Christmas in London

A major perk of working for an airline is the free flights. So when my stepbrother spent a semester abroad in London, England it only seemed right to pay him a visit. Not only did I make the traveling team, but my mom, stepdad, stepbrother, and I all booked a five-day trip abroad.

My stepdad and stepbrother bought flights, luckily on the same airline I work for, but my mom and I decided to fly standby with the hopes of getting upgraded to first class.

I met the three of them in Chicago to fly direct to London. Flying standby, my mom and I had to wait until about an hour before to receive our seat assignments.

Flying standby was in our favor that day and my mom and I both got upgraded to first class.

I think my mom enjoyed getting her own little pod in first class because when we landed she told me she wouldn’t have cared if the flight was longer.

Saturday

There’s nothing like having to clear customs after an overnight flight, but luckily Heathrow’s customs was easy and quick to navigate. We made our way to Airbnb located in North Kensington.

Right away we weren’t able to check in because our place was being cleaned, but the host was nice enough to allow us to store our luggage there.

We didn’t have any set plan for the day so we wandered to the nearest train station, the tube, and took it to Waterloo Station. We hopped off and walked around the area near the London Eye.

My mom wanted to go on the Eye, but then saw the line and how much it cost and decided against it. Instead, we walked to Gillray’s since we were all starving.

An obvious first meal choice when in London is Fish ‘n’ Chips, and of course, that’s what my mom and I split. The meal was good, but I would recommend finding a pub in a less touristy area to eat.

After getting the coffee and food we needed for fuel, we took off walking again. We walked past Westminster Abbey and made our way to the Churchill War Rooms.

For the Churchill War Rooms, it was £25 per person. The tour was self-led which was nice to be able to go at your own pace. It went through the room that Winston Churchill, and other members of the British Government, worked out of during World War II.

It was cool to see the rooms that were actually used during wartime and it also had a museum area that showcased the timeline of Churchill’s life. The whole exhibit had a great mix of visuals and is definitely worth the money and time to see. Maybe go on a day when you’re fully awake though, as opposed to coming off a night of no sleep as we did.

Despite how tired we were, we managed to hit two major spots, Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey. Both are stunning to see, just the outside alone. I’ve never had time to tour either but both are on my list!

Then, of the utmost importance, we loaded up on goodies at Marks & Spencer. We grabbed some sweet treats and food for dinner then headed back to our Airbnb for an early night.

Sunday

One thing I was dying to do in London was have afternoon tea. Going into the trip we didn’t really have any concrete plans, which meant no tea-time reservations.

There had been a few places recommended to us, but given we were going during the holiday season on a Sunday, it was tough to find a reservation.

I was able to snag a reservation at the Hedgerow located in the Conrad Hilton Hotel.

I didn’t think this activity would be everyone’s cup of tea, so I was a little surprised when my stepdad and two stepbrothers wanted to go, too.

High Tea ended up being everyone's favorite experience of the trip. Yes, even the boys. It was such a fun way to spend an afternoon, and if you’re in London, any time of the year, it’s a must-do activity.

After tea, we spent more time walking around and exploring Trafalgar Square. Trafalgar Square sits right in front of the National Gallery and offers panoramic views around it.

Trafalgar is always one of my favorite spots to visit, even when it’s freezing. It’s got a fun mix of historic structures and modern art (like the giant fly that sits on whipped cream). But, the best part of visiting around the Holidays is the Christmas Market that’s set up.

We spent the rest of the day walking around shopping and made our final stop at Plume Wine Bar. Plume Wine Bar is located in Covent Garden and it inhabits Charles Dickens’ former publishing house.

The wine bar offers all sorts of fun, unique cocktails, which is why my mom and I loved it. I loved it so much that when I visited the following summer, I made sure to go back.

Monday

If there’s a Christmas staple of visiting London around the Holidays, it’s a visit to Harrods Department Store. One of the most spectacular department stores that still has all its charm from the days when department stores ruled the shopping experience, Harrods will keep you entertained for hours.

My mom and I started ahead of the boys to Harrods so we could have a little girls’ time exploring before all meeting up. Where we stayed was right across Hyde Park from Harrods, so even though it was cold we enjoyed our scenic walk through the legendary park.

We had an incredible Italian lunch at one of the restaurants in the Dining Hall on the first floor. We split a pasta dish and a salad, which I paired with an Aperol Spritz. If you plan on spending some time in Harrods, which you should it is massive, having lunch at one of the many places to eat in Harrods adds to the fun.

We wandered around a bit, but as you can probably guess the crowds were nuts so we got our souvenirs from their gift shop and made our way out.

Giftshops are usually overpriced and overrated, however, Harrods had good quality, fun finds. We each got a lovely London Christmas tree ornament and found an adorable umbrella for my grandma (which was all she asked for).

Monday wasn’t all about Harrods, much to my dismay. We spent the second half of the day taking the Tube to Richmond. I will say, using your phone for directions with public transportation is fairly easy. It’ll save you a lot of money, especially if you’re headed somewhere like Richmond or Oxford.

