This past week I traveled to London; and it was quite possibly my favorite trip to date. Similar to any large city, there was much to do and see! When I travel somewhere new I, of course, want to see the big sights; however, I also think it is so important to visit somewhere local. Finding a place filled with locals can give you a truer sense of what the city is like.
Here are a few tips, tricks and recommendations that I found during my stay in London.
1. Look right. Look right. Look right. No matter how prepared you think you are to see cars driving on opposite sides of the street you will still be taken by surprise when you see it in person. Don’t worry though, most cross walks have “look right” boldly printed on the ground; however, I still recommend looking both ways and in both lanes before talking the fist step.
2. Visit the tourist attractions at night. I recommend this for a couple of reasons. Firstly, you can avoid the major crowds and the pushy selfie-stick salesmen. Secondly, the lights that shine on Big Ben and the London Eye after dark are breathtaking.
3. Splurge on a proper afternoon tea. I had the pleasure of enjoying an afternoon tea at Harvey Nichols. The sophisticated atmosphere, delicious menu and wonderful company made this experience something I will never forget!
4. Don’t forget that London also has really good coffee. My roommate, and fellow Style Guru, planned out a seven stop coffee tour of London. In hindsight this may have been a touch ambitious given our time limit, but I am pleased to say we did make it to five of the seven stops. I enjoyed them all; however, there was one in particular that stood out to me, The Attendant. To get to this shop you have to walk underground into what used to be a men’s restroom. I admit this doesn’t sound like the most appealing place to have a coffee, but the charm and novelty of this renovated space is too unique to pass up.
5. Go to the Old Spitalfields Market. You could wander here for hours (or, dare I say, days). This huge market is filled with some of the most unique booths and vendors I have ever seen. Here I found the most intricate pop-up cards I will ever see (I mean so intricate they could be considered art), beautiful displays of hand made jewelry, hand crafted leather goods and an enormous array of food carts.
6. Get lost wandering the beautiful streets. The architecture in London is striking. We set out to find the perfect photoshoot location, Kynance Mews. In the process we stumbled upon the most picturesque neighborhood I have ever seen. These types of discoveries are one of my favorite parts of travel, and why I think it is so important to adventure off the beaten path.
