London Travel Guide: Where to Stay, Where to Eat and Things to Do

Most of you know, I recently spent a week in London with my three close friends. I had been a few times before, but was determined to find awesome, non-touristy spots and amazing restaurants. In this massive London travel guide, I’ll share a bit about where we stayed, places to eat, and things to do.

London Travel Guide: Where to Stay

Well, of course, you can stay in the center of the city to be closer to stuff, but we opted to stay in one of London’s charming, up-and-coming neighborhoods with sort of a hipster vibe – Shoreditch!

We found an Airbnb with enough space for each of us to have our own room and a kitchen for a couple of at-home meals and, more importantly, wine storage. This is the one we stayed in (no longer available on Airbnb), but there are plenty of options in Shoreditch and other neighborhoods.

What we loved about Shoreditch was accessibility to public transit – both busses and the Tube, as well as some of the neighborhood restaurants and bars. I highly recommend it for seasoned travelers who are looking for something different!

London Travel Guide: Where to Eat

London gets a bad rap when it comes to food, but I can’t say my previous experiences in the city have dispelled this in any way. What I learned on this trip was to listen to local recommendations and plan ahead. Most of the good spots in London require advanced reservations and have strict cancellation policies. I would advise to plan your meals ahead of time and figure out your activities around that.

Dishoom

Oh man, this was definitely my favorite restaurant of the trip and it was our very first meal – lunch about 2 hours after we landed. It’s a high-end Indian chain that came recommended by almost everyone we talked to. I’m normally not a fan of Indian because I don’t like curry and I can’t handle spice; to be honest, I really just don’t know what to order. But I was able to ask the waitress who suggested I try the murgh malai and cheesy naan – both were top notch. They only take reservations for lunch, so plan ahead or go early!

Duck and Waffle

Another one to plan ahead for, this awesome spot had some of the best food of the trip as well. I’m not usually a fan of truffles, but the mushroom pasta was incredible. I actually think that dish was better than their namesake duck and waffle. You won’t see this one from the street as it’s on a high floor in an office building, but it’s worth the hunt!

The Ivy Chelsea Garden

I had heard about all of the Ivy restaurants – it’s another London chain, but specifically heard The Ivy Chelsea Garden was the place to go. This gorgeous spot is fancy-schmancy – but had delicious upscale versions of the classics. I got a lovely shepherd’s pie and ate it from the comfort of a couch near an open-air patio.  As a bonus, this restaurant is in an adorable neighborhood, perfect to walk and shop in after brunch!

Aubaine at Selfridges

This was such a great find that kept popping up on Instagram during my search. It’s similar to a Nordstrom Café in that it’s in the middle of a large department store called Selfridges. It’s a blogger’s paradise with lavender flowers hanging from the ceilings, but I have very little tolerance for restaurants that are all look and no taste. The food here was killer too and not obscenely portioned in either direction. Perfect for a brunch before shopping!

The Cheese Bar

What a delight The Cheese Bar was! This one came recommended, but we actually forgot to add it to the list until we happened to be going to Camden Market and realized it was nearby. It’s a tiny hole-in-the-wall spot with a massive refrigerator on one wall filled floor-to-ceiling with cheese. All of their menu items are cheese forward and we fell hard-and-fast in love. Make sure to get a reservation since it’s so small.

Simpson’s Tavern

This spot came recommended by a local as the oldest chop house in London and it’s charming to an extreme. It has been open since 1757 – that’s older than America, and for those counting, 262 years old! The food was nothing to write home about, but it was just such a fun experience. I will say, it seems to be an old boys’ club – we were the only women seated in our area for the majority of our meal.

London Travel Guide: The Markets

I’m putting this section between where to eat and things to do because they’re kind of both! We had great market advice from one of my Chicago Instagram friends who studied abroad in London. Most of the London markets are open on Sunday, and since we weren’t there on a Sunday, we missed some. Here are the two we did see and our thoughts on each …

Camden Market

I’m starting with Camden, because, to be honest, the stuff at the market itself was a lot of junk. Touristy tchotchkes and the like, but it’s still worth going to and here’s why … First, the neighborhood itself is so cool! Many of the buildings have intricate installations on the front façades. It’s sort of like Times Square in a sense. Second, this is where The Cheese Bar was, so you’re obviously going to be over that direction anyway!

