The Best of London

Exploring London’s Best Kept Secrets

Welcome travel seekers who are looking to experience London for 5-7 days or stop in for a few days during your European travels. Our vision for Canadian travellers is to see more of you flying to Europe during the Spring, Summer and Fall seasons. With direct flights at a reasonable cost into this wonderful city from many of our large Canadian airports it isn’t as difficult as one might imagine to experience this kind of vacation. There are several things to do in London as you will see. From our list below we encourage you to make your own list of what you know is important for you to see and from there we can work with you on how many days you need to be there or assist you will cleaning up your list.

Get ready to embark on an unforgettable journey through the heart of England. London awaits, let the adventure begin.

Tips for your arrival into London Heathrow Airport

If you would like to purchase the Oyster card for transportation  go to London Underground Station Terminals 2,3,4 or 5 after you pick up your luggage. You can purchase the Oyster Card at the ticket counter or machines, remember to keep your receipts in a safe and convenient place. Alternatively you can use your credit card for the trains if you prefer not to purchase the Oyster Card which needs to be reloaded as needed.

If you are staying in the Kensington area which we will be on our upcoming vacation you will want to take the Elizabeth Line in Terminal 2 & 3 which is 16 minutes and arrives in Paddington. This is Zone 1 in London and covers the West End. From Paddington Station you will need to look for the train that takes you in the correct direction of your hotel. For example, if you are staying in West Kensington you will look for the train that stops at Earls Court and ends in Barons Court. Keep a close eye on your stop so you don’t miss it. The walk to your hotel shouldn’t be too bad from here if you have kept this in mind when booking it. This is something we always look for when selecting our hotels for ourselves and our clients. As a side note, if you are taking the tube from the airport we highly recommend traveling with backpacks or something that is quite light if you are rolling it. We have more information on the backpacks we use if you are interested in how and why we chose them. If you are travelling int he spring like we are you will want to pack a small travel umbrella, rain jacket and rain cover for your backpack.

If you are taking private transportation that we have arranged for you from the airport we will send specific instructions on where to find your driver. This is a good idea if you are traveling with a lot of luggage or you would simply like the convenience of getting directly to your hotel with ease after a long flight. We get it!

Day 1: Arrival Day

You should be arriving mid day which will allow you to do a small amount of exploring once you have checked into your hotel. We are writing this with the assumption that we have booked you in the Kensington area.

Here are a few things that you could do from mid afternoon until dinner. Whatever you don’t get in on your first day will be there for you tomorrow so don’t worry about it.

• Hop on, hop off bus tour
• Bike or walk in Hyde Park
• Visit the Kensington Gardens
• Kensington Palace
• Kensington Museum
• Royal Albert Hall

Day 2 and forward

• London Bridge
• Tower Bridge
• Borough Market for lunch (nowhere to sit but great food to grab and go)
• Afternoon High Tea
• The Shard
• Shakespeare’s Globe
• The Clink – London’s oldest prison
• Winchester Palace
• HMS Belfast Warship
• Millennium Bridge – Beautiful walking bridge
• Sky Garden – Free viewpoint but book 2 weeks in advance
• St. Paul’s Cathedral

More great things to do in London

• Travel from Westminster to Greenwich by boat roundtrip or one way and find your way back on the tube or taxi
• Big Ben
• The London Eye
• House of Parliament
• Buckingham Palace
• St. Paul’s Cathedral Market
• Paper Company
• Southwark Cathedral

Some of our clients will stay in London for a full week and that is all they will do, others will enjoy a few days before heading to their next destination such as Ireland, Scotland, Netherlands, France or they will take a flight to Greece, Italy or Spain! The options are endless. This is also a great start or end point for those who are taking a cruise or organized tour that we have arranged for you!

If you are in search of experienced Travel Advisors you can find us on our social pages at Sierra Travel Sylvan Lake or call Trish Ratzlaff @403-340-6724 or George Meiklejohn @780-753-6869.

Thank you to Hannah Lynn who shared her wonderful London pictures with us for this blog. Hannah has experienced several tours with Contiki which has allowed her to see so much of the world in her twenties.