London, Paris, Rome, New York. These are the most famous cities on earth. Everybody talks about them, and everybody has heard of them. Everybody knows just a little about them, and everybody would love to visit them, even if just for a short while. We booked an Airbnb in Paddington for 3 nights for our first ever visit to London.
We knew very little about London or what we wanted to see there. But because it is one of the most famous cities on earth, we knew that there would be heaps of amazing things to see and do.
Where to Stay for Your London Sightseeing
We chose the Paddington area, because our brief research revealed that it’s a nice safe area. But most importantly, the Heathrow Express train has a direct connection between Heathrow Airport and Paddington Train Station.
We chose a place just 8 minutes walk from Paddington Station, so that it would be easy for us to get there from the airport, and easy to get around on the public transport system. As it turned out, we did not make use of the Heathrow Express or the Public Transport system!
Getting Around London
We learnt that the Heathrow Express costs 20 British Pounds per person to get from Heathrow Airport to Paddington Station. That’s 60 pounds for the three of us. Online they cost 50 pounds for the three of us. I then researched some online airport transfers and found one for 42 pounds, so that was a no-brainer.
I booked a transfer easily on my iPhone from Qatar airport on the flight in. As it turned out, we could have taken an Uber for about 35 to 40 pounds. On our return from Paddington to Heathrow Airport Uber was the cheapest option for us, and cost 38 pounds.
After arriving in London we learnt about London Big Bus Tours. These seemed to be a convenient option for us to get around London. It would cost about 85 pounds for 2 days for the 3 of us. It’s a hop-on hop-off bus with a bus-stop right near Paddington Train Station, and it has a return boat trip along the Thames River included.
Our research revealed that we needed to pay a minimum of 15 pounds per person per day for Zone 1 daily Public Transport tickets. Another no-brainer, and we elected to purchase Big Bus Tour tickets instead of public transport. It would be roughly the same cost, but we got a bonus Thames River Cruise.
touThe Big Bus Tour bus
Big Bus Tour or London Pass?
We were very tempted to purchase a London Pass, which gives you virtually unlimited access to access all the major attractions around London. They are very expensive if you pay for them individually. We had to consider how energetic we wanted to be.
Getting a London Pass means you have to be flat out for 2 full days to make best use of them. They have hop-on-hop-off bus tickets included so this is easily accomplished. But we soon realised our energy levels weren’t really up to that.
We pictured ourselves racing around trying to get the best value from the London Pass and ending up utterly exhausted. It’s a great option if you’re up to fast paced long days, but this simply did not suit us.
Big Bus Tours were perfect for us. It allowed us to take the 2 main Big Bus routes to get around and see the most popular sights of London. We could lazily photograph the attractions from the comfort of our double-decker open top buses.
Or we could choose to get off and take some pictures whenever we chose. We did not really have enough time to do many paid tours, we simply wanted to cover a large amount of attractions in 2 days. Big Bus Tours were perfect for our needs.
Day 1 in London
On the first day our first major stop along the Big Bus Tours route was Trafalgar Square. This is a lovely big square dotted with massive statues. The National Art Gallery flanks one side of the square, and the whole city scape is full of amazing architecture.
It’s actually a great starting point to take self-guided walking tours in virtually every direction, however we simply got back onto the Big Bus Tour to drive to the next sights.
St. Paul’s Cathedral was our next stop. We stopped here for lunch thanks to a ‘healthy food supermarket’ opposite St Paul’s Cathedral. This store took us completely by surprise, it was full of take out healthy choice meals, and very cheap by London standards. We had one of the most delicious and healthy lunches we’ve eaten for a long time.
London Tower
Next stop for us was the Thames River near the London Eye. Here we had some great views along the Thames River, including the magnificent Parliament House building. Back on the bus again, to the northern most point of the bus-route, the London Tower Bridge. This is on the must see sights of London, it is the iconic bridge across the Thames River you always see on postcards of London.