One activity I read about that we didn’t get a chance to do, was to head up to Primrose Hill (a park with fab views) and take a picnic dinner to watch the sunset over the city. We didn’t get a chance to do this, but it’s right next to Camden, so if you’re over that way, it’s an option!

Borough Market

Borough Market on the other hand was like this incredible urban farmer’s market with food stands and gourmet foods galore. We actually decided we didn’t get enough time there on our first trip and cancelled plans another day to go back. Make sure to go hungry and try some of the street foods before walking around and sampling cheeses and chocolates, and chatting with vendors!

London Travel Guide: Things To Do

City Garden Bar

Possibly the most laughable moments of the trip was the famed City Garden Bar. Almost every source I checked raved about City Garden Bar – a bar at the top of the Walkie Talkie building that has an incredible indoor greenhouse of sorts and an outdoor viewing area that overlooks the Shard. Weeks out reservations were so limited that we jumped on them to be sure. Upon arrival, it IS gorgeous, but it’s also packed with tourists and has maybe the worst service of anywhere we visited in London. We arrived early on a Wednesday and still had to wait for our table even with open seating around us. And unfortunately, we couldn’t just ditch it, due to a hefty – I’m talking over $150 – cancellation fee!

So, you’re probably wondering why I’m even talking about it. What I didn’t realize before traveling is that you could still walk up and grab a drink at the bar and just mill around for a few. That’s the way to go, for sure! The porn star martini I had there (London’s drink of choice) was one of the best ever!

Tower of London and the Crown Jewels

The was the one touristy thing I was all about – I mean, who doesn’t want to look at hundred-carat diamonds for an hour or so? For around $30, you can spend as much time as you want exploring this historic site and the many buildings and museums within it. We just bummed around a bit taking everything in, but an audio tour may have been a better way to go.

Tate Modern

Since we didn’t budget much time for museums, we opted for the closer-to-our-house Tate Modern. Most of the rooms were free to walk through, so we did that and then played in the gift shop for a while. Great rainy-weather activity!

Afternoon Tea at Sketch

If it were me alone, I probably would have had afternoon tea every day I was there. But, I settled for one incredible French twist on tea at the celebrated Sketch. While it was such a unique experience, I would actually recommend doing a more traditional English afternoon tea service at one of the hotels if you haven’t been before!

“Football” Match at Wembley

One of the coolest things we did was hop on the Tube out to Wembley Stadium to watch England’s national football team (read: soccer) take on the Czech Republic. It’s such a different experience from American sports as booze is not allowed in the viewing area to avoid rowdy fans. Still so fun and great to cheer on the winning team!

Shop

There are so many places in London, but you should definitely check out the two famous department stores – Selfridges and Harrod’s. Beyond that, the neighborhood shops are fun and have different styles than you find in the US. There are also specialty stores you can’t find at all in the states – like Neal’s Yard Remedies in Covent Garden (pictured above).

Hire a Photographer

This was our life-changing vacation discovery! One morning, we woke up a bit earlier than usual to get dressed up and before heading out for the day, had a professional photographer come to our neighborhood for a mini photo shoot! I can’t speak highly enough about Veronica Taylor and her fun style, but also, this was a great idea in general and I’ll definitely consider it again for future trips!

Just Walk!

My favorite thing to do in any city I visit is to simply walk – and walk a lot. Time permitting, we walked from one activity to another to see the neighborhoods and explore. Best experience was getting caught in a Brexit protest and seeing all of the awesome signs and energy. And our hands down favorite neighborhood was along the walk from Harrod’s to Peggy Porschen Cakes through the Belgravia area. Too bad the line at Peggy’s was too long for a cupcake!

 

Okay, phew. I know that’s a lot and there was so much we didn’t fit in too! We would have loved to do a day-trip to Greenwich or Bath. There was also a Dior exhibit at the Victoria and Albert Museum that was unfortunately sold out. We’ll just have to go back!