I have recently travelled to London, UK. It was sort of a spontaneous trip which I only booked my flights and hotels around a week and half before the day I leave. Therefore, I needed to plan where and when I need to go to all the tourist attractions within a very short time (since I still had quite a few tests and assignments due within that week). Of course, I went on TripAdvisor and checked out all the top rated places I need to go, however I do not know how to plan them because I have no idea where do they exactly located!! Anyways, I figured it out and I want to help people who are going in the future know to plan the days, so I am going to tell you what I did for my 5 days trip.
DAY 1
First of all, I want to say London is one expensive place to live in, so make sure you saved up before you go.
I arrived Heathrow Airport at around noon, and since our hotel is right beside Piccadilly Circus Station, which the Piccadilly subway line go directly from Heathrow Airport to Piccadilly Circus Station, so we took the subway it took around 50 minutes (in England they call it the "Underground" instead of subway). We were planning to take the taxi, but the customs suggested us to take the subway because its too expensive to take the taxi (I asked the hotel they said it costs around 60-70 pounds to take the taxi from Heathrow to Piccadilly).
Anyways, so we checked in at our hotel Le Meridien Piccadilly. I love the hotel because the location is the most convenient. Let me list down how close it is to everything.
1. Underground Station - 2 mins walk
2. Regent Street (Street full of Flagship shops that lead to OxFord Street)- 2 mins walk
3. Oxford Street- 2 bus station away
4. Buckingham Palace- 1 underground station away
5. St. James Park- 10 mins walk
6. National Gallery- 10 mins walk
7. Covent Garden- 10 mins walk
8. Fortnum&Mason Shop- 10 mins walk
It is so close to all the restaurants as well, so i would highly suggest to live in this hotel if you are looking for convenience.
British Museum- Free- 1 hr and half to 2 hrs
Because by the time we finished checked in it's already 2:30pm and we took the red eye. so we only went to British Museum, which is 3 stations away and around 10 minutes walk after exiting subway station. The museum has no entrance fee, however it was greatly suggested to make some donation which is what we did. There were a lot to see, so we spent around an hour and half in there.
Oxford Street- Regent Street
After British Museum, we were still an hour away from our dinner reservation, therefore we decided to walk around on Oxford Street because it was 5 mins walk away from British Museum. The part we walk that day is on the East of Regent Street, usually where people shop on is the West side of Regent Street. There were not many shops that I know of, but it was still great to walk around. Then we dine at Veeraswamy Indian Restaurant for dinner. It is a high-end Indian restaurant on Regent Street, even though it is a little bit pricy but I think it's worth the money. Be prepared to spend around 50 pounds per person including tax and tips.
If you like Jo Malone, there is a shop right below Veeraswamy, which they carry a few scents that are exclusive for the store on Regent Street only, so you should go check it out if you like Jo Malone. After dinner, we shopped around Regent Street, then we went back to the hotel.
