In LOVE with LONDON: Sight-seeing in the streets of London

Sharing my love of London with you today. Visiting London, England with my husband and in-laws was a dream! I can’t wait to show you the pictures. If you are traveling to London anytime soon, make sure you see some of these places!

This street looks like it’s part of Diagon Alley straight from Harry Potter–or it gives me a Dicken’s feel as well.

We went on a Sherlock Holmes walk and learned about the inspiration that Arthur Conan Doyle had for his beloved character.

LONDON WALKS

If you have never experienced a London Walk before, it is a must-do. Here’s how the London Walks work: You meet at the designated place and time for the particular walk you want. They have all kinds of subjects, places to see, and interests for you to indulge in. Times and places vary, so check their website. For the most up to date info, they have pamphlets they pass out too. You will find the leader of the walk there with a badge and pamphlet info. You pay the leader beforehand and then they will take you and the group on a very informative (and sometimes snarky or funny) tour of London. They help you get from point A to point B without getting lost and you learn and see so much. You will learn little details of each place that would be hard to learn otherwise. Each walk lasts about 2 hours.

One of the best parts of London is going to the theaters. This is the theater where we saw Agatha Christie’s play Mousetrap. It’s London’s longest running play. I love a good mystery.

We also were able to see:

Wicked
Les Miserables
Phantom of the Opera

When the sight-seeing is done for the day, it’s nice to go relax at the theater in the evenings. We bought most of our tickets online before our vacation. It’s cheaper and you can make sure you get a seat!

One of our London Walks took us to Hampton Court Palace (more on that later) and the city of Richmond. Richmond is a gorgeous, quaint little city that feels so London-ish. Here’s a few pictures. I loved it.

This is a quiet little neighborhood right in the middle of London city. It’s not far from Westminster Abbey, which is a busy hub of London. But this area was so quiet and calm. I loved the cute houses.

On the other side of London, near Stepney, we also visited the oldest pub in London. Now, I’m not a drinker, but I went there because my ancestors lived in this area during the time that this would have been here (so I figured they must’ve had a drink or two there). We visited it for a sandwich at lunch time. So much history in London! More on this later!

And of course we cannot forget the many museums in London. There are so many museums, it’s unbelievable (and some of them are FREE!). One of my very favorites is the Victoria and Albert Museum (and it’s free admission). The building itself is AMAZING!

Inside is all kinds of pieces from history from around the world. It focuses on how people lived–their furniture, clothing, jewelry, and way of life. You can see ancient items from China, Japan, Europe, and of course England. See my Jane Austen attire in the photo? I was in heaven. Lots of statues and sculptures too–beware if you have little kids that are not ready to see nude statues.