What we did not realise was that the London Tower Bridge is right next to the Tower of London. As it turns out the Tower of London is not just a tower, but a large complex of medieval castles and towers.
I really wanted to pay the entrance into the Tower of London because medieval castles are kind of my thing. However the gate staff advised us that a full 3 hours area required to do a tour of the Tower of London.
Last entry is at 4:30pm and it closes at 5:00pm. Since it was 3:30 pm already we chose not to pay entry, because we would have to leave early and disappointed.
Cruising on the Thames
After the Tower of London we boarded the boat to cruise down the Thames River to Westminster Abbey. This was a tremendously entertaining cruise, mainly thanks to the tour operator giving a light-hearted commentary all the way down the river.
It was rather like listening to a stand up comedian, only he was also giving us an amazing history lesson. Of course were invited to leave him tips as we got off the boat. We are so glad we took the boat trip, and were happy to tip our entertaining host.
Westminster Abbey and the World Heritage Bonanza
Back on the Big Bus Tour and we went next to the famous Westminster Abbey. In my opinion this is the most amazing sight in all of London. Westminster Abbey is the large building where kings and queens have been coronated for centuries; it is a truly iconic and massive structure. It is also Unesco World Heritage Listed.
But what I find truly amazing is that when we were standing outside Westminster Abbey, we could see 4 Unesco Work Heritage sites from where we were standing. Westminster Abbey, St Margaret’s Church, Big Ben and Parliament House. It may be the only place in the world where it’s possible to see 4 World Heritage sites without moving a single step!
Buckingham Palace
From Westminster Abbey we wanted to take the Big Bus Tour to Buckingham Palace. The only problem was, we could not find the Big Bus stop or the Big Bus route. We walked around for some time looking for it.
In the end we just walked to Buckingham Palace, a walk of about 40 minutes. It’s actually a lovely walk through some beautiful old gardens and parkland. Along the way we watched people feeding lots of very cute and playful squirrels.
Buckingham Palace is definitely worth a look, although there’s not a lot that can be seen from the main viewing area at the front. The front facade of the massive buildings can be seen but that’s about all.
Even seeing that small sample of this magnificent palace is well worth a look, and the gardens across the road are incredibly beautiful. It is such an iconic place it’s worth the effort just to say you’ve been there.
Lost in London
After Buckingham Palace we once again tried to find the next Big Bus Tour bus stop. We found the paper map rather difficult to follow and failed find the bus stop. Our feed were aching and we ended up hailing a cab to get back to Paddington.
The cab cost about 15 pounds, which we paid using the ‘tap and pay’ terminal in the back. It was later that I realised that Big Bus Tours has a an iPhone with an easy bus stop finder. Should have read the fine print!
Note: to see our VLOG of Day 1 and the Big Bus Tour CLICK HERE.
Day 2 in London
Our second day in London was fairly ambitious. It was children’s day. By that I mean that we let our young son choose what he wanted to see. Clarc wanted to see some museums, so we researched the most interesting looking ones.
Clarc wanted to see the Guards museum, which is devoted to the history of the Royal Guards and some military history as well. We also chose the HMAS Dublin, the military ship museum moored near the London Tower Bridge. Also the Museum of Anthropology, which has the largest collection of dead animals on the planet.
Just when the day was starting, the rain came. It was only patchy light rain, but enough to upset our plans. We decided to go for an easily accessible indoor stop first, and got off at the National Art Gallery.
This turned out to be an amazing Art Gallery and well worth the visit, particularly because it has many magnificent masterpieces on display. We spent the next couple of hours wandering through this expansive Art Gallery until the rain cleared.
After the National Art Gallery we had about a 20 minute walk to the Guards Museum. This passed by 10 Downing Street and a few other lesser known sites, and overall was an amazingly interesting walk.