Luckily I was in charge of dinner reservations so I chose somewhere I’d been in the city of London that also had a location in Richmond. After Will, my stepbrother showed us a little around campus we walked to the downtown area full of restaurants and shops. Richmond had much more to offer I must admit, it would make a great day trip if you’re looking to get out of the city.

The Ivy is where I made dinner reservations. I’ve been to London probably ten times in my life and three of those times I’ve made it to eat at The Ivy. There are so many fun cocktails on their menu to choose from, the food has always been incredible, and the restaurant is decorated in such a unique fun way, especially over the holidays.

We all shared some fun starters and ordered fun cocktails. One thing that made me fall in love with The Ivy the first time I went was all the unique takes on Gin & Tonics. Now of course, if you don’t know, Britain is known for the gin & tonic, so if you’re gonna get it anywhere it’s there. For this trip, I ordered the Chicken Milanese. Thus far in the trip, it was easily my favorite meal.

After dinner since my parents are big Ted Lasso fans, we had to stop at Prince’s Head. If you’re a big Ted Lasso fan visiting London it’s worth your while to take the Tube out to Richmond.

The Prince’s Head is the bar they frequent in the show so since it was right downtown, close to where we ate, we decided why not check it out?

We were both disappointed and ecstatic when we got to the pub. We couldn’t go in and get a pint, but that was only because they were in the middle of filming for the show. Safe to say we got pretty lucky and the crew was unbothered by us standing and gawking for a bit.

Tuesday

Our second to last day in London was one of our more relaxed days. We had another dinner reservation at one of my personal favorites but no big plans for the rest of the day.

We started off by getting coffee and brunch in Hyde Park at The Italian Gardens Cafe. If you enjoy people-watching at all then this is a great spot for you. The cafe overlooks a stunning little section of Hyde Park and is a great spot to sit and enjoy a little people-watching.

After our coffee, we walked around Hyde Park, Kensington, and of course made a quick stop at Marks and Spencer.

Then we walked through Hyde Park and made a point to walk the scenic route past Kensington Palace towards dinner.

Dinner was at Dishoom. I will admit, it was a rather early reservation since it can be fairly hard to get a reservation. I have waited in a line or two to eat at Dishoom, but every time it was well worth it.

Dishoom is inspired by the old Irani cafes of Bombay. There are multiple locations throughout London so wherever you are you don’t have to travel too to find one.

Collectively this was everyone’s favorite meal. Let me just put it this way, my mom found out they sold a cookbook and had it ordered on Amazon before the meal was over.

My must-haves every time I eat at Dishoom are, Ruby Chicken, Pau Bhaji, and Masala Prawns (obviously some garlic naan, too). Whenever I ask for recommendations for places to eat in London, everyone says Dishoom. Whenever I give recommendations for places to eat in London, Dishoom. You will not be disappointed.

Wednesday

For our last day in London, we did what any tourist would. We bought tickets to Winter Wonderland. Winter Wonderland is this huge Holiday fair that’s set up in Hyde Park. I had tried in the past to go check it out last minute, however, when I walked up to the festival it had one of the longest lines I’ve ever seen. I would highly recommend buying your tickets in advance.

When you book the tickets, it allows you to pick a few experiences to customize your time there. So for us, we chose to do the Ice Bar, Ice Sculptures (which also had a slide), and the Bavarian Village. Since we didn’t book until a few days before, the only time slots available were midday.

For us, that worked just fine. All we had to do was walk over to Hyde Park from where we were staying and find an entrance into Winter Wonderland.

I will say going early during the day was nice because we didn’t have to wait in line for anything.

All the experiences we went to weren’t packed, and we got to enjoy each of them for however long we wanted.

The only reason I would want to go at night is that that’s when the park is all lit up. From the rides to the food stands, everything is decked out with holiday lights.

After lunch in Winter Wonderland, we hopped in a cab and headed to Camden Market. We made the trip to Camden because there was a store one of my stepbrothers wanted to check out, Cyberdog. Cyberdog is a rave store with crazy, eccentric clothing and miscellaneous items. I can’t say I bought anything there, but it was no doubt entertaining to browse.

Camden Market is such a fun spot for unique shopping. There are plenty of stores and food in the area to explore. I will say they had quite the selection of designer knockoffs if that’s something you’re looking for.

We headed to the Horseshoe pub for a pre-dinner drink. My stepdad works with someone who had lived in London and bartended there. It was really fun to visit a local pub that had ties to someone we knew back home. It also offered a very authentic pub experience.

Our last dinner was within walking distance from where we stayed at Ristorante Taormina. After a day of exploring outside in the cold, it was a dream to have a warm Italian dinner.

To top off the night, we had one final pub visit to the Mitre Lancaster Gate. The Mitre quite possibly had my favorite Christmas decorations of the whole trip, so it was the perfect finale to our December adventure in London.

Thursday

Thursday we woke up early and headed to the airport to head home. Much to my mom’s happiness, we received upgrades again, the perfect end to an amazing trip.

If you want to see a highlight from my London adventure click here!