed by Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, 10 Downing Street, Hyde Park and Green Park. While we did not spend any time at Hyde Park, if you can it’s worth visiting this royal park, to see the Marble Arch – this 19^th century arch is a London landmark.

After having got a pretty good orientation to central London, we called it a day early evening to head back home and spend some time with family.

Day 2

We started day 2, by walking down from Victoria station to Buckingham Palace to witness the change of guards. We had researched the time the actual change would happen and planned on arriving a little early to grab a good spot just outside the iron gates. We grossly underestimated how much earlier we needed to be there, as by the time, we got to Buckingham Palace, there were easily a few thousand people. Despite out best attempts, most of what we saw was the back of other people’s heads.

We did have another day at our disposal, so determined to come back earlier the next day, we made our way to Westminster Abbey which is short walk away. Though, not as crowded, there was a long line here as well and it took us almost hour to get inside. The Abbey is one of the most notable religious buildings and has been the traditional place of coronation. It is also a burial site of more than 3,300 persons, usually of predominant prominence in British history (including at least sixteen monarchs, eight Prime Ministers, poet laureates, actors, scientists, and military leaders, and the unknown warriors). We spent about 1.5 – 2 hours inside and the audio guides helped is educating not only Daivik, but also us, on some very famous British personalities.

We had a quick lunch close to the Abbey and hopped back on to the Big Bus to go all the way to the Tower of London. It was a beautiful day, and we got some great shots of the London Eye, (unfortunately the Big Ben was covered in scaffolding as there was repair work in progress). While we crossed over on the London bridge, we were lucky to witness the Tower Bridge open up to allow a ship to pass through. That was one cool sight! While we did not do it due to time constraints, there is also a Tower Bridge Exhibition where you can learn how this famous bridge works and walk across the glass floor and enjoy beautiful views from the top of the bridge.

Despite its grim reputation, the Tower of London holds over 1,000 years of history that is a must see. The chief attractions are the Crown Jewels, which attracts the largest crowds. However, there’s plenty more to see. Our son was excited about the torture chambers – which we had decided would be our last stop. It did not turn out to be all that exciting, but it did keep our 8-year-old motivated. There’s plenty of history here, and it is relatively easy to build it into your narrative to keep the little ones engaged. After spending a couple of hours, we

TIP: You can get a great shot of the Thames and Tower Bridge from here and they make for some great pics. We visited here during the afternoon. However, if it fits into your schedule, morning would be a great time to avoid some of the crowds.

It was late afternoon, by the time we were done, and we had planned to meet a good friend for drinks that evening. We headed to the Borough market area (this is one of London’s most popular food markets, consisting of over 100 stalls and stands) and hopped across a few pubs for some great ale and food.

Day 3 (Morning)

We made our second attempt in as many days to witness the change of guards at Buckingham Palace. This time we arrived a little earlier and got much closer to the gates. However instead of people in front of us, there were now people packed right behind us. Also, since we had arrived earlier, it meant a much longer wait. None of us were very comfortable, and after whatever little we saw the previous day, we concluded that it was not worth the effort. We did hang around till the change of guards was over and finally got some good and clear shots of the palace.

Our main agenda for the day was to visit the British museum. Though we would not call ourselves museum buffs, we have always enjoyed spending time in one. From the palace we cut through Green Park and took the tube to reach the British museum. This museum is amongst the largest and most comprehensive in existence and has about eight million works that have been widely sourced during the era of the British Empire. It documents the story of human culture from its beginnings to the present and was the first public national museum in the world. We only had about 4-5 hours at our disposal, we had pre-determined how we wanted to spend that time based on our interests. I would strongly recommend doing the same.

TIP: For Indian travelers there is a whole section at the British Museum dedicated to how the Indian civilization has evolved through the centuries. We spend a considerable amount of time here with our son and found it very informative and engaging.

Our last evening in London was dedicated to friends and family. After coordinating with some friends, we met up at Covent Garden and caught up on old times. After which, we headed back home to spend the last evening with family. We were also able to watch the England and Colombia game of the 2018 soccer world cup. (which England won on penalties!). A few days later, we also witnessed Belgium defeat Brazil in the quarterfinals, while we were in Brussels and saw France defeat Belgium in the semifinals while we were in Paris! (more on that in my Paris itinerary). I like to believe we were the good luck charm for the home teams!