The Guards Museum was very cheap, only a couple of pounds each for entry. It was fairly small and only took about half hour to view. It was not terribly exciting in my opinion, not as interesting as were thought it would be. We were not allowed to take any photos inside either.
HMAS Bismark
Next stop was the HMAS Bismark. Just when we arrived some heavy rain started to fall. Since it was about a 20 minute walk from the Big Bus stop to the Bismarck we took shelter in a delightful Paul’s coffee shop on the Thames River.
By the time the rain stopped it was too late to go to the HMAS Dublin, due to the 5:00 pm closing time. Yet another change of plan.
Hyde Park
What we decided to do was go to Hyde Park and try to rent some bicycles. The plan was to ride around Hyde Park, and also to see Canterbury Gardens, Canterbury Palace and Albert Hall. Bicycle hire racks are dotted all around London, and we soon found one near Hyde park.
They seemed ridiculously cheap, only about 2 pounds each for 24 hours hire. We were treated to a couple of hours sunshine and had a wonderful time cycling around Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens.
Best of all we were able to cycle to our Airbnb and return the bicycles to a hire rack just near our apartment.
Cost of cycling
I was able to pay for the bicycles using my credit card tap and pay, it’s oh so easy. But after our holiday I checked the credit card statement and found that on top of the hire cost, they charged an extra fee for “usage costs”.
The extra charges amounted to over AUD $20 more. So it ended up costing about AUD $28 for 2-3 hours of cycling, not so cheap after all. But it was healthy and fun, so I’m not complaining.
Note: To see our VLOG of Day 2 in London CLICK HERE.
Overall Impressions of London
There is so much to see in London. Even after 2 days of solid sight-seeing you can’t help but feel a little disappointed that so many attractions were missed. London is just dripping with fascinating history, like some buildings erected some 1500 years ago in Roman times. I guess that’s a good reason to go back for another visit, which we fully intend to do.
Prices are crazy expensive for us, as Australians. And that’s with the exchange rate at the historical best it’s been for many years. It’s quite normal to pay $40-$50 for a fairly light cafe style meal for 3 people.
The bicycles were a shock, but the Big Bus Tour was quite reasonably priced, especially with the Thames River Boat Cruise.
Impressions of the Big Bus Tour
If you’re wondering whether to get a Big Bus Tour in London, here are a few factors which may help you to decide.
Weather in London
The tour is great if it’s a nice day and you can sit in the open air section at the top of the double-decker bus. But if it’s wet and you have to retreat downstairs undercover, it is just nowhere near as good or interesting. You can’t see as much and you certainly can’t take good photos from the bottom level. I would not do Big Bus Tours unless it’s dry weather.
Are you an Early Riser?
The last Big Bus is about 5:30-6:00pm. If I have one complaint, it’s that they finish too early. This means that if you start your tour in the late morning you only have a short time to cover a lot of ground. You really need to start at 8:00 to 9:00 am to get your value for money.
Do You Want to Pay to Go Inside the Attractions?
If you want to pay to go inside attractions, you should count how many attractions and consider getting a London Pass instead. Paying for Big Bus Tours as well as paying entry fees can soon add up to make it an expensive day.
Do You Have 2 Days to Spare?
Big Bus Tours offer 24 hour or 48 hour passes. The 48 hour passes are only a slight increase over the 24 hours passes. Thus the 48 hour passes offer much greater value than 24 hour. You should also factor in whether you want premium tickets, which include boat trips and night tours. I recommend you do.
New York, London, Paris or Rome?
So should you choose to go to London, or instead choose one of the other famous cities? I think London should be on the bucket list of any serious world traveller. There is so much to see and do, and the history is so colourful and interesting.
However, London can be so expensive that you probably need to compress your sight-seeing into a fairly short trip. One thing I can say about London, is that it’s a city with so much to see that I feel like we could go back again and again, and still find new attractions. You certainly can’t say that in every city you visit. I can’t wait until our next visit to London!